STOP THE PRESS! HERE IS THE PROOF YOU NEED ABOUT THE MASSIVE COAL INDUSTRY MOVING INTO WARWICK AND INGLEWOOD Yes, we know that nobody was told... (But Lawrence knew) Housing Market The Warwick house market has demonstrated a notable bounce back in median price to record an increase of 7.0 per cent, after the slump which occurred in the year to September 2010. The median house price recorded for the September 2011 half year period was $252,000, representing a minor softening of 1.9 per cent from the highest recorded median price of $257,000 in the March 2011 half year period. It is anticipated that the median house price will continue this trend as the implications of subdued sales activity begin to manifest in the market. With that said, recent reductions to interest rates (0.25 per cent in November 2011 and 0.25 per cent in December 2011) and a further reduction anticipated within the first quarter of 2012 may provide enough inducement to improve current sales volumes, and perhaps stabilise median price growth at least for the short term. In comparison to the nearby town of Toowoomba, Warwick has demonstrated greater long-term average growth rates. This trend is shown clearly in the chart below Hence the general trend of the Warwick economy seems to be stable with the view to some encouraging capital growth in property values. In addition to the trends that have been the result of normal industry within the area, there is also the new emergence of the mining industry in the area. This is a natural flow on from the mining activities in the Surat Basin encompassing areas such as Dalby, Chinchilla, Miles and Roma. The Emergence of the Mining Industry in the Clarence Moreton Basin The Warwick region is known as the Clarence Moreton Basin. The north-west trending Clarence – Moreton Basin is approximately 400 kilometers in length and 125 kilometers wide. The basin covers an area of approximately 43,000 square kilometers in the south east of Queensland and northern New South Wales. Exploration has revealed large near surface deposits of thermal coal in the Walloon Coal Measures across the entire Clarence – Moreton Basin. As well as thermal coal developments the unique high volatile, perhydrous properties of the coal of the Clarence – Moreton Basin has possible application in synthetic fuel production. Source - Petroleum Industry NSW Government As well as rich coal reserves, there has been exploration into coal seam gas deposits. There is an international company known as Clean Global Energy. They have developed a safe method to for Coal Seam Gas extraction without any possibility of disturbing the water table. This method is known as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG). The company has projects in a number of the US states, India, South Africa, China and Australia. Their Australian operation is earmarked for Warwick QLD. The JORC report has proven a coal seam that contains 38m ton of gas which means there could be up to 10 or 20 times of this amount in the region. On the next page is a diagram of how the UCG process works. The UCG Mining Process A clean alternative is welcome news to the environmental groups who are concerned about some of the current methodologies for extracting gas from the ground. 20 open cut mines earmarked for the Warwick region over the next 12 years To summarize, some recent press releases following Coal and Gas mining projects in Warwick and surrounding areas are in motion; • 20 open cut mines earmarked for the Warwick region over the next 12 years • Exploration leases granted for the entire towns of Warwick, Pittsworth and Southbrook • There have been leases granted in both Kingaroy and Pittsworth (very close to Warwick) for what is reported as large deposits of Bauxite. • The reports say there are large deposits of Coal between Toowoomba and Warwick and east to the Lockyer Valley. During 2008, Golden Cross Resources (GCR), began evaluating developments in the supply of both coal and gas to global energy markets and concluded that the market would require additional sources of supply for both commodities. Beginning in November 2008, GCR has been applying for permits in the Surat and Clarence – Moreton Basins in south east Queensland (see maps below) The focus of exploration will be evaluating the potential of deeper “stranded coal seams” for UCG extraction where the opportunity for shallow, open cut resources is limited. A full list of GCR’s current coal permits and their status are shown in Table 1 below. Current Mining Projects Here is a summary of three speci?c projects that are at various stages in the Clarence-Moreton Basin 1.Acland (New Hope mine) is currently in Stage Two which covers 2,200 ha. By Stage Three – with the Environmental Impact Study now awaiting rubber-stamp approval – it will include an additional 5,400 ha, giving the mine a total area of 7,400 ha. New Hope Coal owns all the farmland almost to Oakey showground, and east out to Goombungee. 