Caring for the Clarence
During the recent Fight for the Bight campaign, Dan Ross played a support role helping to organise paddle outs and keep the story in the news.
More recently he's found himself on the frontline with a two-pronged threat closer to home.
Rossy is from Yamba, located at the mouth of the mighty Clarence River - the king of the Northern Rivers. As a fishing, surfing, and holiday town, Yamba relies on the health of the Clarence.
Rossy, at left, with Hayley Talbot and Rasta on the shores of the Clarence
It's come to light that a new copper mine has been proposed in Cangai, directly adjacent to the Mann River, a main tributary of the Clarence. Copper mining has a dubious record in Australia, the most recent example being the 2018 Walsh River and Jamie Creek disaster that turned the waterways, "into a toxic contamination zone", according to the ABC.
So Rossy and another Yamba local, Hayley Talbot, the first person to paddle the full length of the Clarence, are heading up a campaign to oppose the mine. However, their local MP will only take it to parliament if they get 10,000 signatures
Not clicks. Signatures. Real ones.
So they're asking everyone to print off this form, then sign it and get your family, co-workers and school mates, or just any old joe off the street, to also sign it and then post it to the address at the bottom. With an envelope and a stamp! Just like ye olden days!
In the above vid you'll hear Rasta mention the potential to dam the Clarence. The old boy ain't being melodramatic. You've no doubt been hearing about the worsening NSW drought and the Fed's lack of action. You may also have heard the longstanding rumours about a version of the Snowy River Scheme at the Northern Rivers that'll turn the rivers inland, including the Clarence.
In fact, while Rossy and Rasta, and filmmaker Nathan Oldfield were making the above clip, The Guardian used a Freedom of Information request to uncover work by the NSW State Government to reverse the flow of four rivers. From the article:
"The main focus of work in NSW has been on turning the headwaters of the Clarence inland via a network of pipes and pumps to feed it into headwaters of the Border rivers system."
However, that's another battle for another day. Right now, Rossy and Hayley need signatures and clicktivism won't cut it. So show your support and print, then sign, then lick, and send.
Comments
I was at Tabulam in the upper clarence a few months ago and while there was water in the river there was no flow. So what are they going to divert?
Exactly. And what are they going to do with the water once it's in the western rivers? It'll be diverted into dams owned by LNP members and their vested interest cronies and used in massive, ill-conceived irrigation schemes that puts a shitload of cash into a few well-connected pockets and further contributes to the destruction of downstream ecosystems and communities in the Murray Darling system. Except now it won't only be the Murray Darling that's fucked, it'll also be the Clarence/Mann/Nymboida catchment area, the largest of the east coast river systems that pays the price.
And once the Clarence is damned (mispelling intended), what's to stop them fucking the Richmond, the Manning, the Tweed etc. in their rush for self enrichment? It makes my blood boil.
They need to dam in Nth Qld west of Tully where the highest rainfall on the East Coast is, then pipe it to various river systems at the top of the Murray Dowling Basin in western Qld and NSW. That’s the only real way to fix the drought plus sending it from where they don’t need it directly to where they do need it.
The Clarence is a major artery for the north coast and beyond. This river is a major influence on agriculture, fishing and the direction and volume of sand flow! Every surfer particularly those that live in the local and adjacent areas should get on and support the initiative of signing the document in the link in the article above.
Great surf in this vid. Some footage of the areas around the potential mining area might help. Cangai etc.
Here we go again, big business, multi nationals, politicans in for the $, & couldn't give a rats about anyone or anywhere, & all the lies they'll spin telling us it'll be alright, " The Enviromental Report" {that we paid for} says so!! Maybe every boardriders club from the border down to say Newcastle should get members to sign, you'd have a shit load of signatures.
These people do realize money is a man made concept. Inflated / illfated property prices are all made up also. ( fake wealth) Safety, security, and health. That should be your focus and there are no jobs on a dead planet.
Hey surfstarved, if you check out the Guardian link in Stu’s article, there are already conceptual plans to turning back the Macleay, Manning etc .
