3rd April 2022
https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/9641

Dear Sir/Madam,

The purpose of this letter is to object strongly to approval of the Bowdens Silver Project (SSD 5765) – Request for Water Supply Amendment.
I regularly visit my sister’s cattle grazing property at Lue and am surprised at the lack of professional behaviour by Bowdens Silver in failing to adequately plan the supply of essential resources such as water and power for their proposed mine not to mention the effect it will have on the platypus and koala population.
Bowden’s initial EIS submission included a 58.5km water supply pipeline from Ulan to Lue, however this supply has apparently failed because they overlooked the basic step of gaining the approval from Ulan Coalfields and relevant authorities.
Bowden’s recent request to amend the water supply, now proposing that the required water can obtained from the mining site itself reflects the same lack of planning and forethought according to the report provided to the Lue Action Group by water expert Shireen Baguley (see the points extracted from her report below).
Lawson Creek is identified in the NSW Stressed Rivers Assessment to be in the most seriously stressed category (S1) – with the highest level of environmental stress as well as a high extraction rate. Most of times I’ve seen it, the creek has been a series of water holes with no visible flow, so it seems inconceivable that the additional water needed to operate the mine could be drawn from the local landscape without seriously impacting local and downstream farmers.
Further, Bowdens attempt to ‘get by’ by recovering and recycling more water from the tailings dam and leachate dam are very likely to increase the health impacts on the local community and environment. Recovery of this water will clearly reduce the water levels in each dam, exposing more toxic elements in the soil (lead/cadmium/cyanide) to wind events, which will spread these compounds further afield.
Given Shireen Baguley’s findings, it’s clear that if this mine is approved it will often be a heavily water-challenged operation, and accordingly Bowdens will be less able to undertake dust-mitigation activities such as spraying the roads, resulting in more dust movement into the local environment, especially during dry times and droughts when dust is at its worst.
Finally, Bowdens water amendment makes clear that their groundwater licenses have been purchased in the Sydney Water Basin catchment as well as further downstream in the Murray Darling catchment. The Sydney Water catchment is clearly not relevant to western waters and the NSW government has historically indicated a preference not to move licenses upstream within the same catchment, as the water is less likely to be available high up in the catchment and will consequently disadvantage local people and farmers reliant on that water.
Points extracted from Shireen Baguley’s report include:
• “The Bowdens surface water assessment data appears to show a monthly average that exceeds 75mm over summer. This is incorrect…”
• “Many of the other months are also too high when compared to Mudgee and Rylstone rainfall statistics from BOM.”
• “The number of very low rainfall years that has been experienced in this region is not reflected in the Bowdens surface water assessment annual rainfall data”
• “The surface water assessment reports the average annual rainfall as 673 mm/a…. An average annual rainfall of 654 mm/a would be a more realistic estimate.”
• “The analysis here shows that one in every five years, the climatic conditions between Rylstone and Mudgee, which covers the proposed mine site, are semi-arid. This means that any loss of available water in these years severely impacts the land, and the people, plants and animals trying to survive on it.”
• “It is highly questionable that 740 ML/a of rainfall and runoff would be available as an ‘inflow’ in a low rainfall scenario.”
• “Further, the sensitivity analysis appears to be fundamentally flawed... It is considered that the reasons for this are that a true assessment of the low rainfall and runoff’ would show that there is insufficient water to meet the proposed mine’s water demands for an unacceptable duration.”
• “the assessment attempts to quantify the loss of water to the downstream catchment, stating there would be an average annual loss of flow of 177 ML/a. This assertion is misleading as it relates only to the estimated flow from within the ‘containment system’ and overlooks the fact that the water requirements for the whole project are being drawn from within Bowdens land, both that within the ‘containment system’ as well as the Bowdens’ contiguous land holdings. The mean annual flow is 1,955 ML/a comprised of 965 ML/a surface water and 990 ML/a ground water.”
• “…this would equate to a loss of flow from 10.9% of the Lawsons Creek catchment. It is an enormous and unsustainable impact on the water resources within this catchment and a significant impact on all land downstream of the proposed mine site”
I strongly encourage DPIE to reassess the ‘facts’ and assumptions in Bowdens Water Supply Assessment and if confirmed to be questionable or overly optimistic to not approve progression of this mine,
Yours sincerely

I object to the Bowden Silver mine and its subsequent amendments for the following reasons:

Lead which is what the mine will produce is poisonous and is in close proximity to a junior school and homes. Lead even in extremely small doses is EXTREMELY harmful to children in particular.

