The Environmental Protection Authority has cleared the way for a threefold expansion of Andrew Forrest’s Solomon iron ore mine which would see it remain in production for the next 35 years.
But Western Australian authorities have raised concerns that a new field of water bores needed for the production could affect Hamersley Gorge, which is 4km south of the mine, in Karijini national park.
Under the worst-case scenario, the report said, based on extracting 12 gigalitres of water a year for 30 years, there could be a 12% drop in the amount of water flowing into the gorge.
The Solomon iron ore project is made up of two mines, Firetail and Kings, in the Hamersley Ranges about 1,500km northwest of Perth. It is 60km from Tom Price, the nearest town.
The expansion approved by the EPA would require the clearing of an additional 12,146 hectares of native vegetation, on top of the 6,313 hectares cleared for the existing mine.
The area to be cleared includes six hectares of Brockman iron ore cracking clay, a threatened ecological community and a habitat used by the endangered northern quoll and Pilbara leaf-nosed bat and vulnerable Pilbara olive python.
It does not include a proposed $1.5bn project to build a new mine on the Eliwana or Nyidinghu deposits to replace the Firetail mine, which will run out of ore at current production rates by 2020.
Fortescue Mining Group (FMG) has maintained that none of the proposed expansions would see the company increase its annual iron ore output, after Forrest accused rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto of causing the iron ore price to crash by flooding the market.
“Fortescue began seeking regulatory approval for sustaining production at Solomon several years ago as a procedural measure to achieve the necessary permits for ongoing mining operations,” an FMG spokesman said. “The company has no current plans to increase production from the Solomon Hub.”
However, documents attached to the EPA application show it would allow for production to be increased to up to 80 million tonnes a year.
Forrest called for a cap on iron ore production in the midst of a price slump in 2015, when the price fell to a six-year low to US$55 a tonne.
He has criticised the expansion plans of heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto and accused them of trying to squeeze out junior minors, of which FMG is the biggest by a considerable stretch, saying in 2015 that: “It’s a bit of one man against a couple of global giants, but I’m after responsibility.”
The EPA imposed 19 conditions on the proposed expansion, including requirements to monitor the impact of putting in a new borefield which FMG said could see the groundwater drawn down from one metre to three metres over the 30-year life of the project.
That in turn could affect nearby permanent waterholes on Weelumurra Creek, several of which are of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance, and groundwater-dependent vegetation.
“The EPA notes that the proposal is not expected to result in impacts to Karijini national park given that groundwater drawdown would be contained within the mine development envelope for the proposal,” the report said.
The land clearing will remove 24% of the known stock of Gompholobium karijini, a yellow flowering shrub, and the cumulative impact of mining in the region has knocked out 89% of Triodia basitricha, a type of clumping grass.
About 2% of the total land area of the Pilbara – 371,300 hectares – has been cleared for mining. FMG has been ordered to pay an offset of between $750 and $3,000 a hectare for any new land cleared.
The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC), which represents a group that has a native title claim over the area and has a long, fraught relationship with FMG, has a longstanding opposition to the expansion, saying that accessing and developing the land without their approval is a breach of their traditional rights and customs.
FMG was granted approval to work in the area without the YAC’s cooperation after the relationship broke down over compensation arrangements. Another group who identify as Yindjibarndi, the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, do work with FMG.
“Fortescue is proud of the support we continue to provide to the Yindjibarndi community, through guaranteed jobs and training and business development opportunities,” an FMG spokesman said.
