{"id":266021,"date":"2025-11-06T07:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T07:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266021\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T07:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T07:27:09","slug":"federal-government-approves-expansion-of-victorias-largest-gold-mine-near-bendigo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266021\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal government approves expansion of Victoria’s largest gold mine near Bendigo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal government has given the go-ahead for Fosterville Gold Mine near Bendigo to continue operating until 2045, despite the concerns of neighbours and environmental advocates.<\/p>\n

Canadian company Agnico Eagle said the extension of underground mining at its Fosterville site in central Victoria would support 1,000 jobs and deliver $1.3 billion to the region’s economy over a decade.<\/p>\n

But the approval has come with a strict set of environmental conditions designed to protect threatened Australian species.<\/p>\n

The conditions are designed to address the mine’s impact on federally protected plants and animals, including endangered grey box grassy woodlands in the area and crucial habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot and regent honeyeater.<\/p>\n

The mine is only permitted to clear a maximum of 10.592 hectares of grey box grassy woodland.<\/p>\n

It is also required to commit to long-term conservation efforts, which include securing and managing over 231ha of land dedicated specifically to environmental offsets.<\/p>\n

The mine must also establish strict “no-go zones” approved by a “suitably qualified ecologist” before any clearing begins, to ensure sensitive areas are not harmed.<\/p>\n

The company must submit detailed annual compliance reports to the government, including geographical data on all clearing undertaken.<\/p>\n

It must also undergo independent environmental audits every five years to ensure the company has adhered to every condition of the approval.<\/p>\n

Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenney green-lit the expansion in May after finding the potential environmental impacts could be acceptably managed.<\/a><\/p>\n

Agnico Eagle was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The critically endangered swift parrot has habitat in the area. (Supplied: Chris Tzaros)<\/p>\n

Environmentalist sceptical<\/p>\n

La Trobe University botanist Jim Radford said he was sceptical about the use of environmental offsets.<\/p>\n

“It depends on how it’s implemented,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There’s ample research that shows offsets are an ineffective tool for mitigation.<\/p>\n

“The cumulative impacts of habitat loss are of concern for species like the swift parrot and other non-threatened by other declining birds.”<\/p>\n

Professor Radford said there were also other issues the federal government had not addressed.<\/p>\n

“The other major concern about this proposal is the tailing dams, and contamination and pollution of the nearby Campaspe River and the catchment,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see how that’s been addressed.<\/p>\n

“As well as the blasting effects on the fauna that are within the area, like bats, owls and nocturnal specials who are sensitive to vibrations.<\/p>\n

“It’ll be another stress on an already stressed ecosystem.”<\/p>\n

\"mine<\/p>\n

Fosterville Gold Mine is located north-east of Bendigo. (Facebook)<\/p>\n

Noise trial in Supreme Court<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, closing submissions have been made in a Victorian Supreme Court judge-only trial surrounding alleged noise from the Fosterville mine and its impact on neighbours.<\/p>\n

Nearby residents Kirsty McDonald and Karen Oliver lodged a private nuisance claim against the company following discussions in 2021.<\/p>\n

The couple is relying on diary entries, witness evidence from neighbours, along with experts and criteria from the Environment Protection Authority’s (EPA) low-frequency noise guidelines.<\/p>\n

The couple’s barrister, Jonathan Korman, said the pair had experienced nausea and headaches due to the alleged noise.<\/p>\n

“The pressure feels like a really tight hat,” Mr Korman told the court, paraphrasing earlier evidence from Ms McDonald.<\/p>\n

“[The] feeling can get into your jaw.”<\/p>\n

Almost entire population of swift parrots seen in one spot<\/a><\/p>\n

A gathering of close to the total estimated population of swift parrots excites ecologists, but they warn it is no party for the critically endangered species.<\/p>\n

The court heard both the couple’s lawyer and Fosterville Mine’s defence agreed a 63-hertz, low-frequency noise was heard at the couple’s home.<\/p>\n

But the court heard the noise was not audible and whether the mine was responsible for it was contested.<\/p>\n

Mr Korman told the Supreme Court that noise was recognised as a “major issue” for the mine.<\/p>\n

“It’s a large collection of extremely powerful machinery,” he said.<\/p>\n

Fosterville Gold Mine’s defence barrister, Martin Scott KC, told the court experts at the trial suggested low-frequency noise must be audible for it to be annoying.<\/p>\n

“The low-frequency noise is very low, well below the threshold,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Scott also told the court the couple’s diary notes were not a reliable source of evidence for the purposes of the trial.<\/p>\n

The court heard a recommendation for one of the women to see an ear, nose and throat specialist had not been acted upon.<\/p>\n

Mr Scott also told the court the mine had modified its ventilation fans to the satisfaction of the EPA, demonstrating “circumspect and appropriate” communication between the mine and the couple.<\/p>\n

“A lesser corporation would have been open to more aggressively responding to the EPA’s intervention \u2026 but it didn’t do so,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has given the go-ahead for Fosterville Gold Mine near Bendigo to continue operating until 2045,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[155456,74752,64,63,99,56957,75,15854,53496,53495,77940,13404],"class_list":["post-266021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-agnico-eagle","tag-approval","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-concerns","tag-environment","tag-epbc","tag-fosterville-gold-mine","tag-gold-mine","tag-green-light","tag-murray-watt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}