Outback astronomers lodge appeal against Hydrostor's $1b energy storage project
In February, the NSW government approved Canadian company Hydrostor's 200-megawatt Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) project on the outskirts of Broken Hill as a State Significant Development (SSD) application.
Linda and Travis Nadge own the tourism business Outback Astronomy, approximately 1.1 kilometres from the project, and lodged an appeal in the Land and Environment Court stating the project adversely impacts its business operations.
In court documents obtained by the ABC, the Nadges said there is no agreement between them and Hydrostor addressing the noise levels at its address.
The pair also said the project did not sufficiently identify lighting impacts, and that the environment impact statement and lighting impact assessment do not provide "any assessment of the light disturbance conducted at night".
They say the Outback Astronomy business requires, over the course of a 30-day lunar cycle, three weeks of a dark, moon-free black sky to run its sky shows.
Their other events require a moonlit sky to work.
The pair also claim the environmental impact statement did not have a construction environmental management plan (CEMP) and therefore the project does not comply with EPA Act or key EPA regulations.
In total, the Nadges made nine contentions in their 18-page statement, which was lodged in the NSW Land and Environment Court on May 16.
They also contended the project did not meet zone objectives or have adequate essential services, in addition to lacking landowners' consent and detail on the development layout.
Overall, the statement said, there was insufficient material to assess the application.
Hydrostor lodged a response on June 16 and the NSW government on July 3, respectively.
In response to noise concerns, a lawyer acting for the minister for planning and public spaces stated that the noise impacts on the Nadges were "assessed to comply with the NSW Noise Policy for Industry".
Both the minister and Hydrostor denied the Nadges' contention regarding lighting impact.
Both respondents' lawyers rejected the need for a CEMP, stating the project complied with the Planning Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs).
"It amounts to a contention that the minister's delegate did not have the jurisdiction to determine the SSD application, which is not a matter that is appropriate to be dealt with in this court's class 1 jurisdiction and is in an event denied," the minister wrote.
As part of their statements of facts, the Nadges contend a residence adjacent to the project and across the highway from the Outback Astronomy business would also have adverse noise impacts from the project.
In its reply, a lawyer for the state government alleged the residence was "unlawfully occupied" on land legally owned by the NSW government, and the residence had been constructed without "development approval".
A day-long conciliation conference for the parties is scheduled for August 21.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
2 minutes ago
- ABC News
Federal politics live: Jim Chalmers would welcome rate relief after 'remarkable' inflation data
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says any rate relief would be welcome following confirmation inflation has hit a four-year low. Follow our live coverage below.
News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Silver prices are soaring and these ASX juniors are along for the ride
Silver saw a considerable price bump in July and while not as high as its pal gold, the jump could be beneficial for a bunch of silver juniors on the ASX. Silver rose to nearly $39/oz, that's a 30% jump and the highest since September 2011 – with investors flocking to safe-haven assets thanks to escalating US trade tensions. US President Donald Trump has announced 30% tariffs on most imports from the European Union and Mexico, with the latter being the largest producer of silver and a key supplier to the American market. The silver surge has also been driven by industrial demand from solar energy, electronics and green technologies, with the metal primarily used in photovoltaic (PV) solar cells as a key material for the electrical contacts that allow the flow of electricity generated by the solar panel. Analysts at Citigroup flagged that prices for the precious metal could hit $43/oz in the next 6-12 months. West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) executive chairman Bruce Garlick said there was no reason why silver couldn't hit +$40/oz in the next 6-12 months. 'With a combined industrial demand and continued gold:silver ratio of about 90 the only logical result is that prices will rise,' he said. The company holds the Elizabeth Hill project in WA and is just one of several juniors on the ASX keeping a close eye on the silver price, confident the future is bright for mining the precious metal. The project previously produced 1.2Moz of silver from just 16,000t of ore grading 2194g/t Ag in 2000 before it closed due to a low silver price of US$5 an ounce. But recent drilling by WCE has returned bonanza grades of up 21m at 1047g/t Ag from 10m and 15m at 723g/t from 1m. 