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Copyright of Mine Water & the Environment is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Australian mining projects frequently undertake cultural salvage, involving archaeological consultants and Aboriginal Elders to identify important artefacts. However, the storage conditions within shipping containers present challenges, such as weather, insects, and limited access for Traditional Owners. The author, reflecting on his experience working as a project heritage advisor in Western Australia's Pilbara region, emphasises the need for collaborative engagement between the mining sector and Aboriginal communities to develop effective storage strategies that prioritise both scientific integrity and cultural significance. The author raises questions about the purpose and sustainability of storing cultural artefacts in containers, while highlighting the need to balance safeguarding heritage with the evolving needs of Indigenous communities. Ultimately, the author emphasises the importance of empowering Traditional Owners in decisions about artefact storage and engaging in meaningful consultation to preserve cultural heritage. The author suggests that the process should prioritise not just tangible artefacts but also intangible aspects like stories and songlines that make up the living Indigenous culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the capability approach to analyse renewable energy developments on Aboriginal land in Australia's Pilbara and Kimberley regions. These regions in the north-west of Australia have very high rates of Indigenous land tenure, and are attractive for both solar and wind power generation, particularly as developing technology makes it economically feasible to transport power over large distances. They are also remote from Australia's electricity networks and often rely on expensive fossil fuels for electricity generation. Resident Aboriginal communities are among the most income-poor in Australia yet live in regions rich in renewable energy. Their ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by a transition to renewable sources of energy varies according to a number of factors. This paper examines the conditions under which Indigenous capabilities may be enhanced or inhibited, through examining three scales of energy generation: large-scale developments for export; remote utility-owned networks; and small-scale standalone off-grid applications. This paper will ask what capabilities can Indigenous people achieve from a just approach to a renewable energy transition in northern Australia, and what capabilities are required in order to gain maximum benefit from this current rapid energy transition? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining industry is a significant water user, an issue that gains a particular prominence in arid zone mining regions, such as the Pilbara region in Western Australia (WA). Mining companies extract vast amounts of water from the groundwater aquifers to access orebodies and to dewater the mine pits. Much of this water is dumped in creeks, injected back into the aquifer downstream or used in mining processing. There is increased awareness from community members for sustainable water use in mining beyond life of mine, and the emergence of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in the mining and metals sector signals a shift towards recognizing the importance of water stewardship. Much of the land subject to dewatering in the Pilbara is also subject to native title determinations. For Traditional Owners, important cultural values are associated with water. However, water is not adequately covered in native title, especially in relation to commercial use. We argue that Traditional Owner involvement in design and management of the use of excess water from a mining proponent's water licence (dewatering) can assist in sustainable use of groundwater, as well as provide opportunities in social and economic enterprises. As a provocation style piece, this paper is based on secondary literature, rather than ethnographic data. It explores the political and regulatory landscape of mine dewatering and outlines the limitations that have existed historically and currently and which inhibit Traditional Owners to participate in water management or commercial water interests. We also provide a high‐level analysis of several mining proponents' public policy commitments to water stewardship to assess the sustainable use of water which involves stakeholders such as Traditional Owners in water decision‐making. Finally, we identify possible opportunities and provide some recommendations, for water futures in this dry region where iron ore mining and gas extraction, already massive, are expanding further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) is Australia's largest echolocating bat. It is restricted to several disjunct populations in the north of the continent, including a population in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In 2016 the ghost bat was listed as Vulnerable under Australian federal legislation, owing to declining numbers across many regional populations. The most severe threat to ghost bats in the Pilbara region is the destruction and disturbance of habitat due to mining operations, but disturbance to their roosts from other infrastructure developments and changes to and loss of foraging habitat also pose significant threats. A set of research priorities for ghost bats in the Pilbara was developed during a workshop attended by mining industry representatives, environmental consultants, scientists and government regulators. Five research priorities were identified: (1) identify and characterise critical diurnal roosts and foraging habitat; (2) improve knowledge of the distribution, movement and dispersal patterns of ghost bats in the region; (3) improve knowledge of population size, persistence and long-term trends; (4) better understand the cumulative, direct and indirect impacts of mining and other development activities; and (5) better understand the threats posed by fence entanglements, cane toads and feral cats. The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) is Australia's largest echolocating bat and one of its most distinctive. Ghost bats are under threat across northern Australia owing to activities such as mining and infrastructure development that destroys their roosts, vegetation clearing and grazing that diminishes their food resources, and the invasion of poisonous cane toads. This paper outlines research priorities for ghost bats in the Pilbara region, developed through a workshop involving scientists and representatives from the mining industry and government agencies. Photograph by Bruce Thomson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of professional judgement underpins the way in which an occupational hygienist assesses an exposure problem. Despite the importance placed on professional judgement in the discipline, a method of assessment to characterise accuracy has not been available. In this paper, we assess the professional judgement of four occupational hygienists ('experts') when completing exposure assessments on a range of airborne contaminants across a number of job roles within a surface mining environment in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The job roles assessed were project driller, mobile equipment operator, fixed plant maintainer, and drill and blast operator. The contaminants of interest were respirable crystalline silica, respirable dust, and inhalable dust. The novel approach of eliciting exposure estimates focusing on contaminant concentration and attribution of an exposure standard estimate was used. The majority of the elicited