Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project in Western Australia
Photo by: Toro Energy
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has granted environmental approval for Toro Energy’s Wiluna extension uranium project, in Western Australia.
The project was assessed under a bilateral agreement between federal and state governments initiated in February 2014.
ASX-listed Toro said on Monday that the approval complemented the federal approval granted in April 2013 by the then Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Tony Burke.
The company said that the effect of the two federal approvals was that the assessment process under the Environment Protection and BiodiversityConservation Act was complete and that the Wiluna project - being the mining of uranium at the Centipede, Lake Way, Millipede and Lake Maitland deposits, the construction of a processing facility and all mine and processing related infrastructure, tailings storage facilities and finished product transport to port - would be implemented subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.
Toro pointed out that the “rigorous environmental assessment process” for the Wiluna mine had lasted over seven years and had been conducted with “transparency through federal and state environmental statutes ensuring both an environmentally and legally robust set of approvals”.
The Wiluna mine is one of only a handful of uranium projects allowed in Western Australian, after the Labor-led state government recently implemented a ban on new uranium mining projects.
Wiluna and three other projects, including Vimy Resources’ proposed Mulga Rock project, and the Yeelirrie and Kintyre projects being developed by US major Cameco, were granted approval by the former state government.