Albanese Government turning Australia into world's unsustainable mine

The Albanese Government is funding a predicted mining boom that will have devastating consequences for the environment, writes Sue Arnold.

AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN called ‘the world’s unsustainable mine’.

The recent announcement of significant Federal Government funding for the rare earth elements (REE) mining industry further supports this descriptor.

As leading global ecologist Professor Corey Bradshaw writes on ConservationBytes:

Australia is for the most part a 7.7 million kilometre² “mine” to the world — we, of course, dig up our minerals and ship them overseas and we export shit-tonnes of coal.

... soil degradation from erosion, depletion, chemical fertilisation, salination and toxification is a massive global problem — ~ 12 per cent of global agricultural supply has declined from soil degradation alone over the past 50 years.

Mining moguls enjoy hot coal prices while global heating stuffs the nation

As ordinary Australians suffer from the disaster of climate change, mining companies are recording massive profits and often paying little or nothing in tax.

Undeterred by scientific concerns, the Federal Government has invested a combined total of $11 billion to expand the Critical Minerals Facility, managed by Export Finance Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, to further invest in rare earth mining.

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metals critical for renewable energy technology, wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, jet engines, missile guidance, defence systems, satellites, GPS equipment and more.

Australia is home to about one-fifth of the world’s potential supply with 31 official critical minerals. Geoscience Australia has a $225 million exploration fund to deliver new data on critical minerals, which has stimulated 419 new exploration tenements by 49 companies.

The mining industry, academics and politicians in favour of mineral sand mining are predicting a ‘new golden age’.

Professor Susan Park says Australia is in a ‘good position to ride the wave of the next mining boom’.

Recently in Energy Magazine, Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said:

Our Government is committed to unlocking new critical minerals projects to help us become a renewable energy superpower, and create hundreds of local high-paying jobs in the industries of the future.

We have some of the largest deposits of critical minerals in the world and through this project, we’re encouraging more international partners like the Republic of Korea and Germany to invest in Australia and diversify global supply chains.

Woodside's industrial-size attempt at reputation washing

Given the worsening climate crisis, there should be no place for fossil-fuel reputation washing by world-class polluter Woodside Energy in our public institutions — most certainly not our schools.

Not everyone is ecstatic about a new mining boom destined to wipe out important agricultural land with increased risks of radiation and toxic chemicals leaching into the environment.

A recent article in Harvard International Review laid out major issues of concern:

There are two primary methods of REE mining both of which release toxic chemicals into the environment. The first involves removing topsoil and creating a leaching pond where chemicals are added to the extracted earth to separate metals. However, leaching ponds, full of toxic chemicals, may leak into groundwater when not properly secured and can sometimes affect entire waterways.

The second method involves drilling holes into the ground using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes and rubber hoses to pump chemicals into the earth, which also creates a leaching pond with similar problems.

Radioactive residue and toxic waste are huge problems, as the article explains:

Both methods produce mountains of toxic waste, with high risk of environmental and health hazards. For every ton of rare earth produced, the mining process yields 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000 cubic metres of waste gas, 75 cubic metres of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue. This stems from the fact that rare earth element ores have metals that, when mixed with leaching pond chemicals, contaminate air, water and soil.

Most worrying is that rare earth ores are often laced with radioactive thorium and uranium, which result in especially detrimental health effects. Overall, for every ton of rare earth, 2,000 tons of toxic waste are produced.

The fossil fuel industry has corrupted our democracy

Despite the devastation of last summer's bushfires, Australia remains captive to the coal mining industry, writes Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter.

China has been the dominant player in the REE market, accounting for 85 per cent of global supply in 2016. However, in December 2023, China announced a ban on rare earth extraction and separation technologies.

The ban is presumed to solidify China’s dominance in rare earth magnet production supporting its efforts to protect national security interests.

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the largest REE extraction and processing site on earth in Bayan Obo (China) has been operating for decades. This has resulted in the devastating pollution of superficial and underground water, soil and air, severely affecting the health of local ecosystems and communities.

Mining and metal processing can endanger communities’ water supply.

Australia’s farmland is a primary focus of the industry.

Proposed mineral sand mines for the Murray Basin cover tens of thousands of hectares of farmland, including prime cropping country.

Mining company VHM is proposing to mine 1,500 hectares of agricultural land and build a rare earth processing plant in the small farming town of Lalbert in northern Victoria.

ABC reports that the project is one of several mineral sand mines projected for Victoria in the future. Astron Corporation’s Donald Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project has been granted a mining lease that covers 2,500 hectares of Victoria’s Wimmera region, with more than 40,000 hectares of primarily agricultural land under exploration.

In March, the Albanese Government provided up to $840 million to help deliver Australia’s first combined rare earth mine and refinery in the Northern Territory.

Something stinks about coal seam gas waste disposal

As CSG mining expands, reports show discrepancies in waste tracking data, raising questions as to where the contaminated waste is being disposed of.

A media release by Minister Don Farrell states:

‘This ground-breaking investment will position Australia as a global leader in ethical and sustainable manufacturing of these minerals.’

Minerals Policy Institute chairperson Lian Sinclair says the industry will not come without costs:

“For all mining, there's an issue of land clearance, which has some kind of biodiversity impact, or if it's land clearing of farmland, then it's a loss of farmland.”

A Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-2030 sets out the Government’s vision to grow Australia’s critical mineral sector.

With no federal or state legislation specifically dealing with REE, the significant environmental concerns are currently in the “too-hard basket”.

Questions as to whether REE could jeopardise food security are highly relevant.

Jubilee Australia’s published report Greenlight or Gaslight? The Transition Minerals Dilemma for Australia finds that the “mine first, ask questions later” approach could lead to stranded assets and inefficient use of vital resources while causing unnecessary harm to Australia’s environment, water sources and local communities.