JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed rare earths company Arafura on Monday submitted the environmental impact statement (EIS) for its Nolans rare earths project to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA), which the company highlighted as a significant project milestone.

The EIS, which would be available for public comment from early next week, represented the culmination of a detailed body of work that initially got under way at the Nolans site in 2006.

“We have engaged some of the industry’s best people in the preparation of the EIS and, together with the team from Arafura, everyone has worked tirelessly to compile a comprehensive account,” said Arafura MD Gavin Lockyer in a statement.

He noted that the EIS had been prepared by global environment and resource consulting group GHD to “a very high standard”, adding that it addressed the full range of environmental, economic and social issues relating to the Nolans project.

The EIS, which included a comprehensive risk assessment and various studies, found that, in the long term, the impact of the operation on the quality of available groundwater for pastoral or domestic use was negligible.

The radiation doses received by Arafura’s workers, or people living closest to the operation, from naturally occurring radioactive elements in the deposit were also found to be negligible.

Moreover, biodiversity studies found no evidence that the project would impact significantly on the identified vulnerable animals in the region.

With this in mind, Arafura was confident that all identified project impacts and risks could be mitigated through careful management.

“Arafura places great importance in gaining and maintaining its social licence to operate and is committed to effectively managing the Nolans project in a socially acceptable and environmentally responsible manner,” said Lockyer.

He noted that the company aimed to complete the environmental approvals process, as well as the native title and groundwater extraction approvals process, by year-end.