Milestone marker for Onslow salt project

A document detailing environmental studies required for a proposed solar salt facility near Onslow has been approved by the Environmental Protection Authority.

K+S Salt Australia has announced the Ashburton Salt project’s environmental scoping document is now finalised, marking a significant milestone.

K+S Australia managing director Gerrit Godecke said the document was developed after extensive consultation with stakeholders including environmental, the local community, business and government groups.

“We wanted to make sure the ESD captured all stakeholder concerns so we could address these through undertaking high quality environmental studies to investigate and minimise potential environmental impacts of the project,” he said.

“We look forward now to progressing with these studies and sharing the results with stakeholders as they become available.

“Throughout the process we will continue to engage with local people and organisations to ensure the Ashburton Salt project is developed to become one of the world’s most modern salt facilities, with strict environmental standards and long-lasting benefits to the community.”

The approval process is expected to take about three years, and only when the necessary permits have been granted will K+S make a final decision on whether to build the solar salt production facility.

Annual production capacity would be about 3.5 million tonnes of solar salt, with early K+S estimates anticipating a n capital expenditure of about $350 million to develop the project.

During construction, the project would employ about 200 full-time workers and once in production would provide at least 75 sustainable, full-time jobs.

K+S has stated it will look to employ locally where possible.