A PROJECT “put on ice” two years ago at the former Woodlawn Mine has been resurrected with the promise of more than 200 jobs for the region.
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If approved by the state government, TriAusMin’s plan would see 11.65 million tonnes of tailings and underground material processed to produce copper, lead and zinc concentrates at the former Tarago district mine over its expected eight-year life. Annual production would be 1.5 million tonnes.
When first proposed by Tri Origin Minerals (the present company’s former name) several years ago, it was described as “a second Woodlawn Mine.”
Company representatives were in Goulburn last week to discuss the plan. They also met with Tarago and Bungendore community representatives to hear their concerns. Managing director Wayne Taylor told the Post the economic climate was the catalyst.
“We have continued our investigations, with a lot of technical and environmental work done since then,” he said.
“We are virtually picking up the baton dropped two years ago.”
Falling commodity prices put an abrupt halt to Tri Origin’s plans. However the subsequent pick-up, along with a feasibility study, have convinced Mr Taylor of a more than viable operation. It involves re-treatment of the three tailings dams.
The company estimates the dams can produce 80,000 tonnes of mineral concentrate annually over eight years.
TriAusmin has an agreement with nearby bioreactor operators, Veolia Environmental Services to retreat the dams, covering 90 to 100 hectares.
The mining company is also considering reopening Woodlawn’s underground operation. If a feasibility study proves correct, this could reap 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of zinc, copper and lead ore per annum over eight years.
But Mr Taylor acknowledges much more exploration is needed to discover the ore body’s extent and its life “Woodlawn is high-grade deposit and it is very attractive from an exploration point of view,” Mr Taylor said.
TriAusmin hopes to lodge an environmental assessment for Woodlawn with the state government or a planning assessment commission in August/September.
For the full story along with a related story on potential traffic issues and the related editorial, please see the print edition of Wednesday's Goulburn Post.