values were highly skewed; therefore, a scaled Beta distribution were fitted. These elicited fitted distributions were then compared to measured data distributions, the results of which had been collected as part of an occupational hygiene program assessing full-shift exposures to the same contaminants and job roles assessed by the experts. Our findings suggest that the participating experts within this study tended to overestimate exposures. In addition, the participating experts were more accurate at estimating percentage of an exposure standard than contaminant concentration. We demonstrate that this elicitation approach and the encoding methodology contained within can be applied to assess accuracy of exposure judgements which will impact on worker protection and occupational health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic sedimentary processes are a key parameter for establishing the habitability of planetary surface environments on Earth and beyond and thus critical for reconstructing the early evolution of life on our planet. This paper presents a sedimentary section from the ca 3.48 Ga Dresser Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) that contains high‐energy reworked sediments, possibly representing the oldest reported tsunami deposit on Earth to date. Field and petrographic evidence (e.g. up to 20 cm large imbricated clasts, hummocky bedding, Bouma‐type graded sequences) indicate that the high‐energy deposit represents a bi‐directional succession of two debrite–turbidite couplets. This succession can best be explained by deposition related to passage and rebound of tsunami waves. Sedimentary processes were possibly influenced by highly dense silica‐rich seawater. The tsunami was probably triggered by local fault‐induced seismic activity since the Dresser Formation was deposited in a volcanic caldera basin that experienced syndepositional extensional growth faulting. However, alternative triggers (meteorite impact, volcanic eruption) or a combination thereof cannot be excluded. The results of this work indicate a subaquatic habitat that was subject to tsunami‐induced high‐energy disturbance. Potentially, this was a common situation on the early Archaean Earth, which experienced frequent impacts of extraterrestrial bodies. This study thus adds to the scarce record of early Archaean high‐energy deposits and stresses the relevance of high‐energy depositional events for the early evolution of life on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we outline how evolutionary economic geography (EEG) explains peripheral economic development by comparing two peripheries over extended time periods. This comparison involves critically appraising EEG's capacity to account for peripheral evolution. For geographical, historical, and political reasons, peripheries lack resources that lead to path creation and renewal. The hyper‐peripheral regions of the Pilbara in north‐west Australia and of Buryatia in south‐east Russia provide excellent comparative case studies for understanding how peripheral regional development evolves in ways contingent upon time, state institutions, natural resource endowments, and region/firm dynamics. Our analysis shows that EEG is well equipped to deal with historical factors and capitalist economies but it struggles to reconcile these regions' resilience and ability to sustain both Indigenous and non‐Indigenous socio‐economies. Development in these regions over extended periods of time invites questions about whether it is appropriate to apply EEG and its constituent parts: path creation, renewal, and exhaustion; regional resilience; and institutional thinness and thickness. In addressing those questions, we show that EEG can incorporate temporal development, stretching over long periods and economic analysis. We also critique the extent to which EEG can be used to consider how state activities influence path creation and renewal, the importance of extra‐regional contexts, and heterodox and Indigenous perspectives. This paper compares the long histories of the Pilbara, Australia, and Buryatia, Russia, to examine the economic development of hyper‐peripheries. We use Evolutionary Economic Geography over extended time periods, as well as Indigenous perspectives, to show how peripherality is both ingrained over time and also defined based on core‐periphery power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global production networks (GPNs) exist across time as well as space, an idea that is underplayed within GPN theory. To consider how time influences the remaking of the network and region, the paper explores the temporal development of one iron ore GPN in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Its emphasis is on temporality and, drawing upon evolutionary economic geography (EEG), the paper shows that GPNs are created over and with time. This makes a singular contribution to GPN theory by simultaneously explaining the configuration of contemporary networks and in developing an understanding of how actors make and remake networks over and with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2020, Rio Tinto, one of Australia's largest mining companies, destroyed two rock shelters in the Hammersley Ranges in the Pilbara. Juukan Gorge, evidence of 46,000 years of continual human occupation through the last ice age, was destroyed in seconds. 'The caves that Rio Tinto destroyed had a fundamental religious significance to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Peoples (PKKP), for whom these places constituted a part of their identity and central place in their social fabric' (Langton, [2020]. The destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves: A cultural property crime in moral terms. The Saturday Paper, 19–25 September 2020, No. 319). They can never be restored or replaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's current robust macro-economic condition, at least relative to that of many comparator nations within Europe and the USA, is built largely on the nation's particular insertion into the global economy as an abundant and reliable source of mineral and energy resources. Within Australia, though, public concern is mounting over the many direct and indirect economic, environmental and social effects of mineral and energy resource extraction and processing. Resource peripheries like the Pilbara have been characterised as ‘slippery spaces’ where capital, commodities and labour rapidly flow in, and all too frequently out, of these remote regions, with the surplus from local extraction and processing captured by the ‘sticky places’—the metropolitan cores host to the national and multinational mining and energy corporations (Hayter 2003). Drawing on insights from Innis' staples theory and geographical political economy, this paper focuses on two of these closely connected concerns. First, it briefly explores the attempts to establish a redistributive mechanism with which to equitably allocate the benefits of the boom in a federal polity in which socio-spatial inequity is still regarded as a substantial public policy concern. Second, shifting the focus to the regional and local scales of the Pilbara and its scattered towns, the paper critically explores the ‘Pilbara Cities’ initiative, funded by the ‘Royalties for Regions’ scheme, querying whether or not this ambitious plan can create the conditions for the development of functionally complex local and regional economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeology in Oceania is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Depth‐resolved chemistry samples are critical to a wide range of groundwater investigations. If a well intersects zones of variable concentrations, a pumped sample is a