Hey there, welcome to The Forward! I’m Bronwyn, I spent many years leading social performance and community relations in mining, including as Head of Social Performance at Rio Tinto. Now I run Cantilever, where I advise mining and resources companies on sustainability strategy and complex stakeholder engagement.
If you want to talk about your strategy, get in touch with me here.
Read time: 4 mins
Last week we looked at Northern Star and what happens to a project’s commitments when a mine changes owner.
On 14 September the Federal Court recognised the Tjalkadjara people’s native title over 6,726 square kilometres of Western Australia’s Northern Goldfields, an area slightly larger than the Perth metropolitan area. Regis says the claim covers land where most of its Duketon gold operations sit.
In 2024, Regis withdrew 1.89 million ounces of gold reserves at McPhillamys, its project in New South Wales, after a federal heritage protection declaration.
This week’s question: does the risk list in Regis’s 2026 Annual Report name heritage or native title as a risk to the business?
- Bronwyn
Regis Resources
Source: Regis Resources Annual Report 2026 (176pp) · Published 21 August 2026 · Reporting period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 · Sustainability Report, pages 30-63, reporting against GRI, SASB and the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles · Climate Report, pages 134-163, AASB S2 · Specified climate disclosures reviewed by KPMG, limited assurance
Regis is a Perth-based gold miner. It produced 379,050 ounces of gold last financial year from Duketon and its 30 per cent share of Tropicana, both in Western Australia’s Goldfields.
McPhillamys, near Blayney in New South Wales, is the project it wants to build next, on Wiradjuri country.
In August 2024 the federal environment minister made a heritage protection declaration over part of the McPhillamys site, after the project had its state and federal approvals. Regis is challenging the declaration in the Federal Court. The case was heard in December 2025 and judgment was still reserved on 21 September, when Regis briefed the project’s Community Consultative Committee.
In June, Regis put McPhillamys back into its gold reserves using a design which avoids the declared area. McPhillamys now accounts for 1.9 million of the company’s 3.9 million ounces of gold.
We asked how far a company can depend on its approvals in Issue 21.
Passage 1: Native title at Duketon
Page 50, in the Sustainability Report, says Regis has a Working Together Agreement and an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Agreement with the Mantjintjarra Ngalia people. It then says:
“During FY26, Regis was informed that a Native Title Application by the Tjalkadjara People was likely to be Determined with regards to land on which the majority of our Duketon operations occur. In line with our Indigenous Peoples Statement, we are in the process of planning for a transition and development of a Native Title Agreement.”
The report says some meetings under the existing agreements were not held this year, and a ranger programme and seed collection did not go ahead. Regis marked its meetings target “Not met” on page 34 and explained why. This is good disclosure.
I don’t know the history at Duketon and the report doesn’t share it, but in my experience, agreement-making works much better after a determination is settled than before.
Before, a company relies on what the people and families who come forward tell it. A determination settles in law who holds native title, and the picture can change a lot.
Plain English: A native title determination can change who a company needs an agreement with. Regis says it is planning for a new agreement with recently determined native title holders.
Passage 2: The list of business risks
The directors’ report lists seven material business risks on pages 71 and 72: gold price, exchange rates, operations, resource and reserve estimates, climate change, government policy and permits, and cyber security. The permits risk is the closest to heritage or native title. It reads:
“In the ordinary course of business, mining companies are required to seek and maintain governmental permits for exploration, expansion of existing operations or for the commencement of new operations. The duration and success of permitting efforts are contingent upon many variables not within the control of Regis. There can be no assurance that all necessary permits will be obtained, and, if obtained, that the costs involved will not exceed those estimated by Regis.”
This risk is about a permit not being granted. McPhillamys had its permits. The heritage declaration was made afterwards, under a separate law. The Duketon determination is not a permit either.
The words heritage and native title do not appear anywhere in the published list, and McPhillamys is not named.
Regis withdrew 1.89 million ounces of reserves in 2024 because of a heritage declaration. Two years on, heritage is not on its published list of risks to the business.
Plain English: A heritage declaration led Regis to withdraw 1.89 million ounces of gold reserves. The published list of business risks does not mention heritage.
The Frame
So, does the risk list in the 2026 Annual Report name heritage or native title as a risk to the business?
No. The published list has seven risks and neither is among them.
In most companies the sustainability team writes one part of the report, and the finance / legal folk capture the enterprise risks. This is one of the reasons integrating sustainability reporting into annual reports will, in time, streamline a lot of information enabling the company to truly tell one cohesive story.
Most importantly for this issue, a risk captured effectively gets an owner, a budget and time on the board agenda. A topic in the sustainability pages often gets none of those.
Two practical takeaways for anyone who prepares or signs off a risk section:
Put the people who manage Traditional Owner relationships in the room when the risk list is written. They know which agreements, claims and heritage matters could impact the project.
Name heritage and native title as a separate risk, with an owner and a budget. A permits risk describes approvals not yet granted. It does not describe a decision made after approval.
Glossary
Material business risks.
The risks a company’s directors say could affect its results. They sit in the directors’ report. Regis lists seven on pages 71 and 72.
Ore Reserve.
The part of a deposit a company has shown it can mine at a profit. Regis reports 3.9 million ounces of gold, 1.9 million of them at McPhillamys.
Section 10 declaration.
An order by the federal environment minister under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 to protect a significant Aboriginal area. One was made over part of the McPhillamys site in August 2024.
Native title determination.
A Federal Court decision on whether native title exists over an area and who holds it. The Tjalkadjara determination was made on 14 September 2026.
What did you think of this newsletter?
This week at CFS - native title agreements
A determination changes who a company needs an agreement with, and the work to get there takes time. Accord is Cantilever’s structured pathway to a native title mining agreement. We coordinate the legal, cultural and relational process, from identifying who to talk to through to a signed agreement. If that is a conversation worth having, get in touch by emailing Bronwyn directly at [email protected].