GLADSTONE NICKEL PROJECT
Gladstone Pacific Nickel Ltd (GPNL) is proposing to build and
operate a nickel/cobalt refinery. The project, known as the
Gladstone Nickel Project (GNP), will consist of a high pressure
acid leach plant (HPAL) and metals plant with supporting
facilities (collectively called the refinery) to be located at
Gladstone, Queensland.
The refinery site will be approximately 8 km west of the
Gladstone central business district, and will be located at the
intersection of Hanson and Reid Roads in the Yarwun Precinct
of the Queensland Government’s Gladstone State Development
Area (GSDA).
The refinery will process ores from a nickel laterite mine near
Marlborough, approximately 180 km north-west of Gladstone,
together with nickel laterite ores imported from the south-west
Pacific region. The ores from Marlborough will be beneficiated
at a plant adjacent to the mine site and then pumped as a
slurry through a pipeline to the refinery. Residue from the
refinery will be pumped to a residue storage facility (RSF)
located in the Aldoga Precinct of the GSDA and approximately
15 km south-west of the refinery site.
The HPAL process selected for the refinery has lower
greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product compared to
other process alternatives. The lower emissions are achieved
because the bulk of the power and steam requirements for the
refinery's operation are raised from the exothermic reaction of
burning sulphur to manufacture sulphuric acid (the leaching
reagent).
The use of seawater as process water in the HPAL plant reduces
the project's fresh water requirements and simultaneously
increases the productivity of the project.
The refinery will add value to Australian and imported ores by
producing nickel and cobalt metal which will be exported to the
growing world market, primarily to meet the increasing demand
for stainless steel. This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
has been prepared to identify the environmental effects of the
GNP.