CANBERRA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday ordered mining company Fortescue to pay 150.1 million Australian dollars (about 108.7 million U.S. dollars) to the people of Yindjibarndi, an Aboriginal tribe in the northwest, in compensation after Fortescue mined their land without permission.

The Federal Court of Australia in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, ruled that Fortescue is liable for 150 million Australian dollars for cultural loss and 100,000 Australian dollars for economic loss, marking the biggest native title compensation payout ever ordered in Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported late Tuesday.

The Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation had sought 1.8 billion Australian dollars for cultural and economic loss and the destruction of cultural sites, while Fortescue argued that 8.1 million Australian dollars would suffice, the ABC reported.

Federal Court Justice Stephen Burley stressed the Yindjibarndi's "deep and visceral connection" to their land and found that 240 sacred sites within the Solomon Hub mining complex in the Pilbara had become inaccessible, with 124 of them completely destroyed.

Elders told the court their "spirit or will is destroyed" when they saw the damage to their country. Yindjibarndi leaders called the award "peanuts" compared with the billions Fortescue has earned from the mines since 2013.

The company said in a statement that it accepts that the Yindjibarndi are "entitled to compensation" and that Andrew Forrest, founder of Fortescue, "cares deeply about all First Nations people."