Aboriginal group says Fortescue applied to mine near destroyed caves

Majors and juniors swap roles in $7 billion a year mining exploration sector

Restrictions would remain in place for six months, with some mines and areas possibly excluded.

Down 4.7% on Tuesday to five-month low as ultra-cheap Mongolian coal gets trucked into market.

The meeting is not a return to mediation but an attempt to agree to return to the negotiating table, the union said.

The Anglo American's unit logged earnings of $607 million for 2016, basically double the $304 million it recorded in 2015.

The miner attributed the good results to higher metals prices, increased gold and copper output and productivity improvements.

Prices for the steelmaking commodity have more than doubled in value over the past year following near-decade lows of $38 a tonne in December 2015.

The Australian government has opened the door to using a $5 billion fund designed to attract investment in northern Australia, to develop clean-coal projects.

Coal has washed up very close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Australian authorities said, following an investigation into complaints of black dust on nearby beaches.