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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 1:57 am 
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now that is damned fine advice!!
Lefty, I'm going to be on the fields in another week or so, and will try to get a handle on what others are finding. It is a big concern to many people by the sound of it. I do know that the owner of a station in the area has done a deal with machinary miners, so we need to see if this is driving the agenda.
Baz.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:31 am 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
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I also suspect that the original protected area boundary was a little arbitrary. Maybe you can ask for a review of the boundary to verify the placement. I worked with satalite imagery for 20 years. There is a process to geolocatge the imagery. On a large scale project this is sometimes a little soft.




I suspect they have the boundary wrong Wilson, not sure if arguing will do me any good yet.

I am not a biologist or a botanist but I have always held an interest in these sciences. I worked as a volunteer in our local botanic garden herbarium and accompanied National Park rangers and botanists on field trips to some of our regions national parks to assist with plant surveys. So I do have some basic knowledge in the area.

I will ask the Department of Environment and Heritage who have actually drafted and declared these zones (the Department of Mines and Natural Resources only implements them) if they will identify for me the plant species that form the basis of this special ecosystem.

As a botanically-minded individual, I have never actually noticed anything that took my attention on my claim applications. One claim (I will have to look back at photos) from memory is almost treeless. The vegetation on it consists almost entirely of Buffle grass - a non-native species introduced to Australia by accident - and of clumps of Carissa ovata, commonly called Current bush. It is a small, thorny rambling shrub, very common right up and down Queensland and certainly not endangered. The other claim has a few large gum trees on it but not much else apart from more Buffle grass and Currant bush. A few Turkey trees I think but these are not endangered either.

Not far away though - probably only a few hundred yards - is a stand of different-looking vegetation that winds its way through the area. I'll bet this is the "ecosystem" they are referring to. I have always noticed it as it stuck out as being botanically different to the dominant vegetation in the area. But I've never had a close look. From as distance it looks likes some kind of Brigalow, an Acacia species. There is another small, shrubby tree there as well, not sure what it is.

But I don't recall any of these plants actually growing on the ground I have pegged.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:45 am 
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Location: Gold Coast Australia
Was talking with hooch and he said it is the brigalow they are trying to protect.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:50 am 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
Qld Barry wrote:
now that is damned fine advice!!
Lefty, I'm going to be on the fields in another week or so, and will try to get a handle on what others are finding. It is a big concern to many people by the sound of it. I do know that the owner of a station in the area has done a deal with machinary miners, so we need to see if this is driving the agenda.
Baz.


Hey Barry, Jason Turner (the Mining Registrar) at the office in Emerald has sent me some maps of the ERE's. There are a number of them throughout the gemfields, the one that has knocked me on the head looks about the biggest. They certainly don't consume the majority of the field at least and it looks like most people are probably not affected (for now) but it's difficult to be sure exactly which claims are affected because the info is not yet available on the interactive tenure maps.

There's a fair-sized portion in between Sapphire and Rubyvale and another smaller couple back toward the Anakie turnoff on the highway but it's hard to say if these are in Graves Hill or not. Out in western Reward where I am (were :cry: ), the Washpool community of claims looks to be left unscathed but is surrounded on all sides. Apart form the Washpool, the claims out here are fewer further between than back closer to Rubyvale and Sapphire so hopefully there are only a few affected (hopefully none!)

I don't have anything showing other areas but Aussiejamie says his claim has been affected all the way out at The Willows.

I'm not tech-savvy enough to convert the photos sent to me to a format that can be posted here but if you wanted to pm me your email address, I can forward it to you.

Cheers


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:57 am 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
aussiejamie wrote:
Was talking with hooch and he said it is the brigalow they are trying to protect.


Yeah, lots of Brigalow lands have been cleared for grazing and cropping. But I don't think there's a single Brigalow tree on my claim applications.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:09 am 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
For anyone interested, the ERE maps are here

I don't think they are comprehensive and it's difficult to line them up with existing claims but it will give you some idea. Click on each of the 3 items and click on the file name to download to your computer.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 2:08 pm 
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voting for liberals has consequences


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 4:10 pm 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
stairman wrote:
voting for liberals has consequences


The president of the body representing small sapphire miners - the Queensland Sapphire Miners Association - has been on the field for 35 years and has told me that ongoing changes that make things more and more difficult for small miners have been instituted under both sides of politics in Queensland.

Here, we have the Liberal-National coalition which is an unusual alliance between modern conservatives (despite the name "Liberal") and on old-fashioned agrarian socialist (not quite but about as close as a description can come) party representing farmers and graziers. The Labor party would be called "Liberal" in the US. Power swings back and forth between Labor and the Coalition (obviously).

