Mr Tagliaferri is lobbying local governments to form a united front in order to pressure the State Government not to allow Magellan Metals to ship lead in carbonate form.

Instead, Mr Tagliaferri believes Magellan Metals should ship its lead from Wiluna in ingot form – a processed, dust free method.

Esperance Shire President, Ian Mickel, said the original proposal from Magellan Metals was to ship lead through Esperance in an ingot form after 12-18 months of shipping lead in the dust form – allowing Magellan Metals time to gain capital before processing the lead.

“It’s absolutely logical,” Mr Mickel said.

“If it was feasible then it must still be feasible now.”

Mr Mickel said his only concern was the potential impact on the Wiluna community if lead was processed into ingot form at the mine site.

He said it would be an increased health risk for the people of Wiluna, and he would only support the proposal if there were guarantees that it would be 100 per cent safe.

Following meetings with Kalgoorlie, Yilgarn and Merredin local governments, Mr Tagliaferri said that the communities all shared his concerns regarding transporting lead carbonate through their towns, and he will be lodging a petition to the upper house of parliament next week to encourage the transportation in ingot form.

Mr Tagliaferri said he will also be speaking with the Environmental Defender’s office next week regarding these issues, and he would have legal advisers look over Magellan Metals’ proposal to transport lead through Fremantle.