Lake Cowal - A Lake NOT A Mine

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Rainforest Information Centre

As Barrick Gold gears up to begin pouring gold at Lake Cowal, Central Western New South Wales, protesters are cranking up their anti-gold mining campaign.

Wiradjuri Traditional Owner, Neville Williams, who is in his fifth year of struggle against the mine vows he won’t give up the fight to protect Wiradjuri culture - ever.

“Lake Cowal is our heartland and we’ll never give up fighting for or let go of our culture which is thousands of years old. They tell us gold will be poured soon, but we are keeping up our campaign, here in Australia and overseas,” Mr Williams said.

“The construction of the mine has already desecrated this sacred place, even before gold is poured. According to our Old People, the gold that is about to be ripped out of the ground is the blood of Biame, the Creator. When gold is taken out of the land, the balance of Nature and of the Spirit is changed, affecting the weather, wildlife and people. Native wildlife deaths have already been reported at the mine site. Eighty per cent of mined gold is used for jewellery. How many people, animals and birds will have to be sacrificed for greed?

“The Lake Cowal landscape has already changed dramatically and irrevocably in the few years since mine construction began. More than 10 000 artefacts have been collected in the Mining Lease Area where our people have camped for thousands of years. Barrick is not listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Most of the profits from this mine will go overseas to Barrick’s shareholders, leaving behind massive destruction in the form of a huge open pit that will scar the land forever - a legacy for future generations.


“The New South Wales Government and the company went ahead with the mine regardless of the views of Traditional Owners and strong opposition from the majority of Wiradjuri people. They have never received our permission.

“Human beings aren’t above Nature. We believe that the gold mine at Lake Cowal is still a disaster waiting to happen, even with the government consent conditions. There can be no guarantees with gold mines. History shows what cyanide leaching does to the environment. There are many examples all around the world. In January, Australian company Lafayette Mining Ltd was fined around $A 207 000 and its mining operations suspended after two cyanide spills at its gold, copper and silver mine on Rapu-Rapu Island in the Philippines. The more recent of the two spills was caused by heavy rains at the mine site. Back in 1992, a train carrying a shipment of cyanide derailed at Condobolin causing the town to be on Red Alert ready to be evacuated in the event of rain. It was only pure luck that after the cyanide spill it did not rain releasing deadly cyanide gas from the pellets strewn over a wide area.

“So far Barrick has been very lucky because it hasn’t rained very heavily at Lake Cowal. This drought has to break sometime though and then the floods will come. We should take heed of the recent natural disasters, like the cyclones, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunami that have been happening around the world. Local knowledge tells us that the bund wall is not extensive enough to prevent the mine flooding in a once-in-a lifetime major event. The authorities also play down the fact that Lake Cowal is in an active earthquake area.

We hear that locals are worried about the water level in the Bland Paleochannel, the underground river which is our sacred dreaming track. Barrick won’t be able to take enough water from the groundwater sources near Lake Cowal because they are embargoed. We’d like to know where they intend buying other water resources.

“We’d also like to know the routes along which the cyanide will be transported. The government is very secretive about letting this information out, but the public has the right to know what dangerous and toxic chemicals are being hauled along our roads and in our trains. As more mines come online the dangers are only being multiplied. Public health and the environment is also at risk from toxic mine dust. Big dust storms happen quite often in the Lake Cowal area and, if it contained toxic mine emissions, wherever the dust settles it could affect public health and wildlife as well as contaminate waterways, crops and soil.

“It’s our responsibility as Wiradjuri custodians of the land to bring the dangers of gold mining to the public’s attention. On 31 March, the last day of the quarter when Barrick is supposed to begin pouring gold, an exhibition of Aboriginal art titled “Mining Sacred Ground: stories from our earth” will be opened at the Boomalli Art Gallery in Sydney. This exhibition features works about Lake Cowal by Wiradjuri people and Narren Lake by Euahlayi and Gamilaroi artists.

“We’ll be taking our protest to Lake Cowal at Easter. Everyone who wants to see the eventual end to Dirty Gold is invited to join us at our Easter Corroboree from 14 to 17 April 2006,” Mr Williams said.

Lake Cowal Camp is opposite the entrance to the Cowal Gold Project on Lake Cowal Road, 47 kms north-east of West Wyalong.

Website: www.savelakecowal.org/intro.html
Contact: Wiradjuri Elder, Neville Williams 0416 316 774
or Ellie Gilbert 0421 795 639

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Indigenous People and Supporters Rally Against Barrick Gold, Easter 2004

Consent to Destroy Artefacts
In a letter to the editor of a local paper, (The Lachlander, 13/1/2004) Wiradjuri Elders have spoken out on behalf of Mooka and Kalara united clans and families within the Wiradjuri Nation.

"The consent to destroy our artefacts was agreed to by a handful of unauthorized Native Title applicants, who are not recognized as having the authority of the whole Koori community, who were never fully consulted on this issue," the Elders wrote in their letter.

"The area is rich in artefacts," says Neville Williams. "Some are as old as the pyramids of Egypt. Lake Cowal is our Dreaming Place and our sacred site. It is Wiradjuri's past, present and future. There are also many artefacts beneath the surface because Lake Cowal is very, very old.

