PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke on Tuesday approved ASX-listed Toro Energy’s development of the Wiluna uranium project, in Western Australia.

The Minister imposed 36 conditions on the approval, which he said would ensure that the project would have no unacceptable impacts on the environment both during mining operations and beyond the life of the mine.

“In considering the proposal, I received expert advice from Geoscience Australia, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, and the Supervising Scientist.

“These expert agencies provided advice to ensure that the proposal meets world's best practice environmental standards for uranium mining and that the risks to the environment, including risks from radiation and to groundwater and surface water, can be acceptably managed,” Burke said on Tuesday.

He noted that the assessment process also considered public comments.

"The 36 strict conditions I have put in place will guard against any negative impacts from radiation or to groundwater and surface water, and include precautions to ensure that once the mine is closed, the site is safe for humans and animals, and is nonpolluting.

"The measures the company will use to achieve these requirements must all be detailed in an extensive and thorough environmental management plan, which I must be satisfied with and approve before substantial works on the project can begin.”

ASX-listed Toro on Tuesday welcomed Burke’s decision, noting that it was the last environment-based regulatory approval required to clear the way for the A$269-million project to become Australia’s sixth uranium producer, and the first in Western Australia.

The project was now subject to normal financing and final project investment determination.

The approval followed a similar state government environmental approval for the Wiluna project, which was obtained in October last year.

“Wiluna is the first new Australian uranium mine since mid-2009 to receive federal and state government approval,” Toro’s MD Dr Vanessa Guthrie said.

“Completion of the environmental approvals delivers Toro the regulatory certainty needed to fully underpin our negotiating capacity and to now advance commercial financing arrangements and product offtake agreements with potential partners,” she said.

Guthrie noted that the approval also provided a clear pathway to complete detailed engineering design, infrastructure and cost estimates for Wiluna.

“This work has been on hold since the federal Minister initially deferred his decision on the project in November last year and then initiated a second deferral in December. 

“Subject to successful finalisation of financing and marketing arrangements and our design and cost work, Toro anticipates first production from the Wiluna mine by the end of 2015.”