Water, water everywhere but not for miners

Richmond Shire Mayor John Wharton has come out in support of vanadium junior miners in the region and their pursuit of water. A wet towel had been draped over their plans to develop an industry in the central North West of the state by the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water, Cr Wharton said. The department was represented at a recent meeting of stakeholders held in Julia Creek where six vanadium companies asked for 19,000ML/year to support their operations. Councillor Wharton said that amount was less than half the allocation given to some individual graziers drawing from the Flinders River. Richmond Shire Mayor John Wharton Instead, the department introduced a review of the Gulf Water Plan which pushes a decision out until 2027 and locks up water to all users, he said. “It's just a combination of bloody errors. I mean, these guys don't want this to happen. This Department of Water needs a real good clean out. “Honestly, this is bloody farcical. These vanadium miners, if they put in a water storage and pumped out of the river next time it floods and the department gave them the opportunity to use an artesian bore to top up their storage, they'll probably get through. “They don't need massive amounts of water.” The decision for a three-year review of water provision to users in the gulf had caused conflict in the bureaucracy, Cr Wharton said. “I know for a fact departments in the Queensland Government are really pissed off with the Department of Manufacturing and Water. “They are holding everything back and there're three departments that I know of that are pushing the critical minerals to move forward. “And yet here we are with the Department of Manufacturing and Water putting on a three-year review. God love us. The river's been planned and planned and it's just a hold up. “It's just a blocking stage and they've been doing it for 30 years. They believe that the Gulf rivers shouldn't be used. They don't own them. The people up here own them.” The options being put up by the Department of Water and Manufacturing for the provision of water were easily dismissed, Cr Wharton said. “Like raising up Lake Julius, honestly silly options. They looked at all this other stuff. Even a desalination plant at Normanton to pump water back to Julia Creek. “And we've got a real good option to build a dam north of Hughenden and gravity feed all the way past Richmond to Julia Creek. “They're the sort of things that they should be looking at. They're not looking at them. “Come on. They (vanadium miners) only want 19,000ML. They're not working hard to make this happen.”

Water, water everywhere but not for miners

Industry Queensland

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