2. Name: The Kumbariklla Ridge Location:6km South East of Toowoomba, to 32km southeast of Warwick Area: 1099km2 Ownership:100% Blackwood Corporation Targets:Export Thermal Coal The Kumbariklla Ridge underlies the Warwick area. The Walloon Coal Measures are developed on this basement high in the form of a broad north westerly trending synclinal structure and the coal measures crop out on the north eastern and south western flanks of this structure. Generally the coal seams are flat lying. In the Lower Sequences of the Mt Walker group, up to six individual seams occur; although this section of the coal measures appears to have been little investigated. Blackwood’s Warwick project falls into two areas. The large EPC1509 comprises the northern area with the Walloon Coal Measures outcropping or under basalt cover in the south and western portions of the EPC. There are a number of coal occurrences recorded from historical drilling along the southern and western periphery of this EPC, with the best being at Hodgson Vale which intersected a coal seam 23.3m thick at a depth of 41m within the Walloon Coal Measures. Further drilling, along with seismic where possible, will test the continuity and structure of these seams. The southern portion of this project is a collection of EPC’s totalling approximately 1,400km2 and covering large areas of sub-cropping Walloon Coal Measures. There are a number of potential mineralization areas highlighted in the region by previous drilling, including the disused Marycale, Swan Creek and Tannymore Collieries. Drilling intersected shallow seams at Swan Creek. Locally, thick basalt cover may conceal some of the coal measures in this area, so the focus will be on identifying areas where it its thin or missing. The Warrego Highway and the Brisbane-Toowoomba Railway traverse the project. 3.AmbreCTL Ambre CTL Limited is proposing ambreCTL, a commercial scale coal-to-liquids project with major potential benefits including: • improved energy security for Australia with respect to liquid fuels • significant economic benefits from short and long term regional investment and employment opportunities • demonstrated economic and technical viability of liquid fuel production from coal on a commercial scale for the first time in Australia by using marginal coal resources which are currently sub-economic. A successful project could potentially unlock billions of tonnes of sub-economic coal and contribute substantially to reducing Australia’s reliance on imported crude oil. Australian Exploration Activities Ambre Energy, through its subsidiaries Ambre Energy (Felton) Pty Ltd and Ambre Energy Exploration Pty Ltd, holds 840km2 of exploration tenements in Queensland, located roughly between Millmerran, Pittsworthand Warwick. In addition to drilling activities undertaken at the ambreCTL site within Exploration Permit for Coal (EPC) 935, Ambre Energy completed three drilling programs prior to 2009–10 at Back Plains, in the Clarence-Moreton Basin, about 35km south west of Toowoomba. Ambre Energy has identified a highly promising coal prospect at Back Plains and independent assessment indicates a significant resource of export quality coal exists at a shallow depth. Precedent for Growth in Mining Towns Set out below is what one industry source illustrates as the expected growth in the two established Queensland mining regions;* The Central Highlands Region Emerald48% Growth increase Clermont85% Growth increase Mackay50% Growth increase Capella 26% Growth increase Long term Future With Australia’s vast energy resources capable of supplying emerging economies such as Japan, China Korea, India and Brazil plus other developing countries in the world with a thirst for a reliable supply source of coal and gas and, according to industry reports that state that Queensland has hundreds of year of reserves to meet the unprecedented demand. Investing in this market sector would seem like a wise decision. *Source domain.au Most employees and contractors like to rent good quality properties, that are modern and with quality appliances just like they enjoyed in the home they left behind. The various local councils pressure Mining Companies to provide quality accommodation for their work force. Local councils are reluctant to approve mining camp style accommodation if there is as an alternative. The main reason for this decision is that the ‘fly in/fly out’ experience has not been healthy for family life. Also the councils want to see permanent new housing and amenities brought to the region, so that there is a contribution into the local community. Conclusion: Warwick and the Clarence-Moreton regions are fundamentally solid communities with their economy underpinned by a diverse and well-rounded industry sectors. Indicators show that the housing market is trending upward. With the current projects and potential energy related projects coming to the area, this could create above average growth over the next decade. If Warwick follows the precedent established in other nearby regions such as the Surat and Bowen Basin, the real estate values will increase sharply over the next decade. Based on the evidence it is highly probable that additional new mines will open in the Clarence-Moreton region in the coming years, Warwick will be called upon to house additional employees. With this anticipated growth, owners of rental real estate should enjoy the growth experienced in other energy rich towns in south east and central Queensland. orchardgrove.net.au/warwick/
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 00:30:32 +0000
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