Olympic Dam “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians” – Liberal MP
Opposition industry spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith joined the criticism of the deal struck with BHP Billiton. Mr Hamilton-Smith said, “Every word of the agreement favours BHP, not South Australians.”
Greens turn new Premier Jay Weatherill blue, The Advertiser, Sarah Martin , November 10, 2011 “……Mr Parnell agreed that the Greens did not support any expansion of uranium mining in Australia, and argued the mine could be viable without uranium exploration. Continue reading
Australia’s newest uranium mine, Honeymoon, is majority owned by Russia
Uranium One is now majority owned by the Russian’s…will they be first to sell uranium to Russia under the Howard-Putin deal that was ratified without any changes by PM Gillard & Foreign Affairs Minister Rudd against the recommendations of a JSCT Parliamentary Inquiry to not proceed with the deal ?
AUSTRALIA’S fourth uranium mine – Honeymoon in the northeast of South Australia – is up and running. Owned by Uranium One, It is the first uranium project to reach production since the Australian Labor Party scrapped its no-new mines policy in 2007.
Uranium: Greens are asking some critical questions about BHP’s Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Greens put forward 100 amendments to gridlock mine’s $525 million, by:Sarah Martin, The Advertiser, November 09, 2011 Greens MLC Mark Parnell said his minority party was “not going to be cut short and stopped from asking the questions that need to be asked”, …. BHP says the revised Indenture Act needs to pass Parliament before the end of the year to trigger spending on preparatory work for the mine…. the Bill’s passage could be delayed until Parliament resumes in February next year…..
- WHAT THE GREENS WANT TO KNOW
1. ROYALITIES
Why did the Government lock in a royalty regime for 45 years, and why is it based exclusively on old-style production-based royalties, rather than one that captures a fair share of mining profits?
2. ECONOMIC RETURN
How good an economic deal did SA receive when BHP CEO Marius Kloppers is claiming to his shareholders that the Olympic Dam Expansion will be low cost and highly profitable?
3. PROCESSING IN SA RATHER THAN CHINA
How many South Australian jobs will be lost by not requiring BHP to process our ore here in South Australia rather than exporting it to China?
4. EXEMPTION FROM SA LAWS
Why is BHP exempt from over 20 South Australian laws that every other mining company in SA has to comply with?
5. NO URANIUM OPTION
Why wasnt a No Uranium Roxby Expansion considered when we know it is not only technically feasible, it would also mean less water and energy use and more jobs as the processing would be done here in SA, rather than in China?
6. GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN
Why isn’t there a plan to wean BHP off using 42ML/day of ancient water from the Great Artesian Basin, when they plan double that volume in excess capacity (80ML/day) from their desalination plant?
7. DESALINATION PLANT & CUTTLEFISH RISK
Why is the Government prepared to risk the breeding grounds of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish by not requiring the company to build in a different location?
8. RADIOACTIVE LEAKAGE FROM TAILINGS DAM
How can the Government claim that they have met their public commitment for the expansion to meet worlds best environmental practice when only 4 per cent of the tailings dams will be lined and the dams are designed to leak up to 8 million litres of toxic radioactive waste liquid/day?
9. RESPONSIBILITY POST MINE CLOSURE
Who will ultimately be responsible to manage the open pit, tailings dams and rock waste pile for the 10,000 years after the operations cease that the radioactive risk remains: the company or SA taxpayers, and how much will that management cost?
10. GREENHOUSE POLLUTION & RENEWABLE ENERGY
Why isn’t the company committing to any investment in cleaner energy to meet their whopping 650 MW electricity demand beyond the 57MW commitment for powering the desal plant (less than 10 per cent of total demand) to reduce their enormous increase in the states greenhouse pollution of 12-15 per cent?
Liberals kow tow to BHP ‘s poor deal for South Australia in Roxby Downs Indenture Bill
Roxby Spin vs Reality as Libs Roll-over:
1) EPA not fully independent
2) No guarantee of extra processing on site
Greens Leader Mark Parnell has accused the Liberals of ducking responsibility over the Roxby approval Bill, as more details emerge that undermine confidence in the deal signed between the Government and BHP Billiton. “The Liberals claim they could have got a better deal. Well, they still can,” said Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell.
