Bowdens Silver

I Support the project for many aspects!

Being from a regional area, I know first-hand how important large projects like this are. We need more employment opportunities for young people, and Bowdens Silver will provide many jobs for an area that really needs it.

My family have grown up and live in the local area for over 50 years and within the last 10 years we have seen many businesses closed in Rylstone and Kandos such as the Kandos Cement Works, Charbon Colliery, Maceco and many other smaller businesses. Within that time there hasn't been any new businesses to replace the jobs that have been lost. I fully support any new businesses to the area that offer jobs to the local people, support the community and have minimal impact to the environment.

I object to this project due to the damage it will cause the local environment and following on from that, local industries including food and wine production, dining and tourism.

The Lue area is beautiful and is home to many people and businesses that have worked tirelessly to put Lue and Rylstone on the map. The area produces beautiful wine, world class olive oil and many other quality products including wool, which is currently having a well deserved resurgence in popularity. There are many people who enjoy living in and visiting this area for its pristine environment and world class produce. Visitors come bringing essential money to the local economies of Mudgee, Rylstone and Lue and this will stop if the area is polluted by an open cut mine producing lead dust.

If this mine goes ahead the whole area will be poisoned beyond repair. Grapes and olives will not be able to be used due to lead dust in the air. Animals and humans alike will be poisoned. The water supply (both table water and precipitation), already reduced due to drought, will be poisoned. Even the local creek will be poisoned and this will not be able to be enjoyed in summer any longer. In short, the mine will destroy many local industries and the environment and not benefit the local area in any way. The mine has made clear that no compensation will be made to nearby property owners or businesses for the irreversible damage it will cause.

Furthermore, children at the local schools will be immeasurably impacted by the hundreds of trucks rumbling past their classrooms every day and polluting the air. Businesses and residents along the truck route will also suffer from the noise and particulate pollution.

Bowdens Silver Mine is a project i support. I wish them all the best

I think it is good for Australia to be self sufficient in Silver and any commodity due to present global economic instability.

There is existing a Lue Action Group which is made up of exteremly concerned property owners. This group meets each Tuesday in Lue at 6PM. May I suggest that is would be worthwhile for a member of the NSW Government Major Projects to attend.

With the current unprecedented global economic and political uncertainty, the development of the Bowdens Silver project could not have come at a better time. With the recent pandemic, if the disease is a recession, then the cure is jobs. And with the devastating impact this pandemic has had on jobs, together with increased trade tensions with China, we as a nation need to take steps to increase our sovereignty and personal liberty. This is difficult to do when the only thing maintaing your job during this pandemic is a Jobkeeper payment, curtosy of the taxpayer.

NSW (and more generally Australia), needs projects like these to help us come out of this pandemic induced recession stronger than ever. The jobs and economic activity this proposed Bowdens Silver project will bring to the Mudgee communities will be invaluable in getting us through these tough times. And now with the NSW/VIC border closed, putting even more pressure on local communities in the area, its time we stop focusing on what we’re closing down, and start looking towards supporting the initiatives that want to open up.

Given the above, it is clear we need to support the Bowdens Silver project. As Australians, we need to look towards retooling for a future that involves taking our sovereignty back. And this project is one of many we will need to stay ahead.. before we become the next Vanuatu of the region, and indebted to a ruthless foriegn power.

Daniel G

I support the application for several reasons, the main being the economic benefit and employment opportunities it will bring to the region. Not only will there be 220 + permanent positions created at the mine, this will have a flow on effect to the local community creating even more jobs in the local towns and surrounds. Small businesses will grow as they will supply goods and services to support the mine. Locals will have the option to stay local, instead of having to leave town or travel long distances to obtain work. Apprenticeships, graduate programs and skilled positions with preference given to locals will be on offer. As a mother of a young boy, I want to be assured there are quality employment opportunities for young children growing up in the region. Bowdens Silver already generously support local community groups and sporting bodies and this will only increase with the growth of the company. The local towns, people and surrounds will all benefit. It's a beautiful region to live and work, and I believe it will stay that way due to the extensive rehabilitation programs and responsible mining methods that the company adopts for the duration of the project life.

I know the area well and believe that Bowdens Silver is a much needed major project in terms of employment and prosperity in the region.
Local employment is vital to get these regions on a more sustainable basis.

As a shareholder in Silver Mines Limited I strongly support the project based on the comprehensive EIS noting that Bowdens Silver is controlled by a Board of Directors and management team with a comprehensive range of skills and experience in exploration, mine development, finance and administration.
As the objectives of Bowdens Silver in developing and operating the Project are to maximise the recovery of the silver, zinc and lead minerals from the defined ore reserves within the proposed open cut pits and undertake all activities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner to demonstrate compliance with relevant criteria and satisfy reasonable community expectations.
Also to ensure the health of its workforce and the surrounding community is not adversely affected; preserve the existing character of Lue; maintain a positive relationship with the surrounding agricultural industry and maximise productivity on land retained for agricultural production; provide a stimulus for the Mudgee, Rylstone, Kandos and district economies.

