MINING billionaire Andrew Forrest has applied for four new mineral exploration applications near his expanding cattle operations in Western Australia's Pilbara.
The Fortescue Metals Group chairman's new investment vehicle, Squadron Resources, applied for the licences in late September and early October, according to mineral tenement databases. They are on or near Mr Forrest's own pastoral leases, including the Nanutarra station.
The location of Mr Forrest's exploration and mining leases - almost all of them are for pastoral stations he holds the leases on - have raised questions over whether he has a bone fide interest in the minerals or is using them to block miners from potentially disturbing his cattle operations.
A spokesperson for Mr Forrest said the area was prospective for copper, gold and uranium exploration.
"We will continue to deploy funds into the exploration sector and meet all obligations and maintain the pristine environment," the spokesperson said.
Past investigations by The Australian Financial Review have found that Mr Forrest used companies run by friends or himself, such as Fortescue, to lodge numerous exploration applications over his childhood Pilbara home, Minderoo station, to prevent other miners from accessing it.
It is not clear whether that strategy is being extended to also protect his Nanutarra and Uaroo leases, or whether he intends to explore in earnest. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
A spokesperson declined to comment on whether Mr Forrest's companies had conducted any ground-disturbing exploratory work or whether they had solely engaged in "desktop analysis".
Mr Forrest's Squadron was set up this year to "create world-leading mining operations from areas and geology previously thought unable to support investment". Its portfolio includes investments in listed mining ventures, along with six exploration lease applications that are yet to be granted.
The mining billionaire holds most of his personal exploration and mining leases in a vehicle called Pilbara Property Management.
Though Mr Forrest, who owns meat processing company Harvey Beef, has retained his one-third share in Fortescue, many of his recent purchases have been in the agricultural sector.
He retrieved control of Minderoo in 2009, after it was lost to the family a decade earlier, and in recent years has taken over the leases at Nanutarra, Uaroo, Brickhouse and Minilya stations. This has taken his pastoral land holdings in Western Australia to more than 1 million hectares.
