good news port to use, page-8

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23570870-2682,00.html


CARA JENKIN, REGIONAL REPORTER
April 20, 2008 09:00pm

FISHING and mining - two heavyweight industries contributing hundreds of millions to the state's economy each year - are at loggerheads over a plan to ship iron ore from Port Lincoln.

The seafood industry fears the plan will spell the end of its "clean, green" image and is vowing to oppose it.

Mining company Centrex plans to export iron ore from a deposit 100km north of Port Lincoln by shipping it from a disused wharf on the city's outskirts.

Industry figures say it is a direct threat to the largest regional seafood industry in Australia, with an estimated value of $300 million a year.

SA Seafood Industry Federation executive officer Neil MacDonald said mining had an important place but not at the expense of another important industry.

"Port Lincoln is the seafood capital of Australia," he said. "It holds this position because the Lincoln brand is seen as safe seafood, produced in a sustainable manner from the clean waters around Port Lincoln.

"Large-scale industrial shipping through Port Lincoln would very quickly change the image of the Lincoln brand and threaten the competitiveness of the seafood industry."

Centrex has a 100-year lease on the wharf from its private owner and plans to begin production at its mine by November. A spokesman for Centrex said the company was also considering other options in addition to the Port Lincoln wharf.

Centrex plans to crush the ore at the mine site and deliver it to port in covered trucks. The ore then would be transferred to ships in enclosed areas to prevent the red dust problems that have plagued Whyalla.

A spokeswoman for Primary Industries and Resources SA said there would be consultation with stakeholders when the Government received a development proposal from Centrex.

"Should an application be received, it will be rigorously assessed," she said.

Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis said the community supported mining activity in the region but the ore should not be exported from there.

"It would be far more profitable to build a purpose-built loading station for mineral exports of Eyre Peninsula in a more central location," he said.

Port Lincoln mussel farmer Aaron Tapper, 32, said pollution was his greatest concern.

"I look at the point of view that Port Lincoln is the biggest seafood exporter out of Australia and it could jeopardise the seafood industry here, so I'm not too favourable of a mining company coming in," he said.

About 25 workers and residents today protested against the proposal at the wharf.