composite of the inflows, which mix in the well. Where discrete concentrations are required, excessive mixing makes samples less useful and potentially misleading. However, installations for depth‐discrete sampling are expensive, particularly for regional studies, so sometimes there is incentive to use existing infrastructure designed for other purposes (e.g., supply wells). This paper shows how the resolution of groundwater chemistry derived from long‐screened and open borehole wells can be improved by measuring and sampling the in‐well vertical flow regimes in ambient (unpumped) and/or pumped conditions. The ambient flow regime, driven by a natural vertical head gradient, is shown to be particularly useful to sample groundwater native to defined inflow zones (head in the zone > head in the well) and avoid zones impacted by the invasion of intraborehole flow (head in the zone < head in the well). Depth‐specific samples are interpreted either as native groundwater from a discrete source, subject only to analytical error, or a mixture from multiple sources that can be deconvolved, incorporating error in both flow and concentration measurements. Depth‐resolved age tracers (chlorofluorocarbons, 14C, and He) in groundwater from three supply wells are verified with samples from a multidepth nest of piezometers. Results show old groundwater at all depths and the simultaneous occurrence of young water at shallower depths in undisturbed dual‐porosity fractured aquifers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Key Points: Sampling ambient vertical flows can provide more insightful data than sampling pumped flowsAmbient flows can be sampled without purging or pumping the wellIn‐well samples are either from a discrete source or the mixture that can be deconvolved [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tobacco smoking during pregnancy contributes to a range of adverse perinatal outcomes; but is a potentially modifiable behavior. In Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women face a range of barriers that hinder; rather than support smoking cessation. Few smoking cessation programs consider the broader social determinants of women's lives; the gendered nature of these or the complexities which impinge on behavior change in the presence of social and economic disadvantage and substantial individual and intergenerational trauma. Drawing on the salient gender and trauma-informed literature this paper describes the rationale underpinning formative research which will inform the design of a localized, culturally meaningful smoking cessation program for Aboriginal women living in the Hedland and Western Desert communities of the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. We contend that a women-centered, trauma-informed approach to smoking cessation has much to offer those seeking to address this critical public health issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Employed a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) to detect anomalies in spectra. • Generate artificial spectra and calculate probability it came from the original spectra. • Spectrum, geochemistry, and latent space combined to analyse anomalous data. • Spectra, Geochemistry, with the VAE act as a powerful anomaly detection tool in unsupervised settings. Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is an emerging cost effective and rapid mineralogical characterization technique being applied in the geosciences. Detecting anomalous FTIR spectra is especially relevant to the geoscience domain, as it may indicate abrupt changes in geology or mineralogical composition of the rock sample being examined. Given a large volume of data, detecting anomalies that exhibit significant and abrupt spatial and compositional variability is a time-consuming and challenging task. This paper explores the use of an unsupervised variational autoencoder (VAE) for determining anomalies that may exist within a set of FTIR spectra collected from reverse circulation (RC) drill chip samples spanning several iron ore deposits from the Pilbara region in Western Australia. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) were measured from 1,579 two-metre composite samples. Our results showed that the VAE was effective in separating anomalous spectra from spectra typical of unmineralized banded iron formation by leveraging the probabilistic latent representation of the spectra in as few as two latent dimensions. To validate our results, detected anomalous samples were compared with their respective geochemical assays to analyse their mineralogical differences, which may have led to the anomalous spectra. In the iron ore sample data used in this study, the observed spectral anomalies were shown to have elevated concentrations of Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 wt.% while being several standard deviations below the mean Fe 2 O 3 wt.% indicating mineralogies rich in shale as opposed to iron oxide rich mineralogies. While the paper demonstrates the efficacy of the VAE in anomaly detection, it can also be effective in assuring the quality of the FTIR data as a pre-processing step, which is critically important for machine learning applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between regions and external capital has been a topic of recurring interest in economic geography and regional development studies since the 1970s. This relationship has recently been re-conceptualised in terms of strategic coupling, a concept that is closely associated with the adoption of a Global Production Networks (GPNs) approach among economic geographers. Like many other concepts in economic geography, strategic coupling has been informed by the experiences of manufacturing and service-orientated regions in developed countries. As such, the question of the applicability of strategic coupling to resource economies in semi-peripheral regions of the world economy remains unexamined, despite the emergence of critical work seeking to unpack and evaluate the concept. This paper aims to extend this embryonic strand of research by providing a critical appraisal of the meaning and relevance of strategic coupling in the Pilbara mining region of Western Australia. My argument is that the relationship between mining capital and regional actors in the Pilbara is more akin to an unbalanced form of structural coupling than the balanced process of strategic coupling depicted in the GPN literature. This underlines the enduring relevance of some long-standing themes of geographical political economy such as external domination, uneven development, conflicts over value and the distinction between development ‘of’ a region and development ‘in’ a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in the application of evolutionary concepts and methodologies in understanding the dynamics of capitalist space economies. This paper contributes to these debates through an analysis of income growth and employment in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. While much of the work on ‘evolutionary economic geography’ has focused on core industrial and service economies, the Pilbara offers a unique context within which to test some of the emerging conceptual claims. Using simple econometric models, the paper shows the path-dependent nature of development in the Pilbara. It also points to the need to develop local models of resource economies as a means of better understanding the peculiar dynamics of change operating at these finer spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the authors discusses various reports within the issue on topics including economic and social change required in the mining region of Pilbara, Western Australia for regional growth and factors behind prevalence of geographical political economy in Australia.