Mining - even very small scale such as small scale sapphire mining - and farming on the same land can lead to confrontations between miners and farmers - and the farmers are politically supported by the Coalition. Labor meanwhile, has political alliances with city-based environmentalists such as the Green party. The Greens don't like farmers but they also don't like even the smallest of miners.

So small miners don't really have anyone representing their interests in parliament. Small miners don't really have any friends, only enemies in politics, which is not a good position to be in wherever in the world you may be :( . That's my reading of it anyway.

There has been a push by farmers/graziers of late to have government-owned leasehold land (such as the CQ gemfields which is a shared lease between sapphire mining and grazing) converted into freehold title outright for graziers. Obviously this would impact small sapphire miners by giving the graziers greater rights over the same land. Meanwhile, the Greens have recently lost a major battle in an area not far away from the CQ gemfileds - they have failed in their bid to stop the massive Adani coal mine project from going ahead. I tend to suspect they are wanting some sort of consolation prize and this may well be it. But I don't know for sure.

There you go - a bit of an insight into the dysfunctional circus that passes for politics in Queensland :)


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 4:20 pm 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
Meanwhile, I am yet to receive any response from either the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection or the Queensland Herbarium in response to my questions and concerns. I think they would like me to just go away.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:57 pm 
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:57 am
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Location: New Zealand
Hi lefty I have just emerged from the swamp and starting to look at life again so have just caught up with a few threads on forum.
When i had my claim at reward some years ago a certain farmer was doing his best to get rid of miners he was going to fence of the bottom road to reward and was told every time he put it up it would be cut down, I believe he was stopped as this was an escape route in case of fire etc.

At this time he illegally poisoned a large area of trees by aerial spraying on the Reward Road. Although he was taken to task nothing happened.
Under the environmental act this was a crime
This is here say but it was mentioned that his wife was a relation of some politician.
I am assuming this is the same ankle that is causing you problems.
Look for an investigate Journalist.
Keep the pressure up

Remember the Eureka Stockade miners verse land owners gentry and politicians all wanting the wealth of the miners but forcing restrictions and costs on them.
Sultana Hill would make a good rallying ground
Cheers


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 12:30 am 
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Location: Central Queensland, Australia
ebgym wrote:
Hi lefty I have just emerged from the swamp and starting to look at life again so have just caught up with a few threads on forum.
When i had my claim at reward some years ago a certain farmer was doing his best to get rid of miners he was going to fence of the bottom road to reward and was told every time he put it up it would be cut down, I believe he was stopped as this was an escape route in case of fire etc.

At this time he illegally poisoned a large area of trees by aerial spraying on the Reward Road. Although he was taken to task nothing happened.
Under the environmental act this was a crime
This is here say but it was mentioned that his wife was a relation of some politician.
I am assuming this is the same ankle that is causing you problems.
Look for an investigate Journalist.
Keep the pressure up

Remember the Eureka Stockade miners verse land owners gentry and politicians all wanting the wealth of the miners but forcing restrictions and costs on them.
Sultana Hill would make a good rallying ground
Cheers


Thanks mate!

I'd be lying if I said this stuff hasn't been doing my head in.

BTW, I'll need to edit the thread title, it seems this fiasco doesn't actually originate with the Queensland department of mines - it's just been handed to them across departments and is entirely the creation of a different department. But since the mines department administers the area, it falls to them to inform people that their tenures are now null and void and to ensure that these new zones are never pegged.

Sandwiched between the Department of Environment and Heritage declaring no small mining zones in a purpose-designated small mining area and graziers pushing to have the shared leasehold lands converted to freehold for them, I'm a bit concerned for the future of the place and at this point think the areas where small mining is allowed will just shrink and shrink over time.

Anyway, the QSMA are meeting with the DMNR late next week over this issue, more info should come to light then.

Cheers


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:53 pm 
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Put in a claim for fracking, instant green lights assured.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:36 pm 
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Tim wrote:
Put in a claim for fracking, instant green lights assured.


Probably right there Tim. Did you see where methane is leaking up through the bed of the Condamine river following fracking nearby. The guy demonstrated it by actually setting fire to the river!


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:27 am 
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This fellow, effectively dehairing his legs, yes.


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 Post subject: Re: F*** the Queensland department of mines!!!!!!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:29 pm 
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I read another article that claimed that natural methane leaks were known in the area, and that such things used to be used by wildcatters to determine where to look for oil. That is, the fracking had nothing to do with the methane that was set on fire - it was just a publicity stunt. Perhaps someone from the area could comment?


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