cr158671

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA: Toowoomba Regional Council

LOCATION: The resource is about 3 kilometres north of Jondaryan and 42 kilometres northwest of Toowoomba along Jondaryan Nungil Road (See Map KRA 153).

EXTRACTIVE RESOURCE: Quarry Rock

EXTRACTIVE RESOURCE DESCRIPTION: The resource consists of extensive massive basalt flows interbedded with weathered basalt, with sedimentary interbeds also likely to occur. There are numerous groundwater bores drilled by the former Queensland Water Resources Commission and Department of Primary Industries with indications of considerable intersections of continuous intervals of fresh, hard and dense basalt up to 100 m in thickness. Extensive basalt deposits may exist further north and to the east.

SIGNIFICANCE: The resource is suitable for most types of construction aggregate and may be capable of producing rip rap. It is well placed to supply the expansion of urban and infrastructure development in the western part of the Southeast Queensland Regional Plan Area and the eastern Downs. If bulk transport operations based on rail upgrades become feasible the potential market area may be expanded considerably to supply larger urban markets in SEQ. The inferred resource is estimated to be sufficient for over 50 years at the current rate of production for the Toowoomba and Western Downs regions.

SEPARATION AREA: The resource/processing area is defined by continuous basalt intersections recorded in water bores where lot sizes are greater than 100 hectares. As the rock mass is expected to become denser at depth, a provisional separation distance of 1000 metres is adopted to allow for blasting. The surrounding land is zoned Rural.

TRANSPORT ROUTE: Preliminary transport routes exit the resource/processing area along Jondaryan Nungil Road and extend southwards to the Warrego Highway through the township of Jondaryan. The Western Rail line may offer access to more distant markets in future.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: The depth of available resource may be affected by the groundwater level as the area is part of a declared sub-artesian basin and thus subject to the provisions for taking or interfering with groundwater under the Water Act 2000. Some parts of the KRA is covered by Strategic Cropping Land (SCL) Trigger Mapping under the Strategic Cropping Land Act 2011 administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. This indicates the location of potential SCL and further on-ground assessment against the SCL criteria is required to confirm SCL and non-SCL areas.