Mining company Goondicum Resources facing action over illegal land clearing on central Queensland grazing property

Updated

A mining company faces possible action after illegally bulldozing a swathe of bushland in central Queensland to build a road through areas regarded as habitat of state significance.

The company, Goondicum Resources, admitted it did not have the required state approval. Its managing director told the ABC he now hopes to gain it retrospectively.

Goondicum Resources is building the access road so it can reduce the distance from its Monto ilmenite mine to Gladstone Port by about 100 kilometres.

Ilmenite is widely used as a base pigment in paper, paint and plastics, and the company wants to increase shipments from its mine to its export markets in Japan and South Korea.

The permit breach only came to light after local landholders Rob and Nadia Campbell complained to the Department of Environment, saying they discovered fur and a dead native bird after the bulldozers had felled hundreds of trees.

The Department sent field officers out to investigate.

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The Department told the Campbells that "inspection observations confirmed your allegations that unauthorised clearing and road works had been conducted along a section of State Land ... the inspection also confirmed impacts to wildlife".

The mine is situated on the Campbell's grazing property Goondicum, east of the township of Monto.

"I was born here. My family's been here since the 1800s," said Rob Campbell, who is the fifth generation of his family to run cattle on what are the fertile remains of the crater of an extinct volcano.

"Then the mine came in, which is sad because this is really productive country."

The original mining lease over part of the 7,000-hectare property was taken 15 years ago, and then renewed in 2012.

The Campbells said under the law they had no power to refuse the 500-hectare lease, only to negotiate for compensation.

They said there is a long-standing application to extend the mining lease over another 2,800 hectares of their land.

The ilmenite mine began production in 2007, but the original company, Monto Minerals, went bust a year later.

Goondicum Resources - owned by Canadian miner Melior Resources - is now trying to revive the operation with the goal of producing 2.8 million tonnes of product a year.

North Burnett Regional Shire Mayor Don Waugh is a supporter of the mine.

"The mine right from the start has been good for the region, in terms of labour," Mayor Waugh said.

"Last time [before the mine shutdown] there were 38 people on staff, local people. Now I believe the mine is aiming for 50 people, which hopefully will be all locals too. It's certainly something we want to see proceed."

But for the mining company and the Campbells, the relationship has been rocky from the start.

It has only deteriorated since Goondicum Resources began constructing the access road, which starts at the mine before winding its way through state land and native bush controlled by the North Burnett and Bundaberg Regional councils.

"We were away getting married on August 16 and on the Friday before the wedding, once we'd already headed down to Agnes [Water], they emailed us, telling us they were sending the bulldozers in on the Monday and Tuesday," Mr Campbell's wife Nadia said.

Right after the ceremony the newlyweds cancelled their honeymoon and sped back to their property, where they raise high quality EU-accredited cattle for export.

"They just took the dozers in and just mowed it down," Mrs Campbell said.

"It's devastating and they seem to be able to get away with it. That's the really upsetting thing."

What we did was wrong: Goondicum Resources

The Department found that about 800 metres of road, estimated to be at least 50 metres wide in places, had been built outside the mapped reserve where the road was supposed to be.

The ABC contacted the managing director of Goondicum Resources, Mark McCauley, about the Department's findings.

"What we did wrong was we didn't have the appropriate approval for the 900-metre realignment," Mr McCauley said.

"We should've waited for the approval, or put the road on the existing road reserve, or we should have obtained vegetation clearances."

Mr McCauley said his company was doing all it could to put things right, officially at least.

"We are working with all departments to get a vegetation clearance in retrospect. We can't hide from the fact we should have waited for approvals," he said.

But the company could face more problems, with the Environment Department consulting with its Wildlife Management Unit to see if Goondicum Resources "has complied with obligations relating to flora and fauna given the works on the road reserve and on State Land have interfered with animal breeding places and pass through areas mapped as being core koala habitat and of State Biodiversity Significance".

"We went up there with our camera because we smelt at two sites what could only be dead animals," Mrs Campbell said.

"We found some fur in the hollows, but couldn't find any carcass. And we found a dead bird - a fledgling, a young bird that couldn't escape."

The area is home to the endangered glossy black cockatoo and the native pebble mound mouse.

"We found no evidence of [fauna] destruction," Mr McCauley said.

I have an obligation to my employees that they can do their job and not be told they're breaking the law. Mark McCauley, managing director of Goondicum Resources

"We did flora and fauna surveys and used a qualified spotter/catcher. [But] we've got bulldozers clearing trees. I can't guarantee that there [will] be nil impact on animal life."

Three days after the Environment Department wrote to the Campbells confirming their allegations they received another letter - from the mining company's lawyers.

"Basically Rob was threatened with a restraining order for being on his own property looking after his own cattle," Mrs Campbell said.

The letter from Goondicum Resources' lawyers warned the Campbells: "Unless you immediately desist from your conduct in harassing our client's employees and contractors, it will without further notice commence proceedings against you for a restraining order."

The legal letter also warned the company would seek compensation for losses "suffered through the delay that your harassment ... has caused our client".

"I have an obligation to my employees that they can do their job and not be told they're breaking the law," Mr McCauley said.

The Environment Department has now referred the Campbells' complaint about unauthorised clearing and road works to the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. It told the ABC its investigation was ongoing.

Topics: environment, environmental-impact, rural, mining-environmental-issues, gladstone-4680, monto-4630, qld

First posted