A clean-up is underway in the Gulf of Carpentaria after a zinc spill near the Century Mine in the Lawn Hill nature preserve.
The spill occurred about 30 kilometres from Century Mine along the 304km slurry pipeline used to transport zinc concentrate to a Karumba port.
Head of corporate affairs and social responsibility at New Century Resources, Shane Goodwin said the mine's systems picked up on the spill at about 8am, Tuesday.
A maximum volume estimated to be 2,000m3 of slurry (575 tonnes of zinc concentrate) had spilled, Mr Goodwin said in a statement seen by the ABC.
There was no danger to the public.
Efforts were being made to divert wildlife and cattle from the area.
"The clean-up is underway now, we're confident that we've effectively contained the leak
"The slurry is inert and the liquids are inert," he said.
The clean-up was expected to take about 10 days.
Local Indigenous elders and rangers were on scene to oversee the clean-up.
"We have rangers and elders onsite to monitor the clean-up and make sure our country and our people are safe," said chairman of the Waanyi Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Alec Doomadgee.
Mr Doomadgee said the Waanyi Prescribed Body Corporation (PBC) had engaged environmental consultant Epic Environmental to assess the clean-up.
The costs associated with engaging the consultant would be covered by New Century in accordance with the requirements of the Gulf Communities Agreement, Mr Goodwin said.
"The Waanyi PBC [Prescribed Body Corporation], we've always been speaking about rehabilitation and working on healing our country. Mines have an obligation and that rehabilitation contract should be at the forefront of any discussions going forward with New Century," Mr Doomadgee said.
Representatives from the Department of Environment and Science were en route to inspect the spill, according to a spokesperson.
"Compliance officers are travelling to the site of the spill to inspect the clean-up activities, assess any potential environmental impacts, gather more information and will also meet with company representatives and the landholder," the spokesperson said.
Editor's Note 27/10/2022: This story has been updated to include the extent of the spillage and the identity of the environmental consultant who will carry out the clean-up assessment.
