THE lawyer for a Perth developer dubbed the midnight pegger has told a court the Northern Territory government had ``taken exception'' to his client in the ``silliest'' of circumstances.

Norm McCleary sought to outfox at least six global mining corporations when he hammered his pegs into the ground south of Alice Springs a second after midnight on December 7, 2006.

Crown land reservations at the Angela and Pamela uranium deposits had ended at the stroke of midnight.

The Northern Territory government successfully contested McCleary's claim that his stake should take priority because it came hours before a flood of emailed applications.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court dismissed the businessman's case, saying he had sought to exploit ``a loophole in the scheme''.

The government has now taken action against McCleary Investments, charging it with 28 counts of applying for a mineral claim without obtaining the approval of the NT mining warden.

In the Darwin Magistrates Court today, McCleary's lawyer Jon Tippett, QC, said the case was unreasonable.

``This is a silly case, it's a silly premise . . . this is about the government taking exception in silly circumstances,'' he said.

``To single him out is wrong in law.''

Mr Tippett called his client ``a traveller with many other fellow travellers, looking to achieve an advantage like any other mining company does in the circumstances - no different, no less, no more''.

He said other larger companies, which were the ``preferred choice of the government'', now stood to make millions from the sites.

``That motive was shared by every single person and company involved,'' he said.
''(It's) how everyone does business in the mining industry.''

Cameco of Canada and Paladin Resources were granted rights to explore the deposits in October this year.

The announcement had been put on hold for months as a result of the court case, which prevented the government from awarding an exploration licence to any of the 37 companies who applied.

Crown prosecutor Tom Anderson said an application by McCleary to the mining warden that would allow him to enter the land to peg a stake had been rejected a number of times.

``Applications for approval were made and refused,'' he said.

``In the knowledge that these applications were refused, the defendants nevertheless made their claim.''

Mr Anderson said McCleary had hammered a stake into the ground hoping to ``get the jump'' on the other companies by exploiting a loophole and creating a ``nuisance factor''.