Mining Licences for Mineral Sands
Controversy has surrounded the investigation and eventual approval of three new mining projects in north-western Victoria. The prospect of significant disruption to cereal and oilseed cropping programs in fertile regions of the state has alarmed local farmers. Much of this protest is the prompted by self-interest, but it does no harm to the rest of us to take a closer look at the facts on the ground.
This gives a broad impression of the deposits of rare earths and critical minerals that have been identified by exploratory drilling and survey. Only a portion of these areas have actually been selected under Retention Licence, which allows further specific and protected examination of sites by a mining company. And only a small fraction of these RLs have been granted an actual Mining Licence, committing each mining company to develop a mine and extract resource.
GOSCHEN
This map reveals the decreasing areas of land involved in the process of identifying, investigating and, finally, developing a mine. In the case of VHM Limited's Goschen Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project, there was a concentration of investor interest from larger exploration blocks (EL6769, EL6466, EL6419, EL6004) to a particular block (RL6806) and then to the proposed mine on 1,479 hectares of agricultural land to be acquired (MIN7256).
The following information has been drawn from the material supplied by VHM Limited to the State Government of Victoria (Planning Victoria and Resource Victoria) and the Federal Government for relevant environmental approvals. In brief : The project would involve the mining and processing of heavy mineral sands and rare earth minerals into mixed heavy mineral concentrate (HMC), Zircon concentrate, rutile, leucoxene, ilmenite as well as rare earth mineral products.
In more practical terms, the project involves : Mining and processing of 5 million tonnes per annum; Transporting sealed containers of concentrated product by road to Ultima and by rail to Melbourne Port; Construction of 38 kms water supply pipe line for up 4.5 GL per annum from Kangaroo Lake; and provision of electrical power up to 5 megawatts capacity.
Victorian Mining Licence 7256 is for 20 years, with mine and processing plant operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The company predicts 250 construction (temporary) and 400 fulltime (permanent) jobs.
The State's licence approval was subject to an important condition: The excavation method involves strip mining, to be progressively rehabilitated to re-establish the former agricultural land use. This is repeated under a Commonwealth provision requiring : The return of the MIN7256 to a condition comparable to the condition prior to the taking of the action.
While the issue of soil degradation is critical to the arguments of the farming community, it is important not to lose sight of the processing component of the mine proposal. This also has the potential for significant impact in the longer term.
Phase 1 - consists of a mining unit plant (MUP), net-concentrator plant, and a rare earth mineral flotation circuit (REMFC) producing rare earth mineral concentrate (REMC) and zircon/titania heavy mineral concentrate (HMC), with first commissioning in H1, 2025.
Phase 1A - introduces a hydrometallurgical plant to further upgrade the REMC into higher value mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC), with first commissioning in H2, 2025.
Phase 2 - an additional mineral separation plant (MSP) to produce final separable mineral sand products, including ilmenite, zircon, leucoxene, and high titanium rutile (Hi Ti rutile). Phase 2 may commence approximately 2 years post first production of Phase 1.
In simple language, this is a return to colonial technology, amplified to massive volumes of ore (5 million tonnes), water (4.5 gigalitres) and energy (5 megawatts). Essentially the old gold panning principles will still apply. Firstly there will be 'saturation', then 'agitation', and lastly 'separation', as gravity makes the heavier 'metal' elements settle to the bottom. Basic, but probably expensive in water used and waste produced.
VHM Limited's idealised representation of its proposed processing plant at Goschen suggests a policy of containment of these risks as much as anything else. Management is clearly conscious of the need to 'not make a mess'. The ordered layout may also imply a capacity for expansion of the facility if, or when, the satellite projects at Nowie and Cannie become operational.
A sense of the company's commitment to minimise environmental damage is found in its 'Surface Water Impact Assessment'. Some comfort is taken from the fact that the regional groundwater aquifer is 30 metres or more below the surface, and that because of its high salinity this water is not used for stock or domestic purposes. Promised mining practices are also directed at preventing the escape of stormwater that may be contaminated.
Spill containment and treatment measures include:
Water that has had contact with mining and processing on site will not leave the site boundary ― it will be harvested and recycled in the mining process ...
Optimise tailings water recovery to minimise seepage to the aquifer ― recovering water from beneath tailings dumps and pumping back into the process circuit ...
Locate water management basins at the bottom of disturbed catchments to capture all water runoff ― Line water management basins with impervious liner ...
Design stockpiles to reduce runoff concentration and velocity ― be protected by surrounding vegetated bunds that redirect water to recycling ...
DONALD
The Donald Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project makes no secret of the fact that it is 'part one of two' (at least). Its initial development footprint is an excavated mine occupying 1,140 hectares at Banyena, but this is relatively modest compared to the adjoining and adjacent deposits it retains an interest in under Retention Licences RL2002 (Donald block) and RL2003 (Jackson block). Perhaps this makes it more important than ever to make sure they dot the 'i's and cross the 't's.
Our wet mining process and enclosed processing system will protect the environment and minimise dust emissions ... We will progressively rehabilitate each mined area within five to ten years, rebuilding soil quality, and restoring landscape function fit for productive farming.
Their mining and processing techniques are simplified into terms so reassuring as to be almost meaningless :
Shallow free flowing ore deposit
Conventional truck and shovel mining
Conventional and proven processing methods (froth recovery; gravity separation)
However their diagrams are more informative, giving a relatively detailed impression of the techniques they intend to employ.
