BHP Mining Area C (MAC) and South Flank Hub

Delivering Cultural Heritage Management Services at Scale Across the World's Largest Iron Ore Operation

BHP Group Limited (BHP) is an ASX global resources company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and is the world’s largest mining company, producing commodities including iron ore, copper and metallurgical coal.

BHP operates across multiple areas, with significant assets in Western Australia’s Pilbara, South Australia, the Americas and other regions. Its commodities underpin essential infrastructure, manufacturing and energy-transition technologies, including steelmaking, renewable energy systems and electrification.

BHP’s Mining Area C and South Flank Hub in Western Australia’s Pilbara forms the world’s largest iron ore operation, producing and shipping approximately 145 million tonnes per annum. The scale, complexity and sensitivity of the cultural heritage landscape across this tenure demands an equally rigorous and experienced advisory approach.

Australian Cultural Heritage Management (ACHM) provides specialist Aboriginal heritage advisory services to the Banjima people across both projects, supporting the implementation of complex heritage management measures including Section 18 processes, technical assessments of Pleistocene rockshelters, rock art recording, ethnographic assessments, salvage programs and long-range planning frameworks required for regulatory approvals under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 and Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Our role also encompasses the consolidation of decades of multidisciplinary heritage records, site verification and assessment across extensive tenure, and strategic advice on integrating cultural heritage considerations into the full operational lifecycle of one of the most significant resource developments in Australia.

Client

BHP Group Limited

Location

Western Australia

Sectors

Energy and Mining
Road and Rail
Infrastructure

Services

Results Delivered

Embedding Traditional Owner Participation in Cultural Heritage Decision-Making Across a 145 Million-Tonne Iron Ore Operation

Australian Cultural Heritage Management provides specialist Aboriginal heritage advisory services across BHP’s Mining Area C and South Flank Hub, an operation shipping approximately 145 million tonnes of iron ore per annum. Our team is integral to the protectiona and mitigation requirements of hundreds of archaeological sites and numerous significant ethnographic places across the tenure, conducting complex ILUA negotiations and delivering Section 18 processes, ethnographic assessments and salvage programs that ensure BHP’s operations remain compliant with the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. Careful heritage management at this scale protects both the cultural landscape and the operational certainty of one of Australia’s most significant resource developments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Aboriginal heritage obligations apply to iron ore mining operations in Western Australia?

Iron ore mining operations in Western Australia are governed primarily by the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA), which prohibits the excavation, damage or destruction of Aboriginal sites unless authorised by a Section 18 ministerial consent. Proponents are also required to comply with any heritage conditions attached to environmental approvals under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, and to meet the obligations of any Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) in place with relevant Traditional Owner groups. For complex, long-running operations like BHP’s Mining Area C and South Flank Hub, this requires ongoing heritage survey, site monitoring, Section 18 processes and regular engagement with Traditional Owner representatives. Australian Cultural Heritage Management provides specialist Aboriginal heritage advisory services across all these compliance requirements. Learn more about our archaeological site monitoring services.

A Section 18 consent is an authorisation issued by the Western Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs that permits a proponent to use land in a way that may harm or destroy an Aboriginal site registered under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. To obtain a Section 18 consent, a proponent must submit an application to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage detailing the proposed activity, the Aboriginal sites affected, the outcomes of consultation with Traditional Owners, and any proposed mitigation measures. The application is assessed by the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee (ACMC) before a ministerial decision is made. Australian Cultural Heritage Management prepares Section 18 applications and supporting heritage documentation for mining clients operating across Western Australia.

An Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) is a negotiated agreement between a mining company and a Traditional Owner group that sets out the terms for access to, and use of, land within a native title area. ILUAs often include heritage management commitments, such as survey requirements, consultation protocols, site avoidance obligations and agreed compensation or benefit-sharing arrangements, that go beyond the minimum requirements of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. They provide certainty for both parties and establish a framework for respectful, ongoing collaboration. Australian Cultural Heritage Management supports Traditional Owner groups and mining proponents through ILUA negotiations, helping to develop heritage provisions that are workable, legally sound and culturally appropriate.

Independent cultural heritage advice is essential for Traditional Owner groups to ensure that their heritage interests are accurately assessed, clearly articulated and appropriately protected in any agreement with a mining company. Without independent technical expertise, Traditional Owner groups may lack the information needed to evaluate the significance of affected sites, assess the adequacy of proposed mitigation measures, or negotiate on an equal footing. Australian Cultural Heritage Management works directly for and on behalf of Traditional Owner corporations, including the Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, providing technically rigorous, independent advice that strengthens the position of Traditional Owners in any heritage negotiation.

