In East Gippsland, a copper and zinc mine previously in operation for just four years, from 1992-6, is scheduled for development by the Independence Group NL (ASX: IGO) over the next five years.
Dubbed The Stockman Project, the development proposal was approved by the state’s then planning minister, Matthew Guy in October this year.
Local conservation groups are working to raise awareness, particularly for concerns regarding the reopening of the mine’s tailings dam, which was rehabilitated by the state government at a cost of $7 million in 2006.
The project’s website states that its scope ‘includes recommissioning the abandoned Wilga underground mine and developing the new Currawong underground mine in conjunction with the construction of a new one million tonne per annum processing plant and expansion of the existing tailings storage facility’.
A document released to the ASX and hosted on the project’s website contains the results of Independence Group’s research on the size and availability of mineral deposits in the region, as well as how they intend to develop the area in the coming years.
The existing tailings dam, which is located on a tributary of the Tambo River east of Benambra, contains 700,000 tonnes of heavy metals tailings already, but the project’s own Environmental Effects Statement shows that it plans on adding between 425,000 and 850,000 tonnes more for every year the mine operates.
Calling for wider community support, secretary of the Gippsland Environment Group, Louise Crisp said: “There is a massive potential for this tailings dam to leach dangerous substances and given its location on the headwaters of the Tambo River, if the dam wall failed thousands of people around the Gippsland Lakes would be directly impacted, before you even begin to consider environmental consequences.”
The tailings dam was originally built on a rare montane swamp that is listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity (EPBC) Act 1999 and the surrounding area, which includes the Cobberas and well known wilderness areas in Gippsland, are all recognised for their current tourism and ecological significance.
While the Independence Group has intimated that ‘no water will be allowed to discharge from the lake until it meets EPA requirements’, it wouldn’t be the first time that a mining operator has failed to live up to its environmental responsibilities.
Indeed, it isn’t the first time a mining operator has failed to live up to its environmental responsibilities in this very location, and last time the state government was left with a clean up bill of $7 million.