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ABC News
2 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Selective breeding doubles heat tolerance of Ningaloo Reef coral, study finds
Unnatural selection has bred life in all shapes and sizes, and a globe-spanning team of scientists says the same practice might help save Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef. Mining billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest will share that finding at the United Nations Ocean Conference this week, after research backed by his philanthropic Mindaroo Foundation discovered that selective breeding could harden certain Indian Ocean corals against rising ocean temperatures. Kate Quigley, a molecular ecologist at the foundation's Exmouth laboratory, led the study. She said years of selective breeding trials had shown great promise for protecting the World Heritage site from coral bleaching. In the past summer alone, the reef faced widespread damage amid a record-breaking marine heatwave. But by manipulating its annual coral spawn, researchers claim they have confirmed a long-held hope. The new study re-engineers techniques first developed at the Great Barrier Reef. Samples of two Acropora coral species were taken from two sections of the Ningaloo Reef, separated by more than 100 kilometres. "We collected parent corals, so 'mum' and 'dad' corals from an on-average hot reef," Dr Quigley said. "Then, we also went down south to the southern part of Ningaloo Reef and collected what we call 'cool' parents. Alexandra Kler Lago, a master's student from the University of Bremen in Germany, said coral "matchmaking" came with "some pressure". Transporting fragile organisms from the southern tip of the world's largest fringing reef required a specially designed boat. "We had to develop these coolers with a pumping system to keep the water at a stable temperature," Ms Kler Lago said. Although the journey from the reef's more accessible northern colonies was passable by road, that too brought challenges. "We actually had to go to the shallow part with buckets and then carry them filled with water to the trucks," she said. The white-knuckle drive home aside, the breeding process was ultimately an exercise in extreme patience. "All the spawning happens at night, so if we shine a big bright light, that might disturb and hinder the whole process," Ms Kler Lago said. "We have to watch, look at buckets for hours, and look at specific cues that can tell us that breeding is imminent. When "the big night" arrived, Dr Quigley described sorting gametes, or egg and sperm bundles, into groups and allowing them to produce offspring. "We reared up these baby corals to essentially become teenager corals, and we put them through a stress test," she said. Repeated experiments suggested Acropora tenuis, a structural coral found throughout Ningaloo, with at least one "hot" parent and particularly a 'mum' possessed twice the ability to survive temperatures of 35.5 degrees Celsius than other genetic combinations. Australian Institute of Marine Science principal research scientist Chris Fulton said selective breeding was one possible solution for safeguarding the Ningaloo Reef. "We need to protect those corals … that have been robust and have resisted this heatwave event, so they have the best chance possible to repopulate the reef with a new warm-adapted … more resilient coral population." Dr Fulton returned from a trip to the World Heritage site earlier this month. He said water temperatures were only now beginning to drop. "This is the first time we've seen every part of the WA coast show signs of coral bleaching … it has been so hot for so long, over such a large scale that we obviously need to act on emissions reduction." Dr Quigley said further research was needed before attempting to grow heat-resistant corals in vulnerable parts of the reef. She echoed calls for carbon emissions reduction, saying conservation strategies such as selective breeding could only work "hand in hand" with climate policy. "We absolutely need emissions reductions to happen immediately in order for these techniques to have a meaningful impact," she said.
West Australian
14-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Strickland beefs up management as Serbian gold mine looms
Strickland Metals is picking up the pace at its south Serbian Rogozna gold and base metals project which includes a further 20,000m of drilling at its Gradina target and a slew of new middle managers that are capable of guiding it all the way into production. The company's pre-development programs have now been expanded to include environmental baseline surveys, the opening of a local office, well-advanced metallurgical studies and ongoing drilling by six rigs across three targets as a decision to go mining looms at the 7.4m ounce gold equivalent project. The new key new management appointments will advance the company's mining and environmental studies and complement its 40 local Serbian staff. Three new management appointments include Sarai Tautari as Community Relations Manager who spent 19 years in similar roles at Twiggy Forrest's Fortescue, one of Australia's biggest mining companies. Her appointment is supported by Strickland's recent opening of a community relations office in the town of Novi Pazar, about 10km from the Rogozna project. As a first pass in the community relations stakes, Strickland says it has already undertaken a 2000 tree-planting program at Rogozna, with another program planned for mid-year. A second appointment to the expanding management crew is Mark Mantle, an engineer with more than 30 years of experience across multiple continents with groups such as Minproc Engineers, Ausenco, DRA, St Barbara, Newmont and Mineral Resources. Mantle has been involved with early-stage scoping through to construction delivery and operations management. Ben Pearson has also been tapped to fill the role of Environmental and Permitting Manager as Strickland gets ready to tick the ESG box along the pathway to production. The company recently engaged Serbian environmental consulting company Envico to continue baseline studies across the project area which will expand on previous baseline surveys undertaken between 2020 and 2023 that assessed biodiversity, surface water, geomorphology, soil chemistry and land use. Strickland says its updated metallurgical testwork for the Shanac deposit is about 50% complete, while recently updated testwork on the Medenovac deposit is