Mudgee Guardian reported that Felix Resources has confirmed the company has started work on a long awaited water study.
Part of the conditions of approval of stage 1, imposed by the Department of Planning was that a water study needed to be undertaken, submitted to the Director General of Planning and approved before mining could take place on the site.
Mr Brian Flannery MD of Felix Resources assured that the water study was underway and he was confident mining would start in late September. He said that “We will start with the over burden removal and then begin to extract coal toward the end of the year.”
A company spokesman on site at Moolarben said that in all likelihood the study would be completed in 2 to 3 months. He said that “We already have a model in place which is being tweaked.”
Meanwhile, Mr Bev Smile’s chair of the Mudgee District Environment Group said that water was the key issue that went to the independent panel of experts in the approval of stage 1 in September 2007.
She said that “It is also one of the reasons why there were strong conditions placed on water management in the approval. The Mudgee District Environment Group would like to see provision in the water study for environmental flows into the Goulburn River. These would replace the loss of base flows caused by mining interference. Water sharing needs to happen with the river as well as the three mines.”
Ms Smiles pointed out that Moolarben has submitted a stage 2 proposal for a fourth open cut and two more underground mines in the area.
She said that “It is imperative that the impacts of these very large proposals on the water flows to the Goulburn River are thoroughly studied and understood before the next expansion is approved.”
(Sourced from Mudgeeguardian.com)
