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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has approved mining major BHP’s long-term mining plan in the Pilbara.
BHP is planning to expand its iron-ore operations, with plans to more than double current production to 350-million tonnes a year, with the ultimate objective of exporting 450-million tonnes a year in the longer term.
The miner said that to achieve this target, it would investigate the development of new mines and supporting infrastructure, including bringing new orebodies into operation. The proposal also included potential capacity upgrades at its rail lines.
The company plans to develop these projects over the next 50 years.
EPA deputy chairperson Robert Harvey said the EPA had given the strategic proposal careful consideration over the past six years, including impacts to fauna, flora, surface and ground water, air quality and social surrounds.
“The benefit of assessing a strategic proposal is that we are able to take a bigger picture view of the potential environmental impacts the proposals may have,” Harvey said.
“Through the assessment process the EPA was able to consider the cumulative impacts of BHP’s future proposals, rather than assessing impacts on a case-by-case basis, as individual mines or developments are proposed.
“The EPA’s environmental impact assessment on BHP’s strategic proposal outlines the conditions that may be applied to each development, including environmental management plans, a greenhouse gas management plan and a mine closure plan.”
Under the Environmental Protection Act, a strategic proposal identifies one or more future proposals that may, individually or in combination, have a significant effect on the environment.
Harvey said BHP would still be required to refer individual proposals outlined in the strategic document as derived proposals to the EPA to determine if they met the high environmental standards set by the strategic assessment.
Each referral would be released for public comment.
“Once a derived proposal is referred to the EPA, the authority will determine if there is any significant new information, or if there has been a significant change in the relevant environmental factors, since the strategic proposal was assessed, that would require the reassessment of the issues raised by the referred proposal,” Harvey said.
The Minister for Environment is expected to make a final decision on BHP’s plans.