WATERANGA PROJECT - Department of Environment and Heritage ...

Wateranga Project Initial Advice Statement
Queensland Industrial Minerals Ltd
EIS: Activity and Impact EIS: Area of Impact outlined (Burnett Water Pty
Ltd - BWPL EIS) *
Land:
• Land use and tenure
• Conservation
• Planning controls
• Land use and Planning
Impacts
Water:
• Existing Surface Water
Quality
• Existing Groundwater
Quality
Water Resource
• Existing surface water
• Impacts on surface water
There will be a significant loss of agricultural land as a
result of dam development. A significant portion of the
Goodnight Scrub National Park will be affected by
inundation at full supply level. Flooding will also
significantly reduce the QIM project site area and will
impact on 10% of the project resource.
Total catchment area is 14,017,000 ha
Total reservoir area of the BWPL dam project is 2,950
ha
Impacts from noise, dust and ground vibration are also
expected to affect land value.
The issues and impacts on water quality assessed in
the EIS are different to those of the QIM project. The
purpose of the dam is to provide a significant increase
in water supply for agricultural, industrial and urban
use.
The water licences required for the BWPL dam project
are not applicable to the QIM project.
Surface water usage for the QIM project will require
QIM EMOS-ML: Expected Operational
Impacts
The QIM project will impact on land. The
impact of Stage One of the project is within an
area that will be inundated by the Burnett dam
at full supply level. Without prior extraction,
the resource will be sterilised by flooding of
the reservoir.
Total area covered by the QIM project is in
the order of 1,800 ha.
Most of the disturbance area due to Stage
One mining activities will increase dam
capacity marginally and increase the value of
the available mineral resource. Hence, the
mining activities will be complimentary to the
dam activities.
Activities as a result of Stage 2 mining
operations will impact on grazing land which
has been previously cleared for this purpose.
Post-mining land uses include grazing,
vineyards, orchards and forest plantations.
Impacts on the surface water are probably
limited to an increase in turbidity and
sedimentation issues. Hazardous leachate is
not expected and is verified by laboratory
testwork on the host rock and ore.
No impacts on groundwater are expected
from the QIM project. This is because of the
shallow excavation required and the rarity of
perched water tables in the area. Some
Differences/Similarities of the Projects
QIM geological information should be adequate for the purpose of
an EMOS.
The studies completed in the EIS can be used for the QIM project.
Similar land issues are envisaged for both projects although the size
of affected land will be different. The size of the QIM project is
significantly smaller than that of the BWPL dam and therefore the
broad scale of the BWPL EIS is not directly applicable to that of QIM
project. However, it is potentially justifiable that the BWPL dam
project significantly nullifies the land impact issues of the QIM
project.
Land capability studies will need to be conducted for the QIM
Project.
Impacts from the two projects will be different. However, the QIM
project will depend on the Burnett River dam for most of its process
water.
Inundation by flooding of the dam will effectively sterilize a
significant portion of the identified mineral resources of the
Wateranga project.
There is adequate water supply for the operation from both the
Burnett River and the Burnett River Dam, subject to obtaining the
33