WDR western desert resources limited

nt news article - 9th march 2012

  1. 30 Posts.
    A MULTIBILLION-dollar iron ore deposit is to be excluded from a new national park.

    Mining companies have spent tens of millions of dollars exploring in the Roper River region.

    They were horrified when the NT Government announced that Limmen would finally be declared a reserve.

    Territory law allows for mining and exploration inside national parks. But the NT News understands the exploration tenements with the most potential will be excluded from the national park. Environment Minister Karl Hampton is expected to declare the park next week.

    Two companies have been exploring in the Roper, about 600km southeast of Darwin, for many years.

    Western Desert Resources has identified an iron ore resource of more than 300 million tonnes and Darwin-based Sherwin Iron more than 100 million tonnes.

    Coincidentally, Barry Coulter, who is now chairman of Sherwin, was instrumental in drawing up the original plans to declare Limmen a national park when he was part of a CLP government in the 1990s.

    A third exploration company, Strategic Minerals, moved into the Roper last month by securing a cluster of tenements.

    The explorers believe that the region has the potential to become a mini-Pilbara within a few years.

    Hundreds of jobs would be created by mining the ore and sending it along a slurry pipe to an expanded Bing Bong port on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

    The mine is expected to operate for many decades, possibly as long as 100 years.

    NT Minerals Council has accused the Territory Government of having political motives in declaring Limmen a national park during an election year.

    But environmentalists are delighted with the move.


    Link Provided: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/03/09/293021_ntnews...
 
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