Australia’s mining giants faced push back last week after traditional landowners in the West Pilbara region demanded the government limit the amount of groundwater extracted there.
Rio Tinto said the company may need to build a second desalination plant worth A$400 million (US$260 million) to reduce its draw on groundwater for its Pilbara iron ore operations.
The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation requested the Western Australian Environment Protection Authority restrict groundwater extraction in the West Pilbara to four billion litres a year, an objection to WA’s state-owned Water Corporation which is currently licensed to take nine billion litres per year from the Millstream aquifer.
The Millstream aquifer supplies towns and industrial customers across the West Pilbara region including the iron ore mines of the West Pilbara to the gas manufacturers on the Burrup Peninsula.
Yindjibarndi chief executive Michael Woodley said the extraction rates proposed by Water Corporation were unrealistic and would threaten environmental and cultural heritage features in the West Pilbara.
“Everything starts from Millstream,” he said of the aquifer’s role in carving sacred sites and Yindjibarndi cultural heritage. That’s the main site to us, that is where everything came from – the songs, the stories, the ceremonies, the culture.”
Rio is the major iron ore miner in the West Pilbara and last year announced it planned to invest $395 million in a seawater desalination plant, with the facility expected to be producing about four billion litres of water a year from 2026.
Rio said: “We have started assessing the feasibility of another four-gigalitre desalination plant to help supply the West Pilbara Water Supply Scheme,” a Rio spokesperson said to the Australian Financial Review.
“We want to find water solutions that respect deep cultural connections to country, while supporting our communities. We’ll keep working with traditional owners and all our partners to make sure we get this right.”
The second plant would take Rio’s total water supply capacity to eight billion litres a year.
Meanwhile, another major mine in the area includes Fortescue Metal's Eliwana mine, with BHP’s iron ore operations mainly in East Pilbara.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) is responsible for all water and environmental regulation, and determines how much water can be taken from groundwater.