EIS 1444 Environment Effects Statement WIM 150 Demonstration Project
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EIS 1444 Environment effects statement WIM 150 Demonstration Project I NSW YEPT PRIMARY IREUSTRIE S 11 ll~ AA068072 I (ED WIMMERA INDUSTRIAL MINERALS PTY LIMITED I I I ENVIRONMENT I EFFECTS STATEMENT I I I WIM 150 I DEMONSTRATION PROJECT I 1 I I I I JANUARY 1989 I I: -1- I PREFACE I Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Limited (the Company) holds a Development Lease over 1365 hectares at Drung South, about 18 kilometres south-east of Horsham and fronting the southern side of the Western Highway. Application is now being made to the Minister for I Industry, Technology and Resources for a Mining Lease to cover 120 hectares of land wholly within the Development Lease area. This Lease, also under the Mines Act 1958, will permit the mining and processing of mineral sand deposits held by the Company. I This Environment Effects Statement (EES) has been prepared at the request of the Minister for Planning and Environment under the Environment Effects Act 1978. It covers a I Demonstration Project (the Project) and describes the potential effects on the environment. The Project is for a comparatively small mine and processing plant which are needed to determine whether full-scale commercial mining of the resource would be viable. An I existing Pilot Plant is being used to develop novel methods of mineral separation. A site-specific Amendment for the Project is proposed to the Shire of Wimmera Planning Scheme in an area that is currently zoned "Rural A". A draft copy of the Amendment is I included at Appendix A however, at the time of writing, it has not been considered by the Shire of Wimmera. This EES also serves as the supporting document for the Amendment. I Formal public comment on this EES may be made by 31 March, 1989 to :- The Shire Secretary I Shire of Wimmera Roberts Avenue Horsham, Vic. 3400 I Such comments will be forwarded by the Shire Secretary to the Chief Assessment Officer, Ministry for Planning and Environment, Melbourne and to the Company. I Following consideration by the Shire of Wimmera of a final draft of the Planning Scheme Amendment it will be advertised and placed on exhibition under provisions of the Planning and Environment Act, 1988 Formal comment on the Planning Scheme Amendment should I also be made to the Shire Secretary within the time stated in Council's advertisement. If the statutory period for exhibition of the Amendment extends beyond the "due date" by which comments on the EES may be made to the Shire of I Wimmera (31 March,1989, as stated above) then the due date will be extended accordingly to allow joint consideration of the two documents. I Copies of this EES may be obtained for $15, and enquies in this and other regards should be made by contacting The Secretary I Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Limited Post Office Box 7292 St Kilda Road, I Melbourne, 3004 Telephone: 03 695 3017 I I I I I SUMMARY I Background Wimmera Industrial Minerals Pty Limited (the Company), a member of the CRA group of companies, proposes to establish a small scale Demonstration Project on Company-owned I land which is currently held under a Development Lease. This EES describes the Project and its potential environmental effects, and is the supporting I document for an Amendment to the Shire of Wimmera Planning Scheme 1977. The Project involves mining and pr9cessing of ore from a large mineral sand deposit (known as WIM 150) which was discovered in 1983. The operation builds on the results of I laboratory and pilot scale studies and will produce sufficient quantities of concentrates for process evaluation by potential customers around the world. I The prime reason for the Project is to assess the performance of WIM 150 concentrates in the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment. Concentrates containing the titanium mineral ilmenite and also the high titanium group (rutile, anatase, leucoxene) will be produced, as I well as zircon and the rare earth minerals, monazite and xenotime. Australia is currently a major world producer of these minerals from mines operating in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. The WIM 150 deposit has the I potential to contribute substantially to Australia's production should commercial viability be demonstrated. I Mining and processing The overburden will be stripped and the ore will be mined from a pit using conventional earth-moving equipment, including bulldozers, scrapers and graders. About one million I tonnes of ore and an equal quantity of overburden (clay and barren sand) will be mined over two years. Initially, overburden will be stockpiled, and later it will be placed on