CORUNNA DOWNS

Corunna Downs will become a major open pit for miner Atlas Iron.
Nestled out the back of Marble Bar

they r even drilling up around sharks gully were a lot of gold has been dug up over the years by the owners.
Had the opportunity to detect there years ago and its a nice place --shame it see it all dug up and a bloody big hole appear in the ground.

If this government was half smart they would put a hold on tonnage exported to force the commodity up in value just like our arab mates do to oil with their round table price fixing schemes and cartels..how dumb r we, but life goes on.

regards
oneday

Life now is all about making $$$$$$$$$$ and nothing else.
Like ya say, another big hole in the ground.
Proves what I've always being saying, West Oz is just the mining pit of the world and it doesn't matter who is in government, they don't care.

You're right there Cliff as long as these so called beaurocrats can find a
way to spend the tax payers money on their own stuff ups & not their own!!!!

Cheers

Ted

And I might add the tiny holes   left by some uncaring detector people are highlighted by greens  etc

ha ha , sorry ray drifted of the thread , Corunna downs , Pilbara ,i had a look around there , lots of history from ww2 , its got a large secret air strip our planes used when Darwin & the north was under attack from the japs , didn't find gold from memory ,it was just good to check it out albo.

Yep the Secret Airfield from WW2, Nearly stayed a secret to me. Drove around most of the day looking for it, No map, Figured it would be openly signposted and if it was, i missed them. Finally came across it mid arvo. Well worth a look around. Beaut looking country out that way !



Note the White dirt Airstrip, Mounded Aircraft bunkers to the left, Old building slabs just below me on the left

Cheers
Ashley

noticed now the station is up for sale --more restrictions if a mining company get hold of it

regards
oneday

ar cheers Ash , was going off distant memory great pic of the massive basalt , runs that go forever around marbly bar & don't look natural .. but they are , thanks , got the itch started again , good pic , albo.

Thanks albo, A few more pics of that beaut country to stir the memory !

This one's from behind me

Ny Nissan parked in the Bomber bunker

And this one i call the "Bleeding Hills", Your right the Basalt Hills look un-natural and just keep going.
Cheers
Ashley

Nice photos Ashley. The airfield on Curruna has lots of stories associated with it. The classic is that there's mean't to be a bunker there that's full of brand new harleys etc etc. Years ago, like all young hopefulls, we had to have a look for it didn't we? Well, since then I've heard similar stories at other old airfields around the place. Never heard of any being found though. Funny that....

Any planes that came back with bombs on board had to drop them before landing. I've had many a good signal turn into shrapnel. Also used to find lots of recognisable bomb bits around the place such as the propellors that armed the bombs on the way down.

Oneday, I agree entirely about mining companies taking over. They are 'buying' away their problems, we bear the cost. Controlling pastoral leases should simply not be allowed.

I know there is a very 'anti greenie' sentiment here. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions but don't tar everyone with the same brush. If you're anti the 'radicals' then fine, but if you are anti 'environmentalists' then we have a difference of opinion. Have a look at the EPA's 2013 annual report. There has been 3000km2 of clearing approved for mining in the pilbara. BHP has a strategic proposal that if granted would give them the right to clear about another 1000 km2. Then there's RIO and FMG and ATLAS etc etc. Have a look at the fortescue marsh on google. Its between the Hamersley and Chichester Ranges. When you get a good rain there a 60 x 20 km lake forms there and you gets countless thousands of pelicans, spoonbills and the like breeding there. It is like one of those national geo documentaries - very special place. The owner of one of the stations told me how fragile the place was. It looks flat but it isn't. Drive a car through it and the track will catch water and erode and trees will die from being either too wet or too dry. Most of the current mining is strip mining on the flanks of that marsh for the alluvial iron ore. Individual proposals are all around 100km2. Compared to the classic convert hill into hole approach, this new strip mining seems like a very big footprint for the amount of ore won.

But that's cool, dig it up, take the iron ore and just rehabilitate it and everything is sweet. They've been mining since the 60s so it should all be sorted. How much has been rehabilitated then I hear you thinking?. Well basically stuff all. Problem is they can't even bring back spinifex and mulga....