“It is not too late for the Parliament of South Australia to insist on a much better deal for our State. We can and should amend the legislation to ratify the Roxby expansion currently before Parliament. “To roll over and pass the Roxby Indenture Bill unchanged will miss a once in a generation opportunity to get this right,” he said.
The call comes as more gaps emerge in the Government’s claims over the Roxby expansion. “The Government claims the EPA will be fully independent. Yet with this Indenture the EPA will still be operating with one hand tied behind its back,” said Mr Parnell.
“Also the Government has talked up the potential to double processing on site at Roxby Downs to 350,000 tonnes of refined copper. Yet this is not a condition in the approval and there is nothing to stop BHP Billiton ignoring that commitment in the future and export all the ore from the expansion and jobs to China. “And this is on top of locking in a ridiculously low royalty rate for the next 45 years.
“The closer we look, the more concerned we are at the very poor deal the State Government has signed on behalf of all South Australians,” he said.
Surprise, surprise, Liberal Party backs BHP’s massive new uranium mine
Opposition to back Olympic Dam mine expansion bill ABC News 8 Nov The Olympic Dam mine expansion legislation is almost certain to pass the South Australian Parliament before Christmas after winning the Opposition’s backing. The SA Liberal Party has met and decided to support the legislation for BHP Billiton to turn Olympic Dam near Roxby Downs into the world’s biggest open cut copper, gold and uranium mine.
The Opposition has decided it will allow the legislation to pass without amendment or delay. Liberal leader Isobel Redmond says her party’s support for the bill will give BHP Billiton certainty.
“There are things that maybe could have been better for the state but with the economic circumstances, with the massive debt, we felt that economically we could not afford for this project not to go ahead,” she said…..
The Minister says there is an option for Parliament to sit an extra week if needed to get the bill through.
SA Greens leader Mark Parnell says it is no surprise the Liberals have given the legislation their support. He says the Greens will ensure the tough questions are asked. “What we have to remember is that it is the biggest industrial project in South Australian history,” he said. “It’s going to be the biggest hole in the ground on the face of the planet and I think the people of South Australia expect their members of parliament to give this project very thorough scrutiny.”
BHP Billiton is to make a final decision on the multi-billion-dollar expansion early next year…http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-08/liberals-olympic-dam-legislation-mine/3651486/?site=newcastle
Effect of nuclear plants on marine life – are animal activists aware?
Indeed nuclear lobbyists in Australia operate by stealth – not least in Adelaide. ( Comment from a readerof this page) One prolific blogger comes to mind who’s a member of an animal activist group. Impressive one thinks but hopping over to Barry Brook’s website and there he is lobbying for nuclear. This duplicitous gentleman (an animal activist no less) believes it’s quite acceptable for one nuclear plant to suck up a billion marine organisms and marine life every year in the US – the Indian Point nuclear plant.
Adding insult to injury he evaded responding to the fact that “since the advent of the nuclear age in the mid-1940s, the mass of radioactive 129I (t1/2 = 15.7 Myr) circulating in the Earth’s hydrosphere has increased nearly forty fold from its natural background level of 140 kg.
“Nuclear fuel reprocessing has been by far the major contributor, responsible for releasing 5400 kg of 129I (half-life 15.7 million years) primarily into the North Atlantic Ocean. Regional and global trends in the distribution of the 129I inventory are elucidated from an examination of more than 600 determinations of 129I in environmental samples from around the world. Because the major point sources are located in Europe and the United States, more than 99% of the present 129I reservoir is distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where both 129I concentrations and 129I/I ratios in rivers, lakes, and shallow seawater are several orders of magnitude above the preanthropogenic background.
” …………………. We model the effect of a collapse in thermohaline circulation and project a concentration increase of more than 3 orders of magnitude in shallow oceans over the 10,000 years that follow if nuclear reprocessing is to continue at the present rate. ” “Filthy water cannot be washed.” http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2010/2009GC002910.shtml#citation#citation
Olympic Dam – A detailed submission to the Roxby Downs Indenture Bill committee
SUBMISSION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE. NECTARIA CALAN, Friends of the Earth Adelaidc /- Conservation Council of SA
Level 1, 157 Franklin Street, Adelaide SA 5000 Contact: blackwallaby@gmail.com, 26 October 2011
Re: Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) (Amendment of Indenture) Amendment Bill 2011
I ask the Committee to revisit the issue of consultation, in regards to the approval of the Olympic Dam
expansion as set out in Clause 11(3) which ratifies and approves the amendments to the Indenture. Continue reading
South Australia’s Olympic Dam Indenture scrutiny – a token effort, just for show?
