It is easy to forget that long before modern urban population pressure and seachange retirees, the coastal fringe of the Northern Rivers region was being shaped by mining which irreversibly weakened shorelines now experiencing increasingly erosive wave patterns due to climate change.
This past degradation of coastal sand dunes and barrier beaches leaves many communities vulnerable.
Echo
NetDaily,
12 December 2013:
Mining,
not waves, destroyed Belongil
Oh,
spare me. The Belongil? Again? Could The Echo run that article from a
few years back that detailed (with photos) the deep sandmining that
destroyed the ancient solid dune base right across Byron Bay and
Tallows and more?
Is
there anyone left alive who knows there’s a place called The Sand
Hills Estate in Byron Bay, and why? As a reminder, it’s where the
YAC is, and there were huge sand hills there, which were mined out.
Does anyone recall there was a freshwater lake there, just like the
ones on Fraser Island that had to be protected from sandmining in the
70s? Byron’s lake was not protected, and it was destroyed by
sandmining.
Are
there still residents who recall the mining industry and politicians
saying the mining was ever so important, for the space program no
less, and that the beaches would be fine? Because a magic plant named
bitou bush would hold the soft sand together after the ancient black
sand was removed?
But
it turned out the black sand was used for cheap insulation on power
lines, the bitou bush became an ecological nightmare, and the soft
sand washed away in the first big storm. Does anyone remember any of this? Or that we even used to have black sand? And that was when the
mining industry/political fixers came up with: it’s a natural
process and we need a planned retreat? Any of this sound familiar?
Does anyone know what the black sand was, how it got there, and how
long it takes to accumulate?
And
the current cliff edge at Belongil? Anyone actually bother to look at
a survey map? Because that edge just happens to be where the mining
stopped, at boundaries of private land. Notice that otherwise the
whole thing would have been mined, washed away, and the sea would
likely be across Ewingsdale Road?
For
goodness sake, anyone remember the radioactive tailings dumped as
landfill around town, that was all supposed to be fine? Until some
smart bloke wandered about with a Geiger counter and a few people
woke up. Is that sand-processing plant still rusting on the beach at
Kingscliff? You know, the one with the big signs that say ‘WARNING:
RADIOACTIVE’?
For
pity’s sake, what on Earth lets people make statements without any
reference to the geological, industrial, or political history of the
landscape, and line up as the poster boys for mining industry
arse-covering, and yet claim to give a damn about the world?
Listen,
John Vaughan may annoy people, he may be obstreperous and
confrontational in manner, but he’s actually, in this case, right.
Do. Your. Homework. Or. Don’t. Put. Your. Hand. Up.
Matt
Hartley, Byron Bay
BACKGROUND
The
birth of sand mining in Australia took place in Ballina, NSW, in
1870, when John Sinclair discovered gold in the black sand on Shaw’s
beach. That discovery sparked a gold rush that lasted for nearly 30
years. At its peak there were about 300 people digging for gold on
the beaches around Ballina (Morley, 1981).
It
is, however, unlikely that the beaches were in pristine shape before
the gold rush started. Cement production didn’t begin in Australia
until about the same time as the beginning of gold mining on the
beaches (NSW Heritage Office, 2003), so beach sand wouldn’t have
been mined for construction work prior to that time. But cedar
getters began working in the forests in the 1840s and they hauled
logs to the beaches and out to schooners moored offshore (NPWS,
2007). This undoubtedly caused some significant damage to parts of
the dune systems.
The
beach gold miners depended on south-easterly gales to expose the
black sand and bring the heavier, gold-containing particles to the
beach surface (Morley, 1981) and mining was done entirely by hand
(Nott, 1957 cited in Borland, 1999).
Within
twenty years, most of the beach gold deposits were exhausted and the
attention of the miners turned inland. By the end of the century,
gold had been discovered on beaches from Bermagui, NSW to Fraser
Island, Qld, but its peak had passed (Morley, 1981).
For
the next couple of decades, mining for gold, platinum, and tin
continued on the beaches around Byron Bay. But around 1920 there
began to be an interest in other minerals that were found in the
beach sands – rutile, zircon, and ilmenite, the “heavy minerals”.
The
first large scale mining of heavy mineral sands was carried out in
1935 when Zircon-Rutile Ltd began production of zircon and rutile at
Byron Bay. They only processed the ore, and engaged contractors to do
the mining – which was done on the beach by hand, using shovels
(Morley, 1981).
When
mineral sand deposits were discovered in the back dunes and heathland
country behind the beaches, mining techniques changed. Ponds were dug
and small floating dredges were used to extract the minerals (Nott,
1957 cited in Borland, 1999).
In
the 1950s, as a result of criticism of the environmental damage being
done by sand mining, the NSW Mines department began to work towards
improving the rehabilitation of mine sites. But it wasn’t until the
late 1960s that any serious effort was put into this process (Unwin &
Cook, 1986 cited in Burdett, 1994).
Around
that time, reprofiling of sand dunes was improved by the introduction
of a stacker boom to rebuild the dunes with the tailings sand
returned from the separation plant (Burdett, 1994).
In
the 1960s mining began in the aeolian high dunes of southern
Queensland (Morley, 1981).
In
the late 1960s, mining companies began to employ qualified
rehabilitation workers for the first time. (Unwin & Cook, 1986
cited in Burdett, 1994)…..
