And Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Tim Shanahan said all parties were aware before the review began that the mining industry was not included in the commission’s brief.
And Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Tim Shanahan said all parties were aware before the review began that the mining industry was not included in the commission’s brief.
The chamber had been represented in the development process by Simcoa operations and public affairs general manager Jim Brosnan in the ministerial stakeholder roundtable, Mr Shanahan said.
“The Government is aware of the level of importance of the resources sector in the South West,” he said. “And the footprint of mining is not that large when compared with a lot of other activities. It may not be so attractive during operations, but is generally well contained.”
In its response to the commission’s draft plan, the chamber has pointed out that the minerals and energy industry is the largest single industry sector in the South West region.
The chamber has also requested access protection for areas potentially hosting mineral or petroleum resources, and put forward some proposals on land classification.
Greens WA MLC Christine Sharp said there was not enough Tuart forest to meet the current minimum conservation target of 10 per cent.
Hence the Greens were opposed to Cable Sands’ proposal to mine in the Ludlow Forest near Capel, even if the company did plan to restore the forest.
A mineral sands mine would disturb the pines which were helping regenerate the current Tuart, still considered young at 60 years old, Dr Sharp said.
Moreover, Tuart seemed to be vulnerable to changes in ground water levels and Cable Sands was proposing to use one million litres of water per day, she said.
Cable Sands is also facing opposition to planned operations at wetlands near Lake Jasper within the D’Entrecasteaux National Park.
Dr Bailey reported the commission had received 4,500 pro-forma submissions and 900 individual submissions in response to the draft plan.
“Our task is to take into account all the submissions and make sure they are all appropriately balanced,” he said.
A DMPR spokesman said the department had made a submission to the Conservation Commission in response to the July draft plan, but this was delivered prior to last month’s meeting between the Chamber and the Commission.
The submission addressed several resources industry issues, he said, but one focus was to ensure access to the State’s resources was taken into account with the preparation of the Forest Management Plan.
The South West mining industry represents a variety of high-profile sectors including alumina, coal, tin, lithium, silicon metal, tantalum and mineral sands.
The combined 2000-2001 output from South West miners has been put at $4.7 billion and the chamber says the industry supports up to 30,000 WA jobs.
Known resources have been evaluated at $250,000 million dollars, a chamber report says.
Environment and Heritage Minister Judy Edwards was unavailable for comment at the time WA Business News went to press.
p Susan Bower toured mining developments in the South West courtesy of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA.
The chamber had been represented in the development process by Simcoa operations and public affairs general manager Jim Brosnan in the ministerial stakeholder roundtable, Mr Shanahan said.
“The Government is aware of the level of importance of the resources sector in the South West,” he said. “And the footprint of mining is not that large when compared with a lot of other activities. It may not be so attractive during operations, but is generally well contained.”
In its response to the commission’s draft plan, the chamber has pointed out that the minerals and energy industry is the largest single industry sector in the South West region.
The chamber has also requested access protection for areas potentially hosting mineral or petroleum resources, and put forward some proposals on land classification.
Greens WA MLC Christine Sharp said there was not enough Tuart forest to meet the current minimum conservation target of 10 per cent.
Hence the Greens were opposed to Cable Sands’ proposal to mine in the Ludlow Forest near Capel, even if the company did plan to restore the forest.
A mineral sands mine would disturb the pines which were helping regenerate the current Tuart, still considered young at 60 years old, Dr Sharp said.
Moreover, Tuart seemed to be vulnerable to changes in ground water levels and Cable Sands was proposing to use one million litres of water per day, she said.
Cable Sands is also facing opposition to planned operations at wetlands near Lake Jasper within the D’Entrecasteaux National Park.
Dr Bailey reported the commission had received 4,500 pro-forma submissions and 900 individual submissions in response to the draft plan.
“Our task is to take into account all the submissions and make sure they are all appropriately balanced,” he said.
A DMPR spokesman said the department had made a submission to the Conservation Commission in response to the July draft plan, but this was delivered prior to last month’s meeting between the Chamber and the Commission.
The submission addressed several resources industry issues, he said, but one focus was to ensure access to the State’s resources was taken into account with the preparation of the Forest Management Plan.
The South West mining industry represents a variety of high-profile sectors including alumina, coal, tin, lithium, silicon metal, tantalum and mineral sands.
The combined 2000-2001 output from South West miners has been put at $4.7 billion and the chamber says the industry supports up to 30,000 WA jobs.
Known resources have been evaluated at $250,000 million dollars, a chamber report says.
Environment and Heritage Minister Judy Edwards was unavailable for comment at the time WA Business News went to press.
p Susan Bower toured mining developments in the South West courtesy of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA.
