Mount Gee is located in the northern

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

within the

Arkaroola Arkaroola is the common name for the ''Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary'', a wildlife sanctuary situated on of freehold and pastoral lease land in South Australia. It is located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Northern Flinders Rang ...

Wilderness Sanctuary, and is part of the Mount Painter inlier. It was named after a mining warden, Lionel Gee. Recently Mount Gee came to prominence in 2008–2011 because of uranium exploration occurring in an area that was commonly (and mistakenly) believed at that time to be protected from all mineral exploration. This situation was altered in 2011–2012 when the Government of South Australia created the Arkaroola Protection Zone and passed the Arkaroola Protection Act (2012) which prohibits all mining activity in the Arkaroola Protection Zone. Radiumridgemine arkaroola

Geography

With its peak rising 600 metres above sea level Mount Gee is one of several peaks located in the visually spectacular and geologically significant range north-east of the

Gammon Ranges Gammon may refer to: People * Archer T. Gammon (1918–1945), United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * James Gammon (1940–2010), American actor * James Gammon (engraver) (), English engraver * Kendall Gammon (born 1968), Ame ...

and south of the

Mawson Plateau 230px, Typical Mawson Plateau terrain; rolling hills, with sparse vegetation interspersed with numerous eroded granite boulders. The Mawson Plateau, located at is part of the northern Flinders Ranges, located on the Mount Freeling pastoral lease ...

. Mount Gee was entered on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

in 1982 due to its "spectacular mass of quartz crystal and vughular, lining the cavities of crush breccias".

History

Mineral exploration in the Mount Painter region began in the 1860s with the discovery of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

at a number of sites in the region, including the Yudnamutana copper field and the Lady Buxton mine, and numerous small diggings throughout the Mount Painter area. Professor Sir

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

first identified samples of

torbernite Torbernite is a radioactive, hydrated green copper uranyl phosphate mineral, found in granites and other uranium-bearing deposits as a secondary mineral. Its name derives from the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman (1735–1784), It is also known ...

(a copper

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

phosphate mineral Phosphate minerals contain the tetrahedrally coordinated phosphate (PO43−) anion along sometimes with arsenate (AsO43−) and vanadate (VO43−) substitutions, and chloride (Cl−), fluoride (F−), and hydroxide (OH−) anions that also fit i ...

) in samples brought to him in 1910 by the Greenwood brothers from what is now called Radium Ridge. Various syndicates were formed in 1911–1935 to try to exploit the

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

from Radium Ridge (immediately to the west and adjoining Mount Gee). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

investigations into the area of Mount Gee-Mount Painter were carried out by the Commonwealth Government, and the No.6 workings (see adjoining photo) was developed, as well as a number of workings in the East Painter Gorge (immediately to the north of Mount Gee-Mount Painter) and Yudnamutana Gorge. Sporadic exploration occurred during the 1950s adjacent to Mount Gee, culminating in the efforts of Exoil NL and Transoil NL during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was during this exploration phase that the "Ridgetop" track was constructed. The numerous exploration tracks across the southern and north-eastern faces of Mt Gee were constructed by Exoil-Transoil at this time. Exploration ceased during the 1970s as a result of large uranium finds elsewhere and the "

Three mine policy The three-mine policy, introduced in 1984 and abandoned in 1996, was a policy of the government of Australia to limit the number of uranium mines in the country to three.

" introduced by the Federal Government in the early 1970s. CRA resumed exploration in the area during the early 1990s, focusing on the Streitberg Ridge and Armchair Basin areas, immediately to the north of Mount Gee, as well as other areas within the Arkaroola Sanctuary. Bonanza Gold Ltd pegged an exploration license over the Mt Gee area in the early 2000s. Several exploration holes were drilled into the Mount Gee-Mount Painter area before Marathon Resources took over the project and intensified the exploration efforts, focusing once again on the southern and northeastern sides of Mount Gee, by opening up many of the (still existing) Exoil-Transoil tracks. None of the uranium deposits have been proven to be economic, although Marathon Resources claim that the Mount Gee deposit complies with a JORC inferred and indicated resource of 31,400 tonnes of U₃O₈, potentially the sixth largest known uranium deposit in Australia.

