The number of documents being uploaded is insane! To make things a bit easier we have started a new page for the Hearing documents. To access it go to https://minefreeglenaladale.org/hearing-tabled-documents/
UPDATE 10 TH MAY 2021 – So what did we learn today? That as far as water goes the Chain of Ponds doesn’t matter and that no consideration has been given for the effects on neighbouring farms because evidently anything that happens to them is not worth worrying about. We also learnt that Kalbar’s experts have been given very limited scope to look at issues/risks and have not bothered to question the veracity of the information and data Kalbar has provided. (If you don’t ask you won’t hear something you don’t want to.) It would almost be amusing if there wasn’t so much at stake.
UPDATE 7 TH MAY 2021 – Seems like Kalbar have demonstrated their ‘adaptive management’ skills. Five years ago they were advised by GHD to establish a starter pit to get a better understanding of what they were working with (e.g pit angles, capacity to use local materials on site). They only actually applied to do one a few months ago and are now whinging that ERR knocked them back as it was inappropriate during the EES process. To top off an interesting day in the hearings their barrister showed his true colours with his completely uncalled for attempts to denigrate the character of MFG’s expert – Rod Campbell of The Australia Institute. Rod’s calm, professional and informatve responses to the questions from Kalbar’s barrister and made the latter look like a nasty, little man with something to hide. (And we still have no figures to justify BAEconomics extolling the economics of the project. No ‘proof of truth’ for anything from Kalbar.)
UPDATE 6TH MAY 2021 – Yet more documents that the public hasn’t had a chance to see have been presented today and more eyebrow raising stuff from Kalbar’s experts. It seems that in line with their barrister’s claim on Monday that their is no ‘truth or proof’ onus on them, (and therefore can say what they like) one of the experts said he was looking forward to the mine proceeding (appeared to be anticipating quite a bit of work). It’s a sorry state when professionals can massage the facts, ignore evidence and avoid doing a sound job on their ‘research’ to get a result the miner wants rather than the one they need. Wonder if we can sue the ‘experts’ who have given such bad information when things go wrong and we’re left with an irretrievable mess. It’s embarrassing to think this is what really goes on in Victoria. Seems that it’s only ordinary people who are bound by codes of conduct in relation to truth, ethics or morality.
UPDATE 5TH MAY 2021 – Yet more documents that the public hasn’t had a chance to see have been presented today and more rubbish today from Kalbar’s supposed experts. How can someone who professes to be so enthusiastic about native vegetation be so ready to destroy it for such a marginal prospect? Do these people ever seriously reflect on what they’re doing?
UPDATE 4TH MAY 2021 – More documents with a particularly interesting one from the Bendigo and Distict Environment Council (BDEC) that should be compusory reading. (See Document 258). After watching two days of hearings you really start to wonder if some people are born without a conscience. Kalbar appears to be arguing that there is no onus on them for truth or proof.
UPDATE 30TH APRIL 2021 – MFG (Doc 250) and the Shire (Doc 251) have lodged their opening statments. The reports of the ‘Expert Conclaves’ on Groundwater (Doc 255) Water Balance and Water Management (Doc 254) have finally been lodged. (There appears to have been a fair bit of disagreement between the experts on these.) A most strange occurrence is the firm the Shire hired to prepare their supplementary submission on centrifuges managing to get conflicted by having a subsidiary take on work from Kalbar Operations. It has now submitted an incredibly watered down and ineffectual review of the original report. Sickening stuff. Kalbar must be patting itself on the back for its gamemanship. To read a bit more and see how different the two reports are go to https://minefreeglenaladale.org/centrifuges/ download the document below.
UPDATE 27TH APRIL 2021 – So today the IAC posted Kablar’s ‘Part A Submission for the hearing. What surprises are in store for the >900 people who spent so much time trying to digest and respond to the EES? They have also updated risk management and treatment plans and updated draft mine rehabilitation plan (tabled documents 198, 200, 201, 202 and 215). The Clean versions of these documents were tabled alongside the originals and are 198a, 200a, 201a, 202a and 215a. They still have not submitted the ‘updated planning scheme amendment’. You would seriously think after all these years they might have had some clue about what they were doing rather than causing so much grief and wasting so many people’s time.
