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Mine Free Glenaladale, November 2025
This letter is in response to Letter to the Editor – Gippsland Critical Minerals responds to Mine Free Glenaladale, published on ARR.News on 20 November 2025.

A spokesperson for Mine Free Glenaladale, Ms Robyn Grant, said she was surprised at Mr Harrington’s comments in the Australian Rural and Regional News on 20^th November.

She said, “Mick Harrington had gone from wood cutter, singer, electorate officer and now a mining expert in a matter of weeks. Mick has only recently joined Gippsland Critical Minerals (GCM), the rebranded Kalbar, as their Community and Stakeholder Lead to get the ill-conceived Fingerboards mineral sands mine across the line.

“He is simply parroting the same unscientific misinformation and spin that the community has been asked to swallow for the past 12 months, as the failed Kalbar project is rescoped.

“Mick Harrington is extolling the virtues of the proposed mineral sands mine that should not be situated in this sensitive location. GCM are working on the premise; if you say something often enough people will believe it – commonly known as gas lighting.

“The original project by Kalbar Operations was deemed to be unacceptable by the Minister for Planning in 2021 because of the impacts to the environment, surface and ground water, human health, the multi-million dollar agricultural and horticultural industries, First Nations Cultural Heritage, and the RAMSAR listed Gippsland Lakes.

“The belief by both Mick Harrington and the company CEO Michelle Wood that there will be no harm to the community from radioactive dust is completely misguided. They are ignoring the fact that they will be CONCENTRATING (heavy mineral concentrates) on site at Glenaladale. Yes the product increases radioactivity in refinement, but it also increases in radioactivity through concentration, this occurs during the initial separation processing (this was acknowledged by experts during the EES Planning Panel in 2021).

“External exposure to radiation to workers and personnel can occur during mining of the ore body, processing and the transport of ore and mineral concentrate.

“Internal exposure can be experienced from inhaling high concentrations of radioactive material in dust and inhalation of radon gas released from minerals during mining and processing.

“Potential exposure pathways to members of the public include offsite releases of dust or radon gas, contamination of food and water supplies and the disposal of tailings.”

Ms Grant added, “Mick Harrington is also ignoring the triggering of Nuclear Actions as a Matter of National Environmental Significance following Kalbar’s original referral, the GCM proposal is under the same requirements.

“During the Environmental Effects Process (EES) one radiation expert stated that exposure to ANY additional radioactivity is harmful.

“Mick has not mentioned that silica dust will be present, which could pose a risk to human health as it is a known carcinogen.

“The fallacy that a 1.5 kilometre buffer on one side of the project area will stop the dust from contaminating the large horticultural area in the Lindenow Valley is just ludicrous.  As is the claim by GCM that extending the mine life from 15 years to 22 years will lessen people’s exposure to noise, dust and truck traffic.

“Mick Harrington dismisses the fact that flocculants can cause harm and will affect aquatic life. If he cared to read the material data sheets on these products they state they are toxic to fish and aquatic life. The concentrations for use in agriculture and in water supplies are many times lower than the concentrations used in mining.

Ms Grant commented, “On one hand Mick Harrington states that chemical flocculants will be used and then contradicts this by saying separation of the ore will be a simple mechanical process using only sand, water and gravity. If flocculants are used and tailings are filled back into the 40 metre deep mine voids then leaching of these chemicals will occur into waterways.

“Mick Harrington mentions that recently completed tailings test work was carried out by geochemical specialists at the NATA laboratories in Perth. The results of this cannot be taken as gospel, as it depends on many factors, including the information the testing specialists were given; were they provided with dispersive soil samples, and informed of the shallow aquifers and the complex interactions of ground water and the river systems?

“He is also of the opinion that GCM is operating at a higher standard of community engagement than Kalbar. Mine Free Glenaladale and the community beg to differ. There was little early engagement especially with those who will be directly affected by the mine, with little transparency of information; reports haven’t been available to the public, questions about the project have gone unanswered and GCM have refused to hold a public meeting citing safety concerns. This has been very frustrating for the community that was encouraged to engage.

“Support for the project has mainly been from those who have received grants and sponsorship such as local sporting and community groups. The sum of $130,000 has been given in small grants, with the Bairnsdale Chamber of Commerce and industry having received $10,000 in sponsorship. The president, Trevor Hancock, has been very vocal about his support for the mine.

“Buying support for the mine is the nature of the game and shouldn’t be viewed as community consultation.

“The community now has the confirmation from Mick Harrington that there will be dust, with the installation of dust monitors. Once the dust monitors are triggered at a certain point it is too late to pause or reduce work at the site, and adverse affects of dust would have already occurred.

“He states that ‘storm water will be managed with engineered dams that are inspected annually by an independent dam safety auditor.’

”The dispersive soils in the Glenaladale area tend to cause dam failures. This was accepted as evidence by the Planning Panel in 2021* and that Kalbar had not conducted a dam failure analysis. GCM has not released information relating to storm water management and how sediment contaminated water will be prevented from impacting the local waterways.”

*“…dam failure …. Consequences would likely to be severe for the local environment, downstream landowners and the Gippsland Lakes” (Planning Panel Victoria 2021, 306).

“Mick Harrington is relating jobs growth in the area to the proposed mine, stating that “hundreds of jobs will be created during construction followed by more than 300 ongoing roles during operations.”

“The community is a little puzzled by these job numbers as 200 jobs were predicted for the original project and now the mining and processing area is to be reduced by 27 per cent, and we see job numbers have increased by at least 50 per cent for a smaller sized project.”

 Ms Grant added, “these numbers don’t add up and on Appian’s (major investor in GCM) website the number of jobs is still 200. Mick also totally ignores the thousands of jobs which will be at risk in horticulture, agriculture and ancillary industries and in tourism, if adverse affects from the mine are felt in the region.

“He mentions that workers from the timber and energy sectors could be part of the mine workforce but they are not really local as many would come from the Latrobe Valley or further afield. These workers would put an extra strain on the availability of housing in East Gippsland.

“The statement by Mick Harrington that GCM’s local procurement policy gives Gippsland businesses a genuine first opportunity when they meet safety and quality standards is a nice motherhood statement without saying very much. The community has no assurance that reasonable safety and quality standards will be set at a level to allow local businesses the opportunity to supply the mine. The reality is that most of the purchases will be from businesses already geared up to supply the mining industry – not locals.

Ms Grant said that “with Mick Harrington’s background in music perhaps this time he has turned up for the wrong gig. He refuses to acknowledge the groundswell of resentment against a proposed mineral sands mine in the community.

“No, Mick Harrington, not everyone wants this gig.”

Previous letters: Letter to the Editor – Concerns for the Victorian Government’s push for critical minerals: Mine Free Glenaladale; Letter to the Editor – Gippsland Critical Minerals responds to Mine Free Glenaladale