Not ignoring you Mas37 but tried to post this back on the 6th and a few times since...
SA major project status is meant to expedite and co-ordinate the various approvals normally needed and usually requires a hefty EIS to be prepared as part of the approval process with the SA dept planning drawing up the EIS conditions that need to be met. HOWEVER, meeting those conditions does not mean approval. The process is very onerous but deals out a lot of "routine" objections.Often the govt says it "supports" a project it grants major status to but this does not mean it will materially support it - more moral support, and the high end level of legislation that this comes under means the ministers EMs and public servants cannot interfere in the process. Neither can the board members of HIO "adjust" requirements to suit.Of course both the SA govt and Fed govt can support mining but the SA will be careful not to be seen to support anything that obviously cuts across or interferes with the assessment process. Major project status can be a two edged sword.The the most recent proposed port in SA (Smith Bay on KI circa 2017, to export the large commercial forest products on the island) was given major project status along with the SA govt "fully supporting" its development. The EIS conditions set were very onerous and there were two further revisions to them that caused extensive delay and research by all parties. In the end the department advised the minister the port could go ahead with significant further approvals to be met. These were going to be very costly for the govt to monitor compliance so the final approval (solely the SA minister responsible for planning) said NO. That was it. Nearly 3 years delay and No appeals possible. The Land and Environment court is sidelined through all this.It totally blindsided the ASX listed co who sought the port approval (KPT) and they are now removing their forests and moving into traditional farming under a changed ASX handle - now KIL.What is not clear to me yet is just what the SA govt is granting major project status to. Yes, the port. We should hope it is not similar to Smith Bay. It should not be because there SEEM to be few if any significant Social, Environmental issues and hard to see anything other than positive Economic issues. But what about the pipeline? It cannot mess with Native title issues - that is federal high end legislation with process clearly established.There is a long way to go here and likely a long period of time before port and pipeline construction can start. Certainly will not be the timeframes published by HIO at this date. I do not follow all SA major projects but am also familiar with the American River Resort project on the list you posted - it was, from memory, granted MP status 2015 which should be sobering to quite a few objective types.
HIO Price at posting:
52.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
