Part 1 -
The Wiluna Uranium Project consists of a proposed open pit mine, processing plant and associated infrastructure to be developed near Wiluna, Western Australia, about 960 kilometres north east of the State capital, Perth and 600 kilometres from the nearest coast. The proponent of the Project is Toro Energy Limited (Toro). Toro has prepared a detailed and technical ERMP to comply with the guidelines set by the Western Australian and Australian governments and to explain the impacts of the Project.
The ERMP provides information about the need for the Project, potential environmental and social impacts predicted to occur during the construction and operational phases and at closure, and how these impacts would be managed. Should the ERMP receive approval, the Project would require many other State and Federal licences and permits before advancing to construction and operation.
In its Project planning, Toro has taken account of issues and concerns raised by communities and stakeholders potentially affected, as well as the views of others with a broader interest. The public exhibition of the ERMP for fourteen weeks extends the consultation process and provides individuals, groups and organisations an opportunity to express their views before the Western Australian and Australian governments decide whether or not to approve the Project.
This Executive Summary seeks to explain the Project as a whole and its main impacts. It does not cover every feature of the Project, or every impact it would have.
OVERVIEW OF THE WILUNA PROJECT
The Wiluna Uranium Project would involve the development of a uranium mine (in two deposits), associated processing plant and support infrastructure and the transport of product within Australia for export to bring uranium to international markets. The Project would involve mining the Lake Way and Centipede deposits, respectively 15 kilometres south east and 30 kilometres south of Wiluna (population 681). The Lake Way deposit was discovered in 1972 and Centipede five years later. Toro has held the tenements on which the deposits are located since 2007. Major mining operations have been undertaken in the Northern Goldfields since late in the nineteenth century.
The Wiluna area continues to host major gold and lead mining with iron ore as well as uranium proposed as new activities in the area, while to the south there are major nickel mining operations. Lake Way and Centipede are in a semi-arid zone characterized by hot dry summers and mild dry winters. The proposed mining areas are located in the catchment of Lake Way, a large salt lake with an 11,000 square kilometer catchment and a surface area of about 245 square kilometres. Mining would occur on two pastoral leases which Toro holds. Toro proposes an open-pit mine and on-site processing plant to produce up to 1,200 tonnes per annum of uranium oxide concentrate over an anticipated mine life of up to 14 years.
The Centipede deposit would be mined first for about five years, followed by Lake Way. The total area of land disturbed to facilitate mining would be about 1,530 hectares. The concentrate would be transported to Adelaide and Darwin for export shipment to worldwide markets. Infrastructure to support the mining and mineral processing would include an accommodation village, water supply borefield and associated pipeline, on-site electricity generation and communications infrastructure. Following closure of the mine, the Project infrastructure would be decommissioned and the site rehabilitated. Subject to government and Toro Board approvals, construction of the Project would begin in 2012 with first ore production the following year. The workforce would total approximately 350 for the construction phase and 170 for the operational phase.
THE PROPONENT
Toro was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2006. It is an Australian resource company pursuing a strategy to become a significant producer of uranium. It has exploration assets in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and the African State of Namibia. Toro acquired the Lake Way and Centipede deposits when it merged with Nova Energy Limited in 2007. Wiluna is Toro’s first development project. The Project team is based in Perth. Toro’s Board has endorsed health, safety, environment and community policies to underpin the company’s commitment to safe, sustainable production providing benefits to local and regional communities in particular.
PROJECT NEED
The fundamental driver of demand for uranium is the generation of electricity by nuclear power reactors. Global uranium demand from the 441 reactors currently in operation is about 81,000 tonnes per annum. Toro is confident that this will increase significantly over the next 20 years as global energy consumption increases with population growth and as nuclear power replaces higher carbon emission base load electricity generation.
COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION
Toro initiated its consultation program immediately after it acquired its interest in the Wiluna Project in 2007 and there has been comprehensive consultation since the Project was referred to government for assessment in late 2009. Toro’s consultation has covered government agencies, Aboriginal people and organisations, the residents of Wiluna, Leonora, Laverton, Menzies and Kalgoorlie, non-government organisations and people and organisations with wider interests. It has also included a social impact assessment. Should the Project receive government approval, Toro would implement a Community and Stakeholder Consultation Program for the construction, operational and closure phases.
MAJOR PROJECT COMPONENTS
Mining
The mineralisation for the Centipede and Lake Way deposits is between 1 meter and 15 meters below the land surface with the ore body varying in thickness up to about 6.5 m. Because of the shallow nature of the deposits, the open pit mining would be undertaken by surface miners and conventional excavators. Surface miners are tracked vehicles with cutting drums which can break up very thin layers of material. It is unlikely drilling and blasting would be required. As the uranium resource occurs at or below the water table in both deposits, dewatering of the open pits would be required. Water barriers would be installed to minimize the amount of water that would have to be pumped from the pits. When mining is undertaken at Lake Way, the ore would be transported by a dedicated haul road to the processing plant close to the Centipede deposit.
Processing
The ore would be processed to extract uranium by the conventional agitated leach method. The process plant would have a grinding mill, mechanically agitated leach tanks and solution thickeners. Tailings, the material left after the uranium is extracted, would be stored in mined out voids of the Centipede pit.
Water Supply
Toro proposes to refurbish and upgrade a disused borefield at West Creek, approximately 10 kilometres south west of Wiluna, as the major source of water for processing and other needs. The total water demand for the Project is estimated at up to 2.5 gigalitres per year.
Energy Supply
The Dampier to Kalgoorlie Goldfields Gas Transmission (GGT) pipeline runs a short distance to the east of Lake Way and within 25 kilometres of the proposed plant location. The GGT pipeline has sufficient capacity and existing gas suppliers have sufficient quantities of gas to meet the energy demands of the Project, estimated at about three terajoules per day. Toro is investigating trucking the gas from the pipeline.
Workforce Accommodation
Employees and contractors would be housed at a Project village. Some operational managers and employees may be housed in Wiluna.
Part 2 - See: http://www.i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/WilunaUraniumProject-2011Part2-C.pdf
This document has been prepared to describe Toro’s principles for environmental management of the Wiluna Uranium Project (the Project) and consolidates the commitments, management measures, objectives, assessment criteria and monitoring requirements from the Environmental Review and Management Program (ERMP) into a stand-alone document that can be regularly reviewed and updated. The following Environmental Management Strategy Documents (EMSDs) are likely to be revised and updated in response to community and stakeholder comments and suggestions, as well as Toro’s commitment to continuous improvement.
Attached to this document are EMSDs for:
• Dust Management
• Vegetation Clearing and Soils
• Weed Management
• Water Management
• Groundwater Dependent Vegetation
• Fauna
• Noise
• Radioactive Waste Management
• Waste Management
• Fire Management
• Stygofauna
• Radiation Management Plan
• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan
• Transport Management Plan
• Mine Closure and Rehabilitation
The purpose of these EMSDs is to describe management actions to be implemented during the construction, operational, closure and rehabilitation phases of the Project. These management actions have been developed to avoid or mitigate the potential impacts of the Project and to protect conservation and biodiversity values.
As such these EMSDs describe how Toro would:
• Identify potential direct and indirect environmental impacts from risk assessments;
• Provide environmental indicators, objectives and targets;
• Comply with relevant legislation and regulatory requirements; and
• Implement management measures, methods and reporting, auditing and review mechanisms.
A series of management objectives, targets and indicators has been developed to manage potential and direct impacts to various aspects of the environment in relation to the Project.
1.1 Project Overview
The Wiluna Project is in the Murchison region of Western Australia, approximately 960 km north east of Perth. It is based on mining two deposits: Centipede and Lake Way. The Centipede deposit is approximately 30 km south of the town of Wiluna and the Lake Way deposit is approximately 15 km south of Wiluna.
Continue reading ... and see Toro Energy updates: http://www.toroenergy.com.au/projects/wiluna-mine/
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