The Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) has proposed a 16ha sand extraction area within the 130ha McLarty site – a pine plantation located in the Myalup State Forest, 149km southwest of Perth.
The project is expected to provide two main benefits: to bolster flagging building material supplies for the region and to help accommodate the state’s growing population.
According to the DMP, an ongoing shortage of construction material supplies has been “contributing to rising costs for future development in the [state’s] southwest”. DMP mineral titles executive director Ivor Roberts explained the that the quarry would help address this issue by providing sand for “up to 20 years or more”.
The DMP’s project tender indicates that limestone could potentially be extracted from the site as well. LandCorp, the WA Government’s land and property development agency, stated on its website: “It is estimated that the [McLarty] site will produce at least 1.5 million cubic metres of much needed sand and limestone for the construction industries.”
Explosives storage
Further to this, the first stage of the extraction site will eventually house the state’s relocated explosives storage facility to free up more land for residential construction. The Baldivis Explosives Facility, which has been operating since the 1980s, is currently situated in Karnup in Perth’s southern metropolitan area but is scheduled for relocation to the McLarty site by December 2016.
“The relocation will enable future housing development to help meet the needs of WA’s growing population, as well as to help accommodate the growing needs of the mining industry,” a press release from the DMP stated.
Although the project seems like it would have a positive impact on WA, Roberts pointed out that “the proposed quarry will only go ahead if suitable applicants are identified through the expression of interest (EOI) process”.
A mandatory briefing for those interested in submitting EOIs will be held next week on 22 July, and the tender will close on 28 August 2014.
More information on the project and EOI process is available on the Tenders WA website.
Source: Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum, LandCorp