Breaking News

Arkaroola has, over recent weeks, received in excess of 60mm or rainfall and the countryside is looking spectacular. In some areas, the greenery of fresh grasses has to be seen to be believed and it won't be long before the counryside will be covered in wildflowers, possibly the best in 15 or more years.

Now, and over the coming couple of months will be an excellent time to visit Arkaroola and the northern Flinders Ranges - click here for more details.

February 24, 2010:

From the Ark - Alert 240210: 'Be Amazed and Then Ask Why':

February 15, 2010:

From the ARK - Update 150210 - 15 February - 'The Sultans of Spin'

February 1, 2010:

From the ARK - Update 010210: 1 February - 'You Can't Play Rough in a China Shop'

Jan 25, 2010:

From the ARK - Update 250110: 25 January - 'Vision or Vandalism':

January 14, 2010

From the ARK - Update 140110: 14 January - 'Preservation by Proxy':

January 10, 2010:

From the ARK - Update 100110: 29 January - 'A Day to Remember':

January 6, 2010:

From the ARK - Update 060110: 'Scrutinising Sovereign Risk'.

Please click here for the latest Update of our e-newletter, From the ARK - Update 060110. (174KB)

January 3, 2010:

Sunday Mail Article:

An article refering to the extension of time for submissions has appeared in the Sunday Mail of 3 January 2010 - please click here to download (200KB)

December 28, 2009:

'Mines in the Wilderness' - an Excellent Article in The Advertiser 26 December:

Please click the following links to read an excellent article by Dennis Walter which appeared on Pages 66 and 67 of The Advertiser today.

December 19, 2009:

Latest Information - Save Arkaroola Internet Site:

Please see the latest information on the Save Arkaroola Internet site. A huge thank you to all who have sent in submissions, gratefully appreciated.

Don't forget to send a Carbon Copy (Cc) of your submission to Marg at admin@arkaroola.com.au

December 17, 2009:

Update No. 2 - Possibly Flawed Data Used - and Additional Information:

From the ARK, Update 171209 has just been issued and can be downloaded here. Please read this as it contains information about the possibly flawed data used in the Seeking a Balance (SaB) document.

The possibly flawed information, that associated with the gathering of information about Landscape Values on Arkaroola, can be found by clicking here (note that this PDF contains comments from respondents to the original Online Survey, as well as the original photographs used. We think you'll find it 'interesting' to say the least.

Further Information re Submissions:

We have been advised that the only submissions which will be counted are those which contain recommendations or suggested changes to the proposals outlined in SaB.

If you have already submitted a report to either PIRSA or DEH, and may not have included suggested changes or amendments, please be aware that amended or additional material will be accepted if emailed or posted to these two departments - i.e. jason.irving@sa.gov.au or ted.tyne@sa.gov.au

The response to our Save Arkaroola Campaign have been wonderful and we sincerely thank all those wonderful people who have taken the time to submit emails or letters. We cannot thank you enough.

If you feel you'd like to add more information, including suggested amendments or changes, please don't hesitate to contact Jason or Ted as mentioned above.

December 14, 2009:

Change of Submission Date - now 29 January 2010.

Read all about this sudden change of submission date in the latest E-newsletter - From the ARK - 141209.

Additional information, as it comes to hand, will be posted on the Save Arkaroola internet site.

December 13, 2009:

There are now only 5 days left in which submissions to save Arkaroola can be sent to Dr. Ted Tyne, Dept. of Environment and Heritage and / or Jason Irving of PIRSA.

Please do all that you can to ensure your submissison is sent before 19 December. Further information can be obtained at the Save Arkaroola Internet site.

December 8, 2009

December 6, 2009:

Latest Developments:

With slightly less than two weeks before submissions close on the State Government's Seeking a Balance proposals for mining on Arkaroola, our campaign against this is moving forward. Here are some interesting and informative sites well worth visiting.

Unknown SA - Blog site with excellent (and current) views on the subject by Bill Doyle:

If you feel you would like to make a submission against the Seeking a Balance proposals, please refer to our new Internet site at Save Arkaroola - if you don't have time for a full submission, even a simply email of objection would be sufficient - details of where to send submissions or objections can be found on this site.

Sample submissions are being placed on the Save Arkaroola 'How can I Help' site for those who may be unsure of how to put a submission together.

November 27, 2009:

Please see latest information about the State Government's 'Seeking a Balance' by clicking here for the new Save Arkaroola Internet site.

Our latest Special Edition of From the ARK e-newsletter is also available - click here (1MB)

November 3, 2009:

State Government's Response to Mining on Arkaroola:

Some Important Late-breaking News:

Please click here to download the initial report and proposals by the State Government regarding future mining on Arkaroola.

We are appealing to all Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary friends and supporters to please examine this document very closely and to note that whilst some areas of the northern Flinders Ranges, in particular Mawson Plateau, are being afforded total protection, the majority of important Arkaroola sites are not.

