Rising Tide Australia

Image: a community protest against plans to increase mining in the Gunnedah Basin

CAROONA COAL PROPOSAL

Proponent: BHP Billiton, member and spearhead of the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group.

Location: At Caroona, about 50km southeast of Gunnedah in the Gunnedah Basin of Northern NSW, which the industry refers to as the “new coal frontier”.

Proposal: In April 2006, BHP were given an exploration licence from the NSW Government, in exchange for over $100 million. The agreement between BHP and the government states that a similar figure will be forthcoming if and when the company is given the go-ahead to mine. Claims that this arrangement creates an expectation that mining will proceed, before even any pretence at impact assessments or community consultation, were dismissed out of hand.

The exploration lease covers an area of 344 square kilometres, expected to contain about 500 million tonnes of coal. That much coal, when burned, would produce about 1.2 billion tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide. Australia, by comparison, produces about half a billion tonnes per annum, from all sources.
The proposal to mine coal at Caroona is met with a great deal of scepticism by local communities. The area is regarded as some of the best agricultural country around, due largely to its rich basalt soils and aquifers. When coal mining meets hydrology, the rivers and aquifers invariable come out second best.
The grant of the Caroona exploration licence to BHP is seen as the first step in opening up the “new coal frontier” - the Gunnedah Basin. As the Hunter Valley becomes exhausted of accessible coal, the coal corporations are eating their way north and west. The Gunnedah Basin has an estimated 1,290 million tonnes of recoverable coal. If the coal corporations have their way, and that much coal is dug up and burned, it will produce about 3 billion tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide. That's about 12 percent of annual global emissions from all sources.

Process as at end November 2006: Early stages. BHP expect to turn over some soil in 2012. Apparently they believe that the global citizenry will still be accepting coal mining developments by that stage

Further info:
www.ccag.org.au
www.bhpbilliton.com

Local contacts:
Caroona Coal Action Group
PO Box 119, Caroona, NSW 2343
Justin Grant, Chair
jgrant<AT>ccag.org.au