What it does
The Poseidon Nickel Agreement Act 1971 is a State agreement Act that ratifies and gives legislative force to a contractual arrangement between the Government of Western Australia and a private company for the exploration, mining, treatment and sale of nickel ore at Mount Windarra. Its principal function is to render the annexed Poseidon Nickel Agreement operative and effective notwithstanding any other Act or law, a common feature of Western Australian State agreement legislation. The Act originally ratified the 1971 agreement with Poseidon Limited. It was later amended to approve a variation agreement in 1985 (reflecting the transfer of interests to Western Mining Corporation Limited and changes to the mining tenure regime under the Mining Act 1978) and, most recently, to ratify a termination agreement in 2022 between the State and Poseidon Nickel Limited. The termination agreement ends the principal agreement and transitions the Mining Lease to the ordinary regulatory framework of the Mining Act 1978, including a requirement for a $3.5 million security for mine closure and rehabilitation. The Act thereby serves both as an enabling statute for a major resource project and as a legislative vehicle for winding up that project.