Name and Location
Wiluna uranium project, Australia.

Client
Toro Energy.

Project Description
The Wiluna uranium project is situated 30 km south of Wiluna, in Western Australia.

The mine will produce about two-million tons of ore and about 1 200 t/y of uranium oxide over a 14-year life-of-mine. Ore will be sourced from the Centipede and Lake Way deposits, an estimated 550 km from Kalgoorlie.

Selective mining will occur within a series of shallow openpits, which will be progressively rehabilitated after the pits have been used as tailings impoundment facilities or for rock waste disposal.

To support the project, Toro will establish accommodation for the workforce, a water-supply borefield based on a local underground aquifer, and up to 12 MW of on-site gas-fired power generation.

Value
The total estimated capital cost of A$280-million has been downgraded to an estimated A$207-million.

Duration
The project is expected to start production in 2014/15.

Latest Developments
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has approved Toro’s development of the Wiluna uranium project.

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

"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,” he says.

The approval is the last environment-based regulatory approval required to clear the way for the project to become Australia’s sixth uranium producer, and the first in Western Australia.

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

The approval also provides a clear pathway to complete detailed engineering design, infrastructure and cost estimates for the project.

Subject to the successful finalisation of financing and marketing arrangements and Toro’s design and cost work, the company expects first production from the Wiluna mine by the end of 2015.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Toro Energy, tel +618 8132 5600, fax +618 8362 6655 or email info@toroenergy.com.au.