best time to start construction.
“We have completed our technical
studies. Wiluna is a highly developed, highly
advanced project,” Guthrie says.
“The closure of the Japanese nuclear
reactor fleet after the Fukushima accident
resulted in an oversupply of uranium in
the market, which impacted price.
“However, Japan have confirmed nuclear
will be a key part of their future energy mix
and their reactor restarts look imminent.
“Construction of Wiluna will likely
happen once structural changes in
uranium pricing have occurred. This could
be as early as 2016.”
Guthrie accepts that the strong safety
record of uranium mining in Australia is still
clouded by some misconceptions. As such,
Toro is dedicated to address any community
anxieties lingering since beginning the
approvals process five years ago.
Acknowledging the local Aboriginal
community’s concerns around changing
culturally significant landscape, the
company adapted the design of the mine
and processing plant.
“There is a particular area in one of
the ore deposits that is culturally very
significant to the local people, so we
agreed to exclude the mining of ore in
that area,” Guthrie says.
“We are also taking a different approach
to a normal open cut mine. After digging
the ore out and processing it, we will put
tailings and waste rock back in the hole
rather than build a tailings dam and waste
rock dump. That means post-mining, we will
return the landscape to as close as possible
to what it was before we were there.”
Toro also aims to provide skills
development opportunities to local
Indigenous people as part of its plan for
a mixed local and FIFO workforce. It is
anticipated that sourcing 350 employees
for construction and 170 for operations
will be fairly straightforward.
“People think a uranium project would
require very unique and specialised skills,
but in reality it is quite a simple mining
and processing operation,” Guthrie says.
“The skills sets are similar to that of a
gold, nickel or copper operation which
also require good hygiene to maintain
acceptable occupational exposure levels.
“In some ways we are quite fortunate
that many of Australia’s major projects are
completing construction and moving into
the operational phase. Toro is now in a
position where the skills sets we need are
more available in the market.
“We look forward to getting on
with development and bringing new
production to emerging markets.”
RP
Vanessa Guthrie
RESOURCE
PEOPLE
SUMMER 2014-15
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