The Mount Isa City Council has welcomed the announcement of a major study to assess gas reserves in North West Queensland’s Isa Superbasin.
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Mayor Joyce McCulloch said the Geoscience Australia and CSIRO assessment could open the way for a huge boost in investment and jobs.
“The announcement from the Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg and Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Senator Matthew Canavan is great news for our region,” Cr McCulloch said.
“With support from the Mount Isa City Council and the Barkly Regional Council in the Northern Territory, construction of an $800 million northern gas pipeline linking Tenant Creek and Mount Isa is already underway.
“Securing additional gas supplies to feed in to that pipeline and the East Coast gas market will be game changing in many ways.”
Work on the Isa Superbasin assessment will begin in early 2018.
It will investigate the geology, water quantity and quality of surface and groundwater to determine the potential impacts and environmental safety of gas extraction developments.
Geosciences Australia and the CSIRO will brief the Tennant Creek to Mount Isa Cross Border Commission- comprising the Mount Isa and Barkly Councils- in March in Canberra.
“I couldn’t be more excited and optimistic about the future for the Mount Isa community,” Cr McCulloch said.
“There is growing demand for the North West’s vast reserves of minerals and resources, much of it comprehensively mapped but still untapped.”
There is growing demand for the North West’s vast reserves of minerals and resources, much of it comprehensively mapped but still untapped
- Joyce McCulloch
Cr McCulloch said Mount Isa City Council’s Economic Development Strategy was all about exploiting the region’s natural advantages so that it could grow, diversify and give families in regional Queensland a secure future.
“The Isa Superbasin assessment is another piece of the puzzle that is falling in to place,” she said.