This picture puts some meat on the bones. It describes an essentially circular system.
The excavation method involves open-pit mining, which will be progressively rehabilitated to re-establish the former agricultural land use with some additional native vegetation areas.
First the topsoil and subsoil is removed and stored separately, then the overburden is taken out and stockpiled, and lastly the ore itself is extracted and fed into the concentration plant. In reverse sequence, the tailings residue from the plant is replaced in the pit, followed by overburden, subsoil and topsoil. All very neat and tidy except for the unstated consequence of the moving offsite of the mineral concentrate. The rehabilitated landscape will be significantly lower than it was before mining (and relative to surrounding unmined farms).
A schematic of ore processing and element concentration is also useful, but probably needs some commercial context first. Donald Project Pty Ltd, trading as Donald Mineral Sands (DSM), is currently a joint-venture between Australia-based Astron Corporation Limited (51%), and U.S.-based Energy Fuels Incorporated (49%). In return for its stake the American Company has made a $183 million contribution to fund mine development and will refine the mine's rare earths concentrate at its White Mesa Mill in Utah.
Phase 1 annual output from the Donald mine is estimated at 250,000 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate (zircon and ilmenite), and 9,000 tonnes of rare earths concentrate (monazite resource of light rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium; xenotime resource of heavy rare earth elements dysprosium and terbium). This attention to heavy and light elements for processing in the U.S. is reflected in the schematic.
Strongly implied in the Astron, Energy Fuels, and Resources Victoria web-sites is the probability of mine expansion and longevity of operations ― MIN5532 and RL2002; 27 km² mining lease; 1.81 billion tonnes resource at 4.6% grade; 42 to 58 yr lifespan. This represents a massive near-permanent impact on this South Wimmera area (Rupanyup, Minyip, Donald). And while we are told where the water will come from (WMG, Taylors Lake) and the capacity of the power supply line, little real information on electricity and water requirements is given.
On the other hand, none of this may come as a surprise to local communities. A proposal to mine mineral sands here has been known and anticipated since interest was first shown in the 1980s, and certainly since the acquisition of tenement rights by Astron in the early 2000s. MIN5532 to develop 2,784 hectares was granted to Donald Mineral Sands Pty Ltd in August 2010 and parent company Astron Corporation Limited claims it already owns several properties on and off the Mining Licence area.
DOOEN
Offsetting these factors is proximity to the major regional centre of Horsham with its established facilities for labour and housing, convenient access to Longerenong Pump Station (water) and Horsham Terminal Station (electricity) for processing concentrate onsite, and existing high quality road and rail for transport of product to port.
Avonbank contains a proven and probable reserve of 311.8 million tonnes (Mt) of ore. The proposal is to extract and process 11 Mt per year, which is expected to produce 12.75 Mt of heavy mineral concentrate over a mine-life of 30 years.
The licence holder and operator, WIM Resources Pty Ltd, holds two other orebodies under retention licence in Western Victoria ― RL6751 at Bungalally, 10 kms south of Horsham, with estimated ore of 205 Mt, and RL6195 near Wedderburn with 223 Mt ― but neither of these are anywhere near the stage of development reached at Dooen.
Opposition to the project by local farmers has been vocal and determined. This may have influenced WIM Resources to make sure they have got it right. The company has conducted a number of trials to determine feasibility, above and beyond the normal testing and measurement required to gain Environmental Effects Statement (EES) approval from the State.
The demonstration trial involved :
- stripping and stockpiling topsoil, subsoils and overburden
- excavating approximately 5,000 cubic metres from between 13-20 metres below ground
- confirming mine design parameters and suitability of equipment
- processing excavated by separating by separating the heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) from coarse and fine sand tailings
- de-watering and co-disposal of tailings back into the pit for consolidation (9 months)
- re-applying overburden and soils
- seeding with barley in 2021 and harvesting
This confronted the challenge of rehabilitation of cropping country head on.
Another area of contention was what seemed to be Wimmera Resources 'footprint creep'.
The land covered by MIN8642 and RL2014 is 3,426 hectares which the company has allocated for mining and primary processing. There is an additional adjacent zone of 90 hectares called the the WIM Base Area (WBA) which the company has nominated for secondary processing and loading activities. This additional land is part of the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal (WIMFT) and is controlled by the Horsham Rural City Council. Its main historical use has been as a large grain bunker but its link to main rail and road corridors means it now includes industrial, warehousing and other commercial functions.
It may appear cheeky that the company wants to do the majority of its concentrate processing 'over the road' from its mine, in addition to using the WIMFT for stock piling its product and trucking it out. The 24 privately owned farms located wholly and partly in the MIN and WBA think so, but the rest of the population is not concerned.
In 2023 there were 157 submissions to the Victorian Minister of Planning's 'Avonbank Mineral Sands Project Inquiry and Advisory Committee'. Of these, 39 were submissions opposing the mine, but 118 identified potential benefits and supported the project, a clear majority of 75%. Government agencies making submissions included Horsham Rural City Council, which was in favour of proceeding, citing substantial economic benefits.
The Dooen outcome of overall support may in fact provide a fair summary of the situation with the Goschen and Donald projects too. In all cases the agricultural landowners directly effected feel the disruption to their lives keenly. They express their loss in terms that cannot be compensated by money alone. However if the views of the rest of the regions' residents were canvased, in Swan Hill and Kerang, or Donald and Minyip, the results might be overwhelmingly positive. Anything that might reverse decades of population decline could be warmly welcomed.
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