Olympic Dam Smelter Refinery Expansion Project

The proposal

The proposal seeks to undertake an expansion of smelter and refining activities by BHP at Olympic Dam.

The main elements of the smelter expansion program are as follows:

• increasing smelting and refinery capacity up from 200,000 tonnes per annum of copper cathode (tpa Cu) and associated products (including gold, silver and uranium) to 650,000 tpa Cu and associated products
• construction of a second smelter furnace to produce copper matte, along with the repurposing of the existing Direct-to-Blister Flash Furnace smelter to enable further conversion of the matte to blister
• construction and operation of water supply and storage infrastructure, linking water to be delivered by the Northern Water Project
• upgrades to existing electricity transmission infrastructure with upgrades required to the 275kV transmission line from Davenport
• all other necessary upgrades to utility services and facilities to facilitate the above.

The Minister for Energy and Mining has made a declaration to enliven the impact assessed development pathway under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 as defined by the Olympic Dam and Stuart Shelf Indenture scheduled to the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982.

Under this process, the Minister for Energy and Mining assumes the roles of both the State Planning Commission (in the setting of the Assessment Requirements and being the author of the Assessment Report) and the Minister for Planning (as the final decision maker on the proposal).