APP-0001356 - Sorby Hills Silver Lead Zinc Proposal

Current proposal summary

Sorby Management Proprietary (Pty) Limited (Ltd) (SMPL) is seeking to develop a new Silver Lead Zinc (Ag Pb Zn) mine at Sorby Hills 50 kilometres (km) north of Kununurra in the east Kimberley Region of Western Australia (WA). The primary Lead mineral is Galena (Lead Sulphide). The Sorby Hills mining tenements M80/196, M80/197, M80/285, M80/286, and M80/287 cover a total area of 12,612.40 hectares (ha). The proposed Sorby Hills Project (the Project) is contained within two of these leases, M80/197 and M80/286, which cover an area of 1,782.27 ha. SMPL will initially target three mineralised ore pods which are to be mined sequentially as separate entities. As mining progresses two of the three ore bodies will be contained within one larger pit; the focus will be on resources within 70 metres (m) of the surface. Between 400,000 and 600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of ore will be excavated from the open pits and processed through the facility to produce 45,000 tpa of concentrate for export. Processing discharge will require the storage of up to 355,000 tpa of tailings. The expected project life is approximately 14 years, with 10 years anticipated for production and the additional 4 years accounting for the construction and closure phases. The Project will consist of a number of operational components including: * Mine site infrastructure such as run of mine (ROM) pad, haul roads, a mill and concentrator, laboratory, tailings storage facility (TSF) and associated TSF evaporation basin, dewatering evaporation basin, access road, power generation, hardstand area, diesel storage and refuelling area, workshop, site office, explosives magazine, potable water storage tank, bioremediation facility, landfill site, fire breaks and perimeter fence * Transport of concentrate to Wyndham Port via road train * Short term storage and export of concentrate from Wyndham Port The Project is being developed by the Sorby Hills Joint Venture partners KBL Mining Ltd (KBL (formerly Kimberley Metals Ltd) of Australia (75 %) and Yuguang (Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s largest lead producer, Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Co., Ltd (HYG&L) (25 %). The Manager of the Joint Venture is SMPL, which is 100 % owned by KBL.

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Proponent details

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EPA assessment process

This section describes the current status of the assessment process.

Process summary

Assessment timeline

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Stage	Type	Date
	Strategic proposal - s.38 (7)	08 Jul 2022