Glenaladale community remains concerned as minerals project moves towards test phase

A critical minerals mine known as Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project will deliver 300 jobs across east Gippsland if it gets up and running – according to Wellington Shire Councillor Geoff Wells – but local opposition is still concerned about the mine’s impact on the local environment and waterways.

Gippsland Critical Minerals is progressing toward a full-scale trial run of its proposed mine site near Glenaladale in January 2026. Wells said if the mine gets final approval it could deliver 300 jobs across Wellington and East Gippsland shires.

“They’re still working on consultation with farmers, some of the farmers as we know are against it,” said Wells, who attended a Gippsland Critical Minerals meeting at the Lindenow football club on June 13.

"They're hoping to do a full trial run, in a trial pit, in January 2026. So it'll be a live, full trial. They'll get the noise, the dust and everything like that."

Wells said the operation was still waiting on confirmation of water allocation from the state government to proceed with the mine site but said it was "all moving forward at this stage".

What are critical minerals?

Critical minerals are elements like lithium, copper, cobalt and nickel that are required for batteries, mobile phones, computers and fibre-optic cables. Many critical minerals are used for low emissions technologies like electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.

Has there been local opposition?

The project has not been without local opposition. The local group Mine-Free Glenaladale held a protest at Lindenow on June 21 with over 40 people. 

A Facebook post on the protest said; “these are people who truly understand how devastating the impacts of GCM/Kalbar's proposal would be to our area”.

With assistance from Environment Justice Australia, a not-for-profit legal organisation, the community group put forward submissions that were critical of the Fingerboards project when it was first opened to public comment in September 2020.

Mine-free Glenaladale opposed the project on the grounds that it would contaminate waterways, extract too much water and endanger over 200 hectares of vulnerable native vegetation.

In November 2021, after an Inquiry and Advisory committee into the mine site, the state Minister for Planning at the time, Richard Wynne, concluded that the environmental effects of the mine were unacceptable.

Since then Gippsland Critical Minerals has adjusted its proposal. According to its presentation at the Lindenow meeting, the company has reduced the area of the mining and processing plant by 27 percent.

GCM says its updated proposal will also have less impact on local road infrastructure. In the 2021 proposal, parts of Bairnsdale-Dargo road and Fernbank-Glenaladale road would’ve been shut down – but this is no longer the case.

The Gippsland Monitor has contacted Mine-Free Glenaladale for comment and will update this story if we hear back.