The Jabiluka mine was under lease to Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) which also operates the adjacent defunct Ranger uranium mine next to Kakadu National Park, near Jabiru, 300km east of Darwin.
About two weeks before the 42-year lease expired in August, the Northern Territory's then Labor mining minister, Mark Monaghan, refused to extend it after receiving advice from federal Labor Resources Minister Madeleine King.
The lease renewal was rejected partially due to federal government plans to extend Kakadu National Park into the area.
As ERA challenges this decision in the Federal Court, it has been given permission to bring new accusations against Ms King over the advice that she gave to Mr Monaghan.
"The (advice) was infected by apprehended bias," the company wrote in amended pleadings filed with the court.
In the documents, which were publicly released on Thursday, Ms King is accused of bias due to a "promise" made to the Mirarr traditional owners that Jabiluka would not be mined.
She was also allegedly told by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to refuse the lease extension and to do so promptly so Mr Albanese could announce the move at Labor's NSW state conference last July.
At the time of giving the advice, Ms King considered information that was "prejudicial and irrelevant," ERA claims.
The firm has sued Ms King, Mr Monaghan, the federal and NT governments as well as the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust and the Northern Land Council.
In September, Yvonne Margarula, representing the Mirarr traditional owners of the Jabiluka site, was allowed to join the lawsuit despite ERA's opposition.
Two ERA shareholders, Zentree Investments and Packer & Co, also applied to be joined but were barred in October after the court found the company itself could properly pursue the case on its own.
An offer to buy the Jabiluka lease for $550 million by Boss Energy was withdrawn after Ms Plibersek announced the government intended to incorporate the site into Kakadu, ERA said in affidavits filed with the court.
In its 2023 annual report, ERA said there were no plans to develop the Jabiluka area into a uranium mine, saying it could not do so without the approval of the Mirarr traditional owners.
It has said its priority would be to rehabilitate the Ranger mine, which comes at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.
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