COMMENT
It disturbs me to read a letter in your paper (May 31) by Denis Acocks titled “Mine mentality must be halted”. While it is politically incorrect to state, the damage done by farming and logging has made a far greater impact on the environment than mining. Look out an aircraft window over any of Australia’s fertile lands and how many mines do you see? But how much of this is cleared? The bigger percentage of Australia is cleared of its forests. I am not anti-farming, logging or mining but all must be managed responsibly and misinformed comments must be dealt with. Certainly, mining should be criticised for some of its past performances but so should many other industries.
As
I presently work in the finance sector specializing in resources projects
globally, I have seen mining, farming and forestry in all parts of the western
world and developing countries. Continuing land clearing on top of what is
already cleared in many of these countries is devastating. In comparison the
footprint of a modern mining operation, even an open cut, is miniscule in
comparison. The revenue generated from one of these operations is many times
that generated by agriculture or logging. I acknowledge, and have done so for
years, that large low-grade metal deposits in high rainfall, high relief areas
will diminish as can be seen with the closure of operations in Papua New
Guinea.
Ask
the average Aussie (or politician) in the street; “What are Australia’s main
export earners?” The answer? No…. not wheat, wool and beef… but iron ore, coal
and gold. These huge wealth generators for Australia make barely a scratch on
the huge tracks of cleared Australia.
June
2001