Weatherill happy to widen Olympic Dam mine bill scrutiny, ABC News October 28, 2011 South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he would be happy for groups opposed to the planned Olympic Dam mining expansion to put evidence to a special parliamentary committee.
It sat on Thursday to examine legislation which will enact the Olympic Dam indenture. The Greens say they managed to get the proceedings opened to the public, but said the committee was a farce because the three witnesses who appeared were all in favour of the mining expansion near outback Roxby Downs in South Australia.
Mr Weatherill said he would not be opposed to other groups having a say.”That’s a matter for the committee but I think we want to make this an open process as we can,” he said….
Greens leader Mark Parnell was upset the only parties invited before the parliamentary inquiry were proponents of the expansion; BHP Billiton, the Chamber of Mines and the Olympic Dam task force. He accused the SA Government and Opposition of colluding to make sure the committee only heard from those who favoured the mining project.
After the hearing, the Greens said BHP Billiton had been given an easy ride. Mr Parnell says it was a one-sided affair with little real scrutiny.
“The questions asked of BHP Billiton were about as soft as they get,” he said. “This is a multi-billion-dollar project that will go for 100 years or more and a lot of the committee’s time was wasted talking about boggy roads and grey nomads.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-27/conservationists-to-testify-over-olympic-mine/3604936
South Australia’s rushed discussion of draconian new legislation for BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mine
Nectaria Calan, 27 Oct 11, The most concerning and indeed contentious parts that I am familiar with at this stage relate to the water and freehold clauses, and continued exemptions from the Environmental Protection Act and the Aboriginal Heritage Act.
Re: water – the much publicised water levy for Great Artesian Basin Water (and perhaps water from other sources) does not address the increased volume of water to be taken from the GAB (increasing from 37 million litres per day to 42 million), nor the impact that even the current volume is having on the mound springs in the region. …
Clause 24 provides for the Minister to grant the entire 49, 700 ha of the proposed expanded mining lease (as estimated in the EIS) to BHP as freehold title free of charge. This is a huge area to be simply given away by the State Government to one mining company, and amounts to a huge subsidy for the company. The most contentious aspect of this clause is that it absolutely dispossesses the Aboriginal custodians of the area by simply giving the land away. One may ask, if the government is so keen to give it away, why they don’t return it to the Aboriginal communities of the region?
This is a new addition to the Indenture – it is not in the current Act.
In particular, the subclauses state that for the minister to grant freehold title he must first be satisfied that either Native Title has been extinguished or that the act of granting freehold will extinguish it. So the intention is clearly to extinguish Native Title if possible. Additionally, I believe (although I am not certain) that once Native Title is extinguished it is extinguished permanently – however this fades in significance when you consider that the land will be returned to the Crown (at the mines closure) contaminated with almost 9 billion tonnes of tailings and after the company has destroyed sacred sites by virtue of digging the biggest hole in the world.
The exemptions from the Aboriginal Heritage Act carry through to the amended Bill (from the current indenture). Both the Indenture Act and amended Bill exempt BHP from key parts of the main piece of legislation in the state providing protection for Aboriginal heritage sites – there is a conflict of interest here as a company with a commercial interest in the land is left to adjudicate the validity of competing non-commercial interests.
Despite the state government claiming last week in a press release that the expansion will be subject to the Environmental Protection Act (by removing the exemption from the Indenture), the amended indenture still lists the Act as one over which the indenture prevails. BHP’s environmental Management Plans are to be over-seen and approved by the Minister rather than the Environmental Protectkion Agency (which would be the norm). This is essentially the same as the current Indenture Act. There is arguable a conflict of interest here also, as the Minister (for Mineral resources and Energy) is a proponent for mining.
