ILN is seeking confirmation as to whether the company is Canada’s Western Coal, which was recently acquired by significant US coal producer Walter Energy in a $US3.2 billion deal.
The two exploration licences, E70/4079 and E70/4080, cover a total of 19 blocks and were awarded to Western Coal on March 14.
As leader of the residents’ activist group NO COAL!tion Margaret River, Parmenter said the combined tenement area appeared to be adjacent to the proposed Vasse underground coal project at Osmington and extended from there to Busselton Shire.
Last month Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority recommended against the development of the proposed Vasse mine; however, Environment Minister Bill Marmion will ultimately decide whether the project can enter more advanced stages of planning.
While any work on Western Coal’s two exploration licences is likely to be at a grassroots stage, Parmenter has noted that the Carbunup River goes right through the tenement areas.
“It’s pretty huge,” he said of the land area.
“My comment is, here we go again.”
English comedians Ben Elton and Michael Palin both spoke out against the Vasse project and a fundraiser at the Xanadu winery last month featuring Elton raised $A35,000.
These funds, along with a good working relationship with a legal firm, will boost resistance efforts from residents opposed to coal mining in their region.
Parmenter noted that supporters included a surprising number of people who were working in the mining industry or used to work in the industry.
“It’s not as though it’s an anti-mining campaign, it’s just an anti-mining-here campaign,” he told ILN.
The Vasse project was being advanced by LD Operations on behalf of its private owners, AMCI (70%) and Core Coal Holdings (30%).
LDO has considered appealing against EPA’s recommendation that the WA government scrap the Vasse project, and would like a “comprehensive and rigorous” public environmental review process for the proposed underground coal mine.