tailings in I the mined-out areas. Processing will involve mixing the ore with water to create a slurry, removal of oversize and undersize particles, and feeding of the slurry through a circuit which will utilize flotation, magnetic separation and other processes to separate the minerals. Reject material and I tailings will initially be deposited in a clay dam, but for most of the mine life they will be deposited in the mined-out part of the pit. I Products The individual mineral concentrates will be trucked to port from where they will be shipped I to overseas customers. I LI I I Wimmera Industrial Minerals I I CONTENTS I PREFACE 1 SUMMARY I 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 THE COMPANY 1 I 1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSAL 1 1.3 STAGES IN DEVELOPMENT 3 I 1.4 AIMS OF THE PROJECT 3 I 1.5 MINING APPROVALS AND THE LEASE AREA 5 1.6 PLANNING APPROVALS 5 I 1.7 OTHER APPROVALS 8 1.8 CONSULTATION WITH AUTHORITIES 8 I 1.9 PUBLIC RESPONSES, COMMENTS AND OBJECTIONS 9 I 1.10 STATE GOVERNMENT POLICY AND THE PROJECT 10 1.10.1 The State Economic Strategy 10 1.10.2 The State Conservation Strategy 10 I 2 MINERAL SANDS AND THEIR USES 11 I 2.1 MTINERALSANDS 11 2.1.1 Titaniumminerals 11 2.1.2 Zircon 11 I 2.1.3 Monazite and xenotime 11 2.2 MONAZITE, XENOTIME AND THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES I (PROHIBITIONS) ACT 1983 12 2.2.1 Provisions 12 2.2.2 Discussion 12 I 2.2.3 Administrative Appeals Tribunal determination 13 2.3 WIM 150 AND AUSTRALIAN RESERVES 13 I 2.4 MINING AND PROCESSING OF MINERAL SANDS 14 2.4.1 Introduction 14 I 2.4.2 Processing on-site 14 2.4.3 Industrial processing 14 I 2.4.4 Process evaluation 15 I Wimmera Industrial Minerals -lv- I 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 16 I 3.1 OVERVIEW 16 3.1.1 Introduction 16 3.1.2 Project areas 16 1 3.1.3 Project schedule 16 3.2 GEOLOGY 18 I 3.2.1 Regional geology 18 3.2.2 Orebody 18 3.2.3 Overburden 21 LT 3.2.4 Hyclrogeology 21 3.3 MINING 27 I 3.3.1 Introduction 27 3.3.2 Method 27 I 3.3.3 Rehabilitation 30 3.4 PROCESSING 30 3.4.1 Components of the plant area 30 I 3.4.2 Mineral processing 33 3.4.3 Reagents 37 3.4.4 Energy usage 38 I 3.4.5 Water supply 38 3.4.6 Occupational health 38 I 3.5 WASTE DISPOSAL 38 3.5.1 Introduction 38 3.5.2 Tailings management 40 I 3.5.3 Water balance 40 3.5.4 Groundwater effects 40 I 4 THE EXISTING ENVIRONMENT AND EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSAL 48 4.1 TOPOGRAPHY AND LAND USE 48 I 4.2 CLIMATE 49 I 4.3 SURFACE WATER 49 4.4 REGIONAL GROUNDWATER 51 I 4.5 RADIATION AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 51 4.5.1 Radiation in the environment 51 4.5.2 Exposure pathways 52 [ 4.5.3 Relevant legislation 52 4.5.4 Radiation atWIM 150 53 I 4.5.5 Occupational health 55 I I Wimmera Industrial Minerals 4.6 DUST 57 4.7 VISUAL IMPACTS 58 4.8 NOISE 58 4.9 FLORA AND FAUNA 59 4.10 ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY 60 4.11 DEMOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL ASPECTS 60 4.11.1 Current population and emjMoyment trends 60 4.11.2 The Project workforce 60 4.12 RESIDENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE 62 4.13 TRAFFIC 62 5 EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT 65 5.1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS 65 5.2 ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS 65 5.3 SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS 65 5.4 CONSEQUENCES OF NOT PROCEEDING WITH THE PROJECT 65 6 PREPARATION OF THIS REPORT 66 6.1 AUTHORS 66 6.2 SOURCES 66 APPENDIX A 67 DRAFT PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT APPENDIX B ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL DETERMINATION FOR APPEAL NO. 88/1745 Wimmera Industrial Mincrals -vi- I TABLES I 3.1 Indicative project schedule 18 3.2 Results of water quality analyses of two bores in the Parilla Sand I aquifer in the Project Area 24 4.1 Average rainfall and evaporation at Longerenong College 49 I 4.2 Background radiation levels, range of results 53 4.3 Range of background radionuclide levels in groundwater from I bores into Parilla Sand 54 4.4 Activity of radionuclides on the Lease area and at Horsharn as LI measured by low-volume air samplers 55 4.5a Current WIM 150 workforce 58 I 4.5b Estimated additional and total Project workforce 58 I 4.6 Vehicle movements on the Western Highway at Dadswellts Bridge 62 4.7 Types of vehicles using Western Highway at Dadswell's Bridge 63 I 4.8 Traffic movements on other roads 63 FIGURES I 1.1 Regional locality map 2 1.2 Locality map 4 I 1.3 Application area 6 I 3.1 WIM 150 Stratigraphy 17 3.2 Diagrammatic section of orebody 19 I 3.3 West-east section of Demonstration Mine area 20 3.4 Parilla Sand water table contours, metres AHD, June 1988.