Marathon fight over what lies beneath the Flinders Ranges

Comment: No to uranium mining!


Pia Akerman and Michael Owen September 07, 2009
Article from: The Australian

SINCE the 1890s, the rolling mountains and red cliffs of the Flinders Ranges have drawn those seeking treasures below the earth.

In the 1930s, Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson was struck by the geological promise of the harsh terrain, in particular an area known as Arkaroola, 700km north of Adelaide. Since then, mining has had a presence at Arkaroola even after the area was declared a wilderness sanctuary in the 1960s. During World War II, prospectors were bringing uranium out by camel.

But now, the prospect of Marathon Resources continuing to explore for uranium, like many miners before it, has got people worked up.

The anti-Marathon lobby is made up of an array of strange bedfellows including greenies, scientists, tourists and politicians - most notably federal Liberal heavyweight Nick Minchin, who, as resources minister, approved the nearby Beverley uranium mine. They are stepping up a campaign urging the Rann government not to let Marathon continue its work.

The company's mineral exploration licence is up for renewal next month and, with it, the controversy that first erupted when Marathon was caught illegally dumping uranium drilling waste in December 2007. Marathon's drilling program was indefinitely suspended by the state government last year, an action that will not be reviewed until at least the end of this year.

Pressure is mounting on the South Australian government not to let the company, once described by Premier Mike Rann as "cowboys", resume its activities.

Marg Sprigg and her brother Doug - owners of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and the hotel that sits within it, but not what lies under the ground - have led the charge. As flocks of grey nomads visit every year, they have a vested interest in keeping the area protected.

Ms Sprigg, a geologist like her father, denies she is anti-mining. She stresses how pleased the Spriggs were with the conduct of another mining company that explored Arkaroola in the late 1980s. "They did things properly, taking rigs and staff in and out by helicopter," she said. "That's 20 years ago, and you would think that 20 years on there would be more improvement in the way things are done."

Canadian backpacker Abbie Larose, 24, landed in Arkaroola in July, after three months travelling around the east coast. She is now working at the Spriggs's hotel to save money for further travel.

"This sort of area shouldn't be touched," she said. "It should be left as is for people to come and visit."

Peter Williams, chairman of Marathon Resources, acknowledges the sensitivity of Arkaroola and insists the South Australian-based company has a strategy to balance the competing needs of environmentalism and commercialism. "It is a very special area that is sensitive and we respect that - I do not want to do anything that would harm that in the long term," he said.

"In the meantime, it would be an heroic event if people on all sides considered that we could co-exist. It happens in other parts of the world: why can't we do it here?

"There's an enormous resource of uranium in that area that could be developed for our total good, for our benefit long-term."

Marathon, which is being advised by its board director and former Labor senator lobbyist Chris Schacht, as well as an environmental-specialist lobbyist firm, has paid more than $1.8million during the past three years for workers to stay at the Arkaroola hotel, which Mr Williams said was at the request of the Sprigg family.

"Marg Sprigg has been trenchant in her opposition to us but, by the same token, her father Reg encouraged mining and exploration in that place for many, many years - it has 240km of mining roads all over it," he said.

Arkaroola is believed to contain Australia's fifth-biggest undeveloped uranium deposit, but Marathon is confident it is far larger and is fighting for the right to establish the true extent of the resource.

For the Rann government, which has been busy in recent years promoting the state's looming mining boom, it is a tricky predicament to balance green concerns with what is potentially on offer.

Mr Williams said any mining venture would employ about 350 people and provide a royalty stream for the government of $50m a year for up to 15 years.

"Nobody knows the extent of the uranium deposit and that's what we feel we should be obliged to complete," he said. "We need to explore and prove it."

Marathon may forever be haunted by its mistake in dumping drill tailings in plastic bags, ore samples and rubbish at the site, a move uncovered 18 months ago.

The incident led to amendments to the state's Mining Act, which will be introduced into the South Australian parliament this month. Once the amendments are passed, the government will consider lifting an indefinite suspension on the company's drilling program.

Ms Sprigg hopes South Australia's Mineral Resources Development Minister Paul Holloway, whom she describes as "fantastic" for taking action against Marathon, will cancel the company's right to operate in the area, but she is not optimistic.

"When I spoke to Dick Smith about this, he said: 'Jeepers, it would be like mining the Grand Canyon. We wouldn't do it,"' Ms Sprigg said. "If exploration led to mining in Arkaroola, I just think it would be an appalling thing.

"All the values of the place - scenic, ecological - they are all so precious. Why do we have to mine everything? Why do we have to take a chance of affecting things?"

Mr Williams does not want to dwell on the illegal dumping of uranium, other than to say he "regrets what happened (and) we fixed it".

He accepts the opposition of environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society is one of principle and they will never be swayed to accept uranium mining in Arkaroola.

When it comes to Senator Minchin's view, Mr Williams understands it is purely personal, but he does not underestimate the experience the Howard government minister brings to a strategic political campaign against the company.

He said the level of politicking was a "recognition by lots of those people that this is a very large opportunity for the state".

"There could be enormous value lost to this state and the country if we don't give it every shot to have a look at it. I am happy to go along with the debate until we resolve the issue as to whether we can mine it or not," Mr Williams said. Yet the Spriggs say they are galvanised in their opposition because of a promise their geologist father, Reg, made to Mawson 70 years ago.

Mawson asked Dr Sprigg, who was then heavily involved in early studies of the surrounding mountains, to ensure Arkaroola was protected for future generations. That promise helped prompt Dr Sprigg to buy Arkaroola in 1967 and turn it into a wilderness sanctuary.

Senator Minchin, a conservative factional powerbroker, provided commonwealth authorisation for the Beverly uranium mine in South Australia to proceed when a Howard government resources minister. He is the first to admit his alliance with the Greens against Marathon is an unlikely one.

But he has been a regular visitor to Arkaroola for the past 20 years and is focused on achieving a ban on further exploration and mining in the wilderness sanctuary, despite the potential economic benefits.

"There is nothing more damaging to South Australia than to put a uranium mine in Arkaroola, and I have been a long-term supporter of uranium mining in principle," Senator Minchin said. "But I do not support mining at any cost."

Mr Williams denies this is the approach Marathon would take.

"It takes time to work all these things out - we need to do some exploration work and then all the alternatives in mining are determined," he said.

In the meantime, the PR battle will rage on.

Mr Williams said he believed Marathon had the Rann government's "full support".


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26036377-5005200,00.html