APS - serious water issues to contend with

Allup Silica is listing onMonday. Investors need to be aware of the serious environmental issuesassociated with their proposed Antwalker, Pipe Clay and Unicup mines, alllocated in the Southern Forest region of WA. Consider for example water issues:

The proposed mines by AllupSilica near Quinninup represents a direct threat to the hydrology of the UpperWarren catchment

● The effects on groundwater levels of 50m plus deep pits adjacent to a National Park are unpredictable though highly likely to lead to more forest and habitat destruction.
● There is no adequate water source to supply the industrial amount required for processing these volumes of sand. The suspicion is that Quinninup Lake will end up being pumped dry by this mine. Effluent from processing will endanger the Warren River catchment and downstream water bodies including farm dams, creeks and natural streams.
● The strip to be mined according to the tenement E70/5455 would cut off a major tributary to Quinninup Lake, and disrupt groundwater flow, with pit depths in the order of 50m. This would result in the elimination of a considerable portion of the total catchment. There is also a high risk of direct contamination to downstream aquifers.
● In Unicup the dangers are a devastating change in hydrology to Lake Muir, killing aestivating life forms that feed migratory birds. Also, sulphuric acid from oxidation of pyrites following peat mining, desiccation and fires has already raised levels of dissolved Aluminum, Cobalt, Copper, Manganese, Nickel, and Lead in the wetland groundwater. Mining would exacerbate this oxidation and leaching of toxic metal salts to a catastrophic level and send them down the Deep and Tone-Warren Rivers, which could kill everything in these rivers down to the ocean.
● The tenement, if granted approval, sits largely within a protected water catchment area. The strategic placing of the tenement (11.32km²) includes Lake Katherine and bisects the settlement of Quinninup.
● Unpredictable increase in salinity, and risk of contamination of tributaries in the Upper Warren River catchment.