Kakadu National Park

Mining

Overview

For many years, the mining debate has been fuelling the speculation about Kakadu’s future for decades, on one side of the debate are the mining companies, which looks to export Australia’s minerals overseas to make money and benefit the economy and on the other side are The Aboriginal Owners, The land rights activists and environmentalists who want the mining stopped, to preserve the beautiful wilderness that Kakadu is.

Australia has nearly a quarter of all the worlds Uranium supplies. Uranium is needed to fuel Nuclear Power stations, which are a greener and move environmentally friendly way to tackle climate change. Unfortunately much of this uranium is located in Kakadu National Park, Australia’s largest national park and one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The debate is; should there be more uranium mines in Kakadu which would destroy the beautiful landscape which hurt the already slipping tourist economy or leave the park as a wilderness, so Australia cannot use it and export it overseas to make big bucks, which would have a worse effect on the economy?

Where is the land in Kakadu where

 this debate has been going on?

Kakadu National Park is located just west of the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin. This area has some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world and is at the centre of the mining issue. The Ranger Mine, shown at the bottom of the sealed off land on the Kakadu Mining area map has been in Kakadu for a considerable amount of time, and it has had a large effect on the surrounding land, because of the mining itself and the contaminating liquids that get into the Magala Creek. Ever since the start of the 1990s, there has been talk about a second mine, the Jabiluka Mine that plans to be built in the area. Environmental Activists and Aboriginal Owners have campaigned against the mine furiously against the company setting up the mine, the ERA (Energy Resources Australia). If completed, the mine would be dangerously close to beautiful Magla wetlands, and it would have a huge impact on them.

The Australian Government gave the Jabiluka Mine the go ahead in 1997, but the environmentalists campaigned against it so hard, that it was held up and stopped. The debate about the new Jabiluka mine is continuing today and neither side is preparing to back down. This is where the mining debate is at its most heated.

Against the new Jabiluka mine in Kakadu is The Mirrar Tribe, The traditional Aboriginal People who own this land. Also with the Mirrar Tribe are environmentalists, who joined forces with the Aboriginals and Land rights activists in their “battle” against the mine. The environmentalists wrote to the World Heritage Bureau in Paris, arguing their case.

Up against them is the powerful mining company ERA (Energy Resources Australia) who say that the mine is worth over $4 billion to the Australian economy and will apparently have little impact on the surrounding Area. The Australian Government did give the go ahead to the mine in 1997, but it was stopped by the environmentalists.

 These are the two sides that are involved

in the mining debate in Kakadu National

Park:

On One Side

The Environmental

Concerns of the new mine in

 Kakadu National Park:

Many environmentalists have said that the new Jabiluka mine will be a “hole in a donut”, and it certainly seems the case. The Jabiluka site is surrounded by the beautiful World Heritage Kakadu Wetlands. If the politicians say the mine will have little or no impact on the surrounding area, then the chances of that happening are quite small. The mine would without doubt further contaminate the already contaminated Magala River, which would severely contaminate the beautiful wetlands, killing off all the animals that live in the area, which would hugely affect the ecosystem of Kakadu National Park.

Many environmental groups including The Virginia Young Society claim that the toxic waste that’s in the ground as a result of mining will have to managed and monitored for 300,000 years!! It may not be that long, but the scar left by the mine will be there for many thousands of years in the future.

The land also holds a huge amount of cultural significance to the Mirrar Aboriginal Tribe, who has been living on the land for over 50,000 years. The Aboriginal Tribe has many sacred sites in Kakadu, which would without a doubt be affected by the mine. The Mirrar people also believe that the mine would not bring any financial benefits to them, and they quite right, for it is obvious that after over 20 years of uranium mining from the Ranger mine, they know that the debit and the negative sides of the mine outweigh the credit and positive sides by far. And it is obvious; a mine will leave a bitter ugly mark in the beautiful landscape for many years to come.

And On The Other Side….

The Value to local and

 Australian Economy:

The Uranium Mines in Australia supply a large amount of Uranium to the world. As Australia owns 24% of the worlds known uranium resources. Australia needs to supply more uranium from the increasing Nuclear Power Market. Nuclear Power provides 14% of the worlds power supply, and it is vital to make a new mine for Australia to reap in the benefits, which is vital at a time of global economic uncertainty.

Located 250km west of Darwin, The Ranger Uranium mining area, provides 350 local jobs which boost the local economy. The proposed the Jabiluka mine will increase the amount of jobs which will also boost the local economy as well. On top of providing jobs, the small power planet at Ranger supplies power to the surrounding communities. Also the ERA promises to pay 4.25% of its sales and $200,000 in rent to the Aboriginal Communities.

On a National Scale, the new Jabiluka Mine will alone provide a $4 billion dollar boost to the Australian Economy, which will help in a time of financial uncertainty. Overall the mines combined will provide well over

$6 billion. This will help the Australian economy well.

Nuclear demand is increasing at the moment with over 442 commercially operated power stations around the world. And with 30 new ones being constructed in China, India, Europe and America, Australia will quickly rake in the benefits, being one of the largest suppliers of uranium in the world.

 You can see both sides of the argument and there is no chance of a compromise happening at the moment. The Kakadu Uranium Mining debate will be going on for many years to come.

By Nick W