Redbank mine mosquito assessment

The Redbank Copper operations are located in the Northern Territory, 30km west of the Queensland border on the Borroloola to Burketown road and 80km south of the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Redbank area has been a site of copper mining and ore concentration since its discovery in 1916, with current operations consisting of a heap and vat leach extraction process. The proposed operations are planned to be expanded to mine 5 separate deposits (NOI April 2008). Mine sites have the potential to create or exacerbate mosquito breeding, potentially from the creation of water dams, wetland filters, borrow pits, sediment traps, dry season water discharge, and waste water disposal, as well as the construction of roads and mine waste dumps. Mine sites also have the potential to introduce new mosquito species into the Northern Territory, such as the dengue mosquito Aedes aegypti from North Queensland, if equipment is sourced from this area. As part of the environmental process, all major developments in the NT are required to consider mosquitoes during the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements or Public Environmental reports, to ensure new development does not create new mosquito breeding sites, and also to protect the health of workers. Medical Entomology, of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Northern Territory Department of Health and Families (DHF) was subsequently commissioned by VDM Consulting EcOz to conduct a desktop Biting Insect Assessment of the mine site.VDM Consulting EcO