March, 2010
Wed, 31 Mar 2010 8:59 am – Posted by Mandy | 19 Comments
Blogger: Mike Joy, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at Massey University
Much of the rhetoric coming from the government around mining in National Parks has centred on so called “surgical mining” - the idea is that you can make a small hole and that this hole is the total impact. This is just classic greenwash.
The real issue is what happens to the stuff that comes out of the mine not the size of its opening*.
In reality what does come out of the mine is acid-leaching crushed rock that must be sealed up for eternity after the precious metals have been removed because if they ever come in contact with water they form sulphuric acid.
The tailings of martha mine, photo: Kim Westerskov
The huge tailings dam at Waihi is a good example, they have the “surgical” Favona mine nearby, a small hole but all the rock and all the associated toxic material that comes out must go into the tailings dam.
Before being mined the acid-bearing rock was sitting safely in the ground with a very small surface area in relation to its volume so very little acid was produced. The mining process takes that rock and pulverises it into talcum powder consistency which increases the surface area by many, many orders of magnitude so then if water gets to it acid is formed immediately.
To stop acid forming the tailings dam is sealed top; bottom and sides with clay liners similar to modern landfills and as long as this seal remains intact the acid forming mine tailings are “safe”. But if anything from an earthquake to a tree root were to breach this liner then the results would be disastrous for anyone downstream.
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Thu, 25 Mar 2010 2:51 pm – Posted by Mandy | 9 Comments
Guest Blogger: Frog scientist & conservationist, Phil Bishop (aka Frogman)
In the Year of the Frog Archey’s frog was awarded the dubious honour of being named the World’s most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered amphibian – this means it’s the most Important Amphibian in the World
Our coin-sized Archey's frog, Photo: James Reardon
That’s no.1 in a pool of over 6600 species of amphibians worldwide. At the recent World Congress of Herpetology in Brazil we were congratulated for the amazing work that had been conducted on conserving these ancient and unique species of frogs.
We are clearly leading the field when it comes to frog conservation. However, the recent stocktake of Schedule 4 and the proposed mining will change all this. The areas to be mined include several long-term frog monitoring sites where the frog populations have been continually monitored for over 40 years – this represents the best data on frog populations anywhere in the world.
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Mon, 22 Mar 2010 1:57 pm – Posted by Mandy | 9 Comments
Blogger: Web manager, Mandy Herrick
Key’s remark that there is ‘too much hysteria over mining conservation land’ is laughable, given that now he is pursuing a hysterical witch-hunt to find the government leak
Hysterical. It’s an interesting word, and one that is much-loved by politicians looking to silence an issue.
According to my trusty online dictionary it means ‘uncontrollably emotional’.
Well, that’s synonymous with passionate isn’t it? But then, passion doesn’t feature prominently in politics – it’s all hardened reason, cool economic logic and hard-boiled facts. Ahem.
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Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:04 am – Posted by Mandy | 2 Comments
Blogger: Denis Tegg from Coromandel Watchdog
Reckless. Obscene. Outrageous.
These were just some of the first thoughts that ran though my head when I discovered that the National government is looking at opening up 2,500 hectares of conservation land for mining above Thames township.
Miniscule traces of gold lie hidden beneath the cover of bird-filled trees & ground cover, so to extract it some serious excavations are required – we’re talking explosions, rock crushing, cyanide plants, diggers, forest clearance & major roads in and out.
The trouble is – the land above Thames is a piece of fragile ground, and when there’s a downpour, chances are, it won’t just rain dainty raindrops.
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Mon, 08 Mar 2010 4:18 pm – Posted by Mandy | 3 Comments
Blogger: ‘Sea-slug girl’ aka Forest & Bird’s Marine Advocate Kirstie Knowles.
What absorbs 1/3 of our atmospheric carbon?
What is thought to hold over 80% of NZ’s unique plants and animals?
What has forests, volcanos (some of the largest lava fields) and mountains?
What holds the world’s tallest mountain?**
Where did we come from?
What covers two thirds of the earth?
Yep, you guessed it – the sea.
Seaweek kicked off this Sunday with a bunch of events in celebration of the deep, blue yonder that surrounds us.
Photo competitions, film screenings, underwater –litter picking, rockpooling, sea-librity parades – you name it – it’s happening across the country .
Blue, salty and filled with a horde of colourful sea-critters – the sea has held my fascination for, er, 25 years and counting.
Having spent my first few years sploshing around on the sea’s surface, I shrugged off my earthbound existence and slipped beneath the surface with the help of an aqua-lung thirteen years ago
I have never looked back. Oh, to have fins and gills!
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Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:37 am – Posted by Mandy | 4 Comments
Blogger: Forest & Bird Marine Advocate, Kirstie Knowles
Our critically endangered Southern Bluefin Tuna swims around the seas of several countries from Australia to Japan – and while these countries are working to reduce their quotas – we are trying to bump ours up by 25%.
Southern Bluefin Tuna, Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Fisheries.
The back-story goes something like this. Five (Japan, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea & NZ) countries work together to set up a Commission for Conservation (estab 1994) for Bluefin Tuna that sets fishing quotas for each country.
However, one of the founding signatories, Japan ( 1994) and recent signees Indonesia (2008), Taiwan (2002) & Korea (2001) have flouted their quota agreements and now New Zealand wants to get even, by putting in a proposal to up its tonnage from 420 – 532 tonnes.
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