Derby Barge Facility

From Global Energy Monitor

Derby Barge Facility is a proposed coal export port by Rey Resources at the Port of Derby in Derby, Australia.[1]

By January 2018, the project appeared to be shelved, awaiting environmental permits and an improvement in global coal markets. In October 2020, the proposal was not to be assessed by Environmental Protection Authority of government of western Australia.[2]

The facility was intended to export 2.5 million tonnes of coal a year from the proposed Duchess Paradise Project, but that coal mine project has since been cancelled, providing little economic need for the barge expansion.

Location

The project would use the existing Derby Export Facility at the Port of Derby, which was used by the previous operator for lead and zinc exports. Rey Resources took over the Derby Export Facility sublease in 2009.[3]

Loading map...

Project Details

  • Sponsor: Rey Resources
  • Location: Derby, Western Australia
  • Annual Capacity (Tonnes): 2.5 million (proposed)
  • Status: Cancelled
  • Projected in service:
  • Type: Exports
  • Coal sources: Duchess Paradise Project, a cancelled mine project.
  • Cost:
  • Financing:

Background

In 2009 Rey Resources took over the lease on the Derby Export Facility, which had previously been used to export lead and zinc sulphide concentrate exports from mines east of Fitzroy Crossing. Rey Resources states that, with the approval of Department of Environment Conservation, it will remediate the site. The company is proposing to transport coal by truck approximately 140 kilometres to the Derby Export Facility, where it would be deposited into a 70,000 tonne stockpile, sent via a conveyor to a barge loader and then to barges capable of carrying 8,500 tonnes each. The company then proposes that the barges be towed approximately 12 nautical miles to an existing vessel mooring point in King Sound. The company proposes that a 55,000 tonne vessel could be loaded in two days.[4]

As of January 2015, the Rey Resources website states that "the Duchess Paradise Project is in the advanced stages of environmental assessment at the level of Public Environmental Review (PER). During a challenging period in coal markets Rey intends to continue the processes of securing Project environmental approvals."[5] The website includes links to several documents from the environmental review process, dated between 2010 and 2013.[6]

In 2016 it was reported that Rey Resources had applied for a license to build its Duchess Paradise Project coal mine 200 kilometres south-east of Derby near the Fitzroy River. The Environmental Protection Authority has determined that the Duchess Paradise Project shall be assessed at the level of Public Environmental Review. The project has been challenged on the grounds that the Fitzroy River forms part of one of the largest networks of unregulated tropical rivers in the world and has unique cultural and wilderness values.[7]

As of October 2020, the proposal was not to be assessed by EPA of government of western Australia.[2]

Articles and resources

References

  1. Derby Barge Facility, EPA, Western Australia, June 2020
  2. 2.0 2.1 [1] Environmental Protection Authority of government of western Australia, October 5, 2020
  3. "Derby Export Facility Remediation," Rey Resources, accessed March 2018
  4. Rey Resources, Duchess Paradise Project: Environmental Referral: Supporting Documentation, June 9, 2011, pages 46-47. (Pdf)
  5. "Coal", Rey Resources website, accessed January 2015. (Pdf)
  6. "Public Environmental Review", Rey Resources website, accessed January 2015. (Pdf)
  7. Renewsletter Vol. 22, No. 2, Environmental Defender's Office WA, Jan 10, 2017

Related GEM.wiki articles

External resources

External articles