Boral’s Marulan South mine applied to the State Government in 2015 to extract 3.5 million tonnes from its mine, an approximate 120,000 tonne increase. But that bid was put on hold following more exploration at the facility, 10km southeast of Marulan.

“We were doing exploratory drilling and it led to more resource. It prompted us to ask what else was there. It changed our view of the way the resource was looking underground,” explained Boral’s planning and development manager, Rod Wallace. 

Now the company is applying to mine four million tonnes of limestone annually from the operation. The State Government has just issued environmental requirements and community consultation has recommenced.

Mr Wallace said exploration revealed veins of limestone on the mine’s western side and more resource on the northern aspect. It’s not necessarily better quality but it will serve purposes.

That purpose is feeding Sydney’s hunger for construction material. Boral currently supplies 60 per cent of the State’s cement needs, including this area. 

Marulan South’s business development manager Les Longhurst said with the State Government undertaking major road and other projects, construction didn’t look like slowing any time soon.

“Sydney is driving it,” he said.

“If you look at projects in the pipeline, it’s likely this will carry on for another three to five years. After that, it will taper off a little but still remain at a strong level.”

The product is also going into rail and civil infrastructure projects. Boral’s nearby Peppertree quarry, producing 3.5 million tonnes of aggregate annually, is also supplying the construction market.

The discovery of more limestone on the 616 hectare mine site has sparked a revision of 14 environmental studies as part of the application. Mr Wallace said a revised EIS would be submitted to the State by September or October.

The company recently held two community consultation sessions in Marulan to explain the project and gain feedback. This will be ongoing.

Mr Longhurst said all the environmental studies so far were “fairly favourable” in terms of compliance with regulations.

Boral’s stakeholder relations manager Paul Jackson said people shouldn’t notice anything different in an operational sense. However management of the overburden – or soil produced when getting to rock – and transport movements were potential issues to be raised by the community.

While overburden has traditionally been stored outside the pit, the application asks to extend it over pasture and some bushland. Some of this will mean a realignment of Marulan South Road onto Boral’s land.

Mr Jackson said trucks would continue to use Marulan South Road but the operation remained mostly rail focused. Some 600,000 tonnes of the total four million tonnes would go by truck. 

The company has committed to upgrading and widening Marulan South Road and purchasing some roads within Marulan South village. Under approval conditions it must also pay Goulburn Mulwaree Council 4c/tonne/kilometre for truck movements.

All product from Peppertree Quarry is transported by rail under consent conditions. It firstly goes to Maldon Cement works and then into Greater Sydney. Mr Longhurst said rail was by far the most economical method when transporting such volumes.

“The forefathers who started this up had the commonsense to build a railway line all the way into the operation,” Mr Jackson added.

The discovery of more resource confirmed what management suspected and has “future proofed” the mine, Mr Longhurst said.

“It enables us to be more efficient into the future with what we have available and efficient with its extraction,” he said.

Marulan South mine has been operating for 149 years. It employs some 110 people, while Peppertree Quarry employs about 50 workers, plus contractors.