Sorry for the rant but I am not happy about what we are doing and what we are leaving for our children and theirs. We are just allowing the mining companies to dictate what they will receive. The reason all this is happening is that no-one really gives a damn. NO ONE ever objects through that EPA process. I am not anti-mining, I am more than happy to give them a slice of our cake for a proper price. Instead we are giving them the whole cake on a plate, and selling it to them for a bargain. Like its about to go off or something if we don't flog it now. We get the crumbs off the floor after they have pigged out.

We need people who will get off their proverbials and do something. I don't mean chaining yourself to bulldozers and that crap, I mean people in society saying hold on a sec, what is going on and what is the big picture plan for our country. All sadly lacking.

Stingray

Stingray,
Very good and well balanced post mate.
Over the years we have seen Environmental protections in place become eroded bit by bit and by stealth. This country's sovereinty being eaten into by greed and it seems the government on all sides has become powerless to the "machine" it has just let happen to sustain their lack of ability to manage the country for the better of the people it is supposed to serve and protect. Even the environmentalist movement is getting less and less power these days. To be honest I used to be a hell of a lot more passionate about this country's environment than I am today, but occasionally wonder why I bother when you see what is taking place these days.

Stingray if you were the Leader of lets say "The Prospectors Party" I would vote for you.  .Geez if the Motoring enthusiast party can get a seat, why not.
RW

I agree with u stingray however we r fighting the proverbial Dollar--it becomes an emotional argument--jobs--royalties etc--there is a no win to the operations of these big companies..

remember Cazaly verses Rio when Rio forgot to renew its leases...mmmm.

I'm as green as the next guy --trouble is we all have brown skin.

regards
oneday

Agree with what ya said Ray. The mining industry always say they create jobs, yeah FIFO, no new towns like they used to do it.
Mining is short term now, rip it out and then bugger off and leave a another big hole for some else to fix. And as if the money they now have to pay to regenerate will ever be used for that purpose.
As for royalties, chicken feed.
They are ripping WA apart and as far as I'm concerned, they are not paying their way. I was in total agreement with the mining tax. Guess who won that argument.
why do ya think the worker, the average Joe Blow on a wage or salary gets slugged to make up the short fall in tax and we got no choice as it's PAYG.
Tree huggers, they have their place but if it interferes with us detectorists, then I hate em and I'll wind them up.
"Kill the Whales, eat Dolphins" and "would ya like to borrow my chainsaw" , it has started many an argument   
Ya can rant an rave forever but what do we do ? Join APLA, that's what ya do. They are the only organization standing between us and them.

I must admit dugong is a very salty meat but still nice --so they say..

regards
oneday

And I wouldn't mind tasting some of the meat from the sharks the Gov is about kill.
I think a Great White will taste good, with some chips and maybe a squeeze of lemon and a bit of pepper.
And salad of ya choice on the side    

Hope the airfield and surrounds are not touched in the future as they have a bit of historical significance.

Just got back from some time fishing up the coast and enjoying this great country. We can count our lucky stars that there's no iron ore on the beach in the mid-west!

Mmmm just got distracted by the gold price up there in the corner...

Anyway, it is good to see that others share my concerns - you are all spot on. And RogaWilko - no freekin way would I get into politics! There's better things in life and other ways of doing it...

Bignuggs is right - you actually need to do something. And sitting back pointing at the TV saying "you gotta be kidding me" just doesn't cut it.

If I get my act together, I'll try and identify when the next one of these big mines is being assessed, and post a link to the documentation. Check it out and you be the judge. If I get my act together I'll point out a few things for you.

Stingray

ps. Dugong   
Great White    too much mercury

sautéed koala is a treat , & dolphins make triffic snapper bait ... yep like fish in a barrel ..... only redneck gamin with ya   

Yep albo platypus tastes very similar to koala when barbecued, best at medium rare, gazza

I to hope the area around the air strip is preserved for everyone to visit and see a bit of history.It is a very senic area and i have enjoyed my visits there.It would be great for it to remain untouched and maybe sign posted for all to enjoy.There is a lot of information on the air strip and the area at the Commet Gold Mine visitors centre.

  Good write up StingRay.
World needs more more folk like yourself.