'We have a high-grade silver project in one of the best jurisdictions in the world and the project is located on a mining lease which will allow rapid movement to development and production should we chose to accelerate this pathway,' Garlick said. The recent assays were only two of 12, with the company confident of even more solid hits to come. Plus, in parallel, WCE is aiming to expand exploration both near mine and beyond into the broader 180sqkm land holding. 'We want to add value with the drill bit,' Garlick said. 'We know we have high grade silver and we want to find more and then move swiftly to development and cash generation. 'We have a mining lease and nearby processing plants which will be assessed in the near term for use.' These silver juniors could be a shoo-in Before we dive into the juniors, it's worth noting there's only one silver producer right now, and that's Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT), which declared commercial production from its Vares operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1. Broken Hill Mines (ASX:BHM) could be the next producer, having recently acquired the Rasp mine and Pinnacles project in Broken Hill where it expects more than 50% of its revenue to come from silver. Then there's Boab Metals (ASX:BML) who're acquiring Sandfire Resources' (ASX:SFR) DeGrussa plant for use at the Sorby Hills lead-silver project in Western Australia. When you consider silver is expected to reach a market deficit of around 117.6Moz in 2025, that leaves plenty of slices of the silver pie up for grabs if any juniors can get into production. Last month, Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) released a resource update at its namesake lead-silver project in Queensland to 33.1 Mt at 6.0% lead, 108 g/t silver. That includes an indicated (higher confidence) silver-lead resource of 5.3 Mt at 5.2% lead, and 116 g/t silver. Red Metal (ASX:RDM) also has exposure here, owning 44% equity in the company. Argent Minerals (ASX:ARD) is gearing up for drilling its 63.7Mt at 69.75 g/t silver equivalent for 142.8Moz Kempfield project in NSW, The plan is to assess early production opportunities and lay the groundwork for full-scale development. The testwork will evaluate multiple processing pathways, including heap leach and carbon-in-leach (CIL)/flotation options, with the findings expected to form the basis of a scoping study. Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) has reported up to 103g/t silver in recent rock chip sampling at its polymetallic Thowagee project in WA. The Thowagee tenement is especially interesting, as it features two historic polymetallic mining operations, with the Thowagee mine previously producing 15.2 tonnes of lead and 5878 grams of silver. An expanded soils and rock chip sampling program is planned, aimed at uncovering more anomalous mineralisation trends adjacent to historical workings, and expanding the strike of the known workings trend. Australian Critical Minerals (ASX:ACM) recently entered into a binding share purchase agreement to acquire Circuit Resources which owns or has the option to acquire the concessions associated with the Blanca, Riqueza, Flint, Cerro Rayas, Liro and Kamika projects in Peru. These are primarily focused on gold and copper with silver, base metals and lithium. Riqueza, is most notable, being adjacent to tenements held by Anglo American, and home to historic silver grades from rock chips of up to 2238g/t. Drilling permitting is planned for the second half of 2025. Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) has taken a major step forward to aid the redetermination of the Development Application for its Bowdens project near Mudgee in NSW, while also pursuing growth opportunities across its expanding portfolio. The company has now provided all information requested by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) to assist with the redetermination. Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) also has a dash of silver, 666,000oz to be exact, at its Minyari Dome project in WA. Who else has silver exposure? Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) also has some silver up its sleeve, with results of up to 6630g/t returned from mapping and sampling at its new Excelsior Springs gold project in Nevada, USA. The company recently entered into an option to acquire 80% of the project, and while gold is the main focus, there's a secondary silver opportunity around the Blue Dick mine. Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) reported more than 3400g/t silver in rock chip sampling at its Blackhawk project in Nevada back in March, highlighting some serious multi-element potential. Standout results included 3460g/t silver, 1.47% copper and 0.38% antimony, 256g/t silver, 4.52% copper and 0.83g/t gold, and 10g/t silver and 0.33% copper. White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) also has some silver at its Rae (predominately copper) project in Canada, with drilling last quarter intersecting up to 34.1g/t silver. Then there's Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) who are taking a different approach to the precious metal with its recently acquired solar panel recycling technology. The plan is to recover silver during the recycling process. While the tech is currently in the patent submission stage, the licence will be made available to LU7 once it is ready. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While West Coast Silver, Maronan Metals, Argent Minerals, Taruga Minerals, Australian Critical Minerals, Antipa Minerals, Firetail Resources, Sierra Nevada Gold, White Cliff Minerals and Lithium Universe
