ILUKA Resources wants to continue to dispose of by-products from its Hamilton mineral separation plant at its former Douglas mine site after its Victorian operations cease next year. Its proposal – which the company expects to formalise in the next fortnight – has been met with opposition by the Kanagulk Landcare Group, which has raised concern about some of the practices at Douglas throughout the past few years. Mail-Times journalists SARAH SCULLY, ERIN McFADDEN and MATT COUGHLAN were among a small group of media representatives invited to tour Iluka’s western Victorian operations on Wednesday.
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ILUKA Resources external operations manager Rod Jones wants to dispel some of the concerns surrounding the mineral sands company’s activities in the region.
Although he believes community members have genuine concerns about Iluka’s operations, he feels they are based on misunderstandings.
‘‘That’s what’s today is about, trying to get as much information out there about our practices and our ongoing practices as possible,’’ he said.
Iluka has been mining in the Murray Basin – which includes sites at Hamilton and Douglas – since 2005.
Operations include mining, concentrating, mineral separation and transportation of mineral sands.
The company transports mineral sands from its operations in New South Wales and South Australia to its Hamilton mineral separation plant.
The ore is refined through gravity, electrostatic and electromagnetic techniques to produce zircon, rutile and ilmenite.
From Hamilton, finished product is transported by road to the Port of Portland for export, or in containers to Melbourne.
Much of the controversy surrounding the company’s operations at Douglas stems from Kanagulk Landcare Group’s concern about radioactive waste.
Rehabilitation operations manager Hamish Little said mineral sands material had low levels of naturally occurring radioactive elements.
At the Douglas site, Mr Little showed Mail-Times staff pit 23, which is subject to the company’s proposed planning scheme amendment and works approval.
He said the pit was set up to take by-products from Hamilton for the next 20 years.
‘‘The Department of Health has come to look at pit 23 – it is heavily regulated and to date there have been no issues.’’
Mr Little said the by-products were a concentrated form of the material extracted from the earth and were not chemically altered.
He said the material was made up of low value sands, clay and gypsum.
Mr Little said there were a number of myths surrounding the company’s Douglas operations, including that they contaminated groundwater and that it was a radioactive waste dump.
Mr Little said in order for someone to receive the highest allowable safe dose of radiation, a person would need to stand on the site for more than 100,000 years.
‘‘Independent expert studies confirm Iluka’s activities are not contaminating the groundwater,’’ he said. ‘‘There are no effects on the Glenelg River, Lake Kanagulk or surrounding groundwater users.’’
Mr Jones said the community would learn more about the site’s operation during the works approval process.
‘‘There will be extensive community consultation,’’ he said.
‘‘The last thing we want to do is get through all this, get the approval and people still have ambiguity about the site.
‘‘We understand there will still be people out there against mining and against our operations, but we want people to know the facts.
‘‘We want to continue mining, so for us to do that, we need to do it in an economic and safe way, or we don’t get a licence.’’
