In the long campaign to gain a ban on the process of Fracking (a destructive drilling process to extract fossil gas from the ground), a key argument used was that as a densely populated state that is heavily reliant on intensive agriculture, there was simply no room in Victoria for fracking. In the current struggles against critical minerals mine projects, a similar argument could be used.
Across north western Victoria, massive critical minerals developments threaten farming, landscapes, local economies and ground and water supplies.
There are five main projects currently planned in the north west. These mines will impact important cropping food production zones, where cereals (such as wheat, barley and oats), oilseeds (such as canola) and pulses (such as lentils, faba beans and chickpeas) are all produced for local consumption and export.
It is the same in East Gippsland, where Gippsland Critical Minerals is seeking to develop the Fingerboards Project, which will have an enormous impact on an important food bowl, right next to the Mitchell River. The vegetable growing area is likely the third most significant horticultural centre in the state.
FoE recently visited community members from around the Fingerboard project and met with representatives from Mine Free Glenaladale, to hear about their concerns with the project.
The main point is that this is not a new project: the community has been resisting a proposed mineral sands mine in the area around The Fingerboards in East Gippsland for around 13 years. They are now facing a new version of the same old project being put forward as a new proposal.
In the previous iteration of the proposal there was an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) process carried out, which found that the location was unsuitable for large scale mining. As was noted in the government announcement at the end of the EES process, the Minister’s assessment concluded that the environmental effects of the project were unacceptable. However, the mine proponent has ignored this finding and is pushing ahead with a new assessment process.
What is wrong with this project?
In summary,
- It will bring unacceptable risks to a key vegetable producing area, including the risk of contamination by radioactive dust
- It can be expected to impact on local nature based tourism
- It will use large volumes of water and produce large volumes of contaminated water and potentially impact local ground water
- It will lead to significant loss of remnant indigenous vegetation
The proposed mine is located near Glenaladale, between Stratford and Bairnsdale and about 20 kilometres north-west of Bairnsdale, and will directly impact one of the most important intensive horticulture areas in the state. It is intended to produce heavy rare earths, including dysprosium, terbium and zircon through a process of open cut mining which will remove top soils to allow the soil containing the rare earths to be mined.
The proposed mining licence area is around 2,040 hectares, of which around 1,900 ha will be directly disturbed by the mine. It sits in an area immediately above a major vegetable growing area which relies on the Mitchell River for water. The alluvial soils found around the river are perfect for intensive horticulture and production of lucerne. Literally tonnes of vegetables are shipped from the river flats each day to supermarkets around the state and along the eastern seaboard of Australia.
The operation will see strip mining of the hills above a section of the river flats, with a new ‘buffer zone’ intended to protect nearby vegetable farming. However, the buffer zone is only around 1.5km, while the previous EES found that the fine contaminating dust can travel for tens of kilometres. There is low tolerance in the community for contamination of food such as vegetables and there is a real risk that spread of fine contaminated dust could dramatically impact on the reputation of food produced in the area. During hearings for the previous mine proposal EES, Associate Professor Gavin Mudd from RMIT University told the public hearing that the uranium levels from the mine would be of a similar magnitude to those found in commercial uranium mines. Busch Organics is located in the area likely to be impacted and is one of Australia’s leading organic vegetable production businesses. One of their properties is directly below the proposed mine site. On the next ridge beyond the intensive growing area on the river flats sits the open air water supply for the town of Bairnsdale.
And according to local group Mine Free Glenaladale, if approved the new version of the mine will still see the largest vegetation clearance of any recent development in Victoria. The mine will operate for 22 years, impacting farming operations for more than two decades in a time when climate change impacts will increasingly put pressure on our food security. It just doesn’t make any sense to approve such a large scale mine so close to an incredibly significant food growing area.
The Mitchell River, which winds between the mine site and the zone of intensive agriculture, is the state’s last large remaining undammed river. The Mitchell and the Perry River (part of which passes through the proposed mine site) flow into the Ramsar listed Gippsland Lakes and wetlands, and mining will take place in their catchments.
If this mine should go ahead in spite of there being so many arguments against it, it could mean further mining for mineral sands across East Gippsland and could impact forest areas which are covered by mining leases. It will mean we have to face yet another fight for the forests.
While proponents of critical minerals mines often claim that we ‘need’ these mines if we are to further develop renewable energy, the company involved in this proposal is a member of the Defence Industrial Base Consortium, meaning any minerals produced will likely be used by the US defence industry, not in renewables.
What is the status of the project?
It is currently undergoing a new environmental effects statement process.
In December 2025, Resources Victoria announced it had approved an exploration work plan for GCM to undertake a mining and rehabilitation trial on a small section of land covered by the retention license held by the proponent.
The trial is scheduled to run for about seven months. It involves the construction of a demonstration pit with the aim of replicating key elements of the proposed project’s operational life cycle from extraction (i.e. removal of mineral sands) through to rehabilitation. There are already concerns being raised about dust from this small test pit blowing across the vegetable growing area.
The Federal Government also determined in May 2026 that the project is a “controlled action” under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC). This means the project requires State and Commonwealth approval before it can proceed.
Mine Free Glenaladale are working to stop the new version of the mine.
Find out more and take action here
You can find out more about these projects here.
You can support the call for a moratorium on all critical minerals projects across Victoria here.
Support Mine Free Glenaladale
You can find their website here.
