EWL Sciences Pty Ltd
Earth-Water-Life Sciences Pty Ltd (EWLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of ERA, provides specialist environmental consultancy services to ERA and selected external customers.
EWLS revenue for 2005 was $3.75 million of which $0.43 million was generated from external (non-ERA) projects.
During 2005, EWLS continued to provide specialist support for operational requirements at Ranger and Jabiluka. Major tasks and key projects included:
- Refining the mine closure strategy and conditions, as well as developing a draft, first pass closure model for the Ranger mine site;
- gaining approval from regulators and stakeholders to increase tailings deposition in Pit #1;
- identification and interpretation of long-term trends in the routine environmental data collected at Ranger;
- a number of major investigations into the hydrogeology of Pit #3, in preparation for an application to the regulators for approval to deposit tailing into the pit;
- ongoing work to develop and schedule an appropriate and achievable post-mining landscape at Ranger, using conceptual landforms modelled on natural landscapes in adjacent areas of Kakadu National Park;
- an effort to map the distribution of invasive plants on the Ranger and Jabiluka leases, including the implementation of the most appropriate strategies to control these weeds.
The experience gained through external projects dealing with mine site decommissioning and water management, particularly, returns significant value to ERA because of its direct relevance to future Ranger and Jabiluka issues.
For more information on EWL Sciences, visit: http://www.ewlsciences.com.au/