Supported by steel cables, the ski-lift like structure would culminate at a rail intermodal where trains would convey the mineral to Port Kembla and on to export markets.

That’s just one of the transport ideas that Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) is exploring for its Taralga district operations, if they go ahead. CEO Ian Levy said no decisions on transport would be made until next year, but he’d had preliminary discussions about Murray Flat.

Landholder negotiations were proving a stumbling block.

“We haven’t dismissed it (Murrays Flat) but it has serious obstacles,” he said.

“(But) these are decisions that have to be made at a state level on the basis of what’s best for the area and the port. We have to fit in with that because we don’t have the clout of a big company to be putting up capital on that scale.”

Eureka Funds Management’s proposal to develop a business park at Murrays Flat has gone off the boil in recent years. The company was waiting for an economic bounce to resurrect the plan.

While ABx is also considering other transport ideas such as a private road and an underground slurry pipeline, Mr Levy is adamant rail is ultimately the only way to go.

“It would be extremely mischievous to suggest there will be trucks running between Taralga and Goulburn. It simply can’t happen. The impact on the community is too great,” he said.

The CEO is also a big believer that mining royalties should go directly to affected communities, not the state government.

“Our view is part of the royalties should go to councils which have been torn apart by a lack of funding and a low rate paying base,” Mr Levy said.

But simple handouts to communities were a “sure and steady way to undermine their foundations.”

He also committed to employing locals, saying country people were reliable and decent people and knew how to work.

The company intends to develop training courses in conjunction with the Illawarra Institute of TAFE, Goulburn campus.

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