Gunning Solar Farm

Council would like to raise concerns with regards to the adequacy of the information to make an informed assessment and decision and would like to object to the development.

Gunning Solar Electricity Generating Works + BESS - SSD-46668486 Objection

I object strongly to this project on the unassailable solid engineering based ground that solar and wind generation cannot under any circumstances provide steady reliable power to a power grid. The inherent capacity factor averages around 30% and there is no known or potential generation technology anywhere in the world that can provide adequate fill-in generation for solar and wind systems, except coal, gas or nuclear based systems. Accordingly these system should not be built at huge expense to the public purse followed by vast ecological destruction during building and subsequently when these systems fail and hardware has to be disposed of.


Secondly I object strongly to these systems based upon the fact that they rely on mining by child slave labour in under-developed countries.
Australia should NOT support such reprehensible actions.

John McBratney B.Tech (Electronic Engineering)
Telecommunications Engineer (Rtd

I Object to Gunning Solar Electricity Generating Works + BESS - SSD-46668486 because Industrialised Solar + BESS JUNK does not belong on irreplaceable Agricultural Land, is Toxic Contaminating, a Catastrophic Ticking Time Bomb - Toxic Fire/Smoke Hazard Risk, is Unethically Reliant on Torturous Slave Labour Supply Chains & is PATHETIC, INTERMITTENT, UNAFFORDABLE, IMAGINARY POWER WHICH ENSURES VULNERABLE PEOPLE WILL SUFFER & DIE OF HYPERTHERMIA.
Superior Australian Coal & a Nuclear Power future is essential NOT Toxic Solar/Wind/BESS ruination EVERYWHERE!

THIS DESTRUCTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY RISK IS AGAINST OUR WILL WITHOUT OUR CONSENT - WITH NO SOCIAL LICENCE!

I OBJEST to this totally dodgy, unsustainable plan for Environmentally Destructive Gunning Solar Electricity Generating Works & BESS because it would only provide extremely costly, pathetic, part-time power, contaminate our essential food growing land & vital water sources, create a huge pile of toxic waste, cause a glaring visual amenity nightmare, be unethically slave labour based & subject us to Chinese Communist Party Control.

This unnecessary proposal threatens biodiversity. It is ecologically catastrophic for the region.
The Biodiversity Development Assessment Report prepared for the Project concluded that
the Project would result in a direct impact through clearance of native vegetation. The
clearance of native vegetation includes:
• 146.47 ha of BC Act native vegetation.
• 39.42 ha of BC Act Box-Gum Woodland.
However, the Project has been designed for avoidance of areas displaying significant
biodiversity values. The significant biodiversity values included creeks and riparian areas,
areas of native vegetation in the highest condition and an area previously revegetated. The
avoidance measures resulted in retainment of:
• 100% of PCT 3376 Southern Tablelands Grassy Box Woodland EEC under the
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999.
• 60.9% of the PCT 3376 Southern Tablelands Grassy Box Woodland EEC under the
Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
• 50.7% of native vegetation.
Biodiversity offset credits required to be retired by the Project will be satisfied through
payment to the Biodiversity Conservation Fund or purchase from the biodiversity offset credit
market.

I have major concerns regarding the negative visual impact from my property on Lade Vale Road Gunning NSW 2581. My family will clearly see the solar panels from our house and the entertaining area. The current proposed position of the solar panels is a visual concern. I requested further consultation and a visit from a representative of Canadian Solar and there has been no arrangements made for this request.

I am also concerned about the heavy vehicle traffic as we regularly travel on Lade Vale Road between the farm and Yass.

I also have the issue that the value of our property will be negatively impacted, as a result of the proposed solar farm.

I object to solar, wind and battery projects. In my opinion, they will do far more damage to the environment than coal, oil and gas ever did. Beautiful farmland is being destroyed by these toxic projects with no regard to the lasting damage they will do when they no longer work. Toxic chemicals seeping into the land, birds, insects, etc. being killed by wind turbine blades, it is frightening.

