NEW Hope Group has refuted claims by environmental group Stop Brisbane Coal Trains (SBCT) that soil testing being conducted by the University of Southern Queensland to show that coalmining land can be rehabilitated to at least its pre-mining condition is being done for show only.
In a statement released last week, SBCT spokesman John Gordon said preliminary results of soil testing done by a research arm of USQ were "no more than PR puff" for the media in the lead-up to the proposed New Acland stage 3 mine expansion.
USQ's Institute for Agriculture and the Environment has been contracted via Armidale-based consultancy Outcross to conduct soil tests for New Hope Group's Acland Pastoral Company.
"SBCT is opposed to the New Acland stage 3 mine expansion on the grounds that the Darling Downs soil is prime agricultural land and should not be mined, and should never have been touched for coal mining. We believe that USQ should seriously consider it's involvement in this," Mr Gordon said.
However, Acland Pastoral Company man((xA1))¡((xA1))¡ager Ben Muirhead said the topography and soil type of New Acland stages 1 and 2, as well as rehabilitated areas, and the proposed stage 3 preclude them from being prime farming country.
"I understand the argument is we're mining prime farming land, but I'm not talking about ripping up 2 metres of beautiful black self-mulching soil for mining," he said.
"Due to slope, moisture and rock, the areas we're testing now were predominantly grazing with a bit of cropping, and that's why they've been returned to grazing."
Institute for Agriculture and the Environment executive director Professor Steve Raine said while "a much clearer picture" is expected by Christmas, preliminary results from soil tests on Acland Pastoral Company land were encouraging.
"We've dug pits and taken samples, and while we haven't got quantitative data, what we've seen in pit faces are roots going well down into the interburden," Prof Raine said.
The interburden is the largely rock fill beneath the 30-40cm of reinstated topsoil which was removed and set aside while mining took place.
"We've also seen there's a darkening of material below the topsoil and into the interburden which shows some organic material, and that's a good thing."
The New Acland coalmine has been operating since 2002, and soil testing and pasture and cattle trials are being carried out on land rehabilitated 10, five and three years ago. Acland Pastoral Company is currently running 2100 cattle on about two-thirds of the total 10,000 hectares New Hope Group owns north-west of Oakey.
Of the remaining third, current mining pit operations use about 275ha, and the stage 3 proposal will see about 450ha used for mining pit operations at any one time.
The Queensland government's co-ordinator general is expected in coming months to make a decision as to whether New Acland's stage 3 can proceed in the light of its revised EIS.
SBCT believes the recent delivery of a $7 million Wirtgen surface-mining machine to New Hope Group is "proof enough" that New Acland stage 3 will proceed.
"The EIS process was simply a case of ticking political and public boxes. The actual deal was sealed long ago. The LNP are in bed with New Hope and were never going to stop stage 3. This new monster machine is a symbol of the cosy done deal," Mr Gordon said.
The machine arrived from Germany earlier this month, and New Hope Group said it will be trialled at New Acland for four months before deciding whether to keep it or return it to the manufacturer.
"While similar machines have been trialled before in coal mining operations, and are used in iron ore mines in Western Australia, this is the first in-depth trial of this kind in an open-cut coal mine in Australia that we know of," New Acland general manager Andrew McDonald said.
