Plans for rare earth-processing plant at Pinjarra welcomed

6/4/95

New plans to establish a rare earth processing plant at Pinjarra have been welcomed by Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett.

The Minister said international chemical and pharmaceutical company Rhone Poulenc Australia had re-designed plans to establish Australia's first monazite processing facility.

The $45 million Rare Earth Processing Plant project has been modified to meet strict environmental conditions.  New preliminary plans have been discussed with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to enable a full environmental assessment to begin.

The proposal involves the processing of monazite - a by product of mineral sands - to produce rare earth nitrates to be exported for use in the manufacture of electronics, robotics and other high-tech applications.

Western Australia is the world's leading source of monazite.

The project is expected to turn monazite, which currently has no commercial value, into a $27 million-a-year export.

Mr Barnett said the State environmental agency and the local community had raised concerns about the company's original proposal in 1989, due to plans to fully process the monazite to produce rare earth salts.

At the time, concerns surrounded the final-stage production of ammonium nitrate wastes and the possible risk for nitrates to leach from on-site evaporation ponds and into the Peel-Harvey Inlet system.

"This new proposal has cut short the original process, eliminating the need to produce and store ammonium nitrate wastes," Mr Barnett said.

"It is proposed that the rare earth project take monazite, which would have otherwise been wasted, and will transform it into a valuable product, while also providing the nation with a new value-adding industry," Mr Barnett said.

The Minister said low-level radioactive waste material, produced as a by-product of the process, would be transported to the State Government's intractable waste disposal facility at Mount Walton, near Koolyanobbing.  This disposal site was specifically designed to accommodate wastes from monazite processing.

Mr Barnett said that while some materials were considered to be low-level radioactive waste, the State Government would enforce rigid environmental controls to govern all aspects of the project, including the transport and handling of all materials to and from the plant.

The Minister said the method of transport for the waste material would not be determined until the State Government had carried out a full review to define the most environmentally and economically acceptable methods, in consultation with the public.

Mr Barnett said that another aspect of the project would be the re-use of a large part of the non-radioactive waste material.

The phosphate-rich residue materials would be used in the local manufacture of fertiliser.  Small quantities of other wastes, all of which would be non-radioactive, would be neutralised in evaporation ponds and would present no environmental problems.

The rare earth plant would be built next to and would use part of the company's existing gallium plant which had been dormant for the past few years due to a slump in demand.

Mr Barnett said it was likely that the gallium plant would recommence production following the development of the rare earth plant.

If the project goes ahead, about 150 construction and up to 60 long-term jobs would be created.

The Minister also welcomed the support of the Federal Government which would be involved in such matters as foreign investment approval, in addition to the State Government's approval of the project.

Media contact: Carolyn Vicars 222 9699