Acting Premier Eric Ripper said two of the registered claimants groups, the Ngarluma Yindjibarndi and Yaburara Mardudhunera, had signed the agreement late last year and the third and final group, the Wong-goo-tt-Oo, had signed the agreement in Karratha yesterday morning.

Under the terms of the deal, title to more than 60% of the Burrup peninsula will be transferred to the native title claimants and leased back to the State to be jointly managed by the native title claimants and the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

The package includes: $500,000 for the development of a management plan for the reserve; $2.25 million over five years for the management of the reserve; and $8 million over five years for the construction of buildings and infrastructure, including a visitor centre and roads and tracks.

As for the sticky issue of protecting valuable rock art on the industrial estates, the deal will include protective measures such as prohibition on ground disturbing activities in certain areas as well as conducting a comprehensive heritage survey over those parts of the industrial estates that have not yet been surveyed

In response to local community concerns about access, the deal will provide for public access to key sites such as Hearson Cove, Cowrie Cove and Conzinc Bay. The government will also spend $275,000 on Aboriginal employment, education and training.

In other good news for the Burrup Peninsula, financing of a $500 million methanol plant should be in place by the end of next month, according to the project's proponent, London-based GTL Resources.

GTL said all project documentation should be finalised by the end of March, enabling initial site work to begin in the following three months.

GTL's Liquigaz plant is forecast to produce one million tonnes of methanol a year from early 2006.