I wish to make the following comments on the project:
1. Road access
I am concerned about the impact of an increase in traffic along the Ladevale Road from its intersection with the Gundaroo Road. The road is narrow and dangerous along its course from the Gundaroo Road/Ladevale Road intersection to Hillgrove Road; there are numerous blind corners.
This road is already busy with local traffic: residents, commuters, parents taking children to and from school, school bus service, and mail service. The Ladevale area is predominantly farming, with associated farm vehicles, livestock trucks, fertilizer trucks and agricultural machinery already using the road. I believe it is only a matter of time before a fatal accident may occur.
While I have been informed the majority of the Solar Farm traffic will be travelling to the site from the Hume Highway/Ladevale Road access point, any increase in traffic along the Ladevale Road west of Hillgrove Road/Ladevale Road intersection will exacerbate an already dangerous situation. Who is going to ensure all Solar Farm Development associated traffic only accesses the site via the Hume Highway access point?
The section of the Ladevale Road from the Gundaroo Road/Ladevale Road intersection must be upgraded as part of the Solar Farm Development.
This road upgrade would go a long way towards providing a wider community benefit by improving safety along the road.
2. Removal and Replacement of Trees
I would expect there would be loss of vegetation for roads/access tracks as well as tree clearing for installation of the infrastructure.
Some of these impacts can be offset by providing for revegetation through installing farm paddock trees, shelter belts, visual amenity vegetation screens, fencing out and revegetating riparian areas and eroded gullies, as well as larger areas for offset plantings/native tree plantations. I am interested in discussing these options.
It would be prudent for the developers to contact Gunning District Landcare for information and advice.
3. Community Benefit
It is important that community benefits provided remain in the local Gunning Community. These include:
• road improvements
• trees and shelter belts
• bus shelters for school children
• community benefit fund for a range of community-based activities/projects/events.

4. Impact on the value of my property
My property is located approximately 1.5 kilometres from the development. I believe my property value will be negatively affected due to:
• the visual impact of such a large-scale development
• ongoing increase in traffic movements along the Ladevale Road
• potential fire risk
• impact on my quiet enjoyment of my property.
I would like to discuss compensation options for the expected change in the value of my property.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

My objections to this Solar farm with panels, batteries and associated infrastructure are as follows:
Extensive Solar farms remove agricultural land from the landscape, diminish agricultural production and remove the land from normal public access with all sorts of restrictions.
The land is slowly contaminated by the materials in the panels and by the infrastructure that is required to build and operate the facility.
There is no provision for the restoration of the land to pre-development status or for the costs that would be involved.
The construction places a burden on the district and communities around the project, with few people benefitting and many paying the price personally, both financially and socially. There is also a resulting requirement to host many of the construction workers and to deal with the local skilled trades people being poached from the community.
Most of the crucial materials in the project's construction are imported from overseas and add to our National debt and our reliance on out sourcing.
Solar power is intermittent and requires the battery backup which then consumes more rare earths and unstable elements that eventually, like the panels and supports, add to the massive cost of recycling and safe burial of old, worn out, super ceded and general waste materials. This has to be addressed fully and particularly identifying precisely the bearer of the costs and the standards required.
There have to be better ways to reduce carbon emissions. There are ways of producing electricity, certainly Nuclear power is an option used more and more around the world, that will have far less impact on the physical landscape, that will not require these insidious batteries and construction of thousands of kilometers of new transmission lines. The Department of Planning and Environment has to consider other alternatives before giving the Gunning project any approval.

I object to this project. The cost of converting to renewable energy is astronomical and we simply cannot afford it. It is also obvious that there is no way the world has enough materials to achieve the goal of green energy. We must also consider the fact that we are able to produce more food more cheaply and efficiently because of fossil fuels and until we have a viable alternative we should continue the way we are. I do not believe the science backs up the supposed benefits of renewable energy. We do not want to become a third world country because of our ideological stupidity. We have beautiful agricultural land being covered by unsightly solar panels and wind turbines which incredibly contain materials made from fossil fuels, the very things they seek to replace! Koalas and other native animal habitats are being destroyed to make way for these projects not to mention the birds, insects, etc. killed by the wind turbines. How is that greening Australia? Fossil fuel industries have contributed huge taxes to fund our country’s schools, police, hospitals, NDIS, etc., how will we be able to fund them without these taxes? I think we all want a cleaner, greener environment but not at the risk of destroying our countryside and our way of life.

