Eurobodalla and Palerang councils have joined forces to review the latest Dargues Reef gold mine proposal, which sees the mine owners seeking NSW Government planning permission to use cyanide to process gold at the controversial site.
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The mine is located at Majors Creek near Braidwood in the upper catchment of the Moruya River and both councils have major concerns about potential impacts on their communities if the proposal is approved.
The councils have jointly engaged a specialist consultant to review the proposal put forward by mine owner Unity Mining Pty Ltd, and both organisations will use the report’s findings to respond to the proposal.
The modifications put forward include the introduction of gold processing onsite using cyanide and expanding the onsite storage facility for the additional processing waste.
Also up for consideration is the extension of mine operations for four years until 2022 and increasing the total extraction from 1.2 million to 1.6 million tonnes.
Eurobodalla Mayor Lindsay Brown says over 100,000 residents and visitors in his community rely on the Moruya River for their water supply and his council will make a detailed response to the NSW Government.
‘Any form of contamination at the source could represent many decades of effect. This is because the water we pump from the river to Deep Creek Dam, which services our water supply, consists of surface and aquifer flows. If contaminated, the aquifer flows could take years and years to clear through the sandy substrates.
‘The river also flows directly into the Batemans Bay Marine Park,’ Clr Brown said.
Palerang Mayor Peter Harrison has expressed similar concerns, saying that residents of Majors Creek and Braidwood have every right to be worried about the proposed changes to the mine operations.
‘This is the third modification to the original approval and people are concerned about where these modifications might eventually take us.
‘Apart from the obvious risk of environmental contamination, there are concerns that approval of a processing plant will see ore being shipped in from other areas. This is a drastic shift from the original proposal that would have seen all operations cease and the site fully rehabilitated just three years from now in 2018,’ he said.
Councillors Harrison and Brown are encouraging local residents to respond to the Department of Planning and Environment direct.
The proposal is on public exhibition until Wednesday 26 August and people can make a submission or view the environmental assessment at www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au.
The environmental assessment can also be viewed at Eurobodalla and Palerang council offices and libraries and written submissions can be made to the Department at GPO Box 39, Sydney NSW 2001.