Quolls could quash Rio Tinto’s plans for Australian bauxite mine

Australian conservationists have called on the country’s Federal Environment Minister Mark Butler to halt Rio Tinto’s planned South of Embley bauxite mine on Cape York after the discovery of a third rare species in the region.

Rio staff have found 24 endangered northern quolls on their lease about 10km from current mining operations at Weipa.

The company proposes to extend its operations at a mine south of the nearby Embley River where new species of a crab, shrimp and sea snake have been discovered, marking the area as a biological hotspot.

The Federal Government has approved Rio’s revised Environmental Impact Statement for the South of Embley mine but the environmental authority for the project has yet to be finalized following an objection lodged by the Wilderness Society in the Queensland Land Court.

Society spokesman Tim Seelig said the South of Embley mine represented an unacceptable threat to significant ecosystems, to rare and newly discovered species and to the Great Barrier Reef where increased shipping would occur as bauxite was hauled to Gladstone.

“We are calling on ... the minister to halt this mine and to ensure that the ecologically significant animals, plants and landscapes of this amazing area of Cape York are properly protected,’’ Dr Seelig said.

A spokesman for Butler said the department was talking to Rio Tinto about the quolls.

“It’s early days.We’re getting advice about this,’’ he said.

Rio Tinto has promised to protect the quolls but the find could turn into a tricky issue.

Because of their endangered status, northern quolls are protected under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

If Rio decides to go after the resources where the quolls are found, it could mean a further environmental impact assessment on a project that has been under way for 50 years.

The company proposes to extend its operations at a mine south of the nearby Embley River where new species of a crab, shrimp and sea snake have been discovered, marking the area as a biological hotspot.

The Federal Government has approved Rio’s revised Environmental Impact Statement for the South of Embley mine but the environmental authority for the project has yet to be finalized following an objection lodged by the Wilderness Society in the Queensland Land Court.

Society spokesman Tim Seelig said the South of Embley mine represented an unacceptable threat to significant ecosystems, to rare and newly discovered species and to the Great Barrier Reef where increased shipping would occur as bauxite was hauled to Gladstone.

“We are calling on ... the minister to halt this mine and to ensure that the ecologically significant animals, plants and landscapes of this amazing area of Cape York are properly protected,’’ Dr Seelig said.

“Who knows what other species will be found in this area? Claims that mining operations will be set back from sensitive area buffers become meaningless when Rio Tinto can’t be sure what species are actually on the site or where they might be located.’’

Its revised EIS states:“Given the decline of the species on Cape York Peninsula and the apparent perilous state of the species in the region, any population of northern quoll located on Cape York Peninsula would be regarded as an important population under the meaning of the EPBC Act ...’’

Dr Seelig said the priority for the federal and Queensland governments should be to protect the extensive natural and cultural values found throughout the Peninsula.

In 2009, scientists found 151 vertebrate species in acidic bauxite springs at the proposed Cape Alumina mine on the Wenlock river, north of Weipa.

It led to a major conservation battle over the project proposed for the Steve Irwin Reserve, which was bought in part with Commonwealth funds organized by former prime minister John Howard.