I OBJECT TO THIS JUNK GUNNING SOLAR, JUNK BESS PLAN AS IT’S ALL BASED ON LIES & DECEPTION - JUST LIKE DODGY AEMO’s TOTALLY FUDGED, GENERATOR BENEFITING - CONSUMER RIP-OFF JUNK ISP!

MY FAMILY & I DO NOT CONSENT TO THIS CONTAMINATING, ECOCIDAL, ENERGY POVERTY SWINDLE that’s part of the FAKE GREEN SOLAR/WIND GRIFT & PONZI SCHEME/SCAM THAT’S CRUELLY TORTURING EVERYDAY AUSTRALIANS WITH GOVERNMENT INFLICTED COST OF LIVING CRISIS!

WE NEED TO TAKE A CHAINSAW TO THE EVIL BUREAUCRACY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS DELUSIONAL, DESTRUCTIVE, ANTI-AUSTRALIAN AGENDA - OFFERING US THE WORLD & PAYING US WITH TRASH!!

References:
TWO NEW PRECEDENTS HAVE BEEN SET by Oxley Bridge Rd Uranquinty Solar Determination 24th Nov 2022 - NEW MODERN SLAVERY CONDITION & AMENDED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN (re CONTAMINATION.)

**Professor Ian Plimer's 3 minute presentation regarding Solar Panel Contamination Risks.
PPSSTH-149 - DA22/0122 - 1268 Oxley Bridge Road Uranquinty 2652
https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/planning-panel/electricity-generating-works-solar-farm-8

**Hail Storm Photos & Industrialised Solar Contamination Risk to Our Reliably Productive Food Bowl at Bomen, Wagga Wagga Photo are included via this link also - the Hail Stones & some of the Fractured Solar Panels from the damaging 31st Oct 2020 event that left masses of broken Solar panels in situ for a shocking 10 - 11 months without Due Care - with some panels still remaining fractured & leaching contaminating heavy metals years later!

1. NEW MODERN SLAVERY CONDITION- requiring proof prior to construction that NO Slave Labour supply chain components be used in construction.
**New Condition Inserted C4A - Dealing With Modern Slavery.
Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018

*NSW Local Council Act 1993
428 Annual Report
438 ZE Duty to Ensure Goods & Services Are Not Procured From Modern Slavery.

This applies to all NSW Government Bodies - including Councils - for those who Host, Procure or have a Power Purchase Agreement with Solar/Wind Energy Generation/BESS whose construction has used Modern Slavery Supply Chain Sourced Components
eg. City of Sydney, the Opera House, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Shellharbour Councils & Westpac, etc. have an unethical PPA with Spark Infrastructure’s Xinjiang Jinko Solar based Bomen Solar - unethically Hosted by Wagga City Council.
REROC has an unethical PPA with Iberdrola - with Xinjiang JA Solar based Avonlie Solar - unethically Hosted by Narrandera Shire.

2. AMENDED STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN CONDITION re-CONTAMINATION – QUALIFIED TESTING/REPORTING, CONTAMINATION RESPONSE PROCEDURE, etc.

**Amended Condition C8.
Prior to Commencement of Any Works - Storm Water Management Plan.
On Site & Discharge From the Site.
Testing Points & Regular Water Samples, Suitably Qualified Person.
Written Response Procedures if CONTAMINATION is Found - required PRIOR to CONSTRUCTION.
Availability of Results.
……………………………..

