Land Disturbance and Rehabilitation

At the end of 2004, the total recorded area of land disturbed by WMC's operations (not including exploration activities) was 8,777 hectares. This ‘footprint’ includes the mines, waste and tailings emplacements and infrastructure such as processing plants and roads. This is an increase of 188 hectares above the 2003 total recorded land disturbance of 8,589 hectares, and is the net result of 265 hectares of new disturbance offset by 77 hectares of land that has been contoured and seeded for rehabilitation.

Contaminated Sites and Ground water

At the end of 2004, we had three known cases of groundwater contamination requiring remediation. Follow this link to view other environmental non-compliance incidents.

We are currently cleaning up a plume of arsenic contaminated ground water at the Kwinana refinery. First identified in 2003, we believe that the plume may have originated from process spills during the early 1990s. The contamination is confined to a small area of the Kwinana Nickel Refinery site and the clean-up is expected to be complete within three to six years.

At Baldivis, an old tailings storage facility associated with the operation of the Kwinana Nickel Refinery, the ground water is contaminated with ammonium sulphate. Since groundwater recovery started in 2001, over 1500 tonnes of ammonium sulphate have been recovered. Groundwater remediation is on schedule to be completed in 2010.

In the most recent instance of groundwater contamination, a leak was detected in a pipe carrying effluent to the facilities at Baldivis in April 2004. It is estimated that between 80-100 kilolitres of effluent leaked from the pipe. Minor contamination of groundwater occurred as a result of the spill and recovery bores were installed. Recovery and treatment are scheduled to be completed in 2005.

More information on these remediation efforts can be found in the Kwinana Nickel Refinery site sustainability report.

Closure Planning

The status of the sites' closure plans, at December 2004, are:

• Updated closure cost estimates have been prepared for all sites.
• Closure plans for all Nickel operations have been revised and drafts issued as part of the triennial review process.
• Closure plans for Olympic Dam and for Queensland Fertilizers are scheduled for the triennial review during 2005.

During 2004, the closure cost estimates have been used to update the estimated liabilities associated with rehabilitation and to determine the provisions required for rehabilitation. The current liabilities for rehabilitation and provisions for rehabilitation are available in the WMC Annual Report - Financial statements.

• Read about Our Approach to Land Management & Biodiversity.