Tasmania's open-cut Savage River mine to shift underground in bid to be net zero by 2035
Mining company Grange Resources has plans to shift its Savage River iron ore operations from an open-cut mine to an underground mining method known as block cave.
The process involves undercutting the ore and allowing gravity to break up the blocks, minimising the need for blasting.
Currently, ore is dug from the pit at Savage River, turned into slurry and piped about 85 kilometres to a pellet processing plant to be then shipped out across the world.
Grange Resources' chief operating officer, Ben Maynard, said the move underground would have several benefits, including improving the longevity and carbon footprint of the mine.
"By moving underground, combined with a number of other initiatives that we have underway, we can potentially halve our carbon emissions by 2030 and be net zero by 2035," Mr Maynard said.
"One of the challenges with an open pit is that as it gets larger and deeper, the waste dumps get further away, and our costs increase. We use more and more diesel.
"This underground transition represents a real opportunity to reduce our operating costs, set the mine up for a sustainable future and significantly reduce our carbon emissions."
He said the project would cost more than $900 million, with a final investment decision expected by the end of the year.
However, the operational shift is expected to slash the 450-strong mining workforce by about two-thirds.
The mine and its associated pellet plant at Port Latta on the state's north-west coast employs about 700 people, making it one of the region's single-largest employers.
Mr Maynard said job numbers would increase initially before a "gradual" decline, starting from about 2030 as the company wound down its open-cut operations.
Employees would be reallocated to different positions, where possible.
"At the moment … we're still working through the plans of what that would look like and it is quite a way down the track," he said.
Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council (TMEC) chief executive, Ray Mostogl, said the reduction came down to the "fundamental difference" between open-cut and underground mining.
"The long-term sustainability of Grange is critical for both the organisation and the state, and that does involve fewer roles," Mr Mostogl said.
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) said it had sought urgent discussions with the company.
AWU assistant branch secretary, Robert Flanagan, said Savage River was the only open-cut mine in Tasmania, and therefore some skills would not be transferable.
"There are many things we don't know, and until we have detailed discussions with the company, things are not particularly clear at this time," he said.
Mr Mostogl said with potential restarts on the horizon for Queenstown's Mount Lyell copper mine and Zeehan's Avebury nickel mine, there would likely be mining jobs in the future.
"There's usually a reciprocal mine looking for people," he said.
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