Multinational mining company Adani has been caught thumbing its nose at Australian authorities again, after it refused to supply a scaled down mine plan as part of negotiations with the Federal Department of Environment and Energy.
Instead, Adani supplied a sketchy map in the appendix of its Groundwater Modelling and Management Plan (GMMP) in response to requests from the department.
Unbelievably, this new "map" is all the Australian Government has as to what Adani’s current plans for mining are, since the company announced its Carmichael Mine project would be scaled back last year.
Compared with the original EIS, the map shows that at 5 years it will have a totally different footprint to what Adani had approved.
Lock the Gate spokesperson Carmel Flint said Adani’s attitude suggested the company still planned to construct its original “carbon bomb” mine, which would dig up 60 million tonnes of thermal coal for export per annum.
“If Adani receives final approvals for its Carmichael Mine, there will be no regulations stopping it from pursuing a 60mtpa thermal coal producing mine as originally planned,” she said.
“Adani's claims it is now pursuing a scaled down version of its Carmichael Mine should be taken with a grain of salt. If it makes economic sense, the company will undoubtedly expand to the gargantuan mine it originally planned.
“If this occurs, the sheer amount of thermal coal produced from the mine will contribute a catastrophic amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere."
This latest revelation comes after it was reported Adani does not hold sufficient water permits to supply the initial construction phase of its Carmichael project, based on its own modelling of water consumption.
Msl Flint said the evidence proved Adani’s claims in the media that it was ready to start work were demonstrably false.
"It’s clear Adani has created a fake urgency for approvals in the lead-up to the election, and the company got exactly what it wanted - a rushed approval from Scott Morrison’s government which was tainted by political interference,” she said.
"We're now in the bizarre situation, because of the rushed approval and because Adani refused to implement the recommendations from CSIRO and Geosciences Australia, that nobody knows for sure what Adani's mine will look like or how it will roll out.
"This new information suggests Adani does not have the water permits it needs to construct the mine, which is more evidence Adani’s claims that it is ready to start work are bogus.
“One thing is for certain - Adani can't be trusted with our water."