The council has applied for three petroleum exploration licences in the far north-west and north coast NSW, putting it in the frame to become Australia’s first Indigenous commercial miner.

The council’s chief executive, Geoff Scott, who grew up at Narromine, said Aboriginal people wanted to control their destinies and would mine petroleum and gas with more sensitivity for cultural heritage and the environment than others might.

“Rather than get the crumbs that fall off the table, we want to be at the table,’’ said Mr Scott, who was in Dubbo yesterday.

“Our initial geology studies are showing their potential is enormous. This is a paradigm shift.”

He said the council’s approach would be “purely on a business footing, not political”. It was a strategic move where the council was better off being a player, rather than missing another opportunity.

The council had a joint venture partner that would provide most of the cash and expertise required to follow through any petroleum exploration and extraction, he said.

He did not identify the partner. Profits would be split equally, he said.

None of the titles fell on land owned by Aboriginal people, he said.

The land council, Mr Scott said, was a registered charity and all revenue gained from mineral extraction would be for the benefit of Aboriginal people.

He said returns from mining joint ventures would give Aboriginal people “the ability to meet our own needs, and not rely on the public purse’’.

Mr Scott said the proposal would also enhance employment opportunities and he applauded a proposal still under discussion where Dubbo would become a centre for training people to work in the mining industry.

The council lodged the applications with the state government last month.

The land, six kilometres south-east of Murwillumbah, is the smallest at 19 blocks. Each represented 70 square kilometres, Mr Scott said.

The title,45 kilometres outside of Grafton, is 672 blocks, according to the Department of Primary Industries register.

The largest, at 5262 blocks, is in the state’s far north-west, 80 kilometres south, south-east of White Cliffs.