About Us

The naming of the General Gumala Foundation has an important meaning. In Banjima language, Gumala means “all together” which represents how three language groups, Banjima, Yinhawangka and Nyiyaparli, came together to negotiate the Yandi Land Use Agreement (YLUA) and the General Gumala Foundation Trust Deed (Trust Deed).

The YLUA was signed in 1997 by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd (now owned by Rio Tinto) and was the first agreement of its kind in Western Australia, enabling mining on Traditional Land in exchange for compensation paid to the Traditional Owners. It took over 12 months to complete and was the first major land-use agreement to be concluded after the 1992 Mabo Decision. In 2022, Gumala celebrated 25 years since the historic event occurred.

The Trust Deed was signed in the same year, and is a comprehensive, 34-page legal document between Gumala Aboriginal Corporation (The Manager), Gumala Investments Pty Ltd (The Trustee) and the Traditional Owners of the Banjima, Yinhawangka and Nyiyaparli people.

The Yandicoogina mine began operations in 1998. The mine site is 95 kilometres north-west of Newman and borders the eastern edge of the spectacular Karijini National Park. It is an open-pit operation with on-site processing facilities.

To visit Rio Tinto’s website, click here.

What We Do

GIPL’s roles and responsibilities are outlined in the General…

OUR HISTORY

The naming of the Gumala Foundation has an important…

OUR DIRECTORS

The Gumala Trust Pty Ltd Board is comprised of six Directors…

OUR TEAM

Find out more about the Gumala Trust family/team members

Warning

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following website may contain images or videos of deceased persons.

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