The Select Parliamentary Committee established to further inquire into the Indenture Bill is having its first hearing tomorrow. It will be hearing from BHP, the Olympic Dam taskforce (which is a department within the state government, and the Chamber of Mines (an industry body). Clearly all witnesses are uncritical of the Indenture, and at this stage it looks like it will be held behind closed doors. it is also unclear whether they will call for more witnesses on another day.
Make Roxby Downs Indenture Act discussion transparent, and study environmental issues, say Greens
Weatherill must back Roxby words with action, 27 Oct 11 Greens Leader Mark Parnell has welcomed Premier Jay Weatherill’s call for the special Parliamentary Committee examining the Roxby Expansion to be an ‘open process’ that hears from critics of the project.
In response to pressure from the Greens, today’s hearings of the Select Committee into the Olympic Dam expansion legislation were opened up to the media and public. However, at this stage the Committee – made up of 4 Labor and 3 Liberal MPs – has no plans to hear from any other witnesses apart from the 3 pro-expansion spruikers: the Government ODX Taskforce, BHP and the Chamber of Mines, despite other requests from scientific and environmental experts to appear. The Committee has only 2 days left to schedule hearings.
“I welcome the Premier’s intervention, but he has to back his words with action,” said Greens Parliamentary Leader Mark Parnell. “Time is well and truly running out to hear from anyone else. If the Committee is genuine about keeping faith with the Premier, it will make a public call for submissions and offer an opportunity for those who have raised concerns in the past about this project to challenge the assertions made by BHP Billiton and the ODX Taskforce.
“The Greens have forced the door to be opened on these hearings. Now we insist these hearings must be open to other witnesses,” he said. Mark Parnell also rejected the claim by Committee Chair Tom Koutsantonis that the Parliamentary Committee should not be looking at the project’s environmental issues. “The Minister’s claims that the environmental issues with the expansion project were signed away with the EIS approval is rubbish,” said Mr Parnell.
“The Roxby Indenture legislation is all about the deal done with BHP on water, energy, waste tailings, the desalination plant and environmental monitoring. The reason BHP CE Marius Kloppers is crowing to his shareholders that this is a ‘low cost’ project is because SA is bearing all the environmental costs and not getting a fair share of the returns.
“So far, this Parliamentary Committee has failed to rigorously examine this project to ensure our State gets the best deal possible,” he said.
New Olympic Dam uranium mine unlikely to make any money from uranium
The Olympic Dam expansion would cost tens of billions of dollars, and BHP Billiton may want to secure more than longterm contracts to move forward with the expansion
URANIUM Olympic Dam Expansion Has Doubters But China May Hold the Cards. – Nuclear Intelligence Weekly, 27 Oct 11, . While BHP Billiton’s recent statements have indicated a willingness to proceed with the expansion of the Olympic Dam copper, uranium and gold mine, sources throughout the uranium industry are skeptical the project will ever come to fruition…….
An expansion would boost annual uranium production capacity from the current 4,500 metric tons of U3O8
(3,392 tU) to 19,000 MT U3O8 (16,112 tU). But after conducting a thorough outside analysis of the project, the producer said he concluded “it never ever makes money.” Continue reading
Behind closed doors, South Australian govt and uranium miners do Indenture Act deal
BHP’s Marius Kloppers flies in to meet Premier, Adelaide Now, by:State editor Greg Kelton ,October 27, 2011 IN his last
week as premier, Mike Rann flew to Melbourne to negotiate the Olympic Dam expansion with BHP boss Marius Kloppers.
But this week the BHP Billiton chief executive will fly to Adelaide to meet new Premier Jay Weatherill to discuss progress on the mine expansion indenture. The face-to-face meeting follows a telephone discussion at the weekend between Mr Weatherill and Mr Kloppers and a meeting yesterday between Mr Weatherill and BHP Billiton’s president (uranium customer sector group) Dean Dalla Valle…..
Legislation to ratify the agreement was introduced in Parliament last week by former treasurer Kevin Foley, who was minister assisting the Premier on the dam expansion….. On Tuesday the Liberal party room completed two days of briefings on the Olympic Dam project. It will have a joint party room meeting on November 8 to decide its position on the indenture.
The Greens yesterday accused the Government of turning scrutiny of the Olympic Dam indenture into a farce.
Greens leader Mark Parnell said a special parliamentary committee, which has to examine the agreement, was planning to hear from only three witnesses and prevent the media and public from attending the hearings.