about 30% complete. Previous metallurgical studies and tests at each of the Rogozna deposits show positive results with clear pathways for high metal recoveries from processing, while additional bulk sample material from the Gradina deposit has arrived at ALS' Laboratory in Perth, with metallurgical test work to begin next week. The Rogozna project comprises four exploration licences which embrace an area of about 184 square kilometres. Strickland says the project has the potential to become one of the biggest undeveloped gold deposits in the world. The project hosts a giant magmatic hydrothermal system which is characterised by extensive skarn-based gold-copper mineralisation with varying levels of associated silver, lead and zinc. The overall geological system also supports attendant epithermal and porphyry-intrusive mineralisation styles. The area has been explored since the extensive era of the Roman empire, including a number of significant episodes of drilling between 1957 and 2022 which comprise more than 100,000m of diamond drilling and assorted geochemistry and geophysics. Previous work identified more than 20 exploration targets. Strickland's current key projects include its flagship 5.3 million ounce gold equivalent Shanac inferred resource, its 1.28 million ounce gold equivalent Medenovac resource and the 0.81 million ounce gold equivalent Copper Canyon deposit. It's Gradina deposit makes up the current complement of still-evolving deposits with a resource estimate based on its multiple gold lodes pending finalisation in this year's final quarter. Strickland's near-term exploration strategy includes ongoing resource growth through increasing and upgrading the existing inferred resources at Shanac and Copper Canyon, refining its mineral resources at the Medenovac and Gradina deposits and following up known mineralisation at Copper Canyon South and Cesme. The company is also about to assault new drill-ready targets, including testing high-priority targets at its new Jezerska Reka discovery and at Kotlovi, Veleiki and Red Creek. It also plans to follow-up new but earlier-stage targets at Obradov Potok, Leca, Wolf Pond and Kaluder. The company plans to undertake about 35,000m of resource definition and 15,000m of discovery drilling at the Rogozna project this year and remains well-funded to deliver the largest-ever exploration program at Rogozna in 2025. Six diamond drilling rigs are currently operating at Rogozna, with four rigs focused on Gradina, one at Shanac and one following up the late-2024 Kotlovi discovery. Notably, the company was sitting on about $34.8 million in cash and liquid assets as of the end of March, topped up by a handy additional $5 million strategic private placement by big Chinese player Zijin Mining in mid-April. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
The Age
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Strickland beefs up management as Serbian gold mine looms
Strickland Metals is picking up the pace at its south Serbian Rogozna gold and base metals project which includes a further 20,000m of drilling at its Gradina target and a slew of new middle managers that are capable of guiding it all the way into production. The company's pre-development programs have now been expanded to include environmental baseline surveys, the opening of a local office, well-advanced metallurgical studies and ongoing drilling by six rigs across three targets as a decision to go mining looms at the 7.4m ounce gold equivalent project. The new key new management appointments will advance the company's mining and environmental studies and complement its 40 local Serbian staff. Three new management appointments include Sarai Tautari as Community Relations Manager who spent 19 years in similar roles at Twiggy Forrest's Fortescue, one of Australia's biggest mining companies. Her appointment is supported by Strickland's recent opening of a community relations office in the town of Novi Pazar, about 10km from the Rogozna project. As a first pass in the community relations stakes, Strickland says it has already undertaken a 2000 tree-planting program at Rogozna, with another program planned for mid-year. '... These new appointments complement our exceptional local team of 40 Serbian staff...' Strickland Metals Managing Director Paul L'Herpiniere A second appointment to the expanding management crew is Mark Mantle, an engineer with more than 30 years of experience across multiple continents with groups such as Minproc Engineers, Ausenco, DRA, St Barbara, Newmont and Mineral Resources. Mantle has been involved with early-stage scoping through to construction delivery and operations management.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Strickland beefs up management as Serbian gold mine looms
Strickland Metals is picking up the pace at its south Serbian Rogozna gold and base metals project which includes a further 20,000m of drilling at its Gradina target and a slew of new middle managers that are capable of guiding it all the way into production. The company's pre-development programs have now been expanded to include environmental baseline surveys, the opening of a local office, well-advanced metallurgical studies and ongoing drilling by six rigs across three targets as a decision to go mining looms at the 7.4m ounce gold equivalent project. The new key new management appointments will advance the company's mining and environmental studies and complement its 40 local Serbian staff. Three new management appointments include Sarai Tautari as Community Relations Manager who spent 19 years in similar roles at Twiggy Forrest's Fortescue, one of Australia's biggest mining companies. Her appointment is supported by Strickland's recent opening of a community relations office in the town of Novi Pazar, about 10km from the Rogozna project. As a first pass in the community relations stakes, Strickland says it has already undertaken a 2000 tree-planting program at Rogozna, with another program planned for mid-year. '... These new appointments complement our exceptional local team of 40 Serbian staff...' Strickland Metals Managing Director Paul L'Herpiniere A second appointment to the expanding management crew is Mark Mantle, an engineer with more than 30 years of experience across multiple continents with groups such as Minproc Engineers, Ausenco, DRA, St Barbara, Newmont and Mineral Resources. Mantle has been involved with early-stage scoping through to construction delivery and operations management.
