Sinosteel Midwest Corporation (SMC) have proposed the Koolanooka/Blue Hills Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) Mining Project (the Project).  A Public Environmental Review document (PER) was developed and submitted for the Project under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (Assessemnt No. 1653).

The Koolanooka mine site is located approximately 160 km south east of Geraldton and 21 km east of Morawa, and the Blue Hills mine site is located 60 km to the east of Koolanooka. The Project will involve the recommencement of open pit mining activities at Koolanooka, followed by similar activities commencing approximately 1.5 years into the project at the Mungada East and Mungada West pits at Blue Hills.  This work will involve a maximum of five mining campaigns during the Project.  

The DSO PER has been approved by the Minister for Environment under Statement 811 which was released on 3rd November 2009. The implementation of the proposal is subject to legally binding environmental conditions imposed by the Minister and commitments made by Sinosteel Midwest Corporation. Final State approval is the culmination of over three years of environmental assessment in consultation with the State Government.

The final State Ministerial approval follows the September decision to uphold key appeals lodged by SMC and members of the mid west community particularly in relation to the Environmental Protection Authority’s recommendation to exclude Mungada East mine from the project.

The decision clears the way for the project to proceed to Federal environmental approval. This process is expected to take approximately 30 days, with development activities scheduled to commence in mid December 2009.