PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Environmental Authority (EPA) has approved plans by mining major Rio Tinto to expand its existing Greater Paraburdoo iron-ore hub, in the Pilbara.
The proposal includes the development of new deposits at Western Range including above and below water table mining, and the extension of existing operations at Paraburdoo and Eastern Range and associated infrastructure.
Mining at Paraburdoo started in 1972, and on the Eastern Range in 2004.
The EPA’s approval for extended works at Paraburdoo was the first awarded to Rio since the Juukan Gorge incident, in 2019, when blasting operations conducted by Rio destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters.
In its report, the EPA noted that following "significant concerns" raised by the Yinhawangka People, Rio had revised the conceptual footprint for its expanded works to reduce potential impacts to Aboriginal heritage values within the development envelope.
Rio also collaborated with the Yinhawangka People to co-develop the Greater Paraburdoo iron-ore hub.
The EPA noted that direct impacts to heritage sites would require approval under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, and Rio will use the jointly developed Yinhawangka Country Social, Cultural and Heritage Management Plan (SCHMP) for this.
Through the development of the final SCHMP, it has been identified that approximately 87 sites will be impacted, either directly or indirectly, by the proposal. Further sites may be identified following additional surveys and ongoing engagement with the Yinhawangka People.
Rio has detailed that the Yinhawangka People will have "their own cultural determination of what constitutes impact on a site or cultural value and undertook their own impact assessment process for these to identify management outcomes to mitigate the impacts".