UPDATE 23RD APRIL 2021 – Another three documents added to the site today. Most disappointing to see the IAC’s response (241) to the EGSC’s letter (240) expressing concerns about the delays in getting information from Kalbar that should have been available when the Expert Conclaves took place.
UPDATE 20TH APRIL 2021 – There has been a deluge of documents loaded on the the IAC site today. Expert conclave reports are Documents 233 Traffic and Transport, 234 Radiation and Human Health, 235 Centrifuges, 236 and 237 Rehabilitation, 238 Ecology. It seems there is a fair bit of agreeing to disagree.
UPDATE 16TH APRIL 2021 – more documents have been added including information about soil infiltration.
UPDATE 1ST APRIL 2021
The document list as of April 1st includes correspondence to IAC from heavy metals and radiation expert, Andrew Helps and an email from Kalbar’s lawyers in response to the concerns raised. See documents 219 (the Panel requesting a response to Mr Helps’ emails, 219 a-f (Mr Helps emails), and 220 (Kalbar’s response). Mr Helps expressed concerns about the physical capability of the centrifuges to cope with inconsistencies in the ore body, and Kalbar’s failure to publish a Radionuclide Carcinogenicity Slope factor table for the ore body. Evidently that table is one of the first things that should be compiled for any mine. Mr Helps is also concerned about the possibility of explosion of some of some of the elements in the ore body when temperatures exceed 20°. He is also concerned that a number of the highly toxic elements in the orebody have not been identified by Kalbar’s consultants.
We notice in Kalbar’s response that they didn’t even identify the document number of their radiation expert correctly (it should be 72). Interesting excuses for not using USEPA recommended slope factors, and interesting ‘duck shoving’ on to DHHS and the ‘regulatory experts’ if SGS didn’t do the assessments properly. (Can just hear all the barriers being raised as those bureaucrats notice they’ve just been placed firmly in the legal firing line if Mr Helps’ dire predictions come to pass.) Kalbar have put forward some fairly unconvincing arguments as to why they haven’t adopted more stringent methodology for assessing radiation and re-reading the EES radiation report again raises significant concerns as to its rigour. Certainly the reasoning behind excluding some contributing factors seem very questionable. This will be an interesting space to watch. However, this is not just an academic exercise – people’s lives are at risk.
The document list also contains and updated ‘clean’ copy of the Amended Draft Work Plan (197a). As noted by one of the attendees at the Directions Hearing, the original document (197) was appallingly amateurish and confusing and made it impossible to work out what Kalbar have in mind. The clean copy is easier to read and confirms the suspicion that Kalbar themselves may be confused about what they’re going to be doing.
UPDATE 29TH MARCH
As of 12 March there were 202 prehearing documents – half of which were the result of Kalbar’s fanciful claim that the use of centrifuges would overcome their ‘miscalculation’ of water recovery. They are also attempting to use the centrifuge concept to avoid proper scrutiny of the TSF and failure to model the impacts of dam failure (Document 196). There is no justification for them not having the TSF option fully assessed as they would be fully aware that likelihood of centrifuges being feasible, practical, economic and safe are next to zero. It is unconscionable to try to avoid proper scrutiny of the only other option – the tailings dams.
And Kalbar keeps their documents coming. As of 29th March there are 216 on the IAC website. Most of those 216 have come about because of Kalbar’s dramatic introduction of the concept of centrifuges to ‘dewater’ tailings. Those centrifuges use massive amounts of ecotoxic flocculants and nobody knows what effect they will have when buried. The documents are confused and conflicting and once again Kalbar appears to be making plans up on the run.
Worse still they are being allowed to get away with it and, if it weren’t for MFG and the Shire there would be no scrutiny of any of their hare-brained ideas.
What happened to the Technical Reference Group which was supposed to provide the community a measure of assurance that the proposed mine was receiving some, albeit at times not very adequate, level of review.
Kalbar is abusing the EES process and the people they want to inflict this dangerous and unnecessary mine on. The situation has been made doubly worse because by its refusal to allow interrogation of the tailings storage facility as well as the centrifuges, the IAC has left it open for those rogues to revert to the tailings storage facility through the Variation to Work Plan process, without any opportunity for community consultation or technical scrutiny.
Document lists as of 1 April 2021
TABLED DOCUMENTS