“It is very much a 19th-century or third-world mining practice, which has only been able to persist in Queensland because it’s been in very remote areas and out of sight, out of mind. The state has approved 18 river mining lease applications in the Normanby basin since 1984, seven of them between 2010 and 2012. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A $2m-a-year federal program to cut sediment flows into reef waters costs $297 for every tonne of sediment saved. Exclusive: government inaction leading to increased pollution on Barrier Reef, says WWF Read moreWithers, whose step-son Patrick O’Shane is the applicant, said the rock art gallery was 3km from the propose mine and would not be threatened by it. Hughes, a former chief investment officer of major superannuation funds, said he was “a strong supporter of the mining industry” but there was no economic case for river mining.

Source: The Guardian August 18, 2017 00:56 UTC