b'Minerals geophysicsMinerals geophysicsits just a matter of reversing the flow.No fossil fuels means that all our And all those on-site crushers can now betransportation vehicles will have to used to pulverise whatever we import sobe electric. This will translate to an that it will pack into the mines that muchenormous increase in our power needs, better. Even if it doesnt stop the drift,offset in part by a decrease in demand weve got to do something. from now non-existent mining and a But we can go much further. Lets fill inconcomitant decrease in manufacturing. all mines, then stop mining completely,This will add further to the renewable and the government can declareenergy construction boom.Australia to be the first continent (exceptThe effects of the mining ban on various Antarctica) to be mining free. Fromcommodities will be hard to predict. Terry Harveythis moral high ground we can lectureTake Argyle diamonds, and opals, for Associate Editor recalcitrant countries and trumpet ourinstance. Will prices soar because loss for Minerals geophysics own Keep Australia Mine Free (KAMF)of production means tighter supply,terry.v.harvey@glencore.com.au manifesto. or will prices crash, like furs, because This will not happen without someconsumers will no longer want to be economic pain, and the governmentseen wearing a product of mining? The jewellery trade could be in for a real Life without mining will need a compensation policy. Miningshakeup.companies will now be paid not to mine ABrave New World orebodiesAustralias version of an EUBut, in reality, modern society cannot agricultural policy. Mineral explorationfunction without the products of mining. For the April issue of Preview I thoughtcan continue, but any ore discoveredWe could import all we need, but that Id postulate a futuristic scenario,stays in the ground. The demand forwould be rather hypocritical given our activist stylea bit of hyperbole, amineral exploration graduates will soar,strident no-mining stance. And we few unsubstantiated assertions, someboth from mining companies seekingprobably couldnt afford it either. What alarmist comments, and possibly anto generate new income, and from thewe need is organic mining.accusation of opponents malpracticestate Mines Departments, which will be tasked with vetting the new discoveriesA bit of genetic tinkering and we could and ill-intent. So, here goes. to eliminate bogus claims. develop a suite of plants that do our The Australian continent is racingmining for us. Silica from spinifex, headlong towards India and mining isThe Australian continent is racinglithium from salt lake plantings, iron to blame. There can be no doubtthefrom ferricrete-loving plants, etc.the headlong towards India andpossibilities are unlimited. We could onset of large scale mining, particularlymining is to blame have massive commercial plantingsiron ore, in northern Australia coincideswidespread agriculture is considered with the first accurate measurementsacceptablewith the bonus that much of this northward drift. No actualThere will be other bonuses too. With themore carbon dioxide would be absorbed. measurements of drift existed priorcontinent becoming drier, and withoutCarbon credits from these organic mines to this time. The same situation holdscoal mining or gas and oil extraction,could even be on-sold to add much for the current unprecedented rateAustralia will need to become totallyneeded finance. And in a government of global warming, so it must be true.reliant on renewable energy. In thesponsored scheme, consumers could be Both are clearly modern phenomena.absence of baseload power, given theencouraged to Grow Your Own Device And it makes sense anyway. Miningtypical 2533% generation availabilityin their own backyard with a series of has made Australia lighter, so it floats(i.e. 3/4 to 2/3 idle time) for solarboutique semi-conductor plantingsjust higher, and all that mass of iron oreand wind, well need to build a totalpluck the leaves and deliver them to your shipped offshore to the north will attractrenewable energy generation capacitylocal processing plant. I look forward to Australia northwards by gravitationalat least quadruple the average demand.an advertising blurb proudly announcing and magnetic forces. And, to weather extended periods ofthe worlds first totally organic lap-top, calm and cloudy days, well need awith hardwood highlights of courseSo what are we going to do about it?storage capacity of, say, 10-20 timeschoose from the fiery red of jarrah or the Weve got to get all that missing weightAustralias total daily energy demand.icy black of ironbark.back again so Australia rides lower.That infrastructure will have quite a Existing iron ore mines have to be filledfootprint. So there will be a renewableWe could live in exciting times!in, and the mining industry is perfectlyenergy construction boom to take up equipped to do this. We have the bulkthe slack of displaced workers from theIn the next Preview issue, back to real transportation infrastructure in place mining industry. mineral geophysics.35 PREVIEW APRIL 2019'