The Class Action 

The decision to take a class action against the owners of the Cadia mine—Newmont Mining—follows a four-year, community-based campaign and more than 18 months of research by scientists and William Roberts Lawyers.

Throughout that time, CCSN has sought unsuccessfully to engage with the mine owners to resolve concerns about contamination in the community. The mine’s licence does not entitle it to harm its neighbours or the environment.

While the NSW Environmental Protection Authority has previously taken legal action against the mine’s owners for environmental breaches, a $325,000 fine for a global corporation that makes tens of millions of dollars each week from one of the largest gold and copper mines in the southern hemisphere is not a genuine deterrent.

Contamination from the mine risks causing multi-generational environmental catastrophe that will persist long after the mine owners and investors have made their money and walked away.

A class action is therefore the only legal tool available to fund a case against a global corporation and to collectively protect the civil rights of people in the community, as well as those of future generations.

We believe this step is the most effective way to hold the owners of Cadia to account.

The CCSN is not seeking the closure of the mine.

It is simply asking it to be a good and responsible neighbour.