Ralph De Lacey faces trial for alleged environmental breaches
The former managing director of failed resources company Aurora Metals has faced a raft of environmental allegations relating to a Mount Garnet tin mine.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The former managing director of failed resources company Aurora Metals has faced a raft of environmental allegations relating to a Mount Garnet tin mine.
Ralph De Lacey, 78, has pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of contravening an environmental protection order and eight counts of contravening an environmental protection authority.
Charges heard before Magistrate Jakub Lodziak this week centre around tailings storage facilities at the Aurora Metals tin mine at Mount Garnet before the collapse of the company in June 2023.
At the time of administrators being appointed, Aurora Metals owed creditors up to $170m, including $3.4m to hundreds of workers and $18m in unpaid royalties to the state government.
According to the Department of Environment, charges against Mr De Lacey relate to the alleged failure of Aurora Metals to provide financial assurance for the mining site, to meet mining site design storage allowance, and to comply with an environmental protection order.
The court heard hours of evidence from Mr De Lacey between Monday and Wednesday.
Questions by Crown prosecutor Michael Nicolson focused on the financial difficulties of Aurora and a lengthy dispute between the company and earthmoving firm Coleman Contracting, which had been hired to build a tailings storage facility known as a TSF.
A TSF is an engineered dam-like structure designed to safely store often toxic waste material produced during the mining process.
Department of Environment compliance officer Richard McLay told the court he conducted site inspections of the Mount Garnet mine to investigate compliance with an environmental protection order issued March 21, 2023.
Specifically looked at was compliance of the tailings storage facility (TSF1) and whether the dam complied with design storage allowance (DSA) guidelines.
“The department had concerns about water management on the site,” Mr McLay said.
“We raised concerns that design storage allowance had not been met for TSF1.”
Mr McLay told the court leading into the 2022 wet season the TSF1 was non-compliant.
The Environment Department received an email tip through the pollution hotline in December 2022 and during a second site visit the court heard Mr De Lacey told Mr McLay time frames proposed by the department for the completion of a second TSF were not able to be met.
An interim report by Aurora on April 14, 2023, noted delays due to extreme rainfall and contractual disputes with dam builder Coleman Contracting.
John Coleman, whose company won a $4.7m contract to build a second tailings dam known as TSF2 at the Mount Garnet mine, told the court there was not enough non-acid-forming rock on site to build the TSF, which was disputed by Mr De Lacey.
Mr Coleman testified in court of an ongoing struggle to be paid, alongside claims of undisclosed potentially acid forming rock or PAF, clay contaminated with organic matter, rocks being out of spec and a dispute over a plan to reduce the size of the dam.
“They were winging it,” Mr Coleman said.
“There was not enough material to do the job, there were no haul roads or plans or design and they were still working on it.
“Everything was exhausted and they didn’t have money to pay for the fuel, they were behind everywhere. They even ran out of food at the pub.”
At the centre of Mr De Lacey’s defence was the “drip feeding” of a series of multimillion dollar payments to Aurora from Chinese financiers OUF Holdings and Cyan Stone.
“That was a huge strain on me personally to deal with creditors chasing money all the time to get those debts paid,” he said.
“I had shares that were worthless and I had put every penny I owned in.”
At one point during the third day of the trial in response to highly detailed questions about the availability of PAF rock needed to complete the TSF2, defence barrister Joseph Jacobs raised an objection with Magistrate Lodziak.
“(Mr Nicolson) is badgering the witness, (Mr De Lacey) has answered the questions put to him,” he said.
After the objection, the prosecutor was allowed one more question by the magistrate before agreeing to pursue a new line of questioning.
Mr De Lacey said extensive effort had gone into sourcing the right rock needed for construction of the dam wall.
“There was ample rock available (but) it became obvious that there was difficulty cutting and dealing with the larger rock,” he said.
“I then looked for other alternatives to provide another way of doing things.”
Also raised during the trial on Wednesday were Chinese loans to Consolidated Tin Mining, also under the directorship of Mr De Lacey, which went into voluntary administration in 2016 owing more than $50m.
Mr De Lacey was quizzed about a story published by the Cairns Post in 2020 featuring former Consolidated Tin Mining workers and their fight for thousands of dollars owed in unpaid wages and superannuation with a photograph of former employees wearing hi-vis shirts.
Mr De Lacey said a “disgruntled employee fabricated the story” about being owed money when the company collapsed.
“(The worker) has taken Consolidated Tin Mining shirts and dressed her brother and other people up and staged a story that Cairns Post then reported,” he said.
At the end of the session on Wednesday no verdict was reached and the trial is expected to reconvene in July.
More Coverage
Originally published as Ralph De Lacey faces trial for alleged environmental breaches
CUF limbo: Calls for government to commit to additional shipyard funding
Cairns advocacy groups and leaders are calling on the state government to commit to additional funding for Cairns’ major shipyard project after the state government claimed Labor left them $422m over budget.
Old Snake seeks answers on Taipans proposed sale
A former Cairns Taipans skipper has called on the club’s hierarchy to outline the terms of its proposed sale as the publicly-owned club seeks to secure a private backer in a bid to remain competitive with its NBL rivals.
Rundown Cooktown hospital a priority as LNP works to deliver on ‘rescue’ plan
Desperately needed services at Cooktown hospital will be restored with health minister Tim Nicholls pledging to put an end to the “years of neglect” the community has endured during a visit to southern Cape York this week.
Qld city on track to break record for domestic violence breaches
After almost 1000 breaches were recorded in the first four months of 2025 in Cairns, police say the issue requires a whole-of-community response.
Parents rejoice! Beloved children’s festival returns to Far North
The much-loved Cairns Children’s Festival returns this weekend with a packed schedule full of activities to keep your kids entertained, for at least a few hours.
‘Don’t think it’s suitable’: Objection raised to planned pet crematorium
Concerns have been raised over a proposal to set up a new pet crematorium at a disused neighbourhood vet surgery but the applicant says there will be no flames or smell of burning fur.