Tasmanian iron ore mine faces fresh threats of legal actions

Activists are again threatening legal action to stop Shree Minerals’ (ASX:SHH) planned iron ore mine in Tasmania’s Tarkine region after the federal government approved it for a second time.

The project was halted two weeks ago by a Federal Court, which overturned former environmental minister Tony Burke’s approval of the mine. However, current minister Mark Butler gave it the green light today, reports ABC News.

According to Save the Tarkine group, which already won a legal action in the Federal Court last May to stop work at another project, mining in the region would imperil the survival of the only robust Tasmanian devil population still left in the wild.

That is why the environmentalist association said it would appeal the decision. The group is also mounting a campaign against another miner, Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS), for the same reasons.

The Tarkine, which contains the world’s second-largest temperate rainforest, is a bitterly contested landscape where 10 mines are scheduled to open over the next five years.

Image by KeresH via Wikimedia Commons