Members of a native title group opposed to Indian mining giant Adani's Queensland coal mine have vowed to take the fight to the High Court.
The Wangan and Jagalingou people have previously come to an Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the miner for the $16.5 billion mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.
However some members of the group oppose the mine, and claim the agreement reached is invalid, because they say Adani didn't explain that once native title is relinquished on land it cannot be reclaimed.
The Federal Court in Brisbane on Friday ruled in favour of Adani over the W&J people, with Justice John Reeves ruling all three of the grounds for objection raised had "no merit."
W&J spokesman Adrian Burragubba said that was a disappointing result, and vowed to take the matter to the High Court.
In the meantime he has pleaded with the Queensland government to hold off on handing native title rights to Adani until they make a High Court challenge to the ruling.
However a government spokesperson said it wasn't up to the state government to make that decision.
"We've been clear - this project, like all resources projects, has to stack up economically and environmentally."
For its part, Adani has welcomed the decision, saying they "look forward to working with the state government and the traditional owners to finalise land tenure for the project."
Securing the Indigenous Land Use Agreement is one of the final hurdles for the beleaguered mine project and has hindered its efforts to secure international financing.
Australian Associated Press
