Mine collapse at Lake Cowal

BY JEREMY BROWN
Mining for gold has caused a massive collapse at Barrack’s Lake Cowal mine in central NSW.
Aboriginal elder Neville Williams, a spokesman for the Mooka Kalara families (traditional owners of the Lake Cowal district) showed photographs of the collapsed face of the 200-metre deep open-cut mine taken during a reconnaissance flight over the mine with Friends of the Earth’s Natalie Lowrey. The slumped ore body nearly filled the pond at the bottom and appears to have taken out a large segment of the earthworks and spiral ramps on the lakeside of the pit.
‘It’s hard to bear the pain of the ongoing destruction of our sacred site,’ Williams said. ‘Barrack has ignored our demands to protect objects and respect the ecology of the lake.’
He said the collapse showed the fragility of the land, and was proof that Barrack’s application to extend the mine a further 50 metres on the lakeside should be rejected.
The traditional owners have opposed the mine since it was proposed 12 years ago and are optimistic about a Native Title determination to be heard in the Federal Court later this year.
‘But even if that comes to nothing there is a growing awareness of the ecological damage that is being done here and we are getting a lot of support,’ Williams said.
Of major concern is the enormous use of water. In full production the mine uses 17 megalitres of water a day and 10 tonnes of cyanide. The water then evaporates or sinks into the soil with its load of cyanide and arsenic. Lake Cowal is an overflow wetland for the Lachlan River; when the river floods, the lake fills with water and fish but when it’s hot and dry, dust storms can spread contaminated soil to surrounding areas.
Williams said Barrack had razed a 2-kilometre section of lakeside gums and the mine work had already obliterated two small creeks that ran into the lake most years.
‘Lake Cowal is above the Paleochannel, and they have up to four bores pumping, even taking water from the Lachlan when the water table drops too much. It seems crazy when we are struggling with diminishing flows everywhere,’ he said.