Gelliondale Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ignite Energy Resources Limited, is currently applying for a Retention Licence to facilitate the the development of the Gelliondale Coal Project.
The proposed area for the Retention Licence (RL 2013) is in the South Gippsland region, near Gelliondale and Hedley.
The company reports that:
Field exploration activities have been undertaken by various parties in this area for over 20 years. Following the collation of available data, the Gelliondale Coal Project is now progressing the assessment of the commercial, social and environmental viability of a coal mine in the project area.
This process will involve extensive environmental, technical and social consideration of a potential mine across the resources present in the project area.
The government says:
The location of the Gelliondale (and Alberton) coal deposits is in an almost pristine coastal plain. The main occupation is agricultural/dairying pursuits on small landholdings serviced locally from several small townships spaced east-west along the South Gippsland Highway.
What is happening with the project?
A work program has been submitted to the Victorian Government for approval as part of the application for the Retention Licence. The work program covers field exploration activities such as drilling, sampling, excavation of costeans or pits and surveying.
An ad was put in the Yarram Standard on November 20th. The community generally has 21 days to respond.
Damien Stewart, of Gelliondale
Resources, was on ABC Local, Mornings with Celine Foenander, on 29/11/13.
He said that the company had placed newspaper ad the previous week, and ‘guarantees
consultation’ (well they will be forced to carry out consultation so that's nothing
special), plus commitment to doing an environmental and ground water study and
impact statement. They expect this process to take 4-5 years. They
are hoping for a successful tender announcement in Febuary.
We hope to have a draft submission/ objection letter available here shortly.
We believe that the government should intervene and rule out any new coal mines in Gippsland. Our media release is available here.