The Taroborah Project has moved a step closer to development with the approval of the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
Project Manager, David Thomas, said the EIS was the summary of several years of work on the project, aimed at minimising the environmental impact of the project, while maximising the benefit to the local community.
“We’ve done a lot of work on this to get the best possible outcome for the local community, and we are very happy with the results,” he said.
“There will be some impacts on the local community, but we believe we can keep them to a minimum. Certainly there will be very little impact on most people, unless they are right on top of the mine, or very close to it.”
There were a total of 178 comments/queries from the 26 separate submissions received on the draft EIS during the public comment period, and these have been addressed in a comprehensive response document as well as the final EIS document.
Mr Thomas said the submissions received were important for the company as they enable Shenhuo to concentrate on those aspects seen as potential issues by the community as well as the various government stakeholders during the further development of the project.
“We really want to do this as well as we possibly can. Obviously that will involve a few trade-offs, and the project has to be economically viable, but we believe good outcomes for the community can fit in with a viable mine,” he said.
The Local Community
A key factor has been the decision to have a locally based workforce. This is in contrast to other projects in the Central Highlands, where the companies have chosen to recruit solely from the South-East corner, and fly-in the workforce. Mr Thomas said this was not the best way to deliver benefits to the community.
“We don’t think there is any reason to have a fly-in, fly-out workforce when there are people ready and willing to work right here in the Central Highlands,” Mr Thomas said
“Making sure there are jobs for the local community is very important. It is about maximising the benefits that flow from the project.”
The EIS reveals that the project has an expected construction life of 18 months and an expected operating life of 20 years.
Coal production will peak at 5.73 MT per annum of product coal, and will be transported by Minerva sized trains to Gladstone. Mr Thomas said this would have some impact on Emerald, but it would be minor.
“ We expect a maximum of three trains each way through the town a day. Traffic simulation modeling has indicated that this low intensity of train movements, together with the relatively short train lengths when compared to the normal coal trains in the basin, should have minimal impact on vehicle traffic, even during peak hours. We are committed to working with the government and the Council to ensure the best possible outcomes, including scheduling train movements during off-peak hours when possible to further minimise impacts” he said.