Opinion: Future of our food bowl at risk from proposed mine

“All the damage to our environment will have occurred for only a few years of coal production, with little economic return, and even less benefiting locals.”

There have been several letters published in recent weeks about concerns relating to Fox Resources Ltd and their Mineral Development Licence. Photo: File.​

There have been several letters published in recent weeks about concerns relating to Fox Resources Ltd and their Mineral Development Licence 3040.

In today’s world there are multiple issues connected with any fossil fuel mining operation.

This mining proposal raises huge concerns relating to food and water security, both in the local region and in the country as a whole, the effects of further carbon dioxide release from burning the coking coal, seawater intrusion into the freshwater aquifer in this region, and the economic feasibility and lifespan of the project.

The local region is a food bowl and generates more than $1 billion in annual income for Bundaberg businesses, along with the thousands of jobs it creates.

A huge area of this food bowl would be at risk from developing a mine in this area.

Not only will it produce gigalitres of water containing toxins and silt, but it will also put the regional aquifer, the freshwater under our feet, at huge risk, when it is already listed as ‘highly vulnerable’ (1).

The coking coal to be extracted at the proposed mine would be used to make steel, and people need to realise that the need for this coal is very likely to be replaced within a decade by using hydrogen for steel making.

European steel makers expect that hydrogen production will be economically viable by 2030 (2).

This means that all the damage to our environment will have occurred for only a few years of coal production, with little economic return, and even less benefiting locals.

When the mine is unviable, there will be no money available for environmental rehabilitation, which will be near impossible to achieve anyway.

Dr Simon Tannock, BSc (Biochem), MPhil (Biotech), PGDipHortSci (OenVit), PhD (EnvEng)