Texas-based Black Mountain Energy (BME), via subsidiary ‘Bennett Resources Ltd’, is currently the biggest fracking threat to the Kimberley. BME is seeking approval for its ‘Valhalla’ project that would involve drilling and fracking 20 gas wells on its EP-371 petroleum lease west of Fitzroy Crossing. According to company information, drilling and fracking the 20 Valhalla wells would require 2 BILLION litres of fresh groundwater, which would be extracted locally. In its investor presentations it is clear the company has plans for hundreds more wells in the future if these 20 wells prove productive. It has also outlined plans for a huge gas pipeline across the Kimberley linking the remote wells to an LNG export facility, probably Woodside’s North West Shelf 1000km away in the Pilbara.
For more information on Black Mountain Energy and their current proposal download our briefing document
Map: Footprint of Black Mountain's fracking lease
Black Mountain's Proposal
The proposed frack wells would begin less than 20km from the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River and within 2km of the important Mount Hardman Creek tributary. The company has not demonstrated any detailed understanding of the local hydrogeology, including faults and seals, giving rise to concerns, highlighted by independent scientists, of serious contamination risks to pristine aquifers, vital springs and the river itself. The Martuwarra Fitzroy River holds profound cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance. It is one of the last remaining intact river systems in the world.
What's at Risk
Ecologically, the Martuwarra and its tributaries support a rich biodiversity, providing critical habitat for endangered species such as Sawfish and the Freshwater Whipray. Its annual flood cycles nourish expansive wetlands, sustain pastoral lands, and underpin the health of the broader Kimberley landscape. Other threatened species known or likely to be found in the project area include the Greater Bilby, Northern Quoll, Purple-crowned Fairy Wren, Gouldian Finch and Northern Blue-tongue Skink.
Image: A pair of Greater Bilbies. Credit: Damian Kelly
Image: Flooding in Fitzroy Crossing 2023. Credit: Natalie Davey
The Impact
The ‘Valhalla’ fracking project, if approved, would be just the start of a huge new Australian ‘carbon bomb’. At the same time as a new source of emissions is being proposed, the Kimberley is experiencing extreme weather, including record flooding in 2023, which poses a direct threat to toxic industrial projects.
Black Mountain’s plans would also risk the Kimberley’s globally-recognised nature-based tourism status – a status that underpins an established tourism industry earning hundreds of millions of dollars annually and employing hundreds of local people.