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.