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44 Independence Group NL
STOCKMAN PROJECT
The Stockman Project is located in the East Gippsland
region of north-eastern Victoria, 460km by road from
Melbourne and approximately 19km east-south-east of
Benambra. The Stockman Project was acquired as part of
IGO’s 2011 acquisition of Jabiru Metals Limited.
The Stockman Project encompasses two copper-zinc-
silver-gold deposits, Wilga and Currawong. The larger
Currawong deposit is fully intact. A core of copper-rich ore
from the Wilga deposit was previously mined between
1992 and 1996.
At present, IGO is seeking approvals to develop an
operation that would see the concurrent underground
mining of the two deposits. These will feed a 1.0
Mtpa differential flotation concentrator to produce
approximately 150,000 tpa of copper and zinc
concentrates over a project life of approximately ten
years. The concentrate products would be sold to
customer smelters (most probably in the southern Asia
region).
The Environment Effects Statement (EES) for the Stockman
Project, the overarching permitting instrument for the
project under the
Victorian Environment Effects Act 1978
,
was publicly exhibited in April and May 2014. In June 2014,
a Public Panel Inquiry was held, at which stakeholder
submissions were reviewed. Following ministerial review
of the panel report, in late 2014, IGO received a positive
assessment from the Victorian Government, and project
approval from the Commonwealth, subject to conditions.
This allowed the project to proceed to the licensing phase,
which is expected to be concluded in the first half of 2016.
The outstanding licensing issues include the preparation
of a project work plan and the Planning Scheme
Amendment (PSA). These are required to obtain consent
for the construction of infrastructure outside the mining
tenement, including the accommodation village.
The main tasks being undertaken to achieve licencing
include:
•
detailed design of the tailings storage facility, which is
being overseen by a panel of independent technical
reviewers
•
developing detailed water management plans to
ensure maximum recycling of water through the
project, a minimum requirement for water drawn
from offsite resources, so water quality of surrounding
catchments and waterways is uncompromised
•
approval of the Cultural Heritage Management Plan
•
development of a comprehensive Bushfire and
Emergency Response Plan, covering all onsite and
offsite facilities and activities, to ensure safety of
employees in the event of a bushfire
•
further construction and operational environmental
management planning
•
development of water quality and other biophysical
monitoring plans
•
detailed infrastructure layouts and plans.
IGO is required to establish a formal Environmental
Reference Committee (ERC) under the MRSDA, and
is required by the Ministerial Assessment to do so
before beginning construction. The ERC, comprised
of a broad range of stakeholders, will receive regular
reports regarding Stockman’s environmental and social
performance. The committee will also be able to question
the company on all aspects of its operations. The ERC will
be established once current technical investigations have
been completed, and the results and further planned
work can be reported to stakeholders.
Stockman will require a Final Investment Decision (FID)
from the Board in order to proceed once planning and
permitting have reached appropriate points. If the Board
concludes the project is strategically and financially viable,
project construction is likely to take a further 24 months to
bring into operation from that time.
Drilling as part of the Tailing Facility
foundations design study