Dear Editor,- Response to GCM test pit.
Aquifers at depths of six to 10 metres are underground reservoirs that perform a crucial role in the Lindenow Valley: they store water from the surrounding mountains in times of plentiful rainfall and release it to replenish rivers, creeks, and soils during periods of drought. The aquifers’ natural function has been central to sustaining the region’s food production and their unique qualities have made Lindenow Valley a vital food bowl for Victoria and beyond.
With the arrival of Gippsland Critical Minerals who intend to run 45 metre pits to harvest mineral sands, the region faces the possibility that its drought-proof character — a quality engineered by nature and cherished by generations — may be sacrificed for the fleeting profits of industry. Initially GCM intend to excavate a 20-metre-deep test pit. Even this will potentially impact unfavourably on this sensitive system.
Mining of this scale can change local topography, soil permeability and water retention characteristics. The disruption of aquifers by deep excavations could permanently alter the movement and storage of groundwater. If the shallow aquifers are damaged or drained, the valley’s capacity to resist drought may be lost forever. The consequences would ripple through farming, local ecosystems and downstream waterways, potentially undermining the very qualities that have made Lindenow Valley irreplaceable.
The question is not economic development, but of values and priorities by which a region chooses to define its legacy. Mining interests, driven by the extraction of critical minerals, represent short-term enterprise — a mere two decades in a region that has sustained human life for tens of thousands of years.
Once the pits are exhausted and the miners have departed, the valley, which can never be fully rehabilitated, will be left to reckon with altered landforms, lost aquifers and a diminished capacity to sustain the agricultural abundance upon which so many depend.
Yours etc.,
Chas Becket, Eastwood.