Tenure and legal status

The Arkaroola Protection Zone in which Mount Gee is located, is situated in the

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

. The pastoral lease was purchased by Reginald and Griselda Sprigg in 1967 for the purposes of "wildlife preservations and conservation of the environment", with this objective being recognised by the South Australian Government initially in 1969 and again (after a long period of limbo) in 1996 with the property being granted official status as a wilderness sanctuary. This status was reinforced with the inclusion of the Mount Gee area within the "Environmental Class A Zone" defined in the South Australian Development Plan, which has as its objectives: "The conservation of the natural character and environment of the area" and "The protection of the landscape from damage by mining operations and exploring for new resources... Mining operations should not take place in the Environmental Class A Zone unless the deposits are of such paramount importance and their exploitation is in the highest national or State interest that all other environment, heritage or conservation considerations may be overridden. Deposits which may potentially have the required degree of significance have been identified in the following localities only:

the western face of the Heysen. Ranges ic portion of the Moralana Valley; portion of the
Mount Hack Mount Hack, also known as Yarrngarri Arraindanha Vambata, is a mountain peak in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia located in the locality of Warraweena. Peak elevation is . According to the book ''Chequered Lives'', it was named after Ste ...
and Mount Uro areas; portion of the Stirrup Iron Range; portion of the east Gammons and the Mount Painter-Freeling Heights area y emphasis" which includes the Mt.Painter and Mt. Gee areas.

Following the public outcry that resulted from Marathon Resources' misconduct in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary -- including the illegal dumping of a small amount of waste in several shallow pits and the alleged excavation and removal of mineral specimens unrelated to the mineral exploration program, the South Australian government promised to introduce legislation to ban all mining activities in the sanctuary, with the premier stating that "we have decided to give the region unprecedented protection", and dismissing suggestions from Marathon Resources that the government may be liable for compensation claims by Marathon Resources. Any and all mining in the entire Arkaroola Protection Zone is now prohibited, including Mt Gee and the Mt Painter inlier. This protection is provided by the South Australian ''Arkaroola Protection Act (2012)''.

Recent developments

Mining company Marathon Resources gave notice on or around 14 September 2007 of its intention to apply for a mining lease allowing extraction of uranium ore from Mount Gee. To satisfy the environmental objectives cited above the application forwarded by the proponent indicates an underground mine (as opposed to open-cut) which would be serviced via a tunnel allowing access to infrastructure and processing facilities located away from the immediate vicinity of the Arkaroola area, on the plains near

Lake Frome Lake Frome / Munda is a large endorheic lake in the Australian state of South Australia to the east of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a large, shallow, unvegetated salt pan, long and wide, lying mostly below sea level and having a total s ...

. The proposal is opposed by the owners and operators of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in which the proposed mine would be located as well as conservation and anti-nuclear groups. In January 2008 the owners of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary were alerted to environmental contamination at Mount Gee. An investigation by the South Australian Government found that around 22,800 plastic and calico bags containing exploration samples, drilling material, cardboard and paper waste, plastic jars, PVC pipe, packing and other material were buried by the drilling contractor in two large trenches approximately 35 metres long x 4 metres wide x 2.7 metres deep. Under the terms of the EWA and DEF, Marathon was required to pour remaining drill samples back down drillholes, however this is often impossible as the drillholes quickly become plugged with sample. If the samples cannot be poured back into the drillholes it is then permissible to bury them, however the sample bags and any other rubbish must be removed. Under ARPANSA regulations, any radioactive samples must be buried with a minimum of 50 cm of soil. In addition Marathon Resources have admitted in a subsequent Rectification Plan the company was required to submit that twenty drums of samples were buried in a nearby site, as well as various food packaging and personal protective equipment waste at another nearby site. There is also evidence that samples of

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

have also been removed from the side of Mount Gee. There is no evidence to suggest that Marathon or its contractors were responsible for this. The removal of mineral specimens from the Mount Gee area has been ongoing since before the Arkaroola Sanctuary opened in the late 1960s, and collectors have prised prized examples of green and purple banded fluorite, Fluorite pseudomorphs, "nailhole Quartz" and "Cowstitite" from the outcrops of Mount Gee, aided by the continued ease of access via the well-maintained "Ridgetop Track" 4WD tourist route (see photo above). In response to this investigation the SA Minister for Mineral Resources Development found this method of disposal of non-drill sample waste constituted a "significant breach of exploration licence conditions" and suspended the exploration licence granted to Marathon Resources to conduct mineral exploration on Mount Gee. Marathon then spent considerable time, effort and money in recovering the dumped rubbish and drill samples, which were then transported to the Hawker rubbish dump for disposal. Additionally, many of the drillsites and access tracks were rehabilitated as best as possible. However, in October 2009 the Government granted a 12-month exploration licence to Marathon Resources. On 27 October 2009, the Rann Government released a draft management Plan for the Northern Flinders Ranges, called 'Seeking in Balance'. According to its opponents this Plan allows for mining activity right in the heart of the Arkaroola Sanctuary, including Mount Gee. After the exploration Licence was re-granted, Marathon Mining conducted low-impact exploration, including stream sediment sampling and some geophysics for a time, concluding some time before the Arkaroola Protection Act was passed in 2012, prohibiting all mining activity in the Arkaroola Protection Zone. Marathon was awarded a $5 million compensation payment by the South Australian Government. Marathon had spent in excess of $15million on their Mt Gee exploration program.

References

External links