The Victorian government has given the green light to environmental plans for two mineral sands mines in western Victoria, despite opposition from farmers.
Victoria's Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny revealed on Tuesday she had approved the Environment Effects Statement (EES) for the Goschen Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project near Swan Hill and the WIM Resource Avonbank Mineral Sands Project near Horsham with some operational guidelines.
The Goschen mine, proposed by company VHM Limited, will be located 35 kilometres south-west of Swan Hill and 275km north of Melbourne, covering 1,479 hectares of agricultural land.
The WIM Resource Avonbank mine covers 3,426 hectares near Dooen, about 10km north-east of Horsham, where the Chinese-backed company is proposing to dig up 12.75 million tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate that includes critical minerals.
Both mines plan to produce rare earth elements, zirconium and titanium-rich minerals — elements used to produce batteries, medical devices and electric vehicles.
The mines still need work plans to be approved by the government before they can start operating.
Farmers concerned about Goschen mine
Lalbert farmer Craige Kennedy said he was concerned about the effect of the mine on his community.
He gave evidence to an independent panel assessing the mine in April, where he raised concerns about the impact of noise, dust, and the radioactivity of the mineral concentrate on people, animals, groundwater and crops.
"The effects on human health and regional communities haven't really been considered," Mr Kennedy said.
Craige Kennedy says he is concerned about the effect of the mine on his community. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Francesco Salvo)
"We are concerned for our community and district, but also for the whole of regional Victoria.
"We discovered [when we read the report] that it has really brushed aside the evidence we produced, the experts who put up evidence regarding rare earth mineral concentration, any science and engineering into groundwater movements."
The ABC understands the Victorian government's decision to approve the mine was sent as an online link to one landholder near the Goschen project 24 hours before the official announcement, only for the document to be taken down.
Wimmera farmers 'blindsided'
Dooen landholder Dean Johns said many farmers were "blindsided" by the news.
“A lot of people were wondering if this was real,” Mr Johns said.
“I’ve literally had phone calls today with people crying over the phone to me.”
Farmers affected by the Avonbank project told the ABC last month they had received phone calls from WIM Resources saying the mine had been approved, but the Victorian government said the project was still "under review".
Dean Johns says farmers are devastated. (ABC News: Peter Healy)
Mr Johns criticised the timing of the announcement as recent rains had made harvest difficult for local farmers.
“Everybody is on edge anyway because of harvest and to throw this in, it’s not good, not good at all," he said.
“The human aspect of [the assessment] is nearly non-existent.
“There’s real people involved here and yes, there’s real nature as well and that’s fair enough, but the real people factor hasn’t been addressed at all.”
Mr Johns says the 600 page EES documents fail to include the mental health of landholders. (ABC Wimmera: Gillian Aeria)
Fellow Dooen farmer Gavin Puls said he was “pretty pissed off” at the decision and its timing after doing 20-hour days harvesting his crop.
He said he had not had time read the decision.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, I’m just trying to get this crop off before rain ruins it,” Mr Puls said.
“I’m flat out trying to feed the nation let alone trying to bloody read stuff from the government.”
Mining companies celebrate
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), VHM said it was pleased with the government's endorsement of the planned mine's ESS, which put the company in a favourable position.
“VHM's achievement in obtaining ministerial endorsement of Goschen’s EES is a major step forward in the initiation of a new rare earth and minerals sands project in Victoria," chief executive Ron Douglas said.
WIM Resource director John Bradley said in a statement the Avonbank project would deliver economic benefits to the Wimmera region and Victoria, supporting 967 full-time jobs over the 30 year life of the mine.
"[The mine] will inject $15 billion in gross revenue across a range of industries, and $3.5 billion in gross state product within the Wimmera Southern Mallee region," Mr Bradley said.
Critical minerals roadmap
The announcement comes one day after Victorian Energy and Resources Mininster Lily D'Ambrosio announced changes to the way the Victorian government assessed critical minerals mining projects.
Ms D'Ambrosio said the government would slash the time for proposed mines to be approved from an average of three years to 18 months, and revealed the government would classify certain regions as Priority Critical Minerals Development Zones.
Ms D'Ambrosio said the government would put consultation at the heart of all future rare earth and minerals sands projects and develop a "community benefit sharing framework," which would start next year.
Lily D'Ambrosio has announced a new critical minerals road map for Victoria. (Supplied: Channel 9)
"We're going to get in early with local communities where we know that there are prospective resources of critical minerals, we want to hear from communities really early on in the process," she said.
"We want to understand what are the agricultural values … the environmental values, and what are the social community values."