General News
22 October, 2024
We don't want it: Wimmera farmers boycott the Donald Mine session
Farmers claim they've had no direct contact from the Donald Mine Project
The proposed Donald Rare Earth Mineral Sands Project is about 300 kilometres north of Melbourne in the Wimmera, and about 50 kilometres from Horsham near Donald and Minyip.
The world class source of mineral sands and rare earth elements were discovered in the 1980's.
The 42,636 hectares of prime farming land at the centre of the project forms part of the Commonwealth Government's critical minerals strategy.
While the Minerals Council of Victoria heralds this as one of the greatest finds in the state, and for the Victorian government it could potentially be one of the greatest financial boosts to its dwindling coffers, farmers in the area don't agree.
They see the land and the food it produces as the greater asset to the state and they are not taking the unrelenting mine invasion in their community lying down.
DMS, a subsidiary of Astron Limited, held three community walk-in information sessions on October 10, 11 and 12 at Donald, Minyip and Rupanyup respectively.
Farmers boycott information session
Fifty farmers, landholders and families descended on the Donald town hall with trucks and tractors laden with hay bales displaying signs that left no doubt about their opposition to the proposed Donald Mine.
They stood in the centre of the hall and said they were not moving until they got them.
"You are not going to divide and conquer us today, we are united," Julie Weir told them.
Eight Donald Mine representatives and independent consultants, with careers with the Donald Mine project ranging from one to 5 weeks, 18 months to three years, and some longer failed to maintain their agenda and finally agreed to a Q and A platform.
The farming community wanted answers about landowners rights, farmers options, water, radiation and guaranteed rehabilitation of their farming land after mining, if it [the mine] went ahead.
Not satisfied with the answers, organiser fifth generation farmer Kelvin Hepworth told them,
"We're not interested, we don't want it - go away."
According to the Astron Limited website, the Donald project has the support of council and the community.
Astron Limited CEO Tiger Brown told the Wimmera Mail-Times he stands by that claim, although views may vary, he believes their assessment based on a comprehensive engagement record is correct.
Lack of communication
Frustrated by the lack of communication from the Donald Project operators, Mr Hepworth asked the crowd, "How many of you have been contacted directly by any one from the Donald Mine Project about this mine, raise your hand?"
No hands went up.
The 50+ crowd said none had been contacted by the Donald Mine project but many said they'd had mining people come onto their property doing tests without their permission.
"I only know what I see on here," one landowner in the crowd said holding up his phone.
"No one has contacted me."
In response to a request from the WMT, Mr Brown said he found it unlikely none of the farmers attending the session has been contacted by their extensive community engagement efforts since 2005.
What's in the mail?
Farmers said their mental health and wellbeing has suffered to the extent they don't want to answer their phones if they don't recognise the number and they get nervous just collecting their mail because they don't know what might be in it.
The expected life of the Donald Mine project is 42 years and according to the representatives at the information session, farmers can expect rehabilitation of their land to take 10 to 15 years.
Add to that the several + plus years it may take before mining begins and farmers can add 57 years + to their current age before they can hope to farm it or hand it on to what would be their middle aged children who would probably gone on to find other careers by then.
Donald Mine Project representatives could not answer when questioned how they expected to sell this deal to the farmers in the room, some are five generation farming families.
The farmers have two options if their land is inside the footprint of the proposed mine.
Options, sell up or accept compensation.
When asked if there was a third option for those farmers who did not accept either of the first two they were told they would be taken to VCAT.
The Donald Mine Project cannot compulsorily acquire the farmland but the government can through the VCAT process.
Mr Brown told the WMT this is not the preferred option, Aston Limited cannot mine any of the famers land without the owners permission which they preferred to get voluntarily, but VCAT is an option.
Mr Brown said the actual Mining licence area covers 2,784 hectares and that equates to about three farms that would be temporarily displaced during different periods of the mine's 42 year life span and was not as extensive or as permanent as opponents might suggest.
He also said the benefits to the broader community offset the temporary loss of agriculture land.
However, the farmers said the benefits to community groups and sporting clubs is at the expense of the farming community, many who have been supported by the farmers for generations. The said they feel the same about businesses that sponsor these clubs and events or accept sponsorship from the mining companies..
One woman in the crowd said she didn't know of any other industry that could walk onto their land and take it without permission from the owner.
"I don't understand, I just don't understand, she kept saying."
Mineral resources under the land surface belong to the state of Victoria (the Crown) on private, commercial or government land. Ownership of the mineral changes hands if the government grants a mining licence to a mining company. After the minerals are extracted they become the property of the extractor.
Farmers and landowners say they have less options under Victorian legislation around mining compared to other states in Australia.
Brenda Doran said her mental health had deteriorated in the past two months since she realised she had no rights against mining and she could lose the family farm or have to move away due to the dust and potential contamination.
"It's only a job to you," Mr Hepworth told the speakers, "But it's our life, my family has been here on this land since 1874, that's 150 years."
Contamination concerns
The potential risk of contamination to crops, grain and pulses, poultry farms, cattle and piggeries were also high on the questions asked.
The Donald Mine Project will mine for critical minerals such as zirconium, titanium, and rare earth minerals such as neodymium and praseodymium.
The project promises long-term benefits for the region including economic growth, job creation in the hundreds, infrastructure improvements and community development.
The farming communities in the Wimmera and Mallee have ramped up their fight by registered incorporated bodies calling themselves, Mine Free Wimmera Farms and Mine Free Mallee Farms.
Farmland rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is regulated in Victoria and the Donald Project needed an Environmental Effects Statement (ESS) as set out in the 1978 Environmental Effects Act to proceed.
But the ESS studies for the DMV were carried out in 2008 and many at the meeting in Donald said there would have been much more opposition to it in 2024 because landowners were more informed.
Mining companies must lodge rehabilitation bonds with the Victorian Government as financial security that reflects 100 percent of the estimated rehabilitation cost before a mine can proceed.
The bond value for the Donald Mine could not be confirmed by the DMV representatives at the meeting.
Mr Brown said the information session offered the opportunity to explain the rehabilitation process of agriculture land to the farmers.
As a condition of approval, the government mandates mining companies rehabilitate land progressively but the farmers expressed concerns about the rehabilitation process.
"You can't dig up the land, take 8 percent of it out and expect it to be the same or produce the same quality. That 8 percent and the structure of the soil is part of the original make-up and you can't put it back the same, " one farmer told the organisers of the meeting.
According to Astron Corporation, the volume of material proposed to be removed equates to three per cent.
Uranium miner seals deal in Donald
Astron Corporation finalised its agreements with US uranium miner Energy Fuels Inc to develop the Donald rare earth and mineral sands project in Victoria in September 2024.
The agreements will see Energy Fuels earn a 49 per cent stake in Donald by injecting $183 million in funding for the execution and construction of the project's first phase.
Energy Fuels Inc. is a leading US-based critical minerals company.
The Company, as a leading producer of uranium in the United States, mines uranium and produces natural uranium concentrates that are sold to major nuclear utilities for the production of carbon-free nuclear energy.
Astron conducts a mineral sands trading operation based in Shenyang, China.
"While we acknowledge potential concerns, we believe the project's benefits outweigh any drawbacks," Mr Brown told the WMT.
A previous version has been updated to include the proposed volume of material to be removed according to Astron Corporation.