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Cape Alumina

Cape Alumina believes wild rivers balance can be achieved

The Managing Director of emerging bauxite company Cape Alumina (ASX: CBX) believes there is possibility of balance between responsible mining economic development and protection of the natural values of the Wenlock River in western Cape York.

The call by Cape Alumina MD Paul Messenger comes as the Queensland Government considers declaring the river basin a wild river area under the State Wild Rivers Act (2005).

Dr Messenger said the move had the potential to adversely affect the company's Pisolite Hills bauxite mining project if the boundaries of the buffer zones surrounding the river and associated features were set in an arbitrary rather than a scientifically sound way.

“The scientific studies undertaken by Cape Alumina confirm that responsible and sustainable economic development of the Pisolite Hills project and environmental protection of the Wenlock River can both be achieved,” Dr Messenger said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange today.

“We are now finalising the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for our Pisolite Hills project, which will represent the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken in the area.

“We are confident that we have got the science right – the detailed environmental studies have not highlighted any issues that would be expected to cause permitting delays."

He said the Wenlock River would be fully protected under our operational and environmental management plans as the company does not have plans to mine any wetlands, rivers, springs or areas of high conservation value.

“The elevated dry stringybark country earmarked for shallow mining will be fully rehabilitated progressively throughout the life of the operation," Dr Messenger said.

Cape Alumina is assessing bauxite projects in northern Australia for FOB export bauxite sales to third party alumina refineries. The principal area of interest covers the extensive bauxite plateaus of western Cape York, where Cape Alumina has secured prospective bauxite zones adjacent to existing Rio Tinto Alcan and Chalco mining leases.

The project comprises five mining lease applications, twelve granted Exploration Permits for minerals and six exploration permit applications covering over 2400km2 of land prospective for bauxite mineralisation.

As part of the public consultation process, the Company made a submission to the Queensland Government around the proposed declaration of the Wenlock River basin as a Wild River area.

“Cape Alumina believes that the High Preservation Areas in the proposed Wenlock Basin Wild River should be set to reflect the results of detailed analysis of the environmental features in the vicinity of Pisolite Hills, and with reference to published literature on the protection of wetlands and water courses from mining and development activities,” Dr Messenger said.

The widths of the buffer zones outlined in the Wild Rivers Area Declaration Proposal for the HPA surrounding the special feature referred to as the Coolibah Springs Complex have been set without reference to specific criteria relevant to these features and can be safely reduced from the arbitrary proposal of over 500m to a maximum of 200m determined on a case by case basis, according to Dr Messenger.

“A maximum 200m buffer zone meets, and in most cases exceeds, all the necessary environmental safeguards. This is supported by numerous detailed environmental studies which have been based upon site-specific hydrology, ecology, flora, fauna, and soil geochemistry data from the area," he said.

He said setting the buffer zone of the HPA for the Coolibah Springs Complex toa maximum of 200m would not impact on the hydrological connectivity between the evergreen springs, their source aquifer and the Wenlock River.

Dr Messenger said the Pisolite Hills project would create hundreds of permanent jobs in an area which suffers from endemic unemployment and has few economic opportunities.

“The project will generate up to $4 billion in exports, hundreds of millions in state royalties and federal taxes and provide much needed opportunities for Aboriginal people in Cape York,” he said.

“It will also challenge the current foreign-owned monopoly in the Australian bauxite market and create much needed competition.”

Cape Alumina expects to complete the EIS by the first half of this year and be in a position to commence construction in 2012, subject to the outcome of the Bankable Feasibility Study and receipt of all regulatory approvals.