Western Australia’s first uranium mine has moved one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to an approval by Western Australian Minister for Environment Albert Jacob of its revised proposal for the Wiluna uranium project located in the northern Goldfields.
The government previously approved Toro Energy’s plan to mine the Centipede and Lake Way Deposits, establish a processing plant and associated infrastructure back in 2013. The revised proposal now includes an extension to mine the Millipede and Lake Maitland deposits, construct a haul road between Lake Maitland and the approved processing facility at Centipede, and develop associated infrastructure.
Toro’s Wiluna regional resource contains approximately 80.5 million pounds of U3O8 (as uranium oxide), which the company believes is a sufficient amount of resources to run the planned Wiluna mine for more than 20 years.
The assessment of the extension went through a public environmental review process coordinated by the Office of the Environmental Protection Authority (OEPA). The process included the submission of an Environmental Scoping Document and a two-week public comment period, a Public Environmental Review report and a 12-week public comment period, a response to public comments from Toro to the OEPA, and an appeals process.
Toro hopes to complete the federal government assessment by March.
