Supporting Mining in the North West

The Hodgman Liberal Government supports continued exploration and sustainable mining operations in the North West of Tasmania.

Today’s claims from Save the Tarkine are nothing more than another desperate, ill-conceived attempt from fringe environmentalists to lock up more land.

Let’s put a bit of perspective around this – if every single mining project in northwest Tasmania went head, together with mines already operating, it would cover less than 1 per cent of the total area environmentalists want to lock up.

Scott Jordan’s claims the Exploration Release Area process isn’t legislated is misleading and false.

The public notification of Exploration Release Areas, resulting from expired or relinquished exploration licences, is a specific requirement of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995.

The list of ERAs are publicly available on the MRT website as required by the Act.

Mining is a key industry for Tasmania’s economic prosperity and the Government will continue to proactively seek investment to promote wealth-generating opportunities for our State.

These industries employ more than 5000 people in Tasmania and represent almost 50% of the State’s net export value. They also contribute significantly through service provision and the supply chain to the State’s regional area economies.

It’s important to remember the North West and West Coast contains some of the State’s richest resources and a mining history dating back well over 100 years, and that every single mining operation in Tasmania is subject to stringent environmental laws and rigorous state and federal approval processes.

Ongoing access to land is essential for Tasmania’s mining exploration and mining industries and the Government will not flinch in our support of this important sector.
Paul Harriss, Minister for Resources