In the heart of iron ore country in Western Australia's Pilbara region, brothers Murray and Ray Kennedy are standing their ground against the mining industry.

The veteran pastoralists have run Roy Hill cattle station for over forty years but they have become an endangered species.

Many Pilbara stations have been bought up by mining companies but the Kennedys, now in their twilight years, have refused to move on.

"I don't see why we should," Murray Kennedy said.

"Not at 25 percent of the value of the property, no way, that's just robbery."

The brothers are well-known in the Pilbara for their tough negotiating skills and the colourful characters are rarely seen without their pet dingo, Baby.

"She's the boss," Ray Kennedy said with a laugh.

"She rounds up Murray and I and we've got to do as we're told. Simple, she's a bloody female."

Baby even has her own security pass to the nearby Fortescue Metals Group's (FMG) Christmas Creek mine and has a meeting room at the mine-site named after her.

"They're the gentleman's miners," Murray Kennedy said of mining magnate Andrew Forrest's company FMG.

But the 72-year-old is not as complimentary about other neighbours.

"The mines are gradually eating into our pastoral lease, preventing us from making a decent living," he said.

"These bloody miners want us to subsidise them."

Power line fight against Gina Rinehart

The Kennedy brothers' pet dingo Baby has her own security pass to an FMG mine. ( Hugh Brown )

A $10 billion iron ore project by Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, is the latest arrival in the Kennedys' backyard.

The brothers reached a deal with Roy Hill Holdings, which is 70 per cent owned by Mrs Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting, to allow the mine to go ahead on a portion of their lease.

Since then, the company has built up a good relationship with the Kennedys, according to Roy Hill manager Darryl Hockey.

"I'll quite often drop in with some sausage rolls and cakes, but yes, we've got a great relationship with them," he said.

"They've got that good old Aussie outback spirit, they know what they want and they push for it."

"But, they do that in a very respectful way."

However, plans for an overhead transmission line to power the new Roy Hill mine is testing the fragile peace.

Working around power cables would be 'suicidal', says Murray

The power line, to be built by Alinta Energy, would run for 80 kilometres through the Kennedys' station and link the new Roy Hill mine to a power station in Newman.

The Kennedys believe the power cables will be a bushfire and mustering hazard.

"You can't fly close to power lines, it's suicidal," Murray Kennedy said.

"So we've got to sterilise that area from that type of work, so really we need to relocate fences, firebreaks and stock watering points."

The Kennedys cite figures from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau showing there were 267 so-called "wire-strikes" across Australia between 2003 and 2011.

The strikes are where aircraft have hit power or telecommunications cables.

Mustering pilot Ross McDowell has been handling the Kennedys' latest muster and can vouch for the danger.

He cut power to a BHP mine in the Pilbara in 2003 when he flew into powerlines.

"Just the classic scenario is so many pilots running power lines that they know are there," he said.

"It's a lapse of concentration, just not seeing them.

"A lot of the time, you're used to looking out of the door and down at the ground. You're not used to looking up before you turn and the next thing, there's a power line."

Alinta Energy executive director Michael Riches says the company has enlisted an aviation consultant to come up with the best safety measures.

"We'll obviously meet the Australian standard for transmission lines with visibility balls," he said.

"We've developed the transmission line so it runs alongside the Marble Bar Road so that'll be another visual indicator.

"And we've offered the Kennedys to pay for and install GPS devices into their aircraft which will identify the transmission line."

The brothers are worried about the 'death threat' that the power lines pose. ( Hugh Brown )

Compensation no incentive for Kennedys

According to the Kennedys, there has also been talk of compensation - about $80,000 so far.

"We don't want money, we don't want a dollar," Murray Kennedy said.

"It's the death threat of the power line that's the problem and if it doesn't catch us, it'll catch someone else."

But, the Kennedys are at a disadvantage in these negotiations.

Greens MP Robin Chapple says pastoralists who hold leases over crown land have limited power when a mining company turns up on their doorstep.

"Quite often nowadays you see the mining industry buying up pastoral stations to stop that interaction," he said.

"What we've now got unfortunately is a few pastoralists left, not many, and those that are left are continually having battles with mining corporations."

But Mr Chapple says the Kennedys shouldn't be underestimated.

"They're not shy about taking on the big boys," he said.

"They are old timers, but they're very sharp gentlemen."

Brothers will fight to the end

The Kennedys' fight to stop the power line comes as they round up their last 400 head of cattle for this year.

They are calling for an independent evaluation of the costs of running the power line underground compared to overhead.

"There are many, many countries around the world that are using underground power now," Murray Kennedy said.

"Belgium, for instance, has legislated that there is to be no overhead power lines."

But Alinta Energy says it is not a realistic option.

"We looked at that option at the start of the project," Mr Riches said.

"We don't believe it's viable and an aerial transmission line, which is the form of line used by everyone else throughout the Pilbara, is the safest option."

But the brothers are also questioning why an alternative pitch by natural gas company APA Group to build its own gas pipeline and power station at Roy Hill was discounted.

Meanwhile, the Roy Hill project looks set to become one of the biggest mining projects in Australia, with a permanent workforce of over 2,000 when it is tipped to go into full operation in late 2015.

"It's going to be a 55 million tonne per annum iron ore mine, we're going to build a new 340-kilometre heavy haul railway and new port facilities at Port Hedland," Mr Hockey said.

But the crucial power line still needs final state government approval.

The Kennedys will be fighting it right to the end and they have some big numbers of their own to throw around.

"In this country, we can be viable producers of millions of meals, which the world needs," Murray Kennedy said.

"Agriculture will be around for a long time, after iron ore.

"When all the mines are finished, if there's any land of any value left, you will still hear the cattle, moo-ing up and down the creek."