Two iron ore mines in the Northern Territory are slated to resume production, and that has indigenous leaders, fishermen, and tourism operators concerned about the environmental impact.

The mines shut down after the iron ore crash of 2014, but now have new owners.  Al Rawda Resources from the United Arab Emirates bought the Sherwin mine and renamed the Australian subsidiary Northern Territory Iron Ore Pty Ltd (NTIO).  The company wants to build a barge landing near the mouth of the Roper River, so the ore can be taken out to a larger boat in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Some of the nearby Aboriginal communities see the potential for jobs, but others fear mining dust.

"We don't want our animals to be red (from iron ore dust) like they were at Bing Bong," said Mara clan elder Grace Daniels of the Traditional Owners in Ngukurr to the ABC.  "I felt really sad and cried when I heard from my family at Borroloola that everything (near Bing Bong) was red, the bird, the saltwater fish, everything.

"So we don't want any more ports to be put anywhere," she lamented.

Likewise, tourism and fishers are worried about the Roper River, famous for its large barramundi.

"We can't see how that's not going to have an impact on the environmental flows that are needed in that river during the dry season," said Warren de With , President of the Amateur Fisherman's Association.  "The Roper is one of the most pristine rivers we have in the Northern Territory, its one of those place where you have a very good opportunity to catch a trophy-sized barra, and for them (NTIO) to disrupt that by having barges going in and out of the mouth, it may disperse or destroy some of the habitat that barra rely on."

The other mine also has new foreign ownership.  Western Desert Resources went into voluntary administration in 2014, setting the stage for the international shipping logistics company Britmar to take over the Roper Bar mine.

Tourism operator Rhett Walker remembers the previous owners cutting an illegal road through his property in 2013, and the ill effects.

"Within a few months there was a bitumen road running through my property (with) haul trucks running every nine minutes," Mr. Walker said, "There was red dirt and dust for a few hundred meters either side of the road and I had to warn every single (visitor) not to get hit by a road train."

The Mineral Council of Australia told the ABC that it hopes the mines are back up and operating sooner rather than later.