MCA disappointed by McPhillamys intervention
Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) CEO Tania Constable has expressed the organisation's disappointment with the federal government’s decision to intervene in the McPhillamys gold project, noting that the project had the support of the recognised Local Aboriginal Land Council.
“This project was a significant opportunity for economic development, and it is concerning that taxpayer-funded activist groups such as the Environmental Defenders Office have been allowed to derail it by undermining the voices of local Aboriginal communities who supported the project,” said Constable in a statement.
Gold mining company Regis Resources had planned to put a tailings dam for its McPhillamys project over a site in New South Wales state that included headwaters of the Belubula river.
Last week, Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek issued a Section 10 declaration stating the Belubula headwaters were important to local Aboriginal groups and linked to ongoing cultural practices of the area.
"Because I accept that the headwaters of the Belubula river are of particular significance to the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people in accordance with their tradition, I have decided to protect them," she said in a statement.
Regis has written down the value of the McPhillamys project by A$192-million. The company also removed 1.89-million ounces of ore reserve previously associated with the project from its reporting.
The Section 10 declaration had resulted in the loss of planned access to tailings storage facility (TSF) area. This has made the project in its current form unviable.
Regis MD Jim Beyer said to advance any form of realistic and approvable alternative TSF solution would require further extensive investigations and studies along with the restart of the state and federal approvals processes. This could take between five and ten years, with no certainty of a viable alternative being realised.
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