This page is viewed 165 times The AustralianA 30,000 YEAR OLD ochre mine in outback Western Australia has been granted national heritage status by the federal government, a move that will help protect the historic site from encroaching iron ore developments. The Wilgie Mia ochre mine in the Weld Range, northeast of Geraldton, is where Aborigines extracted red, yellow and green ochre, which was then traded across Australia, as far away as north Queensland.Its bright red ochre is still used for Aboriginal art, law and healing activities.There is a considerable amount of rock art in the vicinity, as well as the archeological remains of an ancient tool factory. The site has also been a centre of traditional ceremonies.The listing means the Wilgie Mia mine joins places such as Kakadu and Uluru as areas protected by Australia's national heritage regime.The listing will not prevent development, but Heritage Minister Tony Burke says it means any activity likely to have a significant impact on the site's value would need to be referred to the environment minister.Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.The government estimates that as much as 19,600 cubic metres of ochre and rock, weighing about 40,000 tonnes, was removed from the mine using techniques such as tunnelling and scaffolding.China's Sinosteel Midwest Corp plans to develop a 300 million tonnes a year iron ore operation in the area.Traditional owner Colin Hamlett says the listing will provide some protection, but points out it will cover only 2000ha around the mine.He says ochre from Wilgie Mia and Little Wilgie Mia is still used for traditional ceremonies and is regarded as the best ochre in Australia."We use it for law camps. People from the Western Desert use it as well. We take it to the Pilbara, too, and use it there when we go there for ceremony and law business," he says."All the people around the region would get their ochre from there. People say that it is the best ochre in Australia."He says protection of the site would be part of negotiations now under way with Sinosteel.The negotiations cover jobs for local Aborigines, training and a royalty sharing agreement."We should be able to protect the area. It will make it more difficult [to harm it]," he says.Hamlett says that according to the dreamtime version, the ochre mine marks the spot where a kangaroo, wounded near the coast, shed a lot of blood before it died.Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, which assists indigenous groups with native title negotiations, worked with the Wajarri Yamatji native title group to research the significance of the area and to ensure that relevant cultural information was included in the final heritage listing report that went to the federal minister.
