New Cobar Complex - rebuilding community trust

Aurelia Metals (Peak Gold Mines) · delivered with EMM Consulting

Cobar, Far West NSW, Australia

Peak Gold Mines proposed combining existing underground mining at New Cobar, Chesney and Jubilee with new workings at Great Cobar and Gladstone - inside a regional mining town facing population decline and low trust in the operator. Rotational workforce housing had created community tension; residents were worried about lead contamination from a proposed ventilation rise given awareness of historic contamination in a comparable region; and a long-running blasting complaint from a nearby landholder remained unresolved despite technical studies.

Delivered the Social Impact Assessment and the community and stakeholder engagement program working with EMM Consulting - assessing how benefits and impacts would land on different groups including vulnerable residents, and developing strategies to increase benefits while reducing social risk. The assessment also considered access to critical resources including housing and health care.

SIA informed by IAIA and IFC best practices and NSW government guidelines. Early engagement identified resident-nominated locations to be included in soil sampling - schools, childcare, parks, playgrounds, community gardens, residential yards - which were taken back to the human health risk team; sampling locations were made publicly available via the project website. Community concerns were fed directly to the engineering team and contributed to relocation of the proposed ventilation rise. For the long-running blasting complaint, Andrea maintained personal contact with the landholder and brought company representatives and technical specialists together with her so the concerns could be heard directly.

Community evidence influenced both the technical investigation and project design during feasibility and assessment. Transparent response led to minimal submissions during the public exhibition period - a recorded indicator of the improved operating relationship. The transparency and actions strengthened the project's social licence to operate.