ABC News
13-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Wind farm neighbour payments offered to ease community tension
Wind farm developers are offering multi-million-dollar payments to neighbours of their projects in a bid to ease tensions over who benefits. The gap between those who make money from hosting the turbines and those who do not has divided communities and fuelled opposition. But as Australia's 2030 renewable energy targets inspire a wave of controversial regional projects, companies like Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's Windlab are for the first time exploring directly paying those who live nearby, but do not host, turbines. Advocates say it will reduce the divide between the "haves and have-nots," but others say there is "a long way to go" to address the challenge of coexistence properly. About 450 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, the small town of Wandoan is watching closely as the proposed 1.4-gigawatt Bungaban Wind Farm on its outskirts awaits federal government approval. Windlab, which is majority-owned by Nicola and Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's Squadron Energy, estimates the $3.9 billion project could power the equivalent of 860,000 homes. The company is offering neighbours an initial $10,000-$40,000 upon signing, $30,000-$150,000 at construction start, and annual payments of $10,000-$75,000 for up to 35 years, based on proximity to the planned 204 turbines. By comparison, the Clean Energy Council (CEC), which advocates for renewable energy, estimates the average landholder hosting turbines can earn about $40,000 per turbine annually. Windlab's senior community manager Elliot Willemsen-Bell said the payments would not restrict the recipients' right to voice concerns or oppose the project. "[We only ask] if landholders have a concern … they give us a reasonable chance to fix the problem before they escalate it, whether it be through formal complaints or other means," he said. It is a first for the company, but Mr Willemsen-Bell did not say if the model would expand to other sites. "It's got to be specific to the area and specific to that community and those landholders," he said. Queensland Renewable Energy Council chief executive Katie-Anne Mulder said the approach was particularly important in higher-density population areas. About 150km west of Wandoan, the Maranoa region's very first large-scale renewables project is also exploring neighbour payments while it awaits federal approval. WestWind Energy is offering neighbours of its Bottle Tree Energy Park near Roma between $1,000 and $5,000 per year, with no non-disclosure agreements or restrictions on objections. The company's head of development Shane Quinnell said the benefits needed to be shared more broadly. "It's a reality that if we're going to develop and build wind farms, we need to acknowledge there is this visual impact on the landscape and that people do feel differently," he said. Payments to non-hosts have evolved since the nation's first wind farm was built in Salmon Beach, Western Australia, in 1987. By 2001, projects such as Codrington Wind Farm in Victoria were offering "community benefit funds," a pool of money available for not-for-profit groups to support events and facilities. Among the first to propose direct payments to neighbours was TrustPower Australia, which in 2013 offered $2,000 per year to properties within 2km of the Palmer Wind Farm in South Australia though the payments were conditional. "If they're happy to support the wind farm or not object to it and not to do things on their land to interfere then we're happy to pay them," chief executive Rodney Ahern said at the time. After decades of revisions, the project was approved in February 2025. The CEC and lobby group Farmers for Climate Action estimate that over the next 25 years, large-scale wind and solar projects will pay landholders between $7.7 billion and $9.7 billion, compared to contributions to regional communities and councils of about $1.9 billion. According to the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, which handles complaints about the industry, communities are pushing for a bigger share — one that recognises the impact on amenity, community engagement, natural environment, noise and economic loss they experience. CEC spokesperson Chris O'Keefe said most companies had adopted voluntary standards for community engagement and compensation. "The more they do that, the more success we'll have with this transition," he said. While the standards are voluntary across most local and state governments, Queensland has moved to make them more binding, but stopped short of mandating neighbour payments. Introduced in May, the legislation requires major renewable programs to enter into binding community benefit agreements, which can include neighbour payments, with councils before they can lodge a development application. It does not set out how much those payments should be. Queensland farmer lobby group AgForce welcomed the legislation, but chief executive Michael Guerin said more needed to be done to address concerns around noise, setback distances and compensation for neighbours. "There's a long way to go [and] further reform is required that recognises that coexistence has impacts on all of community."