This paper reviews the complex and multifaceted adjustment pressures being experienced by Onslow, a small, remote town in Western Australia's Pilbara, as a result of a large gas development. Some members of the community are enthusiastic about the opportunities that the gas industry will bring, although the majority are wary of the negative impacts of rapid growth and corporate dominance observed in other Pilbara towns during the mining boom. The paper reports on the strategies being utilised by the company, the different spheres of government and the local community representatives in order to come to an agreement about how to achieve enduring community value so that the aesthetic attributes of the town and quality of life in Onslow will be enhanced, while also accommodating a large constructive workforce which will leave within a short time (4 years). Using data collected about the Pilbara and the socio-economic impacts of the mining industry on other towns, the lessons learned from rapid growth elsewhere were applied in Onslow and the outcomes assessed and reported. It is evident that the community engagement strategies and the collaborative planning processes have been undermined by disconnects between commercial imperatives, governance frameworks, investment risk and timeframes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how spatial concepts of a region change over time and focuses on the Pilbara region in Western Australia as an example. Spatial concepts of 'old space' and 'new place' are employed to demonstrate how space gets re-written in the course of time. Re-writing of spatial concepts implies ontological shifts. By juxtaposing 'old space' and 'new place' concepts, questions of cultural values, the meaning of place - and of a region's identity - can be explored. In the Pilbara region a specific cultural clash of Indigenous and non-Indigenous perceptions and use of space is evident. This paper theorises the culture and identity of the Pilbara region spatially. It employs the concept of spatiality that is one element in the 'trialectic model of being', as suggested by Henri Lefebvre, which consists of spatiality, historicality and sociality. Arguably, knowledge of 'old space' and 'new place' can enrich and inspire Australian culture, enhance cross-cultural understanding and break new ground in establishing a unique reconciliatory and conservation ethic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to present the case of the Pilbara as an illustration of how neo-liberalism and globalisation affect a natural resource region. Design/methodology/approach - A primary data set was collected by interviewing 21 people who had an interest in the development of the Pilbara. Secondary data was collected from relevant government policy documents and media reports relating to the region. Qualitative analysis techniques were used to analyse the data. Findings - It is found that neo-liberal policy has had a profound and largely negative effect on Pilbara communities. Rather than reaping the benefits of the wealth being generated in the region, participants in this research experience social breakdown and unmet social needs, and the local democratic institutions are weak and ineffective. Research limitations/implications - This paper reports on a single case and is limited in terms of its generalisability. However, it does illustrate the value of the "Resource Curse Thesis" and the concept of "risk" in illuminating the issues associated with neo-liberalism. Practical implications - This research has practical implications in that it provides an example of the problems associated with neo-liberal perspectives when they are used as a frarpework for developing and implementing regional policy. Originality/value - The resource curse thesis tends to be used in analysing developing nations and risk has so far been applied in limited areas of researching the effects of neo-liberal policy trajectories. This paper employs these concepts to provide a critical examination of regional development policy in a way that can be used in other national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the attempt by mining management in Western Australia's Pilbara to replace mining unions--quite literally--by removing them from the processes of representation and bargaining. It analyses the way in which those unions have tried to re-place themselves, in the senses of transforming themselves in those spaces in which they were already operating and reviving themselves where they were not. Where unionists have succeeded in these engagements, it has been by working at a range of geographical scales, using the 'power of place' in the Pilbara and reshaping traditional geographies of union organisation. It is suggested here that many of these emergent outcomes are the result of the embeddedness of geographically specific historical structures along with new intersections of nationally and locally scaled labour politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding groundwater ages offers insight into the time scales of recharge, aquifer storage turnover times, and contaminant protection time frames. The ability to quantify groundwater age distributions heavily depends on the choice of the interpretive model, and often important features of the age distribution cannot be identified with the subset of available models. In this paper, we implemented a multiple tracer method using a technique that assumes limited details regarding the shape of the age distribution and applied it to dewatering wells at a mine site in the Pilbara region of north-western Australia. Using our method, we were able to identify distinct age components in the groundwater. We calculated the presence of four distinct age groups in the samples. All wells contained water aged between zero and 20 years. However, the rest of the samples were composed of water between 50 and 100 years, 100 and 600 years, or water approximately 1000 years old. These were consistent with local recharge sources (50-100 years) and knowledge of paleoclimate from lake sediment records. We found that although the age components were well constrained, the relative proportions of each component were highly sensitive to errors of environmental tracer data. Our results show that our method can identify distinct age groups in groundwater samples without prior knowledge of the age distribution. The presence of distinct recharge times gives insight into groundwater flow conditions over long periods of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Built structures in rockshelters are relatively common archaeological features in the Pilbara that have been neglected in the published literature Drawing primary on grey literature, coupled with new data from recent investigations, this paper provides a review of current knowledge about these enigmatic structures. Results show that these features are found across the Hamersley Plateau, although are especially abundant in the Packsaddle Range, and in the Chichester Ranges. Most are likely to be late Holocene features, concurrent with a suite of other oranges that occurred during that period. The current practice of grouping all built structures in rockshelters into a single site type (i.e. '(hu)man-made structures') conceals wide variation amongst then. A typology is suggested based on morphological and contextual features to allow better characterisation of these features, thereby improving understandings of their distribution and functions, and facilitating more adequate assessments of their significance in management contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of a large accumulation of natural hydrogen in Mali has