Dr James Cockayne
NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner
M: +61 0455 255 453
[email protected]

Carolyn Kitto ‘Be Slavery Free’
Ph: 0438 040 959
[email protected]

Ramila Chanisheff
Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association - AUTWA
University of S.A
Ph: 0461 402 531 706
[email protected]
---------------------------------

Slave Labour Supply Chains
Missing Information Thwarts Ethical Sourcing
Murphy and Crawford’s report, Over-Exposed: Uyghur Region Exposure Assessment for Solar Industry Sourcing

**The graphs indicating companies & solar panels connected to Xinjiang are in the following 2 links:-
https://desdemonadespair.net/2021/05/forced-labor-from-chinas-uighur-muslims-behind-global-supply-of-solar-panels.html

**Xinjiang Solar Panels - Uyghur Slave Labour/Concentration Camps/Genocide - 'In Broad Daylight' - Professor Laura Murphy
https://www.shu.ac.uk/-/media/home/research/helena-kennedy-centre/projects/pdfs/evidence-base/in-broad-daylight.pdf

**The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf

**Australia ratifies International Forced Labour Protocol | Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Women Marise Payne
https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/australia-ratifies-international-forced-labour-protocol

**Implementation of the Magnitsky Act is another avenue to ensure this shamefully unethical industry is not exploited in Australia.

**BLOOD BATTERIES - THE DARK SIDE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES - Gravitas Plus YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHvq-8np1o

**THE DISTURBING REALITY OF COBALT MINING FOR RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES.
“CLEAN COBALT IS A FICTION – THERE IS NO CLEAN COBALT - IT'S ALL MARKETING!”
People need to get educated so they are agitated about it enough to do something to change this.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/harvard-professor-explains-heartwrenching-source-of-electric-vehicle-iphone-batteries/news-story/db881f47c76db89581409c092a740c4c
Joe Rogan exposes sad truth about cobalt used in electric vehicle, iPhone batteries |news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site.
Cobalt is in all iPhones, tablets & crucially EV's - it maximises charge & stability.
Before anyone knew what was happening the Chinese Government & Chinese companies took control of almost all of the big mines in the Congo, with the local population displaced & the Congolese people under duress - digging in subhuman, gut wrenching conditions - using all raw human force - clanking the cobalt out of the ground!
Throughout the whole history of slavery, never has there been more suffering that generated more profit than was linked to more lives of people around the world than what is happening today in the Congo - mining cobalt in appalling, heart wrenching & dangerous conditions.
…………………
**Sediment Run-Off Contaminating Land/Water - Court Case -
“Created, Operated, and Maintained a Nuisance”
Solar farm runoff pollutes property, couple awarded $135 million - CFACT
https://www.cfact.org/2023/06/06/solar-farm-runoff-pollutes-property-couple-awarded-135-million/
By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |June 6th, 2023
25th Oct 2023 update …A federal judge has dramatically reduced a jury’s $135 million award to a Georgia couple (https://www.ajc.com/news/couple-awarded-135m-after-solar-project-turns-their-lake-to-mud-hole/BZ6BYXQREJCDROQV6ZASUW5WOI/) whose property was fouled by muddy runoff from a solar project next door down to $5 million, after objections from the plaintiffs in the case.
In an order issued Monday in the Middle District of Georgia, Judge Clay D. Land wrote that the punitive damages awarded to the couple were worth many magnitudes more than the property that was damaged, and therefore were excessive.

**The Starting Step for the Production Of Pure Silicon....SiO2 + C -> Si + CO2 ....IS the Heart of the Solar Panel!

**Every step in the production of Solar PV power systems requires an input of fossil fuels - as the carbon reductants needed for smelting silicon from ore, to provide manufacturing process heat and power, for the intercontinental transport of materials, and for on-site deployment.
https://www.azbackroads.com/around-the-west/rangefire-massive-amounts-of-coal-and-wood-must-be-burned-to-create-solar-panels/

**200 Million Tonnes of Toxic Solar Panels Destined For Landfills Near You
stopthesethings.com

**SARET Research - Fire and Rescue NSW have NO IDEA How to Deal With RISKY RenewaBULL Experiments - YET This TOXIC MORAL HAZARD is Deliberately Forced on us by the Dodgy, Deceitful DPE & Complicit IPCN!
https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=9402
“There is a general lack of guidance and provisions in building codes, standards, and legislation in relation to safety to address the potential risks from these emerging technologies. Part of the problem is that we do not yet know enough about their probability of failure, their mechanisms of failure and potential consequences of failure.”

