PMR3 PTY LTD and associated companies (PMR 1, PMR4 & PMR5 Pty Ltd) has made 6 applications
under the mining act for exploration licences for group 1 minerals since May 2012.
You can see the full list of current exploration licence applications here
(http://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/titles/status-reports/MineralsMonthly-ELsCurrent2012-06.pdf)
Group 1 minerals include Antimony and Gold but lots more as well.
The area, near Burrapine, inland on the north coast of NSW, is 70 kilometres east of Hillgrove, one of the largest provinces of antimony mineralisation in the world. It includes twenty five former small scale mines, and this mode of occurrence it resembles the Hillgrove province, and other antimony provinces throughout the world including China, which has the largest reserves in the world. Here there are 111 producing areas of antimony ore in 18 provinces. Xikuangshan of Hunan province is an ultra-large antimony deposit.
Objectives
The program aims by the end of the first term to have field examined all previous mines, and to have interpreted their extent and mode of occurrence. Surface geochemistry will have been carried out to prioritise drilling targets. The most significant old mines and newly identified anomalies will be drilled with shallow holes to determine the potential of each for further work by drilling. During the following term drilling out of an inferred resource is planned. It is likely that the nature of the deposits will demand small underground narrow vein mining operations, with several small mines working at once to produce commercial quantities of concentrate for export. Environmental issues are likely to be minimised by this method. Bulk transport and processing at the Hillgrove mine plant may be investigated if possible at the time.
Exploration Methods
Exploration Methods
The program for the initial two year term of the Licence is as follows:
Completion of literature studies
Initially, the Applicant proposes to undertake literature studies in relation to the area of this Application. This will involve a review of all literature and existing geological results for the area so as to formulate a plan of the resource prospectivity and the most appropriate means of exploring same. This review will include in house interpretation of the available geophysical data over the prospective area, and if warranted, detailed reinterpretation and modelling of features which may localise mineralisation conduits.
Landownership negotiations
Subsequent to the finalisation of the literature search, the applicant proposes to contact andLandownership negotiations
negotiate with affected landowners in respect to land access, compensation and/or ownership.
This step will involve the conducting of various land inquiries and onsite attendances to meet with the landowners in question.
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MacLeay River |
How has the Macleay River been poisoned?
‘Hillgrove’ antimony and gold mine is located on the edge of the escarpment, 20 km east of Armidale. Over the last 3 years we have experienced high rainfall which has created spills from the antimony and arsenic holding dams which now leak down the escarpment in to the Macleay river catchment. A study published by the CSIRO in 2009 described the waterways near Hillgrove as ‘’highly contaminated’’ and estimated about 7000 tonnes of waste had accumulated along the bed of the Macleay River.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/mines-toxic-fl ow-gives-river-users-a-scare-20111021-1mcay.html#ixzz28ymJJQIW
The mine operator, Straits Gold, were fined $50,000 dollars in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales for one spill. There have been numerous spills over the last three years. What will be the cost to all of us? The quote below is from a geology report on the Macleay River, before the known spills of the last 3 years. “Estimates of sediment migration rates and amounts of Sb(Antimony) and As(Arsenic)transported in suspension and solution imply that the catchment contamination will be long-term (centuries to millennia) such that environmental effects need to be ascertained and management strategies implemented”.
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences: An International Geoscience Journal of the Geological Society of Australia-Volume 54, Issue 1,2007
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120090600981467#preview
The residents of Bellbrook, on the banks of the Macleay River are to receive a water treatment plant after having drinking water trucked into town due to the Macleay being poisoned. The maximum guideline for drinking water is 30 micrograms/L of Arsenic/Antimony. The levels are 126 times that in the Macleay River.
“A new drinking water treatment plant will ensure Bellbrook residents have a safe, secure and clean drinking water supply”. “This means the residents of Bellbrook can turn on their taps and fill their glasses without fear of water quality issues including heavy metal contamination.”
http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/farrell/2011/mr20110625.html
What is Antimony?
Antimony is a toxic substance used in fire retardants, alloys and electronics. It is potentially fatal if ingested and even small doses can cause headaches, dizziness & nervous disorders. High levels of arsenic were also detected.
Antimony contamination is spread through water, soil and dust in the air. The world price for antimony has increased by 300% in the last two years. Some of the most toxic chemicals known to man are used for mining Antimony. Do you want to see the Nambucca River suffer contamination similar to the Macleay River because of past unsafe mining practices in a high rainfall area?
Our governments insist that mining companies use best practice when it comes to environmental & community safety. Macleay is expected to be poisoned for thousands of years. The contamination of the Macleay River is recognised and acknowledged by the present State Government in the ABC documentary on Antimony and the Macleay River ‘Poison in Paradise’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Nbmk2eNBQ
For further reading Google...Macleay River, Hillgrove, Antimony
http://lockthemidnorthcoast.com.au/downloads/InfoPackv1-colour.pdf
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