The proposed mine will have an unreliable water supply and this will mean that the mine will have to shut down during droughts.
Lawson Creek is identified in the NSW Stressed River Assessments to be in the most seriously stressed category with a high level of environmental stress as well as a high extraction rate it is unsuitable to have a mine relay solely on this water source, putting undue pressure on this already stressed water source.
Bowdens Mine proposes to transfer water licences from further down the Macquarie catchment as well from the Sydney basin catchment, further depleting Lawson Creek which is unacceptable for the community.

I'm in support of the project due to reducing the processing water usage by 390ML per year and that the power lines will be moved closer to the mine site.
This project will create stable, local jobs that will benefit the local community for many years.

I support this project fully. The amendments made in regards to water and the power lines can only be a good thing in my opinion. This project will create much needed employment and support for the local communities and will help boost economy.

Please refer to my attached letter

I OBJECT to the project.

I object because
1. Water use.
Bowdens require 1788 megalitres/year of water to operate the mine and process rock. They estimate that the water will come from rainfall run off and groundwater.
They want to drill down 300meters into the water table and use the water on site.
They also propose to re-use some of the waste water from their processing methods.
We are reliant on a constant flow of water through our property to supply us with water for stock and our houses.
1788ML is an enormous amount of water to take out of one catchment.
We have just recovered from the worst drought on record and to lose so much water every year from our Lawsons Creek catchment would be devastating when the next dry spell or drought hits us. I’m worried that the drilling of such a deep bore will damage the water course and decrease the supply to everyone reliant on that water.
2. Dangers.
-Tailings Dam will sit above the water table at the headwaters of Lawsons Creek. Tailings Dam will house thousands of tonnes of dangerous heavy metals and chemicals including lead, arsenic, zinc, cyanide and cadmium. They will be sitting in this dam besides Lawsons Creek forever. Many tailings dams have failed. This one could too and then where will all these toxic compounds end up? This could impact a much greater area, Mudgee, the Cudgegong River for example.
-Waste Rock Embankment will be 80m high. Bingman Hill, a local landmark is 650m above sealevel. WRE will get to 670m above sea level, 20m higher than a very noted landmark in the Lue landscape.
Acid Mine Drainage from this WRE is another dangerous risk that the mine will create. AMC is the greatest environmental risk of our current times. It’s effects are irreversible and a major danger to human and animal health.
-Lead dust will affect the health of our Lue school children and all residents of the village and farms downwind of the mine. The Lue School is 2km from the mine site.
-Noise, lights for night mining, blasting. Added traffic on the Lue Rd with processed ore being transported via Mudgee on it’s way to port. The Lue Road is already busy with commuter traffic. The road is not designed for such heavy traffic as will be needed by Bowdens to get the ore to its final destination.

I object the proposal of bowdens silver in the Lue district.

The community of Lue and surrounding areas don't want the mine. The risk of exposure to lead and effects to water propose a massive risk

The significant effect of ground and surface water in the region is one of the greater risks of the development. The water from lawson creek in Lue flows into the cudgegong river which then flows to the macquarie river. The loss of and potential quality of the water into these river systems would have ever lasting effects on many communities not only Lue. It's easy to forget but we are always one day closer to drought and this is when we rely on the water resource the most.

In closing I object the proposal due to the reasons above.

If the onsite water is gong to be used it will drain the water table.
Bores will dry up
I use my bore for household use, garden, livestock etc
Lawsons Creek will also dry up. (it is a progression of water holes)
Therefore they should not be allowed to do this.