Aurukun bauxite project decision delayed
By Industry Queensland
The National Environment Protection agency has set back the date for a decision on Glencore and Mitsubishi Corporation’s Aurukun bauxite project on Cape York.
The agency has issued a notification extending the timeframe out to February 12 next year to make a decision on whether or not to approve the project. This extension of more than 100 business days follows a previous extension announced in June.
The greenfields project is located 23km north-east of Aurukun and about 35km south of Weipa.
It would produce up to 15Mtpa of run-of-mine bauxite ore, which would equate to up to 8 million dry tonnes per annum (Mdtpa) of product bauxite for export.
The mine would run for about 25 years, including about two years of construction, and employ about 400 workers.
The ore would be screened and washed in an on-site beneficiation plant and hauled by road-trains to the coast to be loaded on to a transhipment vessel. This would take the product out to ships bound for international markets.
Infrastructure to be developed within the mine site includes:
- Haul roads and a mine access road;
- Conveyors, stockpiles and stacker reclaimers;
- Workshops, a warehouse, and laydown areas;
- Accommodation village and administration buildings;
- Vehicle servicing, refuelling and wash down facilities, and fuel storage facilities;
- Power supply infrastructure, including generators and transmission lines;
- Water supply and water management infrastructure;
- Communications infrastructure; and
- An incinerator for non-regulated waste that cannot be recycled.