"Our artefacts are not "relics". They have not been abandoned. They are where they are meant to be, left there by our Old People.

"How can the Crown claim they own our cultural objects? They belong to us and always will. But the Crown claims ownership, then makes the Director-General of National Parks the "Protector of Relics", which gives him the power to consent to their destruction in favour of development.

"The National Parks and Wildlife Act is a very racist Act. It should be abolished. Once a Consent to Destroy is granted it cannot be revoked not even by the Minister, but developers have the right to appeal if they are not granted a Consent to Destroy and can keep reapplying for a Consent to Destroy even though the previous one has been injuncted and suspended by the court.

"In September 2002, Rio Tinto announced that it would close the Jabiluka Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory if it didn't get the support of the traditional owners," said Ruth Rosenhek, spokesperson for the Coalition to Protect Lake Cowal.

"In light of the large opposition to a gold mine at Lake Cowal by the Traditional Owners and their supporters, the Wiradjuri, we call upon Barrick Gold to halt construction of the Cowal Gold Mine immediately and uphold the rights of indigenous peoples."

Contacts:
Neville Williams, Traditional Owner, 0416 316 774, 0421 795 639

Rainforest Information Centre
Coalition to Protect Lake Cowal
Contact Person: Ruth Rosenhek +61 2 6621 3294
ruthr@ozemail.com.au

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Lake Cowal - Background:

Situated 47 kilometers north east of West Wyalong in central New South Wales (NSW), Lake Cowal is the state’s largest natural inland lake. It is part of the Wilbertroy-Cowal Wetlands within a large flood plain, the Jemalong Plain. Fed by its major tributary Bland Creek and by occasional floods from the Lachlan River, the lake is ephemeral but is substantially full for seven out of ten years. As floods recede Lake Cowal drains back into the Lachlan communicating with the Murray River.

THE LAKE

Lake Cowal is included in the Australian Register of the National Estate and in its Directory of Important Wetlands. The National Trust of Australia (NSW) has listed Lake Cowal as a 'Landscape Conservation Area'. The Australian Heritage Commission has suggested the NSW government consider the Lake Cowal region for listing under the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance.

Under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands contracting parties (of which Australia is one) are obliged to promote conservation, repair and wise use of all wetlands. Australia has already lost 89% of its wetlands over the last century.

The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Services (NSW NPWS) states, “Lake Cowal is listed on the National Estate because of the diversity and number of species that inhabit the lake. For example, Lake Cowal has at least three recorded accounts of more than 1% the Australian population of some wader species. As such, Lake Cowal also meets the Ramsar Wetlands of Importance listing criteria. The NPWS is of the opinion that Lake Cowal provides significant wetland habitats and drought refuge both in area, diversity of habitat types and duration of availability of resources.”

COWAL GOLD PROJECT

The proposed ‘Mining Lease Application’ encompasses approximately 2,650 hectares. Seventy six million tonnes of low to medium grade ore would be excavated from an open cut pit 1 kilometer wide and 325 meters deep on the lake shore and partly within the high water level of Lake Cowal to produce an estimated 2.7 million ounces of gold.

After a commission of Inquiry in 1999 the NSW government approved the Cowal Gold Project involving open cut mining with cyanide leaching for gold extraction. Electricity would be supplied by a 132-kilovolt transmission line, to be constructed over 90 kilometers.

The only barrier between the lake and the open pit would be an earth wall or bund. Tailings would be stored in dams 3.5 kilometers from the lake.

ENDANGERED FLORA & FAUNA

Lake Cowal is home to many endangered flora and fauna species including the Austral Pillwort (Pilularia novae-hollandiae) Winged Peppercress (Lepidium monoplocoides) Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus) Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis) Painted Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa) Yellow-bellied Sheathtail-bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) Little Pied Bat (Chalinolobus picatus).

The Lake supports fish of high conservation value such as the Silver Perch (Bidyabus bidyabus) which is protected in New South Wales; the Freshwater Catfish (Tandanus tandanus) which is subject to a voluntary ban by commercial fishers; and Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica) also protected.

BIRDS AT LAKE COWAL

277 species of birds have been recorded or are considered as possible occurrences in the Lake Cowal region. Significant numbers of migratory species listed in the China-Australia Migratory Birds Agreement, (CAMBA) and the Japan- Australia Migratory Birds Agreement (JAMBA) use the lake as habitat. As a signatory to these two agreements, Australia is responsible for the conservation of the habitat of these listed species.

ABORIGINAL SACRED SITE

Lake Cowal / The Bland is a very important sacred region for the Aboriginal Traditional Owners and is often called "the heartland of the Wiradjuri Nation".

When explorers first came to Lake Cowal they recorded tribal Aboriginals who used the area as a campsite and sacred site. There are a number of artefact and relics at the Lake Cowal site that are testimony to this useage.

Homestake/Barrick and their predecessors have not properly consulted with many Aboriginal traditional owners from the region, many of whom have declared their opposition to the Lake Cowal gold mine project.

A Native Title Claim has recently been submitted.

Rainforest Information Centre
Coalition to Protect Lake Cowal
Contact Person: Ruth Rosenhek
ruthr@ozemail.com.au
www.rainforestinfo.org.au/gold/

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