Environmentalists have called for more robust Northern Territory mining laws after high levels of manganese dust were allegedly found in a remote Indigenous community.
Angurugu on Groote Eyelandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, 630km east of Darwin, sits next to the world's largest manganese mine.
Its 1000 or so residents are exposed to dust from the South32's Gemco mine with "concerningly high levels" of manganese detected in some residents, according to the Environment Centre NT.
Tests in 2018 on the hair and nails of children and adults living in Angurugu found high levels of the mineral, director Kirsty Howey said on Thursday.
Despite the concerns about the potential health impacts, the NT Environment Protection Authority has not placed any independent air quality measurement stations on the island.
"This mine demonstrate the need for more robust mining laws in the Territory," Ms Howey said.
"It should be incumbent upon the mining company to ensure, and to demonstrate, that their activities are not having adverse impacts on the local population."
Ms Howey called for independent specialist and peer reviewed studies of the impacts of mining activities in the NT.
She said there should also be transparent and timely reporting to the public.
"These two critical reforms that would go a long way toward preventing concerning situations like what we are seeing on Groote Eyelandt," she said.
The manganese mine has been operating since the 1960s.
A previous study found that an...
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