THE End Forest Mining alliance and Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association (BNAA) have welcomed news that exploration drilling in the northern parts of Alcoa’s mineral lease in the Perth Hills region has been ruled out for at least the next few years, but have called for these areas to be permanently protected.

In a letter from the company to Kalamunda MLA Adam Hort, the US-based mining giant confirmed that exploration drilling within the Shire of Mundaring and cities of Kalamunda and Armadale has been removed from its 2025-2029 and 2026-2030 Mining and Management Programs (MMP).

It also stated these areas would not be included in the federal government’s strategic assessment of Alcoa’s operational areas between now and 2045.

“This is a huge win for the Perth Hills community and one that has been hard fought for by local residents, community groups and everyone who stood up to protect our part of the world,” Mr Hort said.

“The next step is making sure our part of the Perth Hills is protected for good.”

Mr Hort recently wrote a letter to Premier Cook requesting that the Kalamunda electorate be excluded from any and all mining or exploration indefinitely.

While welcoming the decision, the End Forest Mining alliance said it wanted the Cook government to permanently remove the areas from Alcoa’s mining lease and include them in a network of protected areas across the Northern Jarrah Forest, arguing the announcement was further evidence the company had lost its social licence.

“West Australian communities have sent a very loud and clear message that the destruction of the world’s only jarrah forests will no longer be tolerated; this is a win for people power, and we won’t stop advocating for our forests and the threatened species they support,” Conservation Council of WA executive director Matt Roberts said.

“Clearly, the people of WA took up this opportunity to share their anger on the continued threat that not just new mines, but exploration poses to the Northern Jarrah Forest and its biodiversity, climate, culture, water, and natural heritage for future generations. That voice continues to grow,” WA Forest Alliance director Jess Boyce said.

“Hundreds of hectares of precious forests are being destroyed every year whilst Alcoa is granted exemption after exemption from State and Federal environment laws, despite ongoing breaches and deceptive conduct,” The Wilderness Society WA campaigns manager Alyx Douglas said.

“Our state government now needs to respect the views of the WA public and call an end to 60 years of destruction,” he said.

Community members and local and state representatives began mobilising in July 2025 after BNAA learned that Alcoa planned to expand into the Mundaring Weir catchment.

In response to the news, BNAA executive director Francesca Flynn thanked everyone who “stood strong to protect our community, Country, and most importantly, our drinking water”.

“Knowing what Alcoa has done at Serpentine drinking water dam, we knew we had to act quickly or face the same fate,” Ms Flynn said.

“We spent hundreds of hours sending emails, talking to the community and building awareness, and we were supported by strong leadership from our local councils.”

Alcoa is now proposing to build a pipeline to extract up to 3 billion litres per year of drinking water from Serpentine Dam for its mining operations.

The proposal is being considered as part of Alcoa’s mining management plan, which is currently under assessment by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

“Alcoa refers to this as “non-drinking water”, because it has yet to be treated to meet drinking water standards, but this is very disingenuous as in reality, the water in those dams is our drinking water,” she said.

“We’re all waiting for the Environmental Protection Authority assessment to be finalised, noting that it is the first public review into Alcoa’s operations in over 60 years, and one that over 59,000 people contributed to.

“Meanwhile, Alcoa is seeking new exemptions to mine in other drinking water catchments, even though the EPA assessment is still ongoing, and despite numerous breaches of its licence conditions and a decade of unlawful clearing.

“We strongly believe that any exemption granted before the assessment is complete will undermine Alcoa’s accountability and erode public confidence in statutory processes designed to protect our environment and keep us safe.”

BNAA chair and Noongar Elder Walter McGuire said, “As Noongar people, it is our role and responsibility to care for the waterways and forests as the First People of this land.

“Since colonisation, we’ve been denied this role, but now we are bringing back the traditional ways of caring for Country for the benefit of all who live on Noongar Boodja.

“It is shocking to realise that companies like Alcoa and others have held open mining rights to our forests and access to our water sources for many years.

“For decades, successive WA governments have allowed them to exploit these rights, destroying our land and bypassing our rights to safe drinking water and clean air. Water is life and without it, we are nothing. We call on the government to ban mining in our drinking water catchments – no expansion and immediate retreat from mined areas.”