Fingerboards Mineral Sands

Kalbar Operations Pty Ltd, proposed to develop the Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project, of 1,675 hectares 20 kilometres north-west of Bairnsdale. The project was assessed in 2021 under the Environment Effects Act 1978. On 21 November 2021, the Minister for Planning concluded that the project will result in unacceptable environmental effects.

A modified form of the project, the Fingerboards Critical Minerals Project, was referred in February 2026 by Gippsland Critical Minerals Pty Ltd. This new and modified project will be assessed under the Environment Effects Act 1978 and can be accessed on the Fingerboards Critical Minerals Project page.

The information on this page, refers to the previous proposal.

Background

Proponent: Kalbar Operations Pty Ltd

Kalbar Operations Pty Ltd proposed to develop the Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project which has an approximate area of 1,675 hectares and is located approximately 20 kilometres north-west of Bairnsdale in East Gippsland, Victoria.

The proposal included:

• the development of a mineral sands mine
• two mining unit plants
• wet concentrator plant (comprising mineral separation processing and tailings thickening and disposal plant)
• water supply infrastructure
• tailings storage facility
• additional site facilities, such as a site office, warehouse, workshop, loading facilities and fuel storage.

The proposed mining methods involved open pit mining to extract approximately 170 million tonnes of ore over a projected mine life of 20 years to produce approximately 8 Mt of mineral concentrate. Mine products were proposed to be transported via road or by rail for export overseas.

The mining project required up to 9,000 kilovolt-ampere (kVA) of power likely to be supplied from the electricity grid and annual water requirements of approximately 3 to 4 gigalitres.

Minister's assessment

On 21 November 2021, the then Minister for Planning completed his assessment under the Environment Effects Act 1978. This concluded the environment effects statement process for this project.

Kalbar Operations Pty Ltd, as proponent, and statutory decision-makers received the assessment to inform approval decisions.

The then Commonwealth Minister for the Environment received the assessment to inform her decision about the project under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The Minister’s assessment concluded that the environmental effects of the project were unacceptable.

Public review and inquiry

Inquiry and advisory committee

The Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project Inquiry and Advisory Committee was appointed by the Minister for Planning on 30 August 2020.

The committee submitted its report on 30 September 2021 in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

Exhibition

The environment effects statement, together with the draft planning scheme amendment and the EPA Works Approval Application, were publicly exhibited for comment for 40 business days, from 3 September 2020 to 29 October 2020.

Amended procedures and requirements

On 19 July 2020 the Minister issued amended procedures and requirements under the Environment Effects Act for the Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project EES. The amended procedures and requirements related to the public exhibition and inquiry stages of the EES process, and provided for special measures to be implemented in light of the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions that apply under Victoria's state of emergency. In particular, they provided for interested people to register to obtain their own copies of EES documentation, in the absence of the usual public display of hard copies at physical exhibition points, and confirmed the extended public exhibition period from 30 to 40 business days. The Minister also gave direction about the possible use of technology such as video-conferencing for hearings of the inquiry.

The Minister issued his original procedures and requirements in December 2016 when he decided that an EES was required. The original procedures and requirements appeared on this website in the Minister's Decision section below.

EES preparation

Consultation plan

Kalbar prepared a communication and consultation plan for the EES, outlining the opportunities and approaches for their community engagement during the preparation of the EES. The plan, published below, was refined following advice from the department and Technical Reference Group . Kalbar welcomed community input on the plan at any time. The consultation process was adapted or modified to meet changing community needs and requirements.

Technical reference group

DELWP (now Department of Transport and Planning (DTP))  convened an inter-agency technical reference group at the request of the Minister for Planning to advise DELWP and the proponent on scoping and adequacy of the EES studies and documentation, as well as coordination of the EES process with other statutory processes for the project.

The government organisations represented on the technical reference group were:

• DELWP - Region & Biodiversity (now DEECA)
• Department of Economic Development Jobs Transport and Resources (Earth Resources Regulation) (now Resources Victoria, Earth Resources Regulation)
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Aboriginal Victoria (now