NSW: Greens worry cyanide bound for mine could spill

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2006
NSW: Greens worry cyanide bound for mine could spill

SYDNEY, April 7 AAP - Emergency services should be boosted along the route which cyanide
will be transported to a new NSW gold mine, the Greens say.

In response to a question from Greens MP Lee Rhiannon in parliament, the NSW government
this week revealed the route the cyanide will take to Lake Cowal, near West Wyalong in
central western NSW.

It will be railed from Gladstone in Queensland to Chullora in Sydney, then transported
by road to Camellia, by rail to Dubbo and then trucked to the mine, which opened at the
end of last month.

Ms Rhiannon today said emergency services along the route needed to be prepared for
a possible cyanide spill.

"With 6,000 tonnes of cyanide travelling this route every year there is a grave danger
of a poisonous spill on a major highway," she said.

NSW government upper house leader John Della Bosca this week said the Lake Cowal mine's
transport plan for hazardous materials had been endorsed by the Department of Planning.

"I am advised by the Department of Planning that the transport of cyanide occurs on
a regular basis in Australia and is subject to strict commonwealth and state statutory
standards designed to ensure that such material is transported safely," Mr Della Bosca
told parliament.

Sodium cyanide solution is commonly used in commercial mining to separate gold from ground rock.

AAP pj/hn/jnb/de

KEYWORD: CYANIDE

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