Beach Energy Enterprise Pipeline

Pipeline Construction. Natural Gas Pipeline trench in ground on sunset. LNG, LPG. Oil and Gas Transportation crude oil, natural gas. Crude pipeline. Pipework. Pipes for Petrochemical industry.

Delivering Approved Cultural Heritage Management Across Complex Energy Infrastructure in Victoria

Beach Energy is an ASX listed Australian-based oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 1961, headquartered in Adelaide. As a key domestic supplier, it operates assets across five basins in Australia and New Zealand, providing natural gas, oil, and liquids. The company focuses on East and West Coast Australian hubs, including the Cooper and Perth Basins.

Beach Energy’s Enterprise Pipeline Project required a 12-kilometre pipeline connection between the Enterprise well site near Port Campbell and the Otway Gas Plant, a corridor that passed through areas of cultural heritage sensitivity, demanding a rigorous and legislatively compliant approach from the outset.

Australian Cultural Heritage Management (ACHM) was engaged to lead all heritage investigations, manage Traditional Owner consultation and deliver the approved Cultural Heritage Management Plan. Working directly alongside the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC), our team ensured that Eastern Maar cultural values shaped the heritage assessment process at every stage, and that all statutory requirements under Victorian heritage legislation were fully satisfied.

The result was a clear, defensible approvals framework that gave Beach Energy confidence to proceed with construction efficiently and without heritage-related delay, an outcome built on methodical fieldwork, transparent engagement and a deep understanding of both the regulatory environment and the cultural landscape.”

Client

Beach Energy

Location

Otways, Victoria

Sectors

Energy and Mining

Services

Results Delivered

Managing Cultural Heritage In the Energy Sector in Victoria

Despite a pipeline corridor spanning numerous private landowners across a relatively remote section of Victoria’s Otways, Australian Cultural Heritage Management delivered an Approved Cultural Heritage Management Plan, managing all access logistics, archaeological survey, excavation and Traditional Owner consultation with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation without disruption to Beach Energy’s project schedule. The outcome gave Beach Energy a clear and legislatively compliant framework to progress construction with confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a gas pipeline project in Victoria require a Cultural Heritage Management Plan?

Yes, in most cases. Under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006, pipeline construction is classified as a high-impact activity and therefore requires an approved Cultural Heritage Management Plan (CHMP) where the pipeline corridor passes through an area of cultural heritage sensitivity. For Beach Energy’s Enterprise Pipeline, a 12-kilometre corridor in Victoria’s Otways, a CHMP was required due to the presence of Eastern Maar cultural heritage values in the project area. Australian Cultural Heritage Management delivered the approved CHMP and managed all heritage investigations and Traditional Owner consultation required to satisfy Victorian heritage legislation.

Cultural heritage risk assessment is an important input into pipeline corridor selection and design. Identifying areas of high heritage sensitivity early, such as proximity to watercourses, elevated landforms, or registered sites, allows a project team to select alignments that avoid or minimise impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage before detailed design is committed. This reduces the likelihood of costly redesign, construction delays or regulatory complications later in the project. Australian Cultural Heritage Management provides heritage risk advisory services at the early scoping and feasibility stage, helping energy and infrastructure proponents identify and manage cultural heritage risk before it becomes a programme or budget issue.

Traditional Owner consultation is a legislative requirement under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 and a critical component of any CHMP process. The relevant Registered Aboriginal Party must be notified of the intent to prepare a CHMP, consulted during the assessment, and given the opportunity to participate in fieldwork and evaluate the final plan. Meaningful consultation, beyond the minimum legislative threshold, builds trust, surfaces cultural knowledge that improves the quality of the heritage assessment, and reduces the risk of objections or delays during the evaluation process. Australian Cultural Heritage Management places Traditional Owner engagement at the centre of all our CHMP programs, as demonstrated through our long-standing relationships with groups including Eastern Maar, Wadawurrung and Banjima.

A complex CHMP assessment for a linear infrastructure project such as a pipeline involves both standard surface survey and subsurface testing, known as a complex or excavation assessment, along the proposed corridor. Archaeologists excavate test pits at regular intervals and in targeted locations to determine the nature, extent and significance of any subsurface Aboriginal cultural heritage. The results inform the management conditions included in the approved CHMP, which may include avoidance buffers, monitoring requirements or salvage excavation programs during construction. Australian Cultural Heritage Management has delivered complex CHMP assessments for pipeline, road, rail and transmission line projects across Australia. Learn more about our archaeological assessment services.