Thanks Decanfrost.  I said I would let people know when another mine came up for assessment. I was waiting for a bigger one, but here you go:

https://consultation.epa.wa.gov.au/seven-day-comment-on-referrals/brockman-syncline-4-iron-ore-project-revised-propo/consult_view

I've just done a quick scan of it. This is not a 'new' mine proposal it is a proposed expansion to an already approved iron ore mine. To summarise for you:

The key changes:
* The extent of clearing was originally 24.7 km2, and they want to increase it by another 10.9 km2 - total of 35.6 km2.
* The groundwater from dewatering pits was originally approved in 2007 at 6.2 ML/day (6.2 million litres/day) or 2.3 GL/year (2,300 million litres/yr) then in 2008 they asked for and were granted a change to 12 ML/day, and all this would be used. Now they want to abstract 17.5 ML/day (6.4GL/year) and they can't use it all so they will discharge to a creek.
* At peak dewatering that creek which is normally dry is going to flow for 37 km.
* In terms of rehabilitation of the cleared areas, there is nothing. It seems that RIO can set their own performance targets, and all of that is all going to be managed by the mines department in 30 or so years…
* There is likely to be acidic water in any unfilled pits that will contain heavy metals.
* They will bury most of the acidic rocks underground and not let it oxidise or get wet?
* RIO wants this proposed expansion to be a 'non-significant change' to an existing approval. * They want most of the existing conditions of approval lifted. Just little things like where the pits will be, where the dumps will be, where they will put camps, roads and other infrastructure.

What you see on the link is what they want the EPA to assess. And don't forget, this mine is just one of many, and it is comparatively small.

So, there you go, what do you reckon? You be the judge.

Regards
Stingray

Thanks for the concise summery bro

I know this doesn't marry with the title of this post but I posted some info over a year and a half ago in this post about clearing etc associated with iron ore mining in the pilbara. Here's an update on some mining proposals in the Pilbara I got off the EPA website.  This is only for the last 6 or so months but note that it includes some existing mines (marandoo and West Angelas) that were previously approved but have new expansions. There have been other very large new ones (eg Koodiadarie) but I can't be bothered going back to find them so it is probably about right anyway

Project                                           clearing area (ha)      de-watering (GL/yr)
Hope Downs                                         5655 ha                           5 GL
Baby Hope                                            800 ha
BHP ore body 31                                   2500 ha                       16.2 GL
Marandoo                                             3749ha                        36.5 GL
BHP ore body 32                                    350ha
Robe West Angelas A and F                    7890ha                           6 GL
Total                                              20,844ha              63 GL/yr

That's 208 km2 and 63 thousand million litres of water. Thats a lot of clearing that is essentially permanant, and a couple of desal plants worth of water each year, for iron ore which is worth very little to us as a community given the current and forseeable price. One of the dewaterings into a creek/river had a limit of ensuring that in the non-flow period it doesn't flow for more than 20km. Most have to backfill the hole so that there is no groundwater showing in the bottom. And they all need a mine closure plan and rehab plan.

Interesting equity and scale issues….
For the bloke with a metal detector you open maybe 0.25 m2, take the gold, fill the hole with the dirt you took out and rehab done. You would have to dig up 40,000 nuggets to disturb 1 ha in total.
For a little guy with a PL, you can only have 2ha open at any one time, you rehab 1 ha and you can open another. You rehab as you go. The rehab is easy coz you leave the dirt (which has the seeds and the structure) and only take the gold. Put the dirt back, contour and reveg will happen.
For the big guy in the i/ore game, you basically take everything from thousands of ha, including the dirt and leave rock. You only have to rehab after you have closed the mine. You put the mine into care and maintenance.

Now make sure you don't put your holes into care and maintenance - fill your holes as you go won't you - at least so they are not open below the water table.

Stingray

The mining companies have accumulated tremendous power over the decades - they play the tune and the government dances to it; the Liberals more so than Labour. The mentality, to plug up the holes left by sheer greed over short term interests, is in full swing to the delight of present, and prospective share holders with the well known attitude: the flood behind me will level irregularities!
A very potent subject. Thank you Stingray to present us with such graphical details.
Steady Eddie