I am writing to object to the proposed development. As a long term resident of the Mid Western Council area, I recognise the profound impact a mine of this nature will have on both the natural environment and the social fabric of the immediate area. My main concerns are as follows:

Lue is a village of about 50 homes and surrounded by about 90 small and larger farms, B&Bs, vineyards, the olive grove and other tourist businesses. 26 kms from Mudgee, 20 kms from Rylstone and 10kms from Windamere Dam.
Lue is less than 2 kms from the mine site.
The mine is open cut, 52ha in size and is in fact a lead mine with lead and zinc making up 99.5% and 0 .5% of silver.
Lead is poisonous and there are no safe levels of lead exposure. It is especially dangerous if exposed to young children.
The lead dust could travel great distances, hundreds of kilometres or further if the wind is in the right direction. Think of the dust storms we experienced in Sydney during the drought, but you won’t see this lead dust, its too fine.
They plan to mine and process 24/7.
The noise will be incredible, blasting, processing, mining machinery and equipment and trucks and traffic on the road.
There will be a Tailings Storage Facility 700m from the creek.
The toxic rock waste will be wrapped in plastic and will be there for eternity, along with the tailings dam full of poisonous sludge. Never to be rehabilitated. Never removed. At Lue forever.
They will be using Cyanide and other poisonous chemicals in the processing plant.
We don’t have much water in our valley, the creek comes from springs, some within the mine site and runoff from rain and we have groundwater bores. Our groundwater and our creek are connected and will both be contaminated by the mining.
Our creek will dry up to a few ponds because they plan to take an average of 806 million litres of rainfall and runoff every year, all the rainfall and runoff from their site. The creek is connected to the mine pit which after mining has ceased will take 200 hundred years to fill and will suck in groundwater to replace any evaporation forever.
Mid Western Regional Council, our local council, will not openly oppose the project, because one of the councillors is employed by Bowdens. Local country politics are a tricky business. The mayor has the best pub in town. Its difficult to get council’s support but surely they must care about the health of the community.
Silver prices are too low for mining to be profitable and demand for silver is dropping. Silver is used in solar panels but if the price increases the manufacturers of solar panels can and will use other products. A big worry is that investors like the super funds, on advice to diversify and offset some other risk, will invest start- up capital and the mine will commence and then be found to be unprofitable after a few years and the miners will just walk away leaving a huge mess. Bowdens are not miners, neither is Silver Mines Limited, their owner. There is a bit of a story behind SVL and its backers and shareholders and some of their previous projects and the way they suck in investors. They have a pretty slick website. The project is supposed to bring jobs to the region but at the expense of all or most of the other jobs in our area.
This project is advertised as the biggest undeveloped silver deposit in world. And that is a terrifying prospect. Lue is not Mexico. Who would want Penasquito at Lue.
This mine will be bad for tourism, farming and for all the people who live in and around Lue. Our children will be poisoned by lead, our water contaminated, the site will never be rehabilitated, the poisonous tailings dam and a pit void full of contaminated water, it will be there forever. 700m from the creek and 2kms from the village. Forever, for eternity.
Lue is in an earthquake hazard zone as in the massive Newcastle earthquake and the earthquake at Newcrest Cadia Mine at Orange…the tailings dam will fail. They all do.
Lead poisoning is irreversible and especially bad for developing children.
This is not a coal mine, it is much much worse.
All the water in Lue and the creek will be acidified and undrinkable.
Lead dust will travel for miles, poisoning rainwater, gardens, animals and people.

Please take these concerns into consideration when ruling on this contravention project,
Yours in good faith,

Bruce Wilson

I am a strong supporter of this project. I have a 35 year association with Mudgee, Lue, Rylstone, Kandos and Ilford. I am a former landholder and continue to spend much time in the areas around the proposed Silver Mines Project.

I have seen the devastation the closure of the Cement Works and Coal Mines have had on the communities and associated infrastructure. . Economically, environmentally and mentally. They are all connected in the context of a viable community. Silver Mines presence will work to address this I feel certain.

I have read silver mines submission and looked at them on the ground.

Kind regards

Tom

The Bowdens Silver project would create new employment opportunities in rural NSW in these tough times. It would also assist in providing taxation revenue to the government which can then be used to support the general community. As such, I fully support this project.

The project will help in boosting our struggling economy. The mine is expected to generate significant economic activity over a 16 year mine life. During construction, the project will create 320 jobs - with a further 228 full time positions once operational. Most of the workforce will live locally and contribute to the region’s community.

After all that the NSW people have gone through supporting the government in our response to COVID - 19 we need confidence that major projects with good community consultation and well thought out Environmental Impact Studies are allowed to proceed.
The growth in jobs, revenue and community benefit for Mudgee and the local area will carry through to Newcastle and the greater region allowing the state to continue to grow on the strength of mining.

This project will help the nsw government as well as the economy

Bowdens Silver has provided financial support to several community groups and events, including the Bullorama, the Rylstone Show Society, Streetfeast and the VRA.
Bowdens Silver have managed their land in an ecologically sustainable way, from their dedication to correctly rehabilitating drill sites to the implementing of effective operations for the control of feral animals and noxious weeds. The EIS indicates that they will continue to maintain their high standards in these areas.

The Bowdens project stands to provide a much needed boost to the local economy, and the company to date has done a commendable job of ensuring that wherever possible, local businesses are engaged and given priority over non-local businesses. Many businesses in the Mudgee area in particular could not exist in any form if it were not for the mining industry.
The mining industry has performed a major role in providing off-farm income for farming families, helping to drought proof farming operations. The land under which the resource deposit exists is nonproductive, non-fertile land. So long as the operation is carried out to the high ecological expectations which the company has laid out, the Bowdens Project can only have a positive effect on the local farming community.

The project will create more jobs and increase infrastructure in the area and be good for the regional community and boost much needed resources to the area.

This will offer employment to the community for a considerable period of time. This mine has the potential to yield a substantial quantity of silver