Mr Parnell said the only groups invited to present evidence to the committee were the Government, BHP-Billiton and the Chamber of Mines.
“No advertising has been done and the hearings are set to be held behind closed doors,” he said, accusing the Government and Opposition of concocting the committee process. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/bhp-flies-in-to-meet-premier/story-e6frede3-1226177764951
Mike Rann sold South Australia short on Olympic Dam uranium mine
A case of Olympian incompetence by South Australia, THE AUSTRALIAN, BY:PAUL CLEARY ,October 21, 2011 THE royalty agreement negotiated by South Australia for BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam expansion has robbed the state’s citizens and all Australians of the opportunity to share in the profits of what will become the world’s biggest mine. (at left, Marius Kloppers CEO of BHP BIlliton, and Mike Rann, retiring Premier of South Australia.)
This deal is a monumental example of state government incompetence when it comes to acting as custodian of the nation’s mineral wealth.
South Australia has agreed to a regime based solely on percentages and even cents per tonne of the mine’s production. Mike Rann, who stands down today as Premier, has done South Australians a disservice that will cost them dearly for almost half a century. Continue reading
South Australia’s outgoing Premier contradicts Labor Party policy on uranium to India?
Rann changes tack on uranium sales to India, The Australian, October 20, 2011 “…….The long-serving South Australian Premier, forced by Labor to hand his premiership over to Education Minister Jay Weatherill tomorrow morning, said it was time to think about agreeing to India’s desire to import uranium from Australia……. Mr Rann’s remarks came a week after he signed off on approvals for BHP Billiton’s proposal to expand the Olympic Dam mine in the state’s far north. “It will be the world’s biggest uranium mine,” he said.
Mr Rann was a longstanding opponent of uranium exports to India, and had called potential sales a “grave mistake” and “extremely foolhardy”. While India is Australia’s third-biggest export market, Labor is opposed to exporting uranium to a nation that has not signed the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In September, Tony Abbott said the government had made a “great mistake” in reversing the Howard government’s decision to sell uranium to India……
Speaking from France, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal government’s policy was clear. “We will only supply uranium to countries that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have signed a bilateral agreement with Australia,” he said…..
Australian Uranium Association chief executive Michael Angwin said it was not the Premier’s role to determine which countries uranium could be exported to.
Hindrances in South Australian Parliament to BHP BIlliton’s plan for monster uranium mine
Greens call for inquiry into Olympic Dam expansion, SMH Peter KerOctober 18, 2011 APPROVAL for BHP Billiton’s massive Olympic Dam expansion may not proceed as quickly as the global miner would like, with minor parties in the South Australian parliament seeking to slow the process by attempting to force the company to front a parliamentary inquiry.
The indenture agreement struck by BHP and the SA Government for Olympic Dam will be introduced to the state’s parliament today or tomorrow, and must be approved by both chambers to have any legal power.
The Premier Mike Rann – who will retire on Friday – wants Parliament to approve the bill as soon as possible, and BHP has promised to start spending up to $US1.2 billion as soon as the bill secures passage through the Parliament.
But Mr Rann’s Labor Party does not control the upper house of Parliament, where a group of seven minor party MP’s have the balance of power. Two of those MPs represent the Greens Party, and Greens leader Mark Parnell said the agreement was so important to South Australia’s future it must be fully analysed by a select committee with powers to call and question BHP executives.
Mr Parnell said the delay should pose no problem given BHP does not expect to take a final investment decision until mid 2012. ”What is the point of the SA Parliament cutting corners and rushing this through when the company isn’t going to decide until the middle of next year anyway,” he said.
Mr Parnell wants to quiz BHP over why more processing of Olympic Dam’s copper, uranium and gold could not take place in Australia, as well as the environmental impacts. Despite the approvals process running over many years and through hundreds of pages of environmental impact statements, Mr Parnell said the public had never had a chance to publicly question BHP officials.
“It is time, as Parliament sets to sign off on the biggest deal in South Australia’s history, to finally get some straight answers on this enormous project,” he said. : http://www.smh.com.au/business/greens-call-for-inquiry-into-olympic-dam-expansion-20111017-1ltda.html#ixzz1b9u265hy
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 