Aunty Linda Vidler (2004), an Arakwal elder from the Byron Bay area, recalled 30 foot high sand dunes at Tallow Beach before sand mining took place. There were also dune swales and permanent lakes (Vidler 2003, cited in NPWS, 2007). Today the dune system there is more uniform, flat and simplified (NPWS, 2007).
It is likely that while sand mining continued, it caused increased erosion of the shoreline of Australian beaches, as seems to have been the case with sand mining in California (Thornton et. al., 2006). Landward displacement of frontal dunes has occurred (Dallas & Tuck, 2008). Lack of vegetation and dune instability in old, unrehabilitated mine sites continues to contribute to erosion of the dune systems.
Sand mining has destroyed archeological and heritage sites, such as Aboriginal camp sites, middens and possibly burial sites (Dallas & Tuck, 2008). Many sites of European and Aboriginal value were lost to sand mining around the Ballina area (Dept. of Land and Water Conservation, 2003).....
Port Of Yamba Historical Society Museum, 30 July 2018:
Yamba’s Pippi Beach is a big open beach ideal for long walks, surfing and fishing. At low tide the odd Pippi shellfish can be seen, but not as many as there were before sand mining and overharvesting in the mid 1900s.
In almost every decade of the twentieth century sand mining has occurred along the north coast of NSW. The sand, rich in zircon, rutile, ilmenite and monazite was considered valuable for steel alloys, enamels, glazes and glass.
The Depression delayed early attempts but in 1934/5 leases at Iluka, Yamba and Back Beach, Angourie were exploited. The Yamba lease consisted of a 40 metre wide strip of beach above low water mark and from a point on Pippi Beach opposite the present Ngaru Village and including most of Barri Beach (locally known as Mines or Dump Beach). The sand was loaded by hand into a horse-drawn dray, which took the mineral to the treatment plant, about 1.2 km south of Barri Point (Flat Rock). Later a tramline was erected on the beach, and hopper trucks, still loaded by hand, took the sand to the treatment plant pulled by a small diesel locomotive.
The Yamba lease was worked out by 1937 and production shifted to Angourie. Another tramway was built from the treatment plant to Back Beach, Angourie but little evidence remains of this tramway today.
In 1942/3 four new leases covered Turners, Yamba and Convent Beaches in Yamba and Green Point, Spookies and Back Beaches at Angourie. A small amount of mineral sand was taken from Main Beach, Yamba in 1943 before an appeal by a delegation from the surf club to the Minister for Mines had the mining stopped. A further lease was obtained in 1943 covering Barri Beach and Pippi Beach up to Lovers Point. On seeing the notices of the proposed mining activity, William Ager appealed for Council to resist the lease applications, feeling that the mining would undermine his conservation work. Despite the lease being granted, however, no mining took place in favour of richer mineral deposits further north in the Cudgen area.
Another period of mining occurred from 1968-1970, when sand dunes behind the beaches from Brooms Head to Yamba and Iluka were mined then rebuilt using front-end loaders.
The Bitou bush planted by the mining company to rehabilitate the dunes has since become a noxious weed. They did however discover the Yamba Cemetery, located towards the south end of Pippi Beach, covered in 20 feet of sand.
The declaration of Yuraygir National Park in 1980 and the importance of our beaches for tourism have largely ended any prospect of further mining. The North Coast Environmental Council and Maclean Shire Council blocked an attempt in 1995, especially after exploratory work caused severe dune damage.
Clarence Valley Council, Coastal Hazard Study for Pippi Beach, Yamba, 23 March 2016:
Pippi Beach and its adjoining headland to the north at Yamba Point are of high aesthetic
and environmental value.
The beach is generally backed by dunes located within Crown Reserve. These dunes
were mined for heavy minerals in the 1970s and later revegetated. Poorly managed
stormwater discharges into the dunes at the northern end of the beach led to erosion of
the dune face and formation of localised blow outs.
Coastal hazard investigations by Manly Hydraulics Laboratory in 2002 found that Pippi
Beach was only mildly affected by coastal hazard. However, storms in recent years
have lowered the beach profile and impacted on beach amenity.
Also a public footpath
has been proposed joining Yamba Point with beaches to the south and a concern has
been expressed for the stability of elevated bluff areas to be traversed by this path.....
The Daily Examiner, 2 March 2018:
Wooli Beach, Brooms Head, Woody Head and Yamba beaches are all being impacted by coastal erosion. The Daily Examiner has been following the erosion since the high tides and big swells were forced upon the Clarence in late December 2017, January and February this year.
NOTE:
While
minerals sands mining results in short-term alteration of ecosystems, there is a particular concern that thorium,
the principal radioactive component of monazite, may over time leach from tailings dumps into local water
supply systems. Also, as elevated radiation levels are likely to occur at areas of spillage adjacent to monazite
loading and storage facilities on former mining sites, it may be necessary to have a system of controls to
restrict the public and nearby landowners from having contact with some parts of former mine sites [Greg Swensen, Mineral sands mining in Western Australia, p.2].
Some samples in an old ilmenite stockpile (since removed) at Jerusalem Creek in Bundjalung National Park held thorium and uranium that exceed public health exemption criteria. [NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Bundjalung National Park
Review of Environmental Factors:
Proposed ilmenite stockpile removal and
site rehabilitation, 2016]
