Mine Name: Zeehan
State: Tasmania
Status: Historic
Mineral: Lead, silver and zinc
Brief description of impact/history:
The Zeehan site was abandoned by Tasmanian Smelters in 1948, leaving behind 300,000 tonnes of uncontrolled smelter slag stockpile without any rehabilitation. The site has not been rehabilitated, there is no vegetation or wildlife that has returned to this site. Both Austral Creek and the Little Henty River are severely degraded from the smelter slag and mine waste laden with metals from former tailings dams. A new proposal by Intec Envirometals for slag recovery and reprocessing in China of 87,000 tonne of this smelter slag has been submitted to the EPA and the assessment has been completed. Pea Soup Creek and Zeehan Rivulet are also severely degraded in the town of Zeehan from mine waste.
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