Plan to merge mines

TWO open-cut pits at a Tasmanian iron ore mine will become one big hole if a proposal to excavate almost 300 million tonnes of material is approved.

Grange Resources has lodged a proposal with the Environmental Protection Authority to dewater and restart mining in Centre Pit North and Centre Pit South at its Savage River Mine on Tasmania’s west coast.

The two pits are proposed to be merged into a single pit to provide access to more resources over the next nine years.

Grange told the EPA the expansion to include the area between the two pits was the most practical to obtain identified resources.

Extraction from the north pit stopped in 2006 when the design depth was achieved.

Production from the south continued until 2006. That pit now contains 2.7 gigalitres of water and that will need to be removed before the haulage of material can begin again.

The expansion will be done in stages finishing in 2030.

It means no new vegetation will need to be cleared to access more iron ore nor will the footprint of the mine increase.

The design involves cutting back to the pit walls and extending the pit depth with the excavation of about 31 million tonnes of ore and 255 million tonnes of waste.

The proposal also includes the development of a new waste rock dump for 11 million cubic metres of material.

When resources run out in the bigger single pit, Grange said there were a range of options for decommissioning it — allowing the pit to flood, going underground to access more resources or filling the pit with waste rock or tailings.

Public submissions on the proposal are now open.