**The 'Sunk Cost' Trickery That Makes Renewables Seem Cheaper Than They Are - 23rd July 2023.
https://www.fresheconomicthinking.com/p/the-sunk-cost-trickery-that-makes?utm_medium=web
AIDAN MORRISON
How CSIRO justifies the exclusions: “Sunk Cost”
But wait, this deception is so brazen and transparent…….
All of these tens of billions of dollars of projects are explicitly excluded from the cost of integrating renewables.

**The $10 billion cabal of renewable subsidies killing coal - Alan Moran - 24th July 2023
https://www.regulationeconomics.com/_files/ugd/b6987c_a76d14823d6342a298b70841f99b7f71.pdf

I strongly object to this project. I am all for saving the planet but this project, along with many others, is not the answer. We don’t seem to care about the insects, magnificent birds, etc. that are being killed by wind turbine blades. Solar panels are taking over much needed farming land and from my understanding, solar panels and wind turbines have a certain amount of fossil fuel derived components in them anyway so what’s the benefit? Let’s go nuclear.

I object to the whole renewable energy saga. Wind turbines and solar panels contain steel which is made from coal – what’s renewable about that? What happens to them after their useful life – are they dumped in landfill? They are a blight on the landscape and taking valuable agricultural land which should be used for growing food. Our agricultural exports are worth about $80bn annually. Quoting from a recent article in the Australian "Each year, on average, each Australian farmer feeds 150 of their fellow countrymen and 450 of their allies overseas." I've no doubt the $80bn of exports contributes to supporting the NDIS, schools, hospitals, etc. Australian agriculture is world leading - we must not jeopardize this.

I Vehemently Object to All Solar Farms on Earth, NB, and I need you to know this:
I have to have our government under investigation for Harm and Loss to Prime Agricultural Land.
Why are you doing this method upon A Dry Continent, and Farmland, please, gov.au?
I need you in an investigation, DPIE, and gov.au, and I feel you should be understanding why we must not position any Energy Farms upon Prime Agricultural Land, we will need for Our Future Generations, and I need this Understood , Please, gov.au.
Why do I object to Solar Panels upon our Vital and Needed Prime Agricultural Land, that we must have Available for the next 8 Generations ? I feel they can go On Rooftops, and not as panels, but tubes of Glass, that can be recycled. Are you aware the mayor in our region, Armidale, NSW, has no interest in decommissioning renewables ? Don't you find that outrageous, gov.au, that a mayor of Armidale region, is not interested in recycling solar panels, or decommissioning ? Do you find that outrageous, gov.au ? I do. I need them on Rooftops - Renewables, as tiny turbines, plus minimal solar tubes for heating water. This method will not harm Farmland, we need for Future Generations, in a Dry Continent, government. Are you interested in Rooftop Renewables, where Jobs are many, and localised ? And where Renewables On Rooftops will not harm our environment - wild, natural, and farmland.
I need a Royal Commission into Renewables and Transmission Lines, please, gov.au. I need to understand Why our government ignore the evidence these structures, Solar Farms on Prime Agricultural Land, on Prime Agricultural Land, harm environment. Why are you ignoring the evidence, please, government ? Why ? I need to know Why, please, government.
Are you supporting Harm and Loss To Land Management, gov.au ? I need to know Why ?
Why are you supporting toxic Farmland areas under Industrial Land Management, gov.au ?
Why aren't you aware of Heat Impact to Environment from Solar Farms here on Country now ? Where is your Research on Solar Farm Impact to our Vital Moisture we need available in a Dry Continent, hotter than ever before, and Why government ? Why are you Ignoring the Dry times, please, government, Australian, and State, and Local, and DPE, and DPIE, and LLS, and Landcare, yes, Landcare, and Mayors, who have no experience On Country in a Dry Continent, getting drier ? Are you aware that Solar Farms Heat the Atmosphere in a Dry Continent, that needs all Moisture available for our Land ? Why aren't you, gov.au ? I need your research on Solar Farms and their Impact to Moisture in a Dry Continent. I see this issue where I am, on the Drainage Divide of the Northern Tablelands, NSW, where our area of Guyra is not getting rain , and it is from the Impact to atmosphere of a New Solar Farm near Uralla, near the Drainage Divide. It's called Cumulative Impact you see. Do you have evidence of the type I need please, gov.au - Impact to Moisture ? Don't you ? You should by now.
You must Cease and Desist All Solar Farms in plans, and approved, and not in plan as yet. You have not done your Research on the Impact of Solar Farms on Prime Agricultural Land, and I know that, or you would have Banned them by now.
The attachment is to show the readers and government the Heat Islands you are Creating on Prime Agricultural Land, you must Cease and Desist, please government , Australian. Please View the Photo in the Attachment please, gov.au. It is Obvious the Heat Island is a Solar Farm on Prime Agricultural Land. Heat Island Impact Cease please, gov.au. The Renewables can go On Rooftops and all will be well On Country, On Farmland, In Wilderness, when you make this decision, gov.au. all departments, involved in an Agenda not appropriate for a Dry Continent, named Australia, unlike any other on Planet Earth, where Renewables are a Cumulative Impact to All On Country that is in Drought now, isn't it government ? You are responsible for Inappropriate Land Management over 8 Decades, gov.au. Yet you Add More Impacts to our Precious and very much Dry Continent, you have No idea is a Dry Continent. I need to know Why you have no knowledge Australia is a Dry Continent, gov.au ? If you knew Australia was a Dry Continent you would not do this to our Country, our Country, our Country. I see Mining coming to Our Country and Taking Precious and Necessary Prime Agricultural Land away from future generations, from now, NB. Now, NB. I have to understand my government and the choices they are making that will Harm this Continent even More, yes, government, Australian, yes, my government, Australian, unaware Australia is a Dry Continent, and Cannot have More Impact to Moisture, please, please, please. You don't farm , you see. You have no knowledge of how to farm upon a Dry Continent. You must Walk Country with your farmers, please government employees and Ministers, ignoring Cumulative Impacts upon a Dry Continent, unlike any other on Earth, don't you know ?
Go Away, Canada, Now. Thank you. Canada has Alps Australia doesn't, did you know, gov.au ?
I don't think you know anything at all about a Dry Continent, gov.au, or say you do ?
I have a Dire Need to ask for a Royal Commission into Renewables, Transmission Lines, Commissioners and Investigations undertaken by the unaware Commissioners, who threaten Prime Agricultural Land and Wilderness and Habitats, and Therefore, our Wildlife, facing a terrible future, and it's because our government are ignorant about a Dry Continent they Add Cumulative Impacts To, Why ? Why are you doing this to our Nation, gov.au ? It's Proven Renewables on Land are not able to offer the amount of electricity. Why are you ignoring this evidence, gov.au?
I Demand a Royal Commission into an Agenda named Net Zero, unachievable, and simply about making Profit out of our Resources that come from Sacred Land, Sacred Land, Sacred Land, all Land on Australia, do you know government ? Do you know this Country named Australia is Sacred ? You should by now. Why are you ignoring Mob, please, government ? We are becoming a place to Mine. Mine. Mine. This isn't about emissions at all, government, is it ?
How Dare you , as government, Australian, ignore our farmers call for help to Cease Renewables upon Prime Agricultural Land into Wilderness for Gods Sake, into Wilderness, that's on Farmland, did you know, and offers Habitat to Wildlife, and did you know that, government ? Why are you threatening our Future please, government, Australian ? Why are you Threatening it, please ? You are. Why don't you know that ? Why ?
You don't Farm. You do not Farm. How can you possibly understand what you are doing to our Prime Agricultural Land, being Taken Away, and never will it Ever be able to offer production, as it will be toxic, and you have No Right to do that to Vital Farmland, our Future Generations need, including Ours.
I Object Vehemently to Gunning Solar Farm and All Solar Farms and Wind Farms, which Can Go On Rooftops, and Cost Less all round.
We won't need Transmission Lines in the future if our Renewables, as Solar and Wind, Go On Rooftops.

