The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has heard a gold mine proposed for the state's Central West must be rejected on the grounds it will destroy the lives of nearby residents and irreversibly damage a water source.
Regis Resources is seeking approval for its McPhillamy's Gold Mine at Blayney, near Bathurst, which includes an open cut pit and tailings storage as well as a pipeline to transfer water from Lithgow's Mount Piper Power Station.
The company wants to extract up to 60 million tonnes of ore and produce up to two million ounces of gold during its estimated 11-year life span.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment recommended the mine for approval but it was up to the IPC to make the final determination due to the number of submissions opposing the plan.
About 85 people live within two kilometres of the mine site.
The company has offered voluntary acquisition agreements to 18 people in the area, eight of which have been signed.
Several community members fronted the IPC commissioners today, speaking of their distress at the proposal.
Bridie Kramer lived on her partner's fourth generation farm until 2020, when it was sold to Regis Resources.
She said the pair could not put up with the uncertainty over whether their land, which at the time was immediately neighbouring the mine, would be acquired.
"My son is suffering from major anxiety and depression from being displaced," Ms Kramer said.
"We lost our home and the family shattered and my son's self of sense shattered with it."
Daniel Sutton spent five years sleeping on the floor of a shed with his wife, after buying a property at Kings Plains about a decade ago.
Mr Sutton told the public hearing the company had not yet offered the pair an acquisition agreement they are happy with, which has impacted their ability to build a home and ultimately start a family.
"It's required hundreds, thousands of hours over the past decade," Mr Sutton said.
"It impacted our mental health very significantly."
In his role as president of the Belubula Headwaters Protection Group, he expressed concerns the mine's tailings dam would cause seepage into the Belubula River.
The mine is a non-discharge site which means it must re-use any rainfall which falls on disturbed areas.
"They acknowledge that if something does go wrong with the tailings dam it will flow into the Belubula River, they acknowledge that they would be taking water that would otherwise go down the Belubula River and use it on site," Mr Sutton said.
"What's really frustrating is the department believe that even though there are countless impacts, they can be mitigated to an acceptable level which we entirely disagree with."
Mr Sutton argued the benefits to the local economy were overstated as the region faced a skills shortage.
It will employ almost 500 people during the construction phase and more than 300 during ongoing operations.
One resident told the commissioners the gold mine would impact positively on local businesses, employment and sporting teams.
Protecting future generations
Numerous farmers raised concerns at their main water source being impacted.
They agreed too much damage would be inflicted upon the environment during a decade of mining.
Rebecca Price lives with her husband and their four children and runs properties on the Belubula River.
She said the importance of the river, particularly during times of drought, had been downplayed by Regis Resources.
"[Springs keep it alive and] this means when it finally does rain the river flows immediately," Ms Price said.
She said it had kept every past generation in business but the complex river system was now at risk of being dammed and contaminated with toxic water from coal projects at Lithgow.
"At no point have us downstream users been considered by the proponent or the department as to whether a reduced flow, reduced quality or contamination of the river will actually affect us," she said during the hearing.
Ms Price claimed the state's environment department had placed no conditions on the company to compensate the landholders if they were affected.
Her teenage son Lachlan Price begged the commissioners to protect the land and the animals it feeds for future generations.
Benefiting a region
The state planning department's director of resource assessments Steve O'Donoghue told the hearing the company would adequately address concerns raised with noise, lighting and social impacts on the Kings Plains community.
It was also satisfied with issues raised about the location of the mine and the tailings dam at the headwaters of the Belubula River, and the potential impacts of seepage on water downstream and groundwater drawdown due to its design.
Regis Resources told the IPC on Monday taking water from Lithgow's coal mines meant local resources would not be used.
Managing director and CEO Jim Beyer said the 90km water pipeline would benefit the Blayney Shire region long after the mine ceased to operate.
"The benefits are very significant, the concerns are genuine in certain areas, we need to make sure we've addressed those," Mr Beyer said.
"The broader community including Kings Plains will get benefits."
He said the business had been working on voluntary agreements with affected landholders.
Mayor of Blayney Shire Council Scott Ferguson urged the company to consider what would happen when coal production ceased to exist in Lithgow, and how the pipeline could be used after that.
The hearings continue until Wednesday.