News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
ASX Health Quarterly Wrap: Neurizon turns up the dial on ALS drug progress
The latest quarterly reporting season is underway, with investors tuning in to see how ASX-listed companies performed during the final months of FY25, and importantly what signals they're sending for the year ahead. Quarterlies offers a crucial opportunity to gauge business momentum and future prospects, particularly for the healthcare sector. After years of underperformance despite solid fundamentals, healthcare has been one of the market's long-suffering segments. While the broader market rose 10%, the ASX healthcare sector decline 4% in FY25. However, recent gains suggest the sector's fortunes may be shifting. The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX:XHJ) surged 5.4% last week, building on a 5% jump the week before and is up so far this week with optimising growing of a rotation back into healthcare stocks. Neurizon advanced its development pathway for its lead drug candidate NUZ-001 during the quarter, achieving several manufacturing, preclinical, clinical, and regulatory milestones. These included development of a liquid formulation of NUZ-001 and promising interim results in the 12-month open label extension (OLE) study in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Neurizon completed a series of foundational studies during the quarter, which deepen the company's "mechanistic understanding of NUZ-001, highlight its differentiated pharmacology, and support its expansion as a platform therapeutic beyond ALS". During the quarter Neurizon made key appointments to its executive team bolstering expertise in finance, preclinical and clinical development as well regulatory strategy to position the company for its next phase of growth, drug development and commercialisation. The company also expanded its global presence and strengthened its engagement with key stakeholders in ALS and neurodegenerative disease through active participation in leading scientific, industry and community events. Neurizon said achievements during the June quarter provided the catalyst for crucial milestones post quarter-end, including an exclusive global license agreement with NYSE-listed Elanco Animal Health Incorporated for monepantel (NUZ-001). Post-quarter end the biotech received positive written feedback from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on its strategy to resolve the clinical hold for NUZ-001. The company has submitted a comprehensive Clinical Hold Complete Response (CHCR) to the regulator requesting the clinical hold to be lifted, paving the way to advance its investigational new drug application (IND) and entry into the HEALEY ALS platform trial in the December quarter. Neurizon has also announced it has executed a loan agreement for $1.5m with specialist R&D financing firm Radium Capital, which is secured against a small portion of its expected 2025 R&D tax rebate. The loan provides provides non-dilutive funding on top of Neurizon's existing cash balance of $4,161,000 at the end of June to ensure the company can maintain its pipeline of work in advance of receiving this year's R&D tax rebate. Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) A biotech focused on developing its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform, Arovella continued to progress its lead product, ALA-101, towards a first-in-human clinical trial and to expand its platform into solid tumours during the quarter. During the quarter, Arovella expanded its management team in readiness for its first-in-human phase I clinical trial for ALA-101 with the appointment of clinical operations leader Jacqui Cumming as senior director, clinical development. The company entered into an exclusive option to licence multiple patent families from Baylor College of Medicine to expand use and improve the performance of its iNKT cell platform. Arovella also set up its own research laboratory within the Jumar Bioincubator, with the new facility enabling Arovella to speed up its research output as it expands its solid tumour programs and continues building on its IP portfolio. At the end of the quarter, Arovella announced that Dr Thomas Duthy would retire as a non-executive director and chairman with current non-executive director Dr Elizabeth Stoner serving as interim chair. Arovella's CEO and managing director Dr Michael Baker said it was a productive quarter, including preparing an IND submission for the FDA. "We made significant progress preparing for submission of our IND application, and we believe we are positioning the company for the best chance of success with the FDA," he said. The company finished Q4 FY25 with cash of $20.9m, which is expected to fund the company through to completion of patient enrolment for the phase I clinical trial for ALA-101. The funding will also support the advancement of its solid tumour programs (CLDN18.2-CAR-iNKT targeting gastric cancer) and its armouring program (IL-12-TM). During the quarter Perth-based medtech Singular Health signed a commercial pilot agreement valued at US$1.3m (~A$2m). with major managed service organisation (MSO) in the US Provider Network Solutions (PNS), which manages care for more than 3.7 million people. The contract marks transition to phase three