I object to these renewable projects. There are so many toxic materials in batteries, often mined in poor countries by little children. Toxic materials are also found in wind turbines and solar panels which is so bad for the environment. I have seen reports of wind turbines and solar panels being dumped in landfill when they are past their use by date which is incredibly harmful to the environment and will leave that land useless for many years to come. No, No, No - Stop them now!

Sky Metals is very appreciative of the opportunity to make a submission in relation to the potential development of this project.

Sky Metals is an ASX-listed company focused on the discovery and development of Base and Precious Metal Deposits, based in NSW. Aurum Metals (wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Sky Metals) own the Exploration Licence (EL) 8920 which covers a majority of the land which is proposed for development.

As background, minerals in NSW are generally owned by the State and excluded from property deeds. Mineral exploration is the scientific process of investigating the mineral potential of an area. Exploration licences are granted by the NSW Government to explore for minerals under strict conditions detailed in the Mining Act 1992 . Access arrangements are needed between explorers and landholders prior to any exploration on the ground. Exploration is an iterative scientific process of investigation and does not guarantee that mining will ever occur though is essential in discovering areas suitable for future mining for the benefit of the state.

Aurum Metals would like to highlight that the comments contained in the “Community Participation and Feedback Report”, specifically in Table 5, Page 17, are misleading and inaccurate in regard to the correspondence between the developer and Aurum Metals. Aurum Metals’ views as contained in the report are incorrectly recorded. This is very disappointing that Aurum Metals and the associated correspondence has been misrepresented in these documents.

Aurum Metals was initially contacted by Canadian Solar regarding the proposed development late last year in 2022, despite EL8920 being owned by Aurum Metals since early 2019.

Initially, earlier this year, Aurum Metals and Canadian Solar were able to amicably negotiate access for Aurum Metals to complete some preliminary work to assess the area of the proposed development for the geoscientific and mining potential of the land, as is the requirement of Aurum Metals under the Mining Act, 1992.

In this preliminary exploratory work, significant amounts of gold and base metals were discovered at surface in an area of the proposed development. These results indicated that further access would be needed for follow-up testing by Arum Metals.

Following the significant results of the preliminary work, Aurum Metals has contacted Canadian Solar again in March 2023 to organise further access to the property, however, Canadian Solar have been obstructive, finally informing Aurum Metals that access would not be granted in May 2023 and to date Aurum Metals has not been able to gain further access .

Without Aurum Metals being currently permitted access to the area, a notice pursuant to Section 142 of the Mining Act 1992 was issued in September, 2023, to the relevant parties, including the relevant subsidiaries of Canadian Solar. Aurum Metals initially heard back from these parties and Aurum Metals has responded to these in October, 2023, however, and very disappointingly, Aurum Metals has not heard anything further from the parties in response to gaining further access.

Aurum Metals is still not able to gain access to these areas despite over 6 months of effort to arrange access with Canadian Solar.

Aurum Metals considers these areas of the proposed development on the Exploration Licence EL8920 to be very prospective for significant gold and base metal deposits based on the work completed so far. As such, Aurum Metals opposes and objects to any development over these areas until further work can be completed to assess the potential of these areas for mining, before they are sterilised by the proposed development which will effectively prevent Aurum Metals from being able to explore this area of the Exploration Licence.

At time of writing, Sky Metals has spent over $500,000 of Australian shareholders’ money exploring the area of EL8920.