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Xstrata completes Leichhardt River remediation project (PDF)
Mount Isa, Tuesday 17 June 2007
Xstrata Mount Isa Mines safely completed Stage 2 of its Leichhardt River Remediation Project on Friday 13 June, removing 120,000 tonnes of historical mine sediment material from the Leichhardt River and disposing it on the Mount Isa Mines lease.
Mr Ed Turley, Environment Manager Xstrata Copper North Queensland, said “The final work was completed on Friday last week without incident and ahead of schedule.”
The Stage 2 work commenced on 12 May and was originally due for completion yesterday.
“Full credit is extended to all 54 people involved in this project, from our Environment Department, Bulk Product Transport Department and Community Relations Department employees, earth moving and plumbing contractors, security staff, and Mount Isa City Council employees, who all helped to ensure that the Stage 2 works were completed safely and on time,” said Mr Turley.
“The purpose of the Leichhardt River project was to identify and remove historical mine sediments from the riverbed which have been exposed over time as a result of natural erosion within the river system.
“Although the University of Queensland’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation had identified the potential risk of these sediments to human health to be minimal, it was important for the historical mine sediment to be removed,” he said.
The Stage 2 works involved 252 hours of operation over 24 days. Xstrata Mount Isa Mines reports that it:
- Completed the project safely and on time
- Removed 70,000 cubic metres (m3) (120,000 tonnes) of historical mine sediment which equated to the removal of 278m3 per hour
- Made 3,894 trips from the Leichhardt River bed to Gardenia Gate to dispose of the material safely on the Mount Isa Mines lease. This equated to approximately 31m3 per truck per hour.
- Used 10.3 million litres of water from its operations for dust suppression
- Replaced historical mine sediment with approximately 15,000 m3 (25,000 tonnes) of clean fill from our quarry
- Registered no exceedances on the dust or noise monitors during the project
- Graded all operational areas within the Leichhardt River bed on completion of the project, and
- Received four community complaints regarding noise and dust during the project which were handled by the Environment Department.
“During the next six weeks, we will undertake grid sampling of the entire Stage 2 area of work within the Leichhardt River, and repeat this process following the 2008/09 wet season to help ensure and verify that all exposed historical mine sediment has been removed,” said Mr Turley.
“Follow-up sampling will then be conducted post-wet season on an annual basis through to 2011 to ensure that river flows and natural erosion do not uncover any additional mine sediments.
“In addition to completing the project, we are in the process of revegetating and beautifying a vacant block of land at the end of Sunflower Street that was used by the trucks to access the river bed,” he said.
As part of Xstrata’s Whole of Emissions Study being undertaken by the University of Queensland’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, and led by world renowned toxicologist Associate Professor Barry Noller, Xstrata announced the Leichhardt River Remediation Project at a regular Community Information Session in August 2007.
Initial results of the Whole of Emissions Study into land have indicated that performance of previous campaigns to remove historical mine sediments from the Leichhardt River have been very successful.
Additional investigations into Emissions to Air, Land and Water are continuing. These include:
- Further soil testing around the community to identify where natural mineralisation exists
- Collection of dust fallout in the community to determine the sources of lead in the community, and
- Testing of semi-permanent waterholes along the Leichhardt River.
This work is being used to set the terms of reference for the three year PhD study into potential lead pathways from our operations into the community.
Xstrata Mount Isa Mines thanks the local community for their understanding and patience while this important project was completed.
Ends
Xstrata Contact
| Melanie Edgar | ||
| Manager Community Relations NQ | ||
| Telephone | +61 7 4744 2832 | |
| Mobile | +61 7 423 820 701 | |
| Email | medgar@xstratacopper.com.au | |
www.xstrata.com
ABOUT XSTRATA PLC
Xstrata is a global diversified mining group, listed on the London and Swiss Stock Exchanges, with its headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. Xstrata’s businesses maintain a meaningful position in seven major international commodity markets: copper, coking coal, thermal coal, ferrochrome, nickel, vanadium and zinc, with additional exposures to platinum group metals, gold, cobalt, lead and silver, recycling facilities and a suite of global technology products, many of which are industry leaders. The Group's operations and projects span 18 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Germany, New Caledonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, the USA and the UK. Xstrata employs approximately 56,000 people, including contractors.
ABOUT XSTRATA COPPER
Headquartered in Brisbane, Xstrata Copper is one of the commodity business units within the major global diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Its operations and projects span eight countries: Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Canada, the USA, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Its operations are administered by five separate divisions, based close to the mining operations, namely the North Queensland, Minera Alumbrera, North Chile, Southern Peru and Canada divisions. It also has a recycling business (Xstrata Recycling) with plants in the United States and offices in Canada and Asia.
Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with annual attributable production capacity of over one million tonnes.
ABOUT XSTRATA ZINC
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, Xstrata Zinc is one of the world’s largest producers of zinc and one of the commodity business units within the major global diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Xstrata’s zinc and lead operations and exploration projects are located in Australia, Canada, Germany, Peru, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Xstrata Zinc’s operations in Spain comprise the San Juan de Nieva zinc smelter and the Arnao zinc semis plant in Asturias, and the Hinojedo roasting plant in Cantabria.
In Australia, operations comprise the Mount Isa, George Fisher underground and Black Star open cut zinc lead mines, zinc lead concentrator, lead smelter and Bowen Coke Works in north Queensland; 75% of the Lady Loretta zinc lead deposit in north-west Queensland; the McArthur River open pit zinc lead mine, processing and port operations in the Northern Territory; and 50% of the Lennard Shelf underground zinc lead mine and processing operations in Western Australia.
In Canada, operations and exploration projects include the Brunswick zinc-lead mine and lead smelter in New Brunswick; 25% of the CEZ zinc smelter near Montreal; and the Perseverance zinc deposit in Quebec.
Xstrata Zinc also operates the Nordenham zinc smelter in northern Germany; the Northfleet lead refinery in the United Kingdom; and owns 33.75% of the Antamina mine in Peru.
Around half of all zinc currently consumed is used for galvanizing steel, which is an environmentally friendly method of protecting steel against corrosion. Zinc also finds application in the manufacture of die-cast alloys, brass and the production of zinc oxides and chemicals.