Blowing Up Australia - Iron Ore

My work involves finding rare or endangered species that live, quite happily, eating and mating in Western Australia's unique ecosystems, pre-dynamite. The term 'pre-dynamite' is the issue here...

Australia-China Iron-Ore Trade

No country is more desperate to make steel than China, and no country is more happy to supply them with iron ore than Australia. At 39%, China is already the world's largest producer of iron ore by a mile, but like wheat, China is also earth's largest importer. In 2009, Australia produced 17% of the world's iron ore, ranking second. 68% of this ore went to China to produce steel, a lot of which they can sell back to us.

Exploding Mountains!

Australia is the least tectonically active continent, with no active volcanoes. So when a mountain blows apart, explosives are behind it. Leveling a mountain in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is one of the best ways to access large deposits of iron-ore on Earth, and luckily for the mining companies, there are plenty of them on offer. Coincidentally, it's the best way to bury the mountain's plants and animals alive.

Got a problem? Just keep throwing money at it.

This is the general philosophy of most mining companies in Western Australia, and solves most of their problems. Mining companies generally contract environmental consultants to carry out their compulsory environmental assessments or surveys. In theory, finding a federally listed species (endangered, vulnerable or migratory species) should, in some cases, prevent the development of a mine, or at least in the areas where they occur within the mine. However, this is laughed at by the mining companies when such a species is found. To get around the matter, they throw more and more money to the environmental consultants that found the species, until they can produce a report stating "no significant impact to the species is anticipated", or "the species is unlikely to occur". If the environmental consultancy can't state this, they contract a consultancy that can. Unfortunately, there are environmental consultancies that cater to this market.

The safety of WA National Parks and Reserves is in question

Following the approval to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island Nature Reserve (a Class A Reserve, the most protected crown land in the state) in 2009, Western Australia's environmental legislation is obviously insufficient. Recently, I found out of plans by a leading iron-ore producer, to construct a railway for transporting ore through the heart of one of WA's most spectacular reserves, Millstream Chichester National Park. Have I missed something here, or are National Parks no longer protected forever?

Since arriving in Western Australia a year ago, I have not seen a square-inch of land protected from mining in areas I have worked, even after finding threatened species...and all I can say is, if you haven't been to the Pilbara, get there now.


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