triggered the opportunity to search for hydrogen accumulations in other countries. The generation of hydrogen in Mali is linked to the presence of very old iron-rich basement rocks. Solid-liquid redox reactions between iron-rich minerals and groundwater are a possible source of H 2 in deep basement rocks. The hypothesis is that hydrogen degassing may result in the surface circular shallow depressions. The Archean iron-rich Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons that cover a vast area of Western Australia contain abundant iron-rich mafic-ultramafic rocks. The craton reveals many surficial circular depressions visible through satellite images. The area has abundant fault systems and is blanketed with Eocene sedimentary rocks containing high-quality reservoir rocks. All these characteristics appear to provide most of the required elements, such as a hydrogen source, migration pathway, and reservoir rock for a complete "Hydrogen System" to be developed in the area. • A natural "Hydrogen System" has been assessed for Western Australia in this paper. • Interactions between iron-rich minerals and water are a possible source of H 2. • The Archean Craton of WA reveals depressions that could be location of H 2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many styles of gold mineralisation are challenging to sample because of the presence of coarse gold and a high spatial heterogeneity. The coarse gold-bearing conglomerates of the Beatons Creek deposit provide some challenges related to the presence of gold particles up to 8 mm and gold particle clusters (up to 500 mm3) at low in situ grades (<2 g/t Au). Novo has attempted to address these issues over the last six years of exploration, resource development and mining. The Beatons Creek open pit operation was the first Pilbara conglomerate-hosted gold deposit to go into production. Between January 2021 and September 2022, it produced 2.5 Mt at 1.2 g/t Au for 87,300 oz Au recovered. Gold is present within a matrix of multiple, narrow-stacked oxide and fresh (sulphide) conglomeritic reef horizons, which are interbedded with unmineralised conglomerate, sandstones and grits. It is strongly associated with detrital pyrite and authigenic nodules. Several sampling techniques have been applied across the project, including diamond core and RC drilling, trench channel sampling and bulk sampling. Assay methods applied include fire assay, screen fire assay, LeachWELL™ and more recently PhotonAssay™. The dominant sampling protocol applied for resource development and grade control utilised 0.5 m length RC samples; a 50% rig split (c. 8.5 kg) and laboratory crushing to 3 mm, followed by a 2.5 kg split and total assay via PhotonAssay™. For part of the 2022 RC programme, the detectORE™ technique was used to screen primary RC samples and reduce the feed to the laboratory. Novo operated a sampling and assay programme that aimed to reduce the impact of coarse gold on sample and assay preparation biases and to improve estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive marine species (IMS) are a major anthropogenic threat to global marine environments. To mitigate the threat, Australian federal and state governments have developed detailed quarantine programs to minimise IMS introductions, supported by monitoring programs to detect any IMS that penetrated the quarantine barriers. Considerable shipping movements occur between the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia and southeast Asia where a number of potential IMS oysters occur. eDNA techniques are being developed to rapidly scan biofouling and other samples for potential IMS, but there is limited information on oysters present in the Pilbara. We collected intertidal oysters in and near Pilbara ports and identified them using DNA sequences to determine if any IMS are present and to provide a baseline to prevent false positive results for IMS by native species. Only three species were detected: native Saccostrea lineage A and S. scyphophilla, both widespread in the Pilbara, and Talonostrea sp. nov. which had not previously been reported from the Pilbara. No IMS oysters were found. The study provides a solid basis for monitoring for any future occurrences of IMS oyster species in the Pilbara, an area with a very high known shallow water marine biodiversity, but where only a single IMS is known to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the numbers of tropical cyclones in the southern Indian Ocean, and the land-falling cyclones that have impacted the Pilbara and Gascoyne coastlines of Western Australia since 1970, with particular emphasis on those of Category 4 strength and above. It shows reductions in impacts of severe cyclones on that coastline in the most recent two decades. Nearly as many severe cyclones have impacted the coast outside the current northern boundary of Region D in AS/NZS 1170.2 as have occurred within that boundary, suggesting the limits of Region D may need reviewing. Recorded and corrected extreme wind gusts exceeding 22 m/s from eight coastal stations have been processed as a group, and individually for 3 stations with long records. This indicates that the extreme value distribution in the draft standard DR AS/NZS 1170.2:2020 is quite adequate, without any additional factors, but the predicted extreme wind speeds for Carnarvon are well under the Region D specifications. The calculated wind direction multipliers for Region D show higher values from east and northeast; this can be explained by the wind directions generated by the clockwise rotations created by the cyclonic vortices, as the storms cross the coastline, or as they pass along the coastline at near full strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The colonial Northwest of Western Australia was a harsh frontier, where demands for Aboriginal land, labour and knowledge led to dispossession, loss of rights, massacre and generations encumbered with the colonial legacy. In the Pilbara, there are some rare attempts to engage with this difficult colonial history, mainly in the form of heritage site interpretation and heritage trails. Overall, the difficult colonial history of the Northwest is poorly represented. Colonialism and its legacy are not effectively commemorated, nor are distinct local cultural and civic attributes highlighted as ‘lessons from the past’. In this paper, we explore the memorialization and commemoration of the Northwest's traumatic colonial history and consider a history of how heritage has been represented across the landscape. We suggest that the affective heritage of the Northwest especially cross-cultural or multi-cultural sites and histories can provide a basis for commemorating difficult colonial history or violent events that are underrepresented in dominant heritage regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

