Toro Energy gets green light

The site of Toro Energy's uranium project at Wiluna
The site of Toro Energy's uranium project at Wiluna

Toro Energy’s plans to extend its uranium mining project in Western Australia’s Mid West have been recommended for approval by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The Perth company plans to mine two additional deposits at its Wiluna project, Millipede and Lake Maitland, which are 30km south and 105km southeast of Wiluna respectively. This will also include accompanying infrastructure and a haul road.

The proposal would extend the Wiluna project that received Ministerial approval in 2012.

In 2013, Toro was the first company to gain state and federal environmental approvals for the Wiluna project’s Centipede and Lake Way deposits.

Open-pit mining will be used to extract the uranium ore and processed at a facility, which was part of the approved project.

The EPA undertook a detailed assessment of subterranean fauna (animals that live underground) and considered a range of evidence, including a peer review, on their biology and the area’s geology. In this case, EPA noted most of the surveyed stygofauna had potential habitat beyond the project footprint and were highly likely to occur outside of the impact areas.

The EPA found it was possible to protect this species through an exclusion zone. It also concluded radiation exposure to mine-site workers and the public would be within acceptable limits for human health.

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