Energy Resources of Australia has said the Federal Court has issued an interim order to stay the decision of the Northern Territory Government to refuse to renew its Jabiluka mineral lease, after the company initiated legal action against the government on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange ERA said the Federal Court on Friday made an interim order to stay the decision to refuse to renew the mineral lease, pending a further order of the court, with the matter listed for a case management hearing on August 19, to set a timetable for the hearing of ERA’s case.

The company has said an independent board committee, consisting of independent directors Rick Dennis, Ken Wyatt and Stuart Glenn, would act for ERA in relation to this and any other potential challenges to the renewal decision.

A statement to the ASX on Tuesday issued by the company said the legal action was taken against federal Resources Minister Madeleine King, NT Mining Minister Mark Monaghan, the federal and NT governments, and the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust.

The company sought a judicial review that includes the Federal Government’s advice to the NT Government to refuse the renewal of the Jabiluka lease.

“ERA believes it had a right to have its renewal application lawfully determined and considers it was denied procedural fairness and natural justice in the decision making process,” the statement said.

“ERA also considers that the decisions were subject to a number of other defects including because they were unreasonable.

“ERA considers that its applications are warranted after taking into account the circumstances in which the renewal decision was made, which include the commonwealth minister providing her advice within two days of the renewal application being referred to her, and without providing ERA an opportunity to comment on information received and relied upon or other matters which she took into account.”

The NT News reported ERA had received a non-binding offer from Boss Energy Limited to buy the Jabiluka lease for $550 million, subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals.

On July 26 the paper reported that the Territory Government had denied ERA’s bid to extend its Jabiluka mineral lease by 10 years, based on the advice of the Federal Government. The Mirarr traditional owners who have long protested the mine.

In May this year, the NT Government announced a reserved land area that would stop any future applications for a mineral lease over Jabiluka once the lease ceased.

The reservation was to come into effect at the end off the mineral lease on August 11, and was to last for a period of two years.