Magellan Metals has welcomed the decision by the Environment Minister Donna Faragher to give final approval for the company’s sealed shipments of lead carbonate concentrate through the Port of Fremantle.
The development, planning, documentation and approval of the sealed shipments has been an extensive 22 month process involving the company, the State Government, multiple Government agencies and the community.
Conditional approval for the sealed shipments was given by the previous Environment Minister in January 2008, following an Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) assessment in late 2007 that recommended the proposal proceed under stringent conditions.
The Environment Minister has imposed further conditions to those recommended by the EPA covering environmental health, safety, auditing, emergency response planning and a significant financial bond.
Magellan’s sealed shipment process involves packing lead carbonate concentrate into United Nations and State Government approved two tonne, double-lined bulk bags at the Magellan mine near Wiluna.
The exterior of the bags will be vacuumed and the bags will then be locked inside steel containers and loaded on trucks.
The containers and trucks will then be washed and the locked containers delivered to the rail freight network at Leonora for transport direct to the Port of Fremantle.
The entire sealed shipment process will be inspected and independently audited both at the Magellan mine and at the Port of Fremantle.
Magellan is not planning to commence sealed shipments through Fremantle immediately as the company’s current focus is the removal of its stockpile at Esperance over the next three months.