We only have until 19 December 2009 by which to submit objections / suggestions to this proposal. This could be our last chance to save the Arkaroola Sanctuary from mining and we ask everyone to carefully consider the matter and to please make written submissions in accordance with page 18 of this report.

Further information can be obtained from the Primary Industries and Resource SA (PIRSA) site at http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals

September 5, 2009:

A Call to Arms:

We Need your Support Against the Renewal of Marathon Resources Exploration Lease:

The threat of exploration and mining is again about to strike the forty year old Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary - and we need your support to help save the Sanctuary from desecration.

On October 10 Marathon Resources mineral exploration lease is due for renewal, a situation we at Arkaroola feel is a major threat to this environmentally fragile and sensitive land.

We believe Marathon Resources’ operations at Arkaroola have been disastrous so far:

· They’ve illegally buried 23,000 bags of low level radioactive, plus general waste at Mt Gee in the heart of Arkaroola.

· They also illegally buried another 20 x 200 litre drums of similar material in the stunning Yudnamutana Gorge a couple of kilometres from Paralana Hot Springs.

· They damaged a unique fluorite reef at the Mt Gee Geological Monument.

· Prior to this, their contractors stole 90,000 litres of Arkaroola’s rainwater (which Marathon later replaced at our insistence).

· Their contractors’ operations polluted Mt Gee with a numerous hydrocarbon spills.

· Their contractors widened tracks and drill-pads needlessly.

· Failure to follow safety procedures that resulted in loss of wildlife.

The above is an except from a letter which we have distributed as widely as we can in an effort to make the South Australian Government aware of the problems associated with mineral exploration and mining on Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. To see the full version, please click here.

We are asking for your support in our efforts to stop this from happening by writing to your local (or if living interstate the SA Premier – see below) or Federal Member of Parliament demanding that Exploration Lease 3258 never be re-issued – to Marathon Resources, or to any other company.

You may also think it worthwhile writing to your local newspaper, using talk-back radio, or any other means at your disposal to bring this issue to public prominence. To help you, we have supplied a list of Members of State and Federal Parliament at the end of our open letter.

March 19, 2009:

Take a Google Earth Excursion of Arkaroola:

If you are interested in taking a virtual excursion of Arkaroola, try this link to Google Earth.

Prepared by Prof. Paul Bons (Structural Geology) of Eberhard Karls University, Tubingen, Belgium, who oftren visits Arkaroola on geological field trips, it offers an amazingly different view of Arkaroola and it's magnificent landscapes.

Please bear in mind that this excursion link to Google Earth is in the devlopment stage but any comments would be welcome.

March 8, 2009:

Lake Eyre Scenic Flights:

Various flights from Arkaroola to view the flood waters entering Lake Eyre will be available shortly - please click here for further details.

September 9, 2008:

Arkaroola's 40th Birthday!

October 2008 marks the 40th Birthday of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, representing a milestone of which we are all extremely proud.

A photo display of Arkaroola, marking this anniversary, is currently on display at the Fossil Gallery on the third floor of the S.A. Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide for those who are interested.

February 14, 2008 - Media Release:

Arkaroola Seeks Total Mining Ban in Wilderness Sanctuary

The owners of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary have written to South Australian Premier Mike Rann seeking a total ban on mining activity on the property.

The SA government has ordered that Marathon's uranium exploration activities at Mt Gee, deep in Arkaroola's hearland, be "suspended indefinitely".

This followed an investigation sought by the Rann Government that concluded that the company had wrongly disposed of 22,800 bags of drilling and other waste at the envioronmentally sensitive site. Some of these bags were found to contain low-level radioactive material...

October 6, 2007:

Arkaroola Wildernesss Sanctuary Under Threat from Uranium Mining!

Please click here for further information and what you can do to help protect Arkaroola from a uranium mine proposed by Marathon Resouces P/L at Mount Gee, in the heartland of our wildenerness sanctuary.

Additional information is also contained in Arkaroola's latest e-newsletter, From the ARK, issue No. 7, October 2007. See further below for a download (or click here to download this file - 1.4MB)

Arkaroola Newsletters - From the ARK - Previous Editions:

Previous editions of Arkaroola's From the ARK e-newsletters can be downloaded from below:

The newsletter is also available via email, by adding your name to our mailing list at marketing@arkaroola.com.au - please include 'Newsletter Request' in the subject line.

If some of our regular readers are no longer receiving the newsletter, note that we've had some problems with our email server, so please send an email to marketing@arkaroola.com.au and we will ensure your address is added to our mailing list.

Please Note: If you decide to print the newsletter, set your printer settings to print in grey-scale to save your colour ink.

Site updated 12/03/10 - 10:41:24** SAVE ARKAROOLA FROM MINING NOW ** Save Arkaroola From Mining Web Site **

March 1, 2010:

From the Ark - Alert 010310 - 'Seeking a Balance' Submissions to go Public:

February 25, 2010:

Spectacular Greenery From Recent Rains: