Controversial Fingerboards Mineral Sands Mine Proposal

Fingerboards Mineral Sands Mine Proposal

What’s Happening and Why It Matters

August 2025 | GunaiKurnai Country

The Fingerboards mineral sands mine was a proposal by Kalbar Operations Pty Ltd to construct a 1,675 hectare open cut mineral sands mine at Glenaladale 20km north west of Bairnsdale. The open cut mine was proposed for construction nearby highly fertile farmland, threatening a major Australian food bowl. It is also adjacent to the heritage-listed Mitchell River, which flows into the internationally significant wetlands of the Gippsland Lakes.

EJA and EG Shire Council Stepped Up to Support Concerns

Environmental Justice Australia represented Mine-free Glenaladale at public hearings to protect the community from the harm of a mineral sands mine in this location. East Gippsland Shire Council also took on the broad community concerns and invested heavily to represent the community in a response to the Environment Effects Statement.

Minister Finds Risks Unacceptable

In 2021, after seven years of on-the-ground campaigning, months of public hearings, and hundreds of public submissions, the Victorian Minister for Planning assessed the environmental effects of the Fingerboards mineral sands mine as unacceptable.

This was a significant win for the Gippsland community, the environment and the result of tireless efforts from community group Mine-Free Glenaladale and the Environmental Justice Australia legal team.

Rejected, Rebranded, and Back Again: Fingerboards Mine Resurfaces

Unbelievably, in October 2024, Resources Victoria renewed two retention licences and one exploration licence for this same controversial Fingerboards Mineral Sands mine. The company behind the proposal, formerly known as Kalbar Resources, rebranded in 2023 as Gippsland Critical Minerals (GCM) and it remains the same entity with the same ABN. A new CEO was also appointed.

Rebranding Doesn’t Equal Consent

As part of the licence renewal, Gippsland Critical Minerals was given 12 months to rescope the previously rejected Kalbar project. In reviewing these reports, Resources Victoria state they are "looking for evidence of genuine engagement with the community and Traditional Owners." To date, poorly attended public consultation sessions, have been marked by well-attended protests by community outraged by this proposal back on the table.

Once again, despite overwhelming community opposition and years of stress and uncertainty, the community is being forced to relive this process.

Kalbar rebrands as Gippsland Critical Minerals

Background: Project Rejected in 2021

In 2021, Victoria’s then-Planning Minister, Richard Wynne, rejected the original proposal after an extensive Environment Effects Statement (EES) process. This is only the third time a proposal has been assessed as unacceptable by a Minister under the Environment Effects legislation, which came into effect in 1978.

The mine was found to pose unacceptable risks to:

Agriculture and horticulture
The natural environment and biodiversity
Cultural heritage
Human health
The region’s rivers and lakes

Read the 2021 Minister's scathing assessment and rejection of the Kalbar mine proposal

Read Environmental Justice Australia Press Release 2021: Rejection of Fingerboards mine is the right decision

Read Environmental Justice Australia summary of the rejected proposal

Read Gippsland Environment Group submission 2020 to the EES for the Kalbar proposal

Watch the 2023 movie MINE-FIELD. The mining invasion of Victoria's rural communities

Redgum plains within the mine footprint | Photo Lisa Roberts 2020

What’s Changed – and What Hasn’t

Gippsland Critical Minerals has made some modifications to the original Kalbar proposal, but serious concerns remain. The changes fail to reduce the significant environmental and community risks, and there continues to be strong local opposition to the proposed mine.

Key Ongoing Concerns

Risk to Waterways

The proposed mine requires vast amounts of water to be extracted from the Latrobe aquifer and/or from the Mitchell River.
There is uncertainty around water availability and allocation of an already constrained resource in a drying climate
The proposed mine risks reducing flows and toxic contamination of waterways and threatens the heritage-listed Mitchell River, the Perry River Chain of Ponds and Perry River, both of which flow into the RAMSAR-listed Gippsland Lakes, a wetland of international significance.

Disruption to Water Systems

Mining will impact the region’s complex hydrology, including groundwater-dependent ecosystems and underground aquifers, which are vital to farming and environmental health.

Major Vegetation Loss

The proposed mine would result in Victoria’s largest vegetation clearance in recent development history, including:

The destruction of hundreds of ancient hollow-bearing red gums
The loss of critically endangered ecosystems within the mine footprint, such as Gippsland Red Gum Plains Grassy Woodland and associated native grasslands - Victoria’s most threatened plant community.
Loss of habitat for threatened species

Destruction of cultural heritage

The proposed mine area includes hundreds of hectares of culturally sensitive area within and adjacent to the mine, most of which has never been thoroughly surveyed. Small areas surveyed across the site found numerous scatters and artifacts. There are scarred and culturally significant trees inside the mine footprint and adjoining roadsides. Read Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation 2020 submission to the EES here.

Dust Pollution

Mining operations generate dust that poses serious risks to:

Agriculture and horticulture
Human health
Local ecosystems

Economic Impact

The proposed mine poses serious threats to the economic base of East Gippsland, including:

Agriculture and horticulture, due to contamination of land and water
Tourism, with toxic run-off to the rivers and lakes
Local businesses that depend on a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment
Overstated economic benefits of the project and understated costs

Take Action – Help Keep Glenaladale Mine-Free

The next few months are crucial, Ministers will be making decisions around this proposal. We need Gippsland to come together again to oppose the Fingerboards mineral sands mine and support Mine-Free Glenaladale.

Here's how you can help:

Join the mailing list:

email minefreeglenaladale@gmail.com

Donate to the campaign:

GoFundMe – Keep Glenaladale Mine-Free

🌐 Visit the website:

minefreeglenaladale.org

👍 Follow & share on Facebook:

Mine-Free Glenaladale

🎥 Watch the movie MINE-FIELD. The mining invasion of Victoria's rural communities

Write to Decision-Makers – Make Your Voice Heard

Let the Ministers below know how you feel about the decision to renew Kalbar’s (now Gippsland Critical Minerals) retention licences. Share your concerns and demand accountability.

Here are some key points you may wish to include in your message:

Question the decision by Resources Victoria to renew the licences for a project that was already rejected due to serious risks.
Ask why the government is ignoring former Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s scathing 2021 assessment, which found the Fingerboards proposal posed unacceptable threats to the environment, health, and local industries.
Express your frustration that the community is being forced to relive this process, despite overwhelming opposition and years of stress and uncertainty.
Make it clear that a name change from Kalbar to Gippsland Critical Minerals does not change the fundamental problems with the project
Reject the spin—no amount of marketing can hide the fact that this mine is environmentally destructive and threatens to undermine East Gippsland’s major industries.
Remind them what’s at stake: our clean water, thriving environment, and a local economy built on sustainable agriculture, horticulture, and tourism.