Macadamia farmer Mark Mason is joining the fight against a potential coal mine that he believes would be a disaster to the environment and the agriculture industry.
“We produce a large part of Australia’s food, and they want to put a mine here directly under an area that’s worth over $2 billion to our local regional economy,” he said.
“[Farming] is hard enough without having to battle things like this.”
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines is considering mineral development licence (MDL) 3040, which stretches over 7,800 hectares of residential and agricultural land north of Bundaberg.
The area is 80 kilometres south-west of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and if it eventuates would be the most coastal coal mine in Queensland.
Minister’s decision overturned
The application by Fox Resources was rejected by Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart in 2022 who said it was not in the public’s interest, but his decision was overturned by the Queensland Supreme Court in September last year.
Fox Resources executive director Bruce Garlick said it relates to the exploration for coking coal, which is used in the production of steel.
“It’s got a huge economic benefit for this region,” he said.
Mr Garlick said the exploration phase would take up to three years with a potential mine to follow within seven years.
“If we decide to continue, it will take another three to four years before any type of mine is developed,” he said.
Fox Resources pushes ahead
A department spokesperson said Fox Resources has provided an updated work program and a large amount of technical information as part of the reassessment process.
“Such as hydrological reports, scoping studies for the project, updated financial and technical capability statements, coal resource information, and other information to address public interest concerns,” they said.
Mr Stewart said he was not able to put a time frame on when a decision would be made.
“It depends upon how quickly we can get that information together, if there are any further questions we need to ask Fox Resources, any further information we may need,” he said.
“All that work needs to happen through the department before a final decision is made.”
The West Australian company has also employed specialist corporate communication consultancy firm Fensom Advisory to help manage its public image and has established a regional reference group to engage with locals.
“The emphasis really is on obtaining community feedback and assisting people to understand the truth of what’s actually happening with the project,” Mr Garlick said.
Mr Mason has 15,0000 macadamia trees on his property north of Bundaberg and he fears the impact to groundwater and food production.
“Underground they’ve got to go through a number of aquifers to access the mine and drill for exploration,” he said.
“If we don’t have that water, or if that water becomes contaminated, that straightaway jeopardises the whole economy of Bundaberg and this area as a food hub.
“If people think there’s a cost-of-living crisis at the moment, you imagine taking away one of the biggest food bowls within Australia.
“There’s only one way food prices are gonna go and that’s up, isn’t it?”
Community opposition
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn said the council was vehemently opposed to the application.
“This is prime agricultural land and we don’t want that damaged by mining,” she said.
“The community is not in favour of having a mine and this is a dirty thing to have in a region that is clean and green.”
Residents Against the Mine action group coordinator Alan Corbett said people’s health and the health of the Great Barrier Reef needed to be a priority.
“The very real prospect of coal dust … will affect the health of the young and old,” he said.
“Eventually it will get into rivers, the Kolan River, and that can then go out into the Great Barrier Reef area.”
But Mr Garlick said the mine would not have an open pit and the coal would be dampened down with water before being brought to the surface.
“It’s highly unlikely there’ll be dust anyway because the coal is coming up moist,” he said.
“All we’ll have is a small what we call a portal, where a truck will go down and extract the coal from below the ground, and on the surface there’s a processing plant and there’s also a stockpile that will be there.
“Explaining that, we were not going to have any impact on the aquifers or the underground water.”
A strong market for metallurgical coal
The MDL is around 400 kilometres outside of the flagship coal mining regions of the Bowen and Surat Basins, but coal analyst and commodity expert Banmeet Kurmi said it was “quite possible” that coal would be found in Bundaberg.
He said the metallurgical coal market was strong and “prices are very high”.
“It’s not surprising if there is a significant deposit that somebody would want to develop it given that the fundamentals in the global market supply side are very tight going forward,” he said.
“The current price is $250 a [US] ton.
“That provides an incentive for new producers to invest in coal mines because there are good returns.”
If approved, Mr Garlick said the community would benefit from coal royalties paid to the Queensland government and through the creation of hundreds of jobs.
“Approximately 200 people would be employed … and 20 apprenticeships,” he said.
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