JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Carbine Resources on Tuesday said it expected the completion of a revised environmental authority (EA) for its Mount Morgan gold and copper project, located in central Queensland, in May.

The miner lodged an EA amendment application in 2017, with the Department of Environment and Science (DES) having now advised that the application will be assessed as a major amendment to the original 2010 EA.

Following an assessment level decision by the DES, the timing associated with any amendment process is defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EPA).

"The company has been working on this application for over 12 months which has at times been very frustrating and time consuming, and this assessment decision at least puts a time frame on this approval process moving forward.

"We expect that now the timing is established the relevant parties will actively engage with all the stakeholders to see this project advance towards final approval," said Carbine MD Tony James.

Carbine would now work diligently to respond to any further information requests as quickly as possible to reduce the process timing. "During this period, we will be able to keep progressing the project on several fronts including the ongoing discussions with financiers for project finance," James added.

The DES has decided that the proposed amendment is a major amendment pursuant to Section 228 of the EPA as it did not meet the criteria for a minor amendment.

The DES noted that the company's plans could lead to a potential increase in environmental impact, owing to the inclusion of the Shepherds Gully tailings resource and the revised list of regulated structures, as well as an increase in the scale of the activities with the inclusion of Shepherds Gully tailings resource and a proposed larger tailings storage facility (TSF) in Sandstone Gully.

This could also result in an increase in disturbed area footprint of more than 10% by the inclusion of Shepherds Gully and a larger TSF footprint in Sandstone Gully.