of the company's multi-phase engagement with PNS and involves co-development of a pilot program where 1,000 of Singular Health's 3DICOM MD licenses will be distributed to primary care providers. Following quarter close Singular Health announced a six-month collaboration with radiologist and founder of Life Radiology in Doral, Florida Dr Alex Alonso, who will serve as a strategic advisor and radiology architect for the PNS pilot, offering technical insight into US standards and workflows. Singular Health also progressed multiple commercial discussions across the US education and healthcare sectors during the quarter with proposals requested by private and public institutions. The company commissioned an independent report by Signify Research to quantify the US market opportunity. The findings show a total addressable market exceeding US$19 billion, with ~1.3 million primary care physicians in the US and each representing an average licence opportunity of US$800 per year. Singular Health continued to pursue strategic opportunities in Australia aimed at improving access to medical imaging data and supporting clinical training, including a proof-of-concept integration proposal submitted to government departments to address inefficiencies in retrieving imaging data across disconnected PACS environments. During the quarter, a capital raise of $8m was completed at an issue price of 35 cents per share, led by the Wallabi Group. The raise included participation from several institutional and high-net-worth investors, with further investment from PNS and Marin and Sons. On the regulatory front, the company successfully completed its ISO 13485 re-certification and confirmed SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA formal certification and also progressed technical development. The company closed out quarter with $13.7m cash and no debt. Nerve-repair company ReNerve reported quarter sales revenue rose by 25% to $94,000 and contributed to cumulative FY25 sales of $271,000, up 53% on the previous year. During the quarter ReNerve entered a partnership with Berkeley Biologics to develop two new product ranges, strengthening its commercial portfolio in the regenerative tissue and biologics sector. Launch of the first new product ranges under the ReNerve brand are expected in Q3 CY25 and second by end of CY25. The company received marketing approvals for its NervAlign Nerve Cuff in Bahrain, marking the first regulatory approval secured through its exclusive distribution agreement with Union MediScience B.S.C. ReNerve and Union MediScience are now progressing with commercial rollout processes for the NervAlign Nerve Cuff product in the country, with early clinical cases and data gathered now anticipated to support future regulatory submissions in additional Middle East and North Africa (MENA)jurisdictions. In April ReNerve signed a deal with NetCentrix Ventures to pursue regulatory approval and commercialisation of the NervAlign Nerve Cuff in India. The Indian nerve repair market is valued at ~US$115 million and forecast to exceed US$270 million by 2030. ReNerve's net cash position at the end of the quarter was $4.75 m. Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) Focus on progressing MagSense HER2 breast cancer imaging agent program during quarter Working towards filing IND application to US FDA in Q3 FY25 for phase II trial Preparations underway for manufacturing of MagSense HER2 drug for use in trial The majority of Imagion's activities in the quarter focused on progressing its MagSense HER2 breast cancer imaging agent program towards filing an IND application to the US FDA for its phase II clinical trial including: Submission of a pre-IND briefing document to the FDA Preparations for manufacturing of the MagSense HER2 drug for use in phase II trial Surgical oncologist at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine Dr William Dooley appointed principal investigator Subsequent to the quarter close Imagion received positive written formal feedback from the FDA regarding the pre-IND briefing documents submitted. The IBX clinical team then held a meeting with senior FDA advisors to review the IND submission, which could be filed as early as Q3 CY25. Start of the phase II trial is subject to IND approval by the FDA, with a response expected in Q4 CY25. During the June quarter, Imagion entered into a master service agreement with Biosensis Ltd, providing the company with the ability to keep its operating costs low by not having to maintain an R&D facility or personnel, while still having access to new nanoparticle formulations for future research programs. The two companies previously entered a licensing agreement in 2024, allowing Biosensis to use Imagion's proprietary nanoparticle manufacturing methods to supply research markets. During the quarter vice chair of innovation at University Hospitals and an associate professor of radiology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Dr Leonardo Kayat-Bittencourt was appointed clinical advisor for the company's prostate cancer program. Imagion ended the quarter with $883,000 cash, down $826,000 from the prior quarter. Operating cash outflow for the quarter was $818,000, a $141k improvement largely due to lower admin and corporate costs. The company expects reduced outflows next quarter as it focuses on cost control and funding the IND application.
