Lue Action Group

Kingsgate Silver Mine will change Lue forever!

The Proposed Mining project at Lue:

Kingsgate Consolidated Limited plan to develop a large open cut silver mine on the their landholdings only 1.5kms from the village of Lue. The site is located on Maloneys/Bara Rd and currently 288ha in size. KCL purchased the site in late 2011.

If approved:

The open pit will initially be 1km in diameter and 300metres deep.

The company plan a 24 hour /7 day operation (non-stop).

Blasting will occur 6 days a week.

Large volumes of Lead and Zinc will also be mined on site (in reality a far larger actual volume Lead than Silver).

The current value of the developed resource to Kingsgate and their shareholders is 3 billion dollars ($3,000,000,000). Projections by commodity experts suggest a potential resource value of more than 15 billion dollars ($15,000,000,000) by 2019.

The Impact of the mine on the residents of Lue and district will be life changing and irreversible.

The Plan: Kingsgate Consolidated Limited plan to develop a large open cut silver mine on the their landholdings only 1.5kms from the village of Lue. The site is located on Maloneys/Bara Rd and currently 288ha in size. KCL purchased the site in late 2011.

If approved the mine will generate massive increases in the following:

Toxins and heavy metals: released into the environment. Mining crushes rock to release the valuable metal locked within the ore. Unfortunately this process also unlocks all of the other minerals and chemical elements as well. Arsenic, Cadmium, Cyanide, Lead and many other toxins that were captive underground and held for billions of years are now released and will migrate to the natural environment to contaminate the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we grow. There is no safe level of lead in the human body. Lead accumulates in our bodies and does not pass through us like some other toxins do. Recent studies in Mt Isa confirm that lead dust fall out is a real and serious threat to the health of the residents of that community. The negative health effects of lead poisoning are permanent. The nervous system, growth and development, cognitive development, behaviour, hearing, vision, the digestive system, immune, renal, blood and circulation systems are all compromised by the ingestion of lead. Add all of the other toxins that will be released into this cocktail and Lue will no longer have the clean, healthy environment that we love.

Noise and underground vibrations: that did not exist prior to the mine development will rise to levels that will be intolerable. One of the many attractions of our beautiful environment is the peaceful, quiet location. Many of us that live here, enjoy the sound of the breeze, the birdsong and other natural sounds. A 24 hour open cut mine operation will replace the sound of nature with noise of machinery, blasting and crushing. The valley around the proposed mine site is a natural amphitheatre. Consider the constant noise of blasting, reversing trucks, the crusher, excavators, bulldozers, traffic entering and leaving the site, reverberating around the valley. 7 days a week.  Think of those still and quiet nights when all you can hear is the occasional bark of the neighbour’s dog. Think of the beautiful silence of the dawn and waking to the sounds of birdsong. The risk of losing the sounds of nature to the noise of mining is real. The closer you live to the site, the louder and more intrusive will be the noise. Lue is a mere 1500ms from the southern boundary of the proposed mine site! There are many homes even closer than that.

Lower Water Quality: Dust containing toxins and metals will be generated by mine activity. The prevailing winds will carry the dust some distance from the site. The dust will settle on rooves and pastures. When it rains the dust will flush into tanks, dams and watercourses to contaminate them. There is no town water in Lue, we rely on tanks, bores and dams for our water needs. Do we really want the mine to contaminate our water supply?  The mine site itself will generate large amounts of run-off after a rain event. The run-off will mobilise the dust and silt. Large piles of waste rock when in contact with rain and air have the potential to set off a chemical chain-reaction known as:

Acid-Metalliferous Drainage.  AMD occurs when crushed rock in piles is rained on. The crushed elements like sulphur that remains in the waste rock oxidises on exposure to air. When rain seeps through the rock it contacts the oxidised chemicals and a chemical reaction occurs. The water and chemicals combine in solution and leach from the bottom of the waste rock pile as sulphuric acid, loaded with dissolved metals like the remaining lead etc. The AMD can then enter the water table and affect all downstream aquatic life and water users. Once the reaction starts it is virtually impossible to control and can continue for hundreds of years.

Major Increases in Heavy Vehicle Traffic. Traffic along the Lue Rd and through the village will rise to unprecedented levels. Moving equipment and supplies to a project of this scale will involve large prime movers and B-doubles. 3 shifts a day, seven days a week and an estimated workforce of 50 per shift will mean another 300 vehicle movements per day as well. Add contractor vehicles coming and going and product leaving the mine daily, an estimate of 400-500 vehicle movements a day is not un-realistic. The Lue road is well known as a dangerous and unsafe road. Many of us have lost family and friends to tragic accidents on this road. The road surface is uneven and pot holed with many blind and negative camber turns, edges are soft and broken. Add frost, rain, fog, ‘roos and wombats into the mix. The Lue road is already severely compromising driver safety and will not cope with a massive increase in traffic. There will, undoubtedly be an increase in road accidents and sadly, more loss of life if this project is approved.