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Adrian Campbell

Western Australia

The Pilbara: Adrian Campbell and First Nations Mining Australia

Red rock, spinifex and some of the oldest country on earth. The Pilbara produces most of Australia's iron ore, and the Yindjibarndi people hold exclusive native title over part of it. First Nations Mining Australia works there with them.

Illustration of a red rock gorge with spinifex and white-trunked gums in the Pilbara, Western Australia, at sunset.
Pilbara country, Western Australia, where First Nations Mining Australia explores with the Yindjibarndi people (illustration).Pilbara, Western Australia · Illustration

The place

The Pilbara covers the north-west of Western Australia, a region of ancient ranges, gorges and vast flat plains between the coast at Port Hedland, Karratha and Dampier and the inland ranges around Tom Price and Newman. Its rocks are among the oldest on the planet, and its iron-rich ranges supply most of Australia's iron ore exports. Towns are small and far apart. Roebourne, one of the oldest, sits near the coast on Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma country.

Yindjibarndi country

The Yindjibarndi people's traditional lands lie inland from Roebourne along the Fortescue River and the Hamersley Range. In 2017 the Federal Court recognised their exclusive native title over an area that includes the Solomon Hub mine. The Full Federal Court dismissed Fortescue Metals Group's appeal in 2019, and in 2020 the High Court refused Fortescue special leave to appeal further. Those decisions are the background to First Nations Mining Australia.

What happened here

In June 2021 Adrian Campbell became Managing Partner of First Nations Mining Australia, a Western Australian exploration company that is majority owned by First Nations interests and works alongside the Yindjibarndi people. Its Chairman is Michael Woodley, Chief Executive of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, and its Chief Executive is the geologist Marnus Bothma. The company's approach is commercial mining under exclusive native title, with heritage consultation and transparency to the community built in.

Adrian's part is commercial: structuring, partnerships and capital. He does not speak for the Yindjibarndi people, and this site does not report exploration results or payments.

Why it matters

The principle behind the company is the same one he applies in Lombok: the people who own the land should be the ones who gain most from what is built or mined on it. It is also a reminder that his career did not move from Australia to Indonesia in a straight line. He has run companies in both countries at the same time since 2017.