THE Western Australian Government has endorsed a framework for the sustainable development of the Mid-West iron industry.
The framework follows a review of the mining and biodiversity values of the Mid-West region and Goldfields. The review was undertaken by the Department of Industry and Resources (DOIR) and the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).
“The framework identified areas where the State Government favoured mining development, preferred sites for conservation, and other areas that required further investigation,” Resources Minister Francis Logan said.
“The unique banded iron formations ranges in the Mid-West were believed to contain between $50 billion to $80 billion in mineral resources,” he said.
According to Logan, this quantity could sustain an iron ore industry with annual exports of 50 million tonnes to 90 million tonnes, enough to underpin the development of a new port at Oakajee.
www.doir.wa.gov.au