Elimatta Project
Taroom Coal Proprietary Limited (Taroom Coal), a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Energy Corporation, is the proponent of the proposed Elimatta Project. The project site is situated within the Western Downs Regional Council area, approximately 35 kilometres west of the Wandoan township and 380 kilometres north-west of Brisbane in south-east Queensland.
The project would have an open-cut pit mining thermal coal at up to 8 million tonnes a year (Mt/y) run-of-mine (ROM) coal to produce 5 Mt/y of product coal for export. Mining and processing would be undertaken on a proposed new mining lease (ML50254) and another mining lease that would be made over land subject to an existing exploration permit (EPC1171). The mine would operate for more than 25 years.
Major elements of the project would include:
- open-cut mining over approximately 2,500 hectares
- construction and operation of a coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) and associated mine infrastructure over approximately 100 hectares
- transportation of ROM coal from the pit to the CHPP via haul trucks on a dedicated haul road or by conveyor within the Elimatta lease
- development of a rail line (approximately 42 kilometres in length) to connect the Elimatta Project to the Surat Basin Rail, north of Wandoan
- rail loading at the project site and transportation of product coal to the Port of Gladstone.
Water supply sources for mining and processing activities for the proposal could include water from local coal seam gas extraction projects and groundwater from the site. A 12-megawatt power supply connection would be required for the project.
In accordance with section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994, the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has finalised the terms of reference (ToR) for carrying out an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposal.
The process for the assessment of this project is as follows:
The proponent will now prepare the EIS, and has until 23 April 2012 to submit it to DERM for assessment. When the EIS is submitted, DERM will make it available for public review and will invite public submissions. Notices inviting submissions will be placed in newspapers and on the DERM website at that time.
Copies of publicly available documents can be obtained by accessing the links below:
- Final terms of reference (PDF, 421K)*
- Initial advice statement describing the project (PDF, 2.0M)*
- Public notice (s46 EP Act) (PDF, 57K)*
For further information about the EIS process for the Elimatta Project, please contact the EIS Coordinator.
* Requires Adobe Reader
Last updated 23 April 2010