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  • 7 months ago
A delegation from the Northern Rivers has met with government ministers this week to call for a blanket ban on new mines in the Clarance Valley. Dozens of exploration licences have been granted that allow prospectors to search for the likes of gold, copper and cobalt. But winning approval to drill could be a long process.

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00:00Pure and plentiful. The Clarence River catchment supplies water for 100,000 people. But locals
00:10are concerned about mining exploration in the catchment.
00:14This would all be camping?
00:16Rebecca Luko's plans for ecotourism on her property at Kangi are on hold as exploration
00:22activity ramps up nearby.
00:24We just don't know if it would be viable to continue on and to open up, really, to invest
00:34so much.
00:35This week, a delegation backed by seven councils has taken those concerns to Parliament, telling
00:41ministers they want a ban on all exploration and mining in the catchment.
00:46We realise we need mining. This group is not anti-mining at all. We're against it in areas
00:51of high ecological and cultural significance. And we're against it in drinking water catchments
00:56and in this flood zone.
00:59Prospectors hold 44 exploration licences across the Clarence catchment. There's no guarantee
01:04they'll strike it lucky or get approval to mine. But if they do, the critical minerals market
01:10awaits.
01:11A lot of the investment comes on the prospectivity of a project and the viewpoint that there is
01:17that potential that this might be that project that makes it through to viable commercial
01:23production at some stage. Certainly, you know, we're big advocates for tough environmental
01:28controls and restrictions. But we do also see that there needs to be a pragmatic approach.
01:34The industry and government say blanket bans are unnecessary.
01:38We've got to get the balance right. An exploration licence does not mean that a mine is about
01:44to open up. We've got some of, if not the strictest rules in the world.
01:49A community caught up in the flood of demand for tech-ready minerals.
01:54A community caught up in a migrant migration with the local government.
01:57A community caught up in the migrantope system in a công meine community.
02:00A community caught up in a community caught up in the immigrant state and the reluctance壓
02:01it, so it can be kaç into place.
02:04A community caught up in a community caught up, they've had an apartment
02:06And in a youthful shell, provided aimbang of the famine, it was really
02:10a community caught up in a community caught up in…
02:12A community caught up in a community caught up in a community caught up in the village
02:15of events declared in a working Union, the stiffness, theheardrast новые
02:18of weather celui and the prosecutors did not highlight it at the moment.
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