WATERANGA PROJECT - Department of Environment and Heritage ...

Wateranga Project Initial Advice Statement
Queensland Industrial Minerals Ltd
1. OVERVIEW
Queensland Industrial Minerals Ltd (“QIM”) wishes to apply for a Mining Lease in
order to progress its potentially world class Wateranga Industrial Minerals Project,
located approximately 80 km southwest of Bundaberg in Queensland.
The Wateranga Project (EPM 13278) has a combined eluvial and hard rock deposit
comprising feldspar, ilmenite, apatite, mica, scandium, zircon, corundum and rutile.
Currently, the Project’s eluvial ore reserve and resource base accounts for 225
million tonnes at 4% ilmenite, 20% feldspar, 12% mica, 0.8% apatite and 30ppm
scandium. The hard rock resource has been estimated to comprise in the order of
345 million tonnes at 34.3% of feldspar. These resource levels indicate a 30-plus
year mine life. These identified resources are located both north and south of the
Burnett River.
The feldspar resource in particular has valuable abrasive and glass manufacturing
qualities and it may have application in the alumina industry owing to its superior
Al2O3 content compared to competitor products. The project also has significant
potential to develop other unique minerals including rare earths such as scandium for
application in the aeronautical and defence industries.
The current Net Present Value of the Project upon grant of a Mining Lease is
estimated by the Directors to be in the order of $85 million (discounted at 20% NPV).
This figure is preliminary and is expected to significantly increase once a full financial
and economic assessment is undertaken.
QIM need to rapidly acquire licences and approvals to begin extraction of these
resources and to establish a mining operation on site which will ramp up the
processing of ore from 1.5 million tonnes per annum to an expected maximum
annual rate of 4.5 million tonnes per annum.
There is some urgency and time constraints for establishing this project owing to the
impending Burnett River Dam Project completion by Burnett Water Pty Ltd in late
2005. With a substantial proportion of the eluvial resource base at risk of inundation
once the reservoir is flooded, QIM would like the opportunity to gain access as soon
as possible and to potentially extract and stockpile this ore which is at risk.
Due to the size and type of operation, it would appear that the potential
environmental impacts from Wateranga are insignificant compared with the
development of the Burnett River Dam.
Accordingly, QIM is seeking the assistance of the relevant Queensland Government
authorities to progress this important project.
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