Cape Alumina Says Rivers Legislation Makes Bauxite Mine Unviable
October 17 2010 - 11:27PM
Dow Jones News
State laws designed to protect the catchment areas of pristine
rivers in Australia's Queensland state have made a planned bauxite
mine in the country's remote far north unviable, Cape Alumina Ltd.
(CBX.AU) said Monday.
The miner, which wants to produce 7 million tons a year from its
Pisolite Hills project close to the tip of Cape York, said that 45%
of the resource at the site "has been directly locked up or
indirectly rendered uneconomic to mine" due to protection rules and
buffer zones designed to prevent run-off entering the nearby
Wenlock River.
The case has pitted miners against Queensland's state
government, but left Aboriginal owners of the site divided.
The Cape York Institute, an Aboriginal-led think tank committed
to finding economic solutions to the deprivation of Australia's
indigenous people, has backed the project and garnered the support
of many local landowners, who argue that the project will create
much-needed jobs.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Cape
Alumina said the declaration of the Wenlock Basin as a "wild river"
under the terms of a 2005 act has rendered the project "unviable
under forecast economic conditions".
The miner said the project would only work if a 500-meter buffer
zone was reduced to 200 meters.
Rio Tinto Ltd.'s (RTP) Weipa bauxite mine on Cape York is one of
the world's biggest sources of the aluminum ore, with output in
excess of 20,000 tons a year.
-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; david.fickling@dowjones.com
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