Plans for $1 billion Mount Peake mine in the NT facing delay due to new EPA request

Plans for a $1 billion world-class Territory strategic metals mine have been put in a serious spin after the NT Environment Protection Authority asked the company behind the mine to justify building its processing facility at Middle Arm.

• Mount Peake project in full swing
• Mount Peake Project given green light by EPA

PLANS for a $1 billion world-class Territory strategic metals mine have been put in a serious spin after the NT Environment Protection Authority asked the company behind the mine to justify building its processing facility at Middle Arm.

The request has sparked anger as it is just one of 23 new matters raised by the EPA, which the company TNG Pty Ltd says will need a substantial amount of additional work.

The Mount Peake mine project in Central Australia has federal and NT major project status and is forecast to create 1700 construction and more than 600 operational jobs.

An environmental-impact statement is required for TNG’s TIVAN Middle Arm facility.

TNG Pty Ltd said the 23 matters in the current NT EPA direction are new and were not required or raised at the Draft EIS stage.

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It said the request to justify Middle Arm as the site for its processing facility was an unexpected new request as the site location was offered by the NT government.

TNG said many of the EPA’s requests were unexpected and not raised as an issue in the previous Draft EIS comments.

These include: potential impacts on aircraft at Darwin airport and RAAF Darwin, traffic and noise impacts, wildlife corridor, residual fauna impacts, verification of emissions, application of management hierarchies, benchmarking of emissions, receiving air environment and cumulative impacts.

NT EPA chair Dr Paul Vogel said all requested items were either previously requested by the NT EPA, but not sufficiently addressed in the Supplement.

TheEPA said TNG has been directed to revise its air quality modelling as the proposal would emit pollutants “in proximity to NT’s largest population centre, with the potential to cumulatively exceed air quality standards to protect human health.”

An artist’s impression of the Mount Peake mine project. Picture: Supplied

TNG says it is considering its options for the development of the processing facility given all the work completed and the advanced state of the FEED study being finalised.

TNG says it has carried out an initial review of the direction and estimate a substantial amount of additional work will need to be undertaken.