Mining project approvals in western Australia

Abstract

The State of Western Australia (WA) occupies 32.9% (2,532,400 km 2) of the Australian land mass. Just over 2 million people are resident in WA with all but 500,000 of those persons residing within 50 km of the capital city, Perth. With one or two exceptions, all of the mining projects are located outside a 50 km radius of Perth in the arid rangelands. At the present time, with the world-wide demand for mineral products, WA has enjoyed a mining boom and is the major minerals and petroleum/natural gas producing State in Australia (46% of Australian total production and 48% of Australian total minerals and energy exports). In 2008-2009, the major minerals and energy products from WA were: iron ore (316 M tonnes); crude oil/condensate (19.58 Mt); diamonds (9.2 Mct); alumina (12.3 Mt); gold (135.6t); heavy mineral sands (1.0 Mt); manganese (0.33 Mt);, copper (0.14 Mt); zinc (0.14 Mt), nickel (178 kt); LNG (13.9 Mt); natural gas (8.6 billion m3); gypsum (1.0 Mt) and solar salt (10.5 Mt). To offset the value of mineral and petroleum production, WA is relatively undisturbed and many large sections of the State are encompassed within the conservation estate which includes National Parks, Conservation Parks, Nature Reserves, State Forests and Timber Reserves;, are World Heritage or Biospherelisted areas, as recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); or are world "biodiversity hot-spots". Consequently, there is a need to balance " development" with biodiversity and conservation principles. This has resulted in a mining/petroleum approvals system that is reactive rather than proactive. In some cases, assessment systems are ad hoc with arrangements agreed between statutory authorities (with input from conservation interests) rather than contained within government policy. The paper will outline the importance of the mining and petroleum industries to both WA and Australia and the approvals systems in place that are used to manage environmental issues associated with these industries. The paper will also outline the obstacles associated with the approvals process that need to be removed and which inhibit the expedited approvals process without compromising the preservation and protection of areas of significant conservation importance. Copyright © (2010) by the American Society of Mining and Reclamation.