Wiluna expansion moves forward

Environmental regulators in Western Australia have approved the environmental scoping document for an extension of Toro Energy's proposed Wiluna uranium project, clearing the way for a public environmental review later this year.

The decision by the Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) follows a two-week public review of the document. Twenty-seven submissions were received through the public review, and Toro Energy was required to respond to all of them to the regulator's satisfaction before receiving approval.

Toro already has in place the main approvals needed to construct and operate a mine at Wiluna based on the Centipede and Lake Way uranium deposits, with a processing facility to be built near the Centipede deposit. The company acquired Milipede, which is adjacent to Centipede, and Lake Maitland after it had already begun the assessment process for Centipede and Lake Way, and is now seeking to integrate those deposits into the project.

The scoping document sets out the requirements for the environmental review as part of the process to expand Wiluna. As well as identifying the key environmental issues to be addressed during the assessment of the proposed project, it also identifies the work that will be required to complete the environmental review.

Ore from Millipede and Lake Maitland would be processed at the same plant as that from Centipede and Lake Way, a strategy that Toro says will reduce the project's footprint and environmental impacts by avoiding duplication of operations and infrastructure. Under the expansion proposal the capacity of the processing plant would not be increased, but its operating life would be extended to over 20 years. Mining would take place sequentially from the deposits, and the operation would produce up to 1200 tonnes of uranium oxide per year. According to the scoping document, construction and pre-mining activities are scheduled to begin at Centipede and Milipede by late 2016, subject to government approval and market conditions.

Now that the environmental scoping document has been approved, Toro says it can go ahead with the preparation of the Public Environmental Review (PER) as the next step in the assessment process. Toro CEO Vanessa Guthrie said in a statement that the company was planning to release the PER in mid-2015. The EPA has already determined that the PER should be open to public review for a 12-week period.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News