‘Landscape: the land escapes (1) when we try to seize it with our maps, satellites, geographic information systems and Street Views, land is what evades our surveillance (2) land is the terrain of escape.’ (Cubitt 2012)‘Since the middle of the twentieth century, the claim that something is art does not imply what it might have meant at the end of the nineteenth century, when it was made out to be a hallmark of European high and bourgeois society.’ (Heyd 2012, 287)The destruction of Indigenous rock art sites in the Pilbara district in Western Australia has become a natural sight within the mining landscape of the area. Whilst much of the destruction is explained as acts of vandalism and as a result of the industrial activities that are propelling the Australian economy, I claim that a new theory of iconoclasm is needed to explain fully this disastrous example of heritage conservation. Henceforth, in order to explain the destruction of the Murujuga/Burrup Peninsula petroglyphs, the largest archaeological site in the world, this paper develops the theory of landscape iconoclasm. This theory states that the destruction of Indigenous landscapes can be compared to the destruction of religious images, by analysing the inherent symbolic functions of iconoclasm, together with those of heritage, the better to elucidate the state of affairs in the Murujuga/Burrup Peninsula. Furthermore, by drawing from Aboriginal mythology and art-historical and anthropological theories, the theory of landscape iconoclasm is able to explain the destruction of archaeological sites within a framework that falls outside prevalent discourses of heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the use of coastal and offshore environments expands, there is a need to better understand the exposure of marine megafauna to anthropogenic activities that potentially threaten their populations. Individual satellite telemetry studies are often hampered by small sample sizes, providing limited information on spatiotemporal distributions of migratory animals and their relationships to anthropogenic threats. We addressed this issue by synthesising satellite tracking data from 484 individuals of three taxonomic groups and six species; three marine turtle, two whale and one shark. The spatial overlap between taxa distributions and multiple anthropogenic activities was assessed as a proxy for the cumulative exposure of these taxa to anthropogenic threats (coastal modification, vessel strike, underwater noise, oil spill, bycatch, entanglement, and artificial light) across an area totalling 2,205,740 km[sup 2] off north-western Australia. Core exposure areas (top 50% of the distribution) encompassed ecologically important sites for all taxa, such as the Ningaloo and Pilbara regions, migratory routes for whales and sharks in offshore waters beyond Ningaloo Reef, and marine turtle nesting beaches at Barrow Island and Cape Lambert. Although areas of high exposure represented <14% of taxa distributions, we showed that no taxa occurred in the absence of threats and that even areas with existing spatial protections are experiencing high levels of exposure. Importantly, we developed a robust approach for documenting the potential exposure of marine species to a range of human activities at appropriate spatial scales to inform conservation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking its cues from the 'substantivist' economics of Karl Polanyi, the paper retraces a socio-economic history of the Pilbara from the pastoral capitalism of the region's initially tenuous colonial settlement to the contemporary regime of extractive capitalism. Spatial fixes have been etched deeply into the landscape of this heterogeneously 'productive' region, but crises of social reproduction have remained endemic. Since the nineteenth century, disequilibrium has been the reigning principle, as successive failures of commodification and marketisation have marked a long and non-linear history of double movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early 2012, I was invited by Pilbara Writers group in Karratha to make a poetry map for the Pilbara region when they saw the Poetry 4 U website (http://poetry4U.org ) where poems are pinned to geographic locations. I visited the Pilbara June 17 - 23, 2012 to commence the poetry mapping project with members of the Pilbara Writers group. By walking with video when writers took me to their favourite places I was able to document visceral intersubjective experiences of these places, of being there together, so that I could empathically share the writers' sense of landscape. This paper discusses what happens when a hodological approach is taken to explore connections and flows between poetic expressions, places and landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Highlights • There are sanukitoids and anatectic granites in the Bundelkhand Craton. • U-Pb zircon dating of a sanukitoid yielded a crystallization age of 2577 ± 16 Ma. • Sanukitoids are derived from a crustal source. • Sanukitoids and anatectic granites formed in a subduction-collision environment. Abstract In this paper, we present in situ zircon U–Pb ages as well as whole-rock elemental and Sm-Nd isotopic compositions for late Archean sanukitoids of the Bundelkhand Craton, India. The LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb dating results of the sanukitoids (s.l.) indicate that these rocks were emplaced at 2577 ± 16 Ma, with inherited zircon at an age of 2644 ± 25 Ma, and are coeval with high-K anatectic granites (2544–2583 Ma). The sanukitoids (s.l.) are characterized by high-alumina (15–16 wt.%), Mg# (27–50) and TiO 2 (0.31–0.87 wt.%). They have a strongly enriched signature in terms of incompatible trace elements (LREEs and LILE) pointing to a subduction-related or crustal source. The high-K anatectic granites are characterized by Al 2 O 3 (12–15 wt.%), Mg# (13–39) and TiO 2 (0.06–0.8 wt.%); they have enriched and variable concentrations of LILEs and REEs; and negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.15–0.93). The whole-rock ε Nd (t) values (−3.64 to −1.66) indicate a crustal component. These isotopic and geochemical characteristics indicate that the sanukitoid plutons originated from the mixing of metasomatized mantle melts with anatectic melts and were followed by homogenization at shallow levels of emplacement, whereas the high-K anatectic granites indicate reworking of the pre-existing TTG crust during the cratonic stabilization ca. 2.5 Ga. This interpretation suggests a temporal evolution from TTG-domination through sanukitoids (s.l.) to anatectic leucogranites by an internal reworking of the continental crust, involving subduction-collision environments in the late Archean era. Such magmatic events and tectonics during the late-Archean in the Bundelkhand Craton resemble other Archean cratons, such as the Dharwar, North China, Karelian, Superior Province, Pilbara, Kaapvaal and Amazonian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four new species of Gomphodella De Deckker, 1981 are described in the present paper, thereby doubling the number of known recent species. All new species were collected in subterranean waters of the Pilbara region in Western Australia. Gomphodella belongs to the subfamily Timiriaseviinae and the genus is endemic to Australia. In order to facilitate identification of the recent Timiriaseviinae, a key to all species is presented. Only three of the 52 species recognized were not included in the key, due to a lack of distinguishing characters. In addition, Cytheridella chariessa Rome, 1977 is herein synonymized with C. damasi Klie, 1944. Cladistic analysis is also used to show phylogenetic relationships between the species of Gomphodella and the genera of the Timiriaseviinae. The first analysis included eight known Gomphodella species and two outgroup taxa, i.e., representatives of the genus Gomphocythere described from Australia and New Zealand. This analysis was based on 19 morphological characters, and resulted in seven equally parsimonious trees, 36 steps long, with consistency and retention indices of 0.56. The second analysis included all 52 recognized species of Timiriaseviinae and was based on 29 morphological characters. It resulted in 31 equally parsimonious trees with a length of 31 steps, a consistency index of 0.76 and a retention index of 0.94. The majority rule trees are presented herein. As a result of the second analysis, the genus Thaicythere Savatenalinton, Borgonie & Martens, 2008 is synonymized with Metacypris Brady & Robertson, 1870. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007 the Dumpier Archipelago petroglyph province was included on the National Heritage List. This paper outlines the process of determining the province's scientific values. We briefly describe our findings, which are based on all existing site data lodged with regulatory authorities. We synthesize published and unpublished systematic survey and rock art recording data collected over three decades for research and environmental impact assessment. Based on this synthesis we provide the first thorough analysis and contextualisation of pelroglyph sites across the Archipelago. We compare this art province with other art style provinces in the Pilbara. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results and implications of recent excavations on the Hamersley Iron Brockman 4 tenement, near Tom Price, Western Australia. Results concentrate on two rock shelters with Aboriginal occupation starting at least 32,000 years ago and extending throughout the Last Glacial period. Preliminary observations are proposed concerning the nature of Aboriginal foraging patterns as displayed in the flaked stone and faunal records tor the Brockman region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone artefact scatters dominate the archaeological landscape of the inland Pilbara. While the archaeological record from rockshelter sites suggests human occupation consisting of brief. intermittent visits by small groups of people, artefact scatters which range from small, discrete single flaking events of perhaps 5-10 artefacts to widespread and varied scatters, sometimes of hundreds of thousands of stone artefacts extending over hundreds of thousands of square metres, clearly tell a different story. This paper presents an analysis of stone artefact assemblages from nine inland Pilbara surface artefact scatters and demonstrates that sites of this type have the potential to contribute much to our knowledge of human occupation of the region. We propose a testable model of Aboriginal occupation of the Pilbara during the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is continuing to develop a legal and administrative framework for facilitating third party access to important infrastructure. This paper examines the workings of the organisation charged with assessing requests for access--the National Competition Council--in the context of the Council's Final Recommendation on an application by the Fortescue Metals Group for access to the Mt Newman Rail Line, owned and operated by BHP Billiton Iron Ore. The discussion draws on submissions to the Council and the recent literature on rail access in order to critique this decision. It concludes by observing that further research is needed to develop a methodology for a more formal approach to determining certain key questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of BHP Billiton Iron Ore resulted in an eclectic mix of mines/ores,each with their varied exploration and evaluation histories. Discussion of some aspects of these histories, and reflections on changes in exploration-related activities with particular reference to discussion of advances in geological understanding since the 1960s forms the basis of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Based on U–Pb–Hf isotope and whole-rock geochemical data, this paper investigates the origin and tectonic setting of Mesoarchean granitoids from the Ourilândia do Norte area, Carajás province (northern Brazil) and compares them with other Archean units. The following units were selected: (i) tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) from the Mogno and Rio Verde suites, represented by a 2.92 Ga tonalitic xenolith [ε Hf(2.92 Ga) = +2.0 to –0.2] and a 2.92 Ga porphyritic trondhjemite [ε Hf(2.92 Ga) = +2.3 to –3.5], respectively; (ii) the Ourilândia sanukitoid suite, composed of the 2.92 Ga Arraias granodiorite [ε Hf(2.92 Ga) = +1.9 to –4.4] and 2.88 Ga Ourilândia tonalite-granodiorite complex [ε Hf(2.88 Ga) = +3.2 to –1.0]; and (iii) the Boa Sorte granite (Canaã dos Carajás granitic suite), which provides four zircon populations dated at 3.04 Ga, 2.98 Ga, 2.93 Ga and 2.88 Ga. The 2.88 Ga population represents the granitic crystallization age, with ε Hf(2.88 Ga) values ranging from –0.8 to –4.1. The Paleoarchean geological record from the Carajás province is scarce and restricted to detrital zircons (<3.7 Ga), rare xenocrystals (<3.7 Ga) and crustal model ages (Hf-T DM C = 3.6–3.1 Ga), which indicate Paleoarchean crust extraction from the mantle. The zircon U–Pb–Hf isotope and whole-rock geochemistry data from the Mesoarchean granitoids support the hypothesis that the Carajás province experienced mantle enrichment and progressive crustal reworking during 3.1–2.8 Ga, similar to the Mesoarchean record from the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons. A proposed three-stage tectonic model explains the petrogenesis and Hf isotope signatures of the studied granitoids. Regardless of the extent of the Paleoarchean geological record, the available data allow us to postulate that the formation of Paleoarchean crust in the Carajás province involved a long-lived dome-and-keel setting (3.6–3.1 Ga), and that this crust was later recycled, allowing mantle enrichment during Mesoarchean low-angle subduction (3.07–2.92 Ga). Then, a short-lived collision defined by peak regional metamorphism (2.89–2.84 Ga) and associated with crustal thickening and slab breakoff gave rise to mantle- and crust-derived magmas at 2.88 Ga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: There has been growing interest in non‐cave subterranean habitats and their influence on the evolution of troglomorphic (i.e. 'subterranean adapted') species. Studies on the diversification of aquatic subterranean organisms in these habitats generally support the 'subterranean island' hypothesis, whereby isolated subterranean refuges lead to patterns of short‐range endemism. However, their terrestrial counterparts have received less attention. We aimed to elucidate the applicability of the 'subterranean island' hypothesis to terrestrial subterranean fauna through genetic analyses of two widespread troglomorphic cockroach species. To investigate the influence of subterranean biogeography, we also analysed a closely related species that inhabits 'classic' cave environments to represent a contrasting biogeographic comparison. Location: Pilbara region, Western Australia, and the Chillagoe‐Mungana Caves, Queensland (Australia). Taxa: Cave cockroach species: Nocticola cockingi, Nocticola quartermainei and Nocticola australiensis. Methods: We used DArTseq to generate genome‐wide SNPs in 78 samples, and Sanger sequencing to generate 16S mtDNA data. We then applied various population genomic analyses to characterize the distribution of genetic diversity within the three study species. Results: We identified distinct genetic clusters within the two Pilbara species; however, there appeared to be a notable lack of discernible population differentiation across large parts of their range (>135 km), opposing the subterranean island hypothesis. The highest level of population differentiation in the three study species was between the two caves in Queensland, ~3 km apart. Main Conclusions: The Pilbara subterranean habitat appeared to be conducive to gene flow across relatively large distances, contrasting high levels of endemism observed in other subterranean taxa within the region. The disparate patterns of gene flow among the Pilbara and Queensland study species emphasize the significance of differing subterranean habitats on patterns of dispersal and vicariance. These inferences will inform conservation genetic management of these species, and may help elucidate the evolutionary paradox of widespread subterranean fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pilbara