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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-12 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

MINERAL EXPLORATION

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:15): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement about mineral exploration at Mount Gee in the Northern Flinders Ranges.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:15): I have now received the initial findings of a PIRSA compliance investigation into Marathon Resources exploration activities at Mount Gee within Arkaroola. Investigation by PIRSA officers has confirmed that a significant breach of exploration licence conditions has occurred with the unauthorised burial of a large number of exploration samples, drilling material and other waste. The report of the joint investigation by the EPA and PIRSA is currently being finalised.

As a consequence of these findings, the government will require that all unauthorised buried drill sample material and general waste be safely excavated and removed from Arkaroola. The site must be rehabilitated back to as close as possible to original conditions. The company has also been instructed to cease further drilling and to demobilise from Arkaroola as quickly as possible. No new holes will be drilled. The company will also be required to review and report on its environmental management systems and procedures and to fully consult with all stakeholders.

While this strong action has been taken, it should be recognised that PIRSA officers, in consultation with EPA officers, have confirmed that the buried material does not constitute a significant environmental risk to the surrounding environment, nor does this material constitute a health risk to visitors and wildlife at Arkaroola. PIRSA has quarantined the disposal site from access by anyone entering the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

The Northern Flinders Ranges has been an important part of the history of mining in this state. Uranium was first found in the area in 1910. After that initial discovery of uranium mineralisation, exploration of the mineral-rich regions around Mount Painter and Mount Gee was carried out by the commonwealth in the 1940s. Since 1965, there has been continuing exploration activity in the Mount Gee area, with major exploration programs conducted by Exoil in the 1960s and 1970s and CRAE in the 1990s, followed by a long list of explorers, including BHP, WMC, Shell Minerals, Kennecott, Anglo American, and Geosurveys. Marathon Resources has been actively exploring around Mount Gee since 2002.

Long before tourists discovered this visually striking part of the state, mineral explorers and geologists had criss-crossed the ranges, creating trails and drill holes and removing samples for assaying. Radioactive deposits mined from this part of the state and carried out by camel were used in Noble Prize winner Marie Curie's early scientific experiments. The Arkaroola Tourist Resort, established in 1968, is situated on a few acres of freehold land adjoining the Arkaroola Pastoral Station.

The resort also owes its origins to the mining industry. Reg Sprigg, one of South Australia's greatest geologists and the man who purchased the Arkaroola pastoral lease to preserve the area, was recognised as an expert on the uranium deposits in the region. Reg Sprigg first visited the area in 1937 as a geology student of Sir Douglas Mawson, the Professor of Geology at Adelaide University, who visited the area regularly with his students. Then, from June 1944 to September 1945, the commonwealth government, in conjunction with the South Australian government, undertook an investigation of uranium deposits at Mount Painter, at the request of the British government.

Geologists from the Geological Survey of South Australia, who were involved in mapping the uranium resource, included Reg Sprigg. He played a key role in South Australia's first natural gas discovery that led to the establishment of SANTOS. Before the establishment of Arkaroola Tourist Resort, his mining company actively explored for base metals in the immediate area, and the current owners of the resort are his children Margaret and Douglas Sprigg.

There is no denying the rugged beauty and tourism lure of this part of the state, and that is why the Arkaroola Sanctuary was created and is endorsed by this government. However, the mining industry is inextricably linked to this remote part of the state. Small historic mine workings and prospecting pits are scattered through the Mount Painter Inlier and surrounding areas. The 4-wheel-drive ridge top track, which is a popular tourist attraction, operated by the Arkaroola Tourist Resort, is a positive legacy of those decades of mineral exploration within the Northern Flinders Ranges.

Acknowledging this co-existence of mineral exploration and tourism is key to understanding the unique nature and character of the region. That is why governments over the past 50 years have sought to achieve a balance between exploration in the Flinders Ranges and Arkaroola Sanctuary that preserves the unique character of the region and the importance of tourism.

To ensure this balance is attained, this government imposes strict conditions on resource companies exploring in this sensitive part of the state. That is why, when state government agencies Primary Industries and Resources SA and the Environment Protection Authority were alerted to a possible breach of those conditions by Marathon Resources in the Arkaroola Sanctuary, a joint investigation was launched.

Marathon Resources has submitted a number of exploration work approvals for exploration drilling around Mount Gee since December 2005.

Marathon Resources and previous exploration licence holders have been required to operate under strict conditions which only allow exploration to be carried out in such a way that it does not cause significant surface disturbance and impact on the environmental and landscape values within the tenement.

PIRSA has ensured that the conditions set out under the Declaration of Environmental Factors for each work program approval require the appropriate management and disposal of waste and hazardous material.

A joint team of investigators dispatched to the Mount Gee area in January confirmed the presence of sites within the company's exploration lease that had been used to dispose of unwanted exploration drilling samples and other general refuse.

Two large trenches had been excavated by Marathon Resources to dispose of low-level radioactive drill samples and some general camp site litter, which is a clear breach of the conditions imposed and accepted by the company as part of the approval process for its drilling programs. Significant amounts of drilling samples in plastic and calico bags were discovered to have been buried at the site, a well as general waste materials.

The company was also asked to divulge any further breaches of its operating conditions and explain damage to a unique crystallised mineral occurrence within the tenement.

Since the detection of this breach of approval conditions, PIRSA and the EPA have been investigating how such a breach occurred, the extent of the breach and avenues for remediation. Marathon Resources has fully cooperated with PIRSA and the EPA during the investigation. Marathon Resources has completed its own internal investigation into this matter and reported the findings to PIRSA.

I now require the company to cease further drilling and to demobilise from Arkaroola as quickly as possible. The company has already demobilised two of its four drilling rigs. To say I am disappointed by the conduct of Marathon Resources would be an understatement. This government expects that conditions agreed in the boardroom are delivered on the ground. In this case, it appears that Marathon Resources was clearly unable to ensure its employees and contractors lived up to those stringent environmental conditions that have been set by government. Governments have tightly regulated all exploration at Arkaroola in past decades, and this is reflected in the fact that the unique landscape values have not been compromised.

What is important now is that the site is cleaned up, that the material is removed, that the company provide a full explanation of its conduct and that steps are taken to ensure appropriate policies and internal controls are implemented by the company. Such a breach also should not go unpunished lest it sends a signal to other resource companies that this state does not vigorously enforce the contractual obligations it imposes on exploration, extraction and rehabilitation on exploration and mining tenements. The government's curtailment of the drilling at Mount Gee is a significant financial impost on the company.

Generally, I believe the mining industry in this state has an excellent record of compliance with licence conditions and environmental objectives. We have over 800 mineral exploration licences in South Australia, and compliance by licence holders to the state's rigorous environmental conditions is extremely high. I certainly view this instance as being absolutely unrepresentative of our state's explorers. The industry is well aware that the failure of individual companies to adhere to the stringent conditions imposed will damage the public's confidence and that this is not good for mining and exploration in this state. We are serious about the conditions set and expect them to be met in full.

It is also important that mining exploration or development is compatible with existing land uses. In particular, any activity in Arkaroola must not adversely impact on the unique landscape of the Northern Flinders Ranges and on the highly awarded ecotourism operations. The government's response to this breach should send a strong signal to resource companies that South Australia is open for business but not at any cost.

I table the following document: PIRSA Compliance Investigation 3258, Findings of Mount Gee Site Investigation Conducted on 16 January 2008.

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