Sarsfield expansion project

The EIS process for this project has now concluded.

Project summary

Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd, which is 100 per cent owned by Resolute Mining Limited, is the proponent for the Sarsfield Expansion Project, situated at Ravenswood in North Queensland—about 150 km south-west of Townsville. The project area is located within mining leases (ML) 1639, 1379, 1574, 1380, 1416, 1417, 1337, 1574, 1640, 1682, 1692, 1753, 10170, 10237, 1418 and 1394.

The proponent is proposing to expand its existing open-pit gold mining operation by recommencing mining in the Sarsfield Pit and extending the Nolans Pit floor. Mining would involve drilling and blasting, and removal of the overburden and ore using a shovel and truck fleet. The existing processing plant would treat ore from Nolans and Sarsfield pits and the Mt Wright underground operations at a rate of five million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The expected life of the project would be 20 years.

Queensland assessment process

The EIS assessment process commenced on 2 August 2011 with approval of an application to conduct a voluntary environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act).

On 31 March 2014 the proponent provided an amended EIS, including a response to submissions on the EIS. Subsequently the department prepared an assessment report about the EIS.

The key findings of the assessment were that the project would:

• produce up to 1.6 million ounces of gold from processing 84 million tonnes of ore and generate approximately 141 million tonnes of waste rock
• disturb an area of approximately 511ha including pit expansions of 30ha at the Nolans pit and 13ha at the Sarsfield pit, a 232ha tailings storage facility and a 223ha waste rock dump
• clear approximately 92ha of remnant vegetation, including loss of habitat for threatened species, in particular riparian high-value ecosystems
• require 113ha of biodiversity offsets for protected animal and plant habitat and 95.8ha for watercourse vegetation

Based on the matters considered in the assessment report, there are three principal elements of the proposal that must be thoroughly addressed before the proponent could apply for approval of the project:

• impacts to human health and safety and social well-being in the Ravenswood community
• impacts to groundwater and surface water
• the ability of the proposal to comply with appropriate environmental outcomes.

The report concluded that the project would be suitable, provided it adequately addressed the outstanding matters noted in the report.

The EIS assessment report was given to the proponent on 25 June 2014, completing the EIS process under Chapter 3, Part 1 of the EP Act.

Before the project could proceed, the proponent would need to address the outstanding matters identified in the assessment report and then apply for and obtain an environmental authority for the project under the EP Act.

Commonwealth assessment process

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The project is a controlled action under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The controlling provisions are sections 12 and 15A (World Heritage Properties), 15B and 15C (National Heritage places) 18 and 18A (Listed threatened species and communities) and 24B and 24C (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park). The State’s EIS process has been accredited for the assessment under Part 8 of the EPBC Act in accordance with the Bilateral Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Queensland. The EIS provided a stand-alone report, presented as a separate chapter of the EIS, which addressed the matters relevant to the controlling provisions.

A copy of the EIS assessment report has been given to the Commonwealth Environment Minister, who will make a separate decision about the controlled action under Part 9 of the EPBC Act.

Documents

• EIS assessment report (PDF, 3 MB) (June 2014)
• Final terms of reference (PDF, 295.5 KB) (February 2012)
• Draft terms of reference (PDF, 524 KB) (September 2011)
• Initial advice statement describing the project (PDF, 3.2 MB) (September 2011)