BLAYNEY councillors have been urged to ask the important questions about a proposed gold mine at Kings Plains, west of Bathurst.
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Supporters of the newly formed Belubula Headwaters Protection Group (BHPG) packed into the public gallery for the Blayney Council meeting held on Monday night, where organiser Bec Price spoke to the councillors during the public forum.
She urged them to become acquainted with the details of the proposal for the McPhillamys gold mine, particularly the preliminary environmental impact statement (EIS) submitted by developer Regis Resources.
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Regis put a proposal to Bathurst Regional Council in 2015 to buy between eight and 10 megalitres of treated effluent a day from the Waste Water Treatment Works to be used in the gold mine.
The mining company later walked away from that plan.
BHPG says its greatest concern is the impact the tailings dam could have on the flow of the Belubula River, and the group is seeking assurances there will be no contamination of the water by heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium and cyanide.
Mrs Price said during the meeting that Blayney Council’s tourism development plans would be destroyed if the tailings dam leached into the catchment.
“This mine will affect everyone – visitors, residents, tourism operators and you the councillors,” she said.
“Are you asking the questions that we are asking? Or are you happy to believe the spin, trust the system and wait to see what happens?”
Cr David Somervaille, who is also chairman of Central Tablelands Water, said he’d read the EIS and had taken a serious view on the impact the mine would have on flows into the Lachlan, and the risk of contamination.
“There just isn’t enough data on what effect placing a dam over a river valley, behind the catchment, will have on the groundwater flows. That’s my greatest concern,” he said.
“As for the leaching from the dam, we’ve seen what can happen at Cadia, so they can’t give a watertight assurance on that, and there’s only the one dam wall here, not two like they have at Cadia.”
Councillor Bruce Reynolds said he was also concerned about the impact the mine would have on water supplies and on the residents of Kings Plains.
“Dust, noise, explosions. Just how is the company going to mitigate those potential impacts?” he asked. “I encourage all those residents to submit their concerns when the government holds their inquiry.”
