Armidale Tree Change for Govt Department

 

Barnaby forgets he is just the Deputy Prime Minister and starts making major decision announcements for clearing it with the Prime Minister.  Barnaby wants to relocate and entire government department to his own electorate in New England in the city of Armidale.

The fall out from this could get interesting.  Barnaby Joyce as Deputy Prime Minister isn't interesting at all but his major screw ups will be.

Read more at these links

• The Land: Coalition confirms APVMA relocation
• Armidale Express: BREAKING: Gov't dept will move to city: Joyce
• News.com.au: You'll get used to it, Joyce tells agency 

Images @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/98897964@N06/

Who is behind ELA 4581 Billy Goat Knob?

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.

View Larger Map

Proposed Work Program ELA 4581 ELA 4581 Billygoat Knob - Group 1 - Antimony

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

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 and
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.

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 

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/questions-about-as-much-as-minister-can-bear-20111027-1mm80.html

 

Related articles

• Global Antimony Industry Reviewed & Forecast in Comprehensive Report Published at MarketPublishers.com (prweb.com)
• Lock the Gate Midnorthcoast (onthehillgilayjun.blogspot.com)
• Global Antimony Industry Reviewed & Forecast in Comprehensive Report Published at MarketPublishers.com (virtual-strategy.com)
• Avoiding Antimony Risk Daily (deliverhealth.wordpress.com)

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/questions-about-as-much-as-minister-can-bear-20111027-1mm80.html

MEDIA IS NOT REPORTING THE REALITY

The state of Australian media is in a shambles. The nine network is very racist and extremely biased.  The Fairfax Media Group is largest shareholder is Gina Reinhart.
I feel the mining companies are buying up the news to report infactual news to keep the masses in the dark.

 

MEDIA RELEASE: New ABC website on CSG: Embarrassing factual errors to be subject of formal complaintA new ABC website, based on what is being referred to as “data journalism”, is riddled with factual errors and will today be referred to ABC Managing Director Mark Scott for immediate investigation.

http://www.wewantcsg.com.au/media/post/p/media-release--new-abc-website-on-csg--embarrassing-factual-errors-to-be-subject-of-formal-complaint

http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/210812-coal-seam-gas-blog.mp3

Mine's toxic flow gives river users a scare.

Macleay River ... dead catfish, shellfish and bass. Photo: Jenny Evans

A PLUME of toxic pollution from an old antimony mine appears to have killed fish for dozens of kilometres along the Macleay River in northern NSW. The state government said there was no increased health risk because the contamination from the Hillgrove mine, east of Armidale, was diluted, but it has been ringing residents along the river as a precaution to tell them not to drink the water.

People living near the river and a tributary called Bakers Creek have found dead catfish, bass and shellfish, following recent heavy rain that caused a storage pond at the mine to overflow.  An investigation by the Environment Protection Authority began in August, and it estimates 900,000 litres of contaminated water entered the river when the storage pond overflowed.

''These overflows have been significantly diluted by rainfall runoff into the dam and from runoff into the creek from the catchment,'' the Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, said in a statement.
''The result of this rainfall is a significant dilution effect with no resultant change to background contaminant levels … water quality has not been impacted.''  But a study published by the CSIRO in 2009 described the waterways near the mothballed mine as ''highly contaminated'' and estimated about 7000 tonnes of waste had accumulated along the bed of the Macleay River.

Water tests have shown antimony levels at 250 times background levels, with high levels detected along the river to the coast at Urunga, where the mineral was once processed for export. 

Antimony, a silver-grey metal used in fire retardants, lead-acid batteries and electronic devices, is potentially fatal if ingested, and even small doses can cause headaches and dizziness. High levels of arsenic were also detected.

''This government is rapidly developing an abysmal record in environmental management,'' said the NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, who recently visited the area around the mine.  He wants a government investigation into health effects and potential loss of income for fishing and tourism operators along the length of the river.  Ms Parker said advice not to pump water from the river was ''standard advice and remains in force at all times''.

The company that owns the mine, Straits Resources, has been trying to minimise the pollution.  'They recently installed a much larger evaporator. In addition, they have been undertaking drainage work to direct stormwater away from the ponds in a bid to minimise inflows,'' Ms Parker said.

The Hillgrove mine may soon be reopened after it was purchased by Ancoa NL. Gold and antimony have been mined in the area since the 1880s.

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

Armidale ...Where there are streets named after my family.

St Kilda Hotel, Armidale, NSW. (Photo credit: jemasmith)

Thomas Butler (Samuel & Patience Butler's son) (Photo credit: Images @ Melonpopzdropz) Armidale is, and always has been special to me. I have wanted to live here forever.  I loved here when I came here a lot when  I was younger and I did live in Tamworth.  Wish I had known what I know now as well.   I would have understood why I loved the place so much and why I could feel my spirit here whenever I am here. 

I want to fully explore this and find my true heritage.  Not the government model played out by the other members of my family.  For a start they are not interested at all in history as they are not interested in LIFE full stop.  Go figure!

Regardless I must live my life for myself and get on with it the best I can.  I will not understand these circumstances .. I cannot as it is inhumane.

For me coming to Armidale was a relief and what a nice surprise to see Taylor  Street and Butler Street and Butler Lane even.  My great great grandfather Mr Samuel Butler of Armidale may have lived in the street I saw yesterday.   He was well known and important here as he was the city's veterinarian.  He saved lives by saving animals lives.

Booloominbah mansion, Armidale, Australia  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I saw the street and the shop I had an extreme case of deja vu.  It was so weird feeling this.  I must find the history of the shop on the corner here in Armidale.

So while we are organizing the Blockade I will organize a look around the History of my  Armidale.  This does excite me.  It excites me to go and fight for our precious Earth.  It excites me that I am not one of the Slaves, and that I can go.
 
Images from my Flickr - Melonpopzdropz Flickr