b'with Feez Ruthning advising on the Queensland aspects ofchanger for Woodside, the company funding the discovery, the transaction. Allen Allen & Hemsley was also involved,and a significant development for the nation.advising the syndicate of banks providing financing. The $2.4 billion deal was unrivalled in size and complexity The discovery led to the start of Australias largest resource and saw Australian company BHP buy back the farm. project, the North West Shelf Venture. Its remoteness gave rise to major engineering, political and organisational Meanwhile, the global resources giants also turned theirchallenges. During the 1980s it was the largest engineering attention to Western Australia, where it was discoveredproject in the world and Arthur Robinson & Co played a that the Pilbara (an area covering some 500,000 squarecritical role advising on what was then the largest non- kilometres) held, at the time, the worlds most significant ironrecourse project financing undertaken in Australia.ore reserves. John Rodd and Tony Browne of Arthur Robinson & Co negotiated the bilateral agreement between the WesternIt was a complex transaction that really put Australia onAustralian Government and Conzinc Riotinto of Australiathe map, says David Knott, a partner at Arthur Robinson (CRA now Rio Tinto) to access these rich iron ore deposits.& Co who worked on the deal. Woodside was a relatively The agreement was approved by an Act of parliament the Ironsmall exploration company looking to embark on the Ore (Hamersley Range) Agreement Act 1963 (WA). Rodd wentlargest oil and gas engineering project in the world at the on to become the deputy chairman of Rio Tintos Australiantime. We needed to ensure the international banks were business. Browne advised Rio Tinto for more than forty years,across the new technologies to be used in extracting thefrom the trailblazing days of the early 1960s until the earlygas and that the buyer contracts were locked in. 2000s, on projects of a size never before seen in Australia, including multiple government negotiations, capital raisings,The firm maintained a close connection to the project partnership agreements and mergers and acquisitions. and Bill Rogers, senior partner of Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks, went on to become chairman of Woodside To unlock the potential of the Pilbara, Rio Tinto constructedfrom 1986 to 1999. extensive new infrastructure, including townships, railway lines and the Port of Dampier. In just twenty months, 300As the mining interests of clients like Woodside and Rio kilometres of railway were laid, 300,000 tonnes of plant andTinto moved west, so did some of the partners of Arthur equipment were installed, and 12 million cubic metres ofRobinson & Hedderwicks, and in 1997 the firm opened earth and rock were moved. Iron ore and coal are key inputs inan office in Perth. In 2009 the firm was described by steelmaking, and demand intensified for Australias resourcesChambers Global as one of the top five mining andas China became the worlds largest producer of steel. minerals law firms in the world. Another mining boom took place in the late 1970s and earlyThe transformation of the resources sector continues, and 80s, largely driven by the energy sector. In 1971 the Norththere is increasing demand for nickel, copper, lithium and Rankin gas reserve was discovered 135 kilometres off thecobalt for use in renewable energy infrastructure, electric coast of Dampier in Western Australia. This vast reserve ofvehicles and batteries.natural gas, 2,400 metres below the seabed, was a game 178'