What Ganyan Drive looks like now

Here is a Google Map of the area as it is now. As you can see, it's mostly forest, with a few small cleared areas for houses and roads.


View Larger Map

Map of affected area

Here's an extract from the Queensland Govt map of exploration permit EPM 15664. The area includes the southern half of Ganyan Drive, and appears also to include a chunk of the World Heritage rainforest on the south side of the Ganyan Creek.

You can find more details at http://www.dme.qld.gov.au/mines/tenure_maps.cfm. Use the magnifying glass tool to navigate to the tablelands, and switch on the layer for Exploration and Mining Tenure/Current Expl. Permits (Mineral)

Mining Exploration on Ganyan Drive

Ganyan Drive
Speewah QLD 4881

30th October 2008

Dear Neighbour,

MINING EXPLORATION ON GANYAN DRIVE

Yesterday, I received a registered letter from a mining company, Auzex Resources Limited, informing me of their intention to enter my property within the next seven days in order to carry out mineral exploration. A permit has been granted by the Queensland Government no EPM 15664, which covers a huge portion of the local area including half of Ganyan Drive, as depicted in the grey area of the map attached.

I have taken legal advice on the matter and have been informed that I am unable to halt the exploration which will be ongoing between 3rd November 2008 and 6th January 2009.

According to their website http://www.auzex.com the key minerals Auzex look for are molybdenum, gold, bismuth, silver, tin and tungsten.

Words cannot express the concern I feel about this issue, not just the impact on me and my family, but for all of us. Off the top of my head the following will be impacted:

Health
Heavy vehicles
Noise
Pollution – both land and water as we border the Ganyan River
Property values
Road expansion
Traffic

I am sure you can think of many more.

Beyond the local issues though, is the wider issue that a mining permit can be granted in a residential area, and surely this alone requires review and a change in legislation.

If you would like to know more information or would like to offer any assistance in protecting our community from this bizarre new threat, please do not hesitate to contact me, or my wife, as above. I have put a blog together a blog at http://minespeewah.blogspot.com and I will attempt to keep interested parties informed of developments via this mechanism.

Yours faithfully
etc