The NT's EPA has given the all clear to the re-opening of an abandoned gold mine at Mount Bundey.
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The rapid rise in gold prices has many explorers looking again at their projects in the Territory.
The NT EPA today said it had completed the environmental impact assessment of Primary Gold Limited's Toms Gully Underground Project.
The EPA concluded it "can proceed in an environmentally acceptable manner" providing a number of recommendations are met.
Primary Gold Limited as headquartered in Perth but little else is known about the company.
It bought into the old mine on the Old Mount Bundey pastoral station several years ago, located about 90 kilometres south east of Darwin on the Arnhem Highway.
The mine was previously worked between 1988 and 2011.
The company needs to dewater the existing mine pit to gain access to historic underground workings.
The Toms Gully open pit contains 2.5 gigalitres of water while the underground workings contain 0.14 gigalitres.
The company plans to remove the water with two evaporation ponds and through dilution flows in local streams when available.
About 900,000 tonnes of gold ore would be extracted and processed using a carbon-in-leach circuit which is believed to use cyanide in the process.
Waste rock and tailings will be stored in the existing pit lake at the site, to limit the generation and potential spread of contaminants.
The proposal includes the rehabilitation of legacy mining structures that have caused environmental impacts.
The company estimates about 100 people will be employed over a five year mine-life.
NT EPA delegated member, Ms Janice van Reyk, said the NT EPA identified potential impacts and risks to: soil, surface water and groundwater quality due to contamination from mining wastes; downstream aquatic ecosystems in the Mary River as a result of surface water contamination; and downstream social, economic and cultural values.
"The NT EPA has considered the Proposal by Primary Gold Limited to develop the Toms Gully Underground Project and made 18 recommendations to avoid or mitigate the risks associated with the Proposal" Ms van Reyk said.
"The NT EPA considers that, subject to the implementation of the 18 recommendations in this Assessment Report and the commitments and safeguards listed by the Proponent in the EIS, the Proposal can be implemented and managed in a manner that is likely to meet the NT EPA's objectives and avoid significant or unacceptable environmental impacts and risks."
"The NT EPA has recommended that the Mary River downstream from the Proposal is to be protected at all times from mine related and legacy impacts, and that the Proponent publicly report on the health of water and ecosystems in the river and its tributaries."
The recommendation will now go to the Government for approval.
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