The South Australian Government has declared the proposed high-grade magnetite Hawsons Iron Project as an Impact Assessed major project subject to a state-run process and determination of assessment requirements towards Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Hawsons Iron Limited reported.
The Hawsons Iron Project is located southwest of Broken Hill. According to Hawsons Iron, the project’s Prefeasibility Study revealed it is capable of producing the world’s highest-grade iron project feed.
Hawsons Iron Managing Director Bryan Granzien welcomed the declaration by South Australia’s Minister for Planning Nick Champion in response to Hawsons Iron’s recent application, given the range of significant economic, social, and environmental impacts to be assessed.
“Significantly, this declaration reflects the importance and scale of the Hawons Iron Project within South Australia and potential as the global steel industry aggressively pursues pathways to decarbonise,” Granzien said.
As the next stage, Minister Champion has advised Hawsons Iron to submit a formal development application with supporting documentation.
“The application will then be forwarded to the State Planning Commission to determine the assessment requirements for you to address in the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements an EIS,” he explained.
According to Hawsons Iron, the declaration comes after the Federal Government, in April, decided to renew the project’s status as a Major Project for an additional three years in recognition of its potential to supply high-grade quality magnetite for the production of low-emissions steel.
Hawsons Iron further stated that the NSW Department of Planning and Environment had designated the project as a State Significant Development.
