A regional Victorian court has fined global mineral mining company Sibelco $400,000 for exposing four workers to silica dust, resulting in silicosis diagnoses of three men.

Sibelco, which has businesses all over the world, was charged with two counts of failing to provide a safe workplace for the men, who were regularly exposed to "plumes" of silica dust when handling pallets at a Lang Lang quarry in eastern Victoria.

Kevin Weekes was diagnosed with silicosis in 2019, with his doctor phoning him at work to tell him to get his affairs in order. 

He had worked in quarries for 28 years and was made redundant months later.

"I went home that day and shared the devastating news with my wife. 

"My life felt hopeless."

Once an active man who loved hiking with his daughter, Mr Weekes now struggles to walk around the block and one day, could not breathe.

"I can't have long conversations without my lips turning purple from lack of oxygen," Mr Weekes said.

"I've developed Raynaud's Syndrome, causing my fingers and toes to suffer from poor circulation. 

"I will most likely never be able to work again and the financial stress is overwhelming."

Plumes of silica dust

The quarry at Lang Lang has since been sold by Sibelco to Holcim, which has installed robots to handle pallets to mitigate exposure.

In sentencing, Magistrate Stephen Lee told the Wonthaggi Magistrates Court the workplace was "inherently dangerous". 

Respirable crystalline silica (RCS), commonly known as silica dust, has been known as a level 1 carcinogen in the industry since 2012.

"Workers described a puff or plume of silica dust escaping at head height at two different stages during the loading process," Mr Lee said.

"With such known risks as RCS, such credible and obvious red flags, and with such high stakes for the workers at the proverbial coal face, it is difficult to fathom how Sibelco took almost four years to introduce automated bagging processes."

The court heard it was five years before robotic loading equipment was brought in.

"Four years and five years to introduce potentially life-saving devices was not good enough," Mr Lee said.

Fine 'a drop in the ocean' 

If the matter had been heard in a higher court, the total fine could have been $2.6 million, but Mr Lee said a jurisdictional limit applied and the most that could be given was $748,000.

Mr Lee handed down fines totalling $400,000 with convictions. 

"Any figure they put on it would never be enough to compensate the way you feel," Mr Weekes told the ABC.

"It still won't help you feel settled within yourself."

Sibelco's general manager in Australia wrote an apology letter, with Mr Lee accepting it was genuine. 

But Mr Weekes said he would have preferred a personal apology, rather than one handed over by lawyers.

"The fact is, they plead guilty but 400k is a day's income for them; it's a drop in the ocean for them really," Mr Weekes said.

"It would have been nice if the apology had come from the company itself [or] a manager, if they had put their hand out themself and said sorry."