Environment Protection Authority to monitor Ballarat Gold Mine amid air pollution concerns
A dry stack of tailings at Ballarat Gold Mine. (Supplied: Dora Pearce)
In short:
The EPA is installing air monitors around Ballarat Goldmine after the operators' own monitoring detected numerous instances of potentially harmful air pollutants.
But Ballarat Mine owner Victory Minerals says the possible air pollution was recorded on equipment that was not considered "highly accurate".
What's next?
An expert says off-site monitoring is crucial given the proximity of the tailings storage facilities to houses, schools and an aged-care facility.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will install air monitoring equipment in Ballarat this week over concerns about potentially carcinogenic dust particles blowing into the community from Ballarat Gold Mine.
Internal recording by mine owner Victory Minerals showed the amount of particles, known as PM10 air pollutants, exceeded national levels on nine occasions between January and March this year.
PM10 air pollutants are small enough to enter the lungs and can cause stinging eyes and coughing in healthy people.
More severe symptoms include difficulty breathing and chest tightness in people with heart or lung conditions.
Dora Pearce says locals have reported seeing dust settle in the community. (Supplied: Dora Pearce)
Arsenic and other contaminants
Nearby residents have reported seeing dust particles blowing from the tailings storage facility that holds waste and rubble left over from the extraction of gold.
Tailings at Ballarat Gold Mine are known to contain the carcinogen arsenic and other contaminants that can be harmful to health and the environment.
Ballarat Gold Mine is constructing an additional wet tailings dam after receiving approval from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last year.
While awaiting the construction of the fourth tailings dam, Victory Minerals began "dry stacking" tailings, a process where the tailings were left to dry out.
The entrance to the mine on the edge of suburban Ballarat. (ABC Ballarat: Lexie Jeuniewic)
'Multiple exceedences'
PM10 regulations are set by the National Environment Protection Measure and are policed locally by the EPA.
Dust monitoring conducted onsite by Victory Minerals found "multiple exceedances" in PM10 levels between January and March this year, despite dust suppression and mitigation measures.
On one occasion in March, the recorded PM10 concentration was almost three times the maximum standard.
A Victory Minerals report shows exceedances in PM10 from January to March 2025. (Supplied: Victory Minerals)
In a Victory Minerals environmental review committee report, one resident complained about symptoms after walking her dog near the facility in February.
"You couldn't see the dust, but I could smell and taste it in the air," the resident said in the report.
"After around 100 metres I begun to wheeze."
EPA southwest regional manager Martha-Rose Loughnane said airborne particles could impact the health of surrounding communities if they left the boundary of the mine.
"[The exceedances are] not indicative of community exposure outside the mine site," she said.
"However, recorded exceedances demonstrate that Victory Minerals may not be managing their dust onsite.
"Given the potential harm to human health, and the exceedances recorded, EPA will be deploying air monitoring equipment in the surrounding community starting this week."
The year-long monitoring program will focus on areas closest to the new tailings dam and will help determine whether dust particles are travelling beyond the mine site.
Dora Pearce has been scrutinising the Ballarat Gold Mine tailings dam. (ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
Serious concerns
Dora Pearce, a retired environmental epidemiologist, is concerned about the environmental and health impacts of the tailings storage facilities.
She led the community's unsuccessful fight calling for a review of VCAT's decision to approve the goldmine's tailings dam, and said she was relieved the EPA was installing the air monitoring system.
"We are extremely pleased that the EPA has responded to concerns about potential health impacts from fine particulate dust emissions," Dr Pearce said.
"Gold-mining dust is known to contain arsenic, sulphur, respirable crystalline silica and heavy metals, so any fine particles that are wind-dispersed offsite could put the surrounding community at increased risk of respiratory diseases, including asthma, and cancer."
She said the residential community surrounding Ballarat Gold Mine included schools, childcare centres and an aged care facility.
"While the potential for dust arising from the construction site of the fourth tailings storage facility near Whitehorse Road exists, dust emissions from air-dried tailings on the third tailings facility and the northern dry stack are more worrying, because of the high arsenic, sulphur and heavy metal concentrations they could contain," Dr Pearce said.
The existing Ballarat Gold Mine tailings storage facility, known as TSF3, is at capacity. (Supplied: City of Ballarat)
Results not 'highly accurate' says mine
Victory Minerals CEO and general manager, Dale Rogers, said the company was "absolutely focused on ensuring the best environmental performance and monitoring at the mine site", and had extended its sprinkler system to further suppress dust, particularly during summer.
But Mr Rogers said the exceedances were detected with equipment that was not considered "highly accurate".
"These types of gauges have been used for decades and are not regarded as highly accurate by today's industry standards," he said.
"Victory Minerals has installed state-of-the-art digital real-time monitors around the perimeter of the mine site at the boundary of the mine's activities and the exceedance was not reflected in the readings of the newer, more accurate equipment."
He said Victory Minerals was investigating the discrepancy.
The EPA's new air monitoring system will begin collecting data in the coming weeks, which will be publicly available on EPA Victoria's website.