craton of northwestern Australia is known for what were, when reported, the oldest known microfossils and paleosols on Earth. Both interpretations are mired in controversy, and neither remain the oldest known. Both the microfossils and the paleosols have been considered hydrothermal artefacts: carbon films of vents and a large hydrothermal cupola, respectively. This study resampled and analyzed putative paleosols within and below the Strelley Pool Formation (3.3 Ga), at four classic locations: Strelley Pool, Steer Ridge, Trendall Ridge, and Streckfuss, and also at newly discovered outcrops near Marble Bar. The same sequence of sedimentary facies and paleosols was newly recognized unconformably above the locality for microfossils in chert of the Apex Basalt (3.5 Ga) near Marble Bar. The fossiliferous Apex chert was not a hydrothermal vein but a thick (15 m) sedimentary interbed within a sequence of pillow basalts, which form an angular unconformity capped by the same pre-Strelley paleosol and Strelley Pool Formation facies found elsewhere in the Pilbara region. Baritic alluvial paleosols within the Strelley Pool Formation include common microfossil spindles (cf. Eopoikilofusa) distinct from marine microfossil communities with septate filaments (Primaevifilum) of cherts in the Apex and Mt Ada Basalts. Phosphorus and iron depletion in paleosols within and below the Strelley Pool Formation are evidence of soil communities of stable landscapes living under an atmosphere of high CO2 (2473 ± 134 ppmv or 8.8 ± 0.5 times preindustrial atmospheric level of 280 ppm) and low O2 (2181 ± 3018 ppmv or 0.01 ± 0.014 times modern). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mine Water & the Environment is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Landscape genetics is increasingly transitioning away from microsatellites, with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) providing increased resolution for detecting patterns of spatial‐genetic structure. This is particularly pertinent for research in arid‐zone mammals due to challenges associated with unique life history traits, such as boom‐bust population dynamics and long‐distance dispersal capacities. Here, we provide a case study comparing SNPs versus microsatellites for testing three explicit landscape genetic hypotheses (isolation‐by‐distance, isolation‐by‐barrier, and isolation‐by‐resistance) in a suite of small, arid‐zone mammals in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Using clustering algorithms, Mantel tests, and linear mixed effects models, we compare functional connectivity between genetic marker types and across species, including one marsupial, Ningaui timealeyi, and two native rodents, Pseudomys chapmani and P. hermannsburgensis. SNPs resolved subtle genetic structuring not detected by microsatellites, particularly for N. timealeyi where two genetic clusters were identified. Furthermore, stronger signatures of isolation‐by‐distance and isolation‐by‐resistance were detected when using SNPs, and model selection based on SNPs tended to identify more complex resistance surfaces (i.e., composite surfaces of multiple environmental layers) in the best‐performing models. While we found limited evidence for physical barriers to dispersal across the Pilbara for all species, we found that topography, substrate, and soil moisture were the main environmental drivers shaping functional connectivity. Our study demonstrates that new analytical and genetic tools can provide novel ecological insights into arid landscapes, with potential application to conservation management through identifying dispersal corridors to mediate the impacts of ongoing habitat fragmentation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Archaean crustal evolution of the northern São Francisco Craton (SFC) reveals significant similarity with Kaapvaal-Zimbabwe and Pilbara, cratons, especially before 3.0 Ga. Likewise, compiled geochronological and Nd-Sr-Hf isotope data suggest that the Archaean blocks of the northern part of SFC (e.g. Gavião, Uauá and Serrinha) shared similar crustal evolution since 3.15 Ga. The 3.42–3.35 Ga TTGs of the southern and western Gavião Block have negative and slightly positive ɛNd(t) and ɛHf(t) values and TDM(Hf) ages between 3.50 and 3.90 Ga, indicating that they were produced by partial melting of Eoarchaean to Palaeoarchaean crust, with minor mantle sources. The ca. 3.30 Ga high-silica plutonic-volcanic system, which is related to intraplate magmatism and intracrustal differentiation processes, would represent processes of continental rifting and break-up. In the northern Gavião Block, the 3.64 Ga migmatite-gneiss paleosomes with negative ɛHf(t), 176Hf/177Hf ratio between 0.2802 and 0.2805 and TDM(Hf) ages between 3.75 and 4.15 Ga of the Mairi Complex represent the oldest dated rocks of the whole São Francisco Craton, suggesting late Hadean and Eoarchaean sources. The 3.15 and 3.00 Ga rocks of the Serrinha Block have positive ɛNd(t) values, suggesting a predominant juvenile source. Likewise, coeval 3.15 and 3.00 Ga Uauá Block rock assemblage has slightly positive to negative ɛNd(t) values, which indicate mixing of crustal and juvenile sources. The 2.90 to 2.77 Ga period in the SFC is characterized by pervasive crustal anatexis with high-K granite generation, similar to Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons. Therefore, Archaean migmatite-gneiss terrains recorded four crustal differentiation intervals (e.g. 3.66–3.51, 3.45–3.30, 3.15–3.00 and 2.90–2.77 Ga) in the São Francisco Craton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A particular historical travelling religious complex in northern Western Australia, usually known as Kurangara, has been the subject of anthropological attention since the late 1930s. Overlooked in all the literature is a similar account assigned to 1912–1918, in the distant Channel Country of southwest Queensland. This is in Alice Duncan‐Kemp's last book, published in 1968. My examination shows that a good deal of Duncan‐Kemp's account repeated parts of a 1954 popular magazine about Kurangara in the Pilbara. In other respects Duncan‐Kemp may have drawn on her own childhood experiences, but in the absence of corroboration her account has to be considered unreliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Australia experienced a prolonged resources boom for more than a decade commencing in 2001. The majority of mining industry employees commute long distances from their homes, living onsite in company accommodation and working compressed rosters for a prescribed period before commuting home again for furlough and recommencing the work and commute cycle. Many community leaders, politicians and businesses complain that company policies and industrial relations arrangements, which enabled long distance commuting (LDC), undermine regional economic development. They argue that the host communities closest to mining operations bear the brunt of globally driven boom and bust markets and experience many of the disadvantages but few of the opportunities associated with booms or busts, while source communities, particularly large cities, reap the benefits from repatriated salaries, increased populations and investment derived from mining activities in the host communities. This paper examines the role of long distance commuting as a tool for mitigating the impacts of the boom and bust cycles in the resources industries of Western Australia, focusing on the resources-rich region of the Pilbara. The paper will also speculate the social and economic impact on the mining communities and the state more broadly if government had capitulated and restricted long distance commuting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)