Indigenous Exchange Forum: Transition in mine closure

This report is the outcome of an international collaboration between First Nations groups from Canada, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand who have major mines on their lands and affiliated researchers. “The Indigenous Exchange Forum: transitions in mine closure” was held on 2–3 November 2021 over Zoom, hosted by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) in the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), at The University of Queensland. The Forum aimed to affirm, connect, and elevate the voices of First Nations leaders and interested community members impacted by mining and mine closure. In doing so, we aimed to build an international network across these Indigenous communities, to enable the sharing of experiences, struggles, and sentiments in relation to mine site transition and mine-related impacts on their lands. In interviews (virtual and on-Country), participants shared powerful insights about their experiences with the mines in the context of frontier battles, settler colonialism, and mine closure. This included connection to Country, experiences of past mine closure, and concerns, expectations, and aspirations about forthcoming closure. Respect for Indigenous knowledges has been demonstrated through recognising and retaining participant perspectives as largely verbatim. The voices referenced in the major section of the report are followed by a brief synthesis of the themes that emerged from them. The mines discussed include the Argyle and Century mines (Australia), the Waihi and Macraes mine (Aotearoa) and the Faro, Diavik, Ekati, Gahcho Kui and Raglan mines (Canada).