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Sorby Hills Silver Lead Zinc Project — PRJ-0002269

APP-0001356 - Sorby Hills Silver Lead Zinc Proposal

Last updated: 26 Jul 2022
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Proposal

Published: 08 Jul 2022
Proposal details
Proponent name

MOUNT GIBSON MINING LIMITED

Industry

Industry sector

Manufacturing

Region

Summary / description

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.

Project stages
Construction

6 months years

Commissioning

Please see table 2-2 for the project schedule. Haul roads will first be construction, and existing roads upgraded. Support facilities such as accommodation will be constructed next, followed by the processing plant, evaporation basins and TSF. Pit overburden will be stripped in month 3.

Operation

10 years years

Decommissioning

3.5 years

Rehabilitation
Elements and activities
Elements
3
Collapse all
open pit(s) (above water table)-807
Activities
4
Mining earthworks/excavation
Excavation of up to 600,000 tpa of ore from the C, D and E pods Please see Figure 14
Blasting
Vibration from periodic blasting will occur 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The maximum air blast will be 125 dB(L). Differences in periodic blasting is outlined in Table 7-32.
Earthworks
Removal of 3000 tonnes of waste rock.
Clearing of native vegetation
The total disturbance footprint for the Project will be approximately 573 ha within a Project Development Envelope of 1045 ha. The disturbance from open pits in 39.96 ha.
processing plant-807
Activities
3
Ore processing
Between 400,000 and 600,000 tonnes per annum of ore will be excavated and processed, to product 45,000 tpa of concentrate for export.
Construction
Construction of the processing plant and laboratory will take 5 months and expected to begin construction in month 2. The footprint of the processing plant is expected to be 0.4 ha.
Earthworks
Minimal earthworks will be performed in order to prepare the ground for construction.
supporting Infrastructure (eg offices, workshops, hardstand)-807
Activities
5
Clearing of native vegetation
22.68 ha of native vegetation will be cleared for supporting infrastructure
Transport
10 buses every day. 4 Staff cars that will be periodically used.
Construction
Construction will take 6 months.
Water discharge/tailings
Tailings discharge will be up to 355,000 tpa within the tailings storage facility.
Earthworks
Minimal earthworks will be performed in order to prepare the ground for supporting infrastructure.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Government of Western Australia acknowledges the traditional custodians throughout Western Australia and their continuing connection to the land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all members of the Aboriginal communities and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present.

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