Hills groups slam ‘thundering’ drilling noise around Bird in Hand gold mine site during Terramin investigation works
ADELAIDE Hills businesses protesting plans for a mine near Woodside say investigation works are already sending “thundering” noise across their district.
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ADELAIDE Hills businesses protesting plans for a mine near Woodside say investigation works are already sending “thundering” noise across their district.
Bird in Hand winery general manager Jared Stringer said Terramin Australia — which is planning a new operation at the historic Bird in Hand gold mine — had been drilling wells nearby as part of investigation works for the project.
“When they started up, I thought there was an aeroplane when I got out of the car,” Mr Stinger said.
“When you think this is what it could be like for seven years — two years building it and five years mining it, day in and day out … it was quite shocking for our staff and some of our guests.”
The Environment Protection Authority and Department of Energy and Mining measured noise on site this week, deeming it within ‘rural industry parameters.
It followed a video posted on the Keep Woodside Mine Free Facebook page, which has been viewed by 27,000 people.
“We had people here sitting out on the terrace at Bird in Hand who actually moved inside because it was such a thundering noise coming down the valley,” Mr Stringer said.
He said the mining project was putting a cloud over his business’s $20 million expansion project, which includes a new office, cellar door, function room and restaurant.
Terramin plans to develop a new underground operation at the historic mine, with the ore to be trucked to Strathalbyn for processing.
But the site is surrounded by agricultural interests including Bird in Hand winery, Artwine, and the Petaluma Winery. They are concerned about a range of potential environmental problems including the operation’s impact on groundwater.
Jim Franklin-McEvoy, chairman of the Inverbrackie Creek Catchment Group, which opposes the project, was concerned about the impacts once mining started.
“It’s going to be a magnitude of inconvenience if they actually start drilling some rock,” Mr Franklin-McEvoy, a livestock producer, said.
“When the mine itself is operational, it will be 24/7.”
Mr Franklin-McEvoy understood major works would begin on-site in late 2019.
His group least year released a report, which it said showed nearly $800 million in gross state product and 772 jobs in the Adelaide Hills region lie within a 5km radius of the mine, and could be threatened by the mining project — a claim Terramin disputed.
Terramin Australia chief executive Richard Taylor said the company was drilling, with the government’s approval, to make way for water wells to test the site’s suitability for managed aquifer recharge.
That method involves water being recharged into aquifers either for recovery or to benefit the environment.
Mr Taylor said drilling water bores created “some daytime noise”. During the mine’s operation, the company did not plan to drill any water bores.
Terramin’s environment and community manager, Matt Daniel, said a regulator from the Department for Energy and Mining, and officers from the EPA attended the water bore drill site on Tuesday, finding the drilling was “within the EPA ‘rural industry’ parameters”.
“Terramin welcome the opportunity to continue to work with the community on clarifying how a future mining operation compares with existing activities such as water bore drilling and other agricultural activities,” he said.