Atlas Iron project makes headway with WA approval

Controlled by Gina Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting, Atlas Iron will construct and operate the project across a four to five-year period at three mining areas, mining eight million tonnes of iron ore during this timeframe.

The project is approximately 100 kilometres south-east of Port Hedland in Western Australia, with the proposal involving the development of mine pits and associated infrastructure including a processing facility, waste landforms and access roads..

The Miralga Creek project will also feature an accommodation camp and will incorporate infrastructure from Atlas Iron’s Abydos direct shipping ore (DSO) project.

“The EPA has assessed the proposal and determined it should proceed, subject to conditions including mitigating impacts from noise, dust and vibration on nearby fauna habitat, and taking a staged approach to blasting,” EPA chair Tom Hatton said.

“Further, the proponent has designed the development envelope to avoid two vegetation types of conservation interest including priority flora and fauna habitat, which the EPA supports.”

The EPA assessment found no registered Aboriginal sites were located within the development.

According to the EPA, Atlas Iron has started consultation with the Traditional Owners, and has committed to ongoing consultation future involvement.According to Mining News Pro -