The director general allowed Vale to modify its project approvals to extend the north open cut out-of-pit dump to the east and south and increase the maximum height of the north open cut emplacements from 135m to 141m.
The department’s assessment found that the proposed modification would lead to minor additional dust impacts for residences, with levels remaining below relevant criteria and resulting in a slight increase in noise levels which were unlikely to lead to perceivable differences.
The director general recommended a number of additional conditions to minimise noise impacts and to manage dust emissions from the mine complex.
“With the implementation of these conditions, the department is satisfied that the impacts of the proposed modification would be adequately minimised and/or managed and that noise and dust emissions from the modified project would be reduced from current levels,” the director general said in his report.
“Whilst the department considers that extending the timeframe to meet the biodiversity conditions would have a negligible impact, conditions are recommended to ensure that the biodiversity offset areas are more effectively managed during the interim.”
The department came to the view that the modification would enable continued operation of the north open cut at the Integra mine complex with minimal environmental impacts.
“The department considers that the benefits of the modification sufficiently outweigh its costs and that the proposed modification is in the public interest and should be approved subject to conditions,” the director general said.
Vale was seeking the relocation of the existing north open cut crib hut site and the extension of the timeframe stipulated in condition 48 of its approvals, which required the installation and operation of an overland conveyor from the underground surface facilities to the Camberwell coal handling and preparation plant.
Three mining operation plans have been prepared for the complex – Integra open cut; the north open cut; and Integra underground.
An amendment to the north open cut MOP will be needed to accommodate changes associated with the proposed modifications.
The underground and open cut are two separate operations but a number of activities are integrated or jointly undertaken including: management of water; coal handling and preparation; management of coarse and fine rejects; and transport of product coal.
The underground operation produces high quality, semi-hard coking coal for export, with the current approved production level set at a maximum of 4.5 million tonnes per annum of run of mine coal.
Coal is approved to be extracted from the Hebden, Barrett and Middle Liddell seams and transported to the surface via conveyor where it is hauled by internal road to the CHPP at the Integra open cut.
All product coal is transported by rail to the Port of Newcastle.
The open cut coal mining operations are located south of Integra underground and comprise the north open cut and south open cut, including the recently approved western extension.
The open cut operations produce both semi-hard and semi-soft coking coal (70%) and thermal coal (30%) for export.
Current approved maximum production levels are 1.5Mtpa of ROM coal from the north open cut and 4.5Mtpa of ROM coal from the south open cut.
