The details of the settlement over a more $300 million coal royalties dispute between mining giant BHP and the Queensland government will stay under wraps.
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In a Supreme Court hearing that lasted just three minutes, barrister John Sheahan, for BHP, confirmed the matters had been resolved.
BHP and its coal partner, Mitsubishi, launched legal action to dispute a government demand for $329 million, in relation to a government reassessment of royalties relating to BHP's Singapore marketing office, going back to 2005.
On Monday, the court was told an "agreement in principle" was reached, and negotiations on the out-of-court settlement were expected to be finalised within the day.
A spokeswoman for Treasurer Jackie Trad said the matter was subject to the confidentiality provisions in the Mineral Resources Act.
"The matter will not have an impact on the upcoming state budget," she said.
The case had been set down for a week-long trial.
Judge Peter Davis congratulated BHP and the government on settling a "very, very difficult matter".
"Where there's obviously going to be an ongoing commercial relationship between parties, it's clearly in their interests to have a negotiated settlement, rather than one where a result is imposed," he said.
A spokesman for BHP said they were pleased to have resolved the matter.
"All parties have agreed that the terms of the settlement should remain confidential," he said.
When the legal dispute over coal royalty payments first emerged publicly in 2015, BHP said the dispute primarily related to the proper basis for calculating the value of coal for royalty purposes under Queensland law.
BHP said at the time that it calculated its coal royalties based on the first sale of its product, which is to its marketing entity in Singapore.
The Queensland Office of State Revenue, meanwhile, argued royalties should be calculated based on the price that coal was sold for by BHP's Singapore marketing entity.
The dispute was related to assessments of royalty returns from several Queensland coal mines.
Those mines were Saraji, Peak Downs, Norwich Park, Gregory, Goonyella, Blackwater, Daunia and Red Mountain, and Caval Ridge.