The millennium drought was meant to be a ‘100’ year type drought but this looks a lot worse in northern NSW. With current rainfall patterns a lot of those areas aren’t viable for farming.
A lot of the coastal towns pump water from the rivers for drinking water so may end up robbing Peter to pay Paul. Trying to pump water during flood events only may not be practical.
Colorfully put, surfstarved. I agree with you completely. Apart from vested interests being in play, the view that we can prevent/delay water from flowing, or worse, change its course, without consequence to habitats, environments and communities seems insane. Within 200 years we've done a great job at compromising this great land. And then the politicians double down.
Everyone needs to step up and stand together NOW to stop the fuckwit politicians giving the green light on these thoughtless projects to benefit them and few others. This is our country. Democracy my fucking arse. I want to find the politician nursery and set it on fire. Grrraarrgghh! Sign the petition and give them 100,000 signatures
Hi All long time lurker First time poster,
Sorry for so many links but no time put it into a nice little video. Area is surrounded by national and state forests not just Yamba problem will potential affect other areas inland and coastal further away Not a fan of these emotive hipster videos that provide no info
That said Definitely should not be allowed to go ahead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cangai_Copper_Mine
https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Cangai_Copper_Min...
https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/901828/castillo-cop...
Castillo Copper’s stockpile assays support Cangai Copper Mine potential
"Samples at the Smelter Creek stockpile and others along the line of lode average 2.03% and 1.23% copper respectively.
Castillo Copper Ltd - Castillo Copper’s stockpile assays support Cangai Copper Mine potential
The legacy stockpile at Smelter Creek within the Cangai Copper Project
Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) has received encouraging assay results for legacy stockpiles which reinforce the upside from developing the Cangai Copper Mine in northern New South Wales.
Head grades from samples at the Smelter Creek stockpile and others along the line of lode at Cangai Copper Mine average 2.03% and 1.23% copper respectively.
Leveraging metallurgical test work, which demonstrated concentrate recoveries greater than 80% and grades up to 22%, there is strong evidence to process the stockpiles to generate early-stage cashflow.
Aiming for Noble Group offtake
The stockpile results have been shared with Singapore-based, Noble Group with which Castillo is aiming to finalise a binding offtake agreement for distribution of up to 200,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.
Castillo’s managing director Simon Paull said: “Reconciling the assay results for the legacy stockpiles with earlier metallurgical test work findings, clearly demonstrates the value-creating potential from closing the distribution agreement with Noble Group.
“More importantly, the potential ability to monetise the stockpile ore would generate early-stage cashflow.”
Exploration upside
As a core pillar to the company’s strategy to become a mid-tier copper producer, the board remains committed to developing and expanding the resource size at Cangai, which is one of the highest grading deposits in Australia with exploration upside.
Paull added: “Reflecting the board’s core commitment to Cangai, especially as one of the three key strategic pillars critical to transforming into a mid-tier copper group, the geology team is reviewing the best course of action to optimise the next phase of exploration.”
Straightforward process
In the event of securing regulatory approval from the NSW Resources Regulator (NSWRR), the ability to process then monetise Cangai’s stockpiles should be relatively straight forward since:
The mine site is readily accessible and, critically, there are experienced labour pools in northern NSW;
There are third-party facilities in the region that potentially are amenable to process the stockpile ore into copper concentrate for export; and
Top-tier infrastructure, with sealed roads and rail network that lead directly to Newcastle port.
The value-creating opportunity is clearly the opportunity to generate early-stage cashflow that can be utilised to further develop Cangai’s potential and ultimately prove up a JORC-compliant resource."
https://www.resourcesregulator.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/11...
https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water/basins-catchments/snapshots/clarence
This shows some of the historical mine sites in the Clarence Valley. They're a bit late trying to stop mining near the Clarence.
https://minview.geoscience.nsw.gov.au/#/?lon=153.0683&lat=-29.19016&z=9&...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cangai_Copper_Mine