AN application for a new mining tenement east of the Lancelin townsite is before the Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston.
Mr Johnston is also considering an application to approve access to the mining tenement, which abuts the Lancelin off road vehicle area.
Last year the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) referred Enmic’s application for access to mining tenement M70/994 to the Shire of Gingin saying that while under Sections 23 to 26 of the Mining Act 1978 mining could be carried out on certain classes of land – with the written consent of the Mines and Petroleum Minister – in respect to townsites, he first had to consult and obtain the recommendation of the local municipality and the Minister for Lands before he could grant consent to mine.
On July 21 last year the sand miner’s application for miscellaneous licence 70/68 (L70/68) went before the Shire of Gingin with councillors voting unanimously to oppose the granting of the licence, which would have approved access to mining tenement M70/994 via Lancelin Rd and Walker Ave.
DMIRS resource tenure acting executive director Tony Bullen said the applications for L70/68 and M70/994 were pending and had not been granted.
When they opposed granting of L70/68 last year one of the reasons councillors gave for voting against the access licence was that the Lancelin sand dunes constituted an off-road vehicle area of the highest significance to Western Australia.
They said mining activities in the area would have serious implications for the safety of recreational users and that the resulting diminution of Lancelin’s attractiveness to tourists and holidaymakers would have an adverse effect on the local economy.
They were also concerned the movement of heavy haulage trucks through or near the Lancelin townsite would impact detrimentally on the amenity of residents and visitors and pose risks to pedestrians and cyclists.
Another concern was that movement of heavy haulage trucks on Lancelin Rd/Walker Ave would cause premature wear and tear on road surfaces resulting in an increased road maintenance burden for the shire.
Other reasons included that they had not been provided sufficient information in relation to the mining tenement that L70/68 serviced and that the land affected by M70/994 and L70/68 was identified as a public drinking water source area.
Just prior to Christmas the Shire of Gingin proposed extending Beacon Rd to improve access and improve safety for people using the Lancelin off road vehicle area (LORVA) by removing heavy vehicles from the main LORVA access and instead have the heavy vehicles continue north off the northern extent of the built section of Beacon Rd to the mining tenement.
On January 21 a Shire of Gingin statement, attributed to President Wayne Fewster, updating the extension proposal said the mining tenement area located to the north of the LORVA should not be confused with the mining tenement to the south of the off road vehicle area but did not mention the pending application for a mining tenement east of the town.
The Beacon Rd track, which the Shire of Gingin wants to extend to a mining tenement north of the Lancelin off road vehicle area.The statement said the mining tenement area located to the north was separate to the LORVA and consequently had no impact currently except for the fact that to access it, heavy vehicles must drive through the off road vehicle area.
The mining tenement to the south of the LORVA was a commercial operation and it was much further away from the off road vehicle area in comparison to the mining tenement to the north which operated on a small scale.
The statement also said the management of all of mining tenements in Western Australia was undertaken by DMIRS with the council having no authority over the area but that access must be provided to the mining area.
Yanchep News Online asked the shire once the proposed Beacon Rd extension was completed how far it would be from Enmic’s proposed mining tenement M70/994.
In response the shire said the proposed Beacon Rd extension was to the north of the very edge of the town site and would not benefit Enmic’s application.
“Without having the application from Enmic to review, it is estimated that the distance would be possibly 500m to 1 km+ away depending on the location of the access point,’’ the response said.
Yanchep News Online also asked if the Mines and Petroleum Minister approved the sand miner’s applications and once the proposed Beacon Rd extension was completed would the shire support any potential application for Enmic’s heavy vehicles to use Bootoo St, Beacon Rd or Collins Way to transport sand from mining tenement M70/994.
“The shire would need to assess any potential application based on the information provided at that point in time.
“As there has been no information nor application made the shire can’t provide comment on whether it would be supported or not.’’
The response said as mining tenements were controlled by DMIRS any further questions should be directed to the department.
“The shire is not privy to the direct details concerning mining tenements.’’
The shire’s response said it had not been referring to mining tenement M70/994 when it mentioned the southern mining tenement in it January 21 statement.
“Rather, we were referring to the Lancelin Aglime Mine site which is tenement M70/250 which is currently active,’’ the statement said.
“Land subject to M70/994 is under the management of the Water Corporation and it is not currently active.
“We did not refer to this mining tenement in our press release because it was not relevant to the point we were trying to make which was that a commercial mining tenement (like M70/250) operates differently and on a much larger scale in comparison to a private mining tenement lease (like M70/54).
“Many in Lancelin seemed to be under the impression that mining tenement M70/54 is a new commercial mining operation.
“However, this is not the case.
“It’s been active for some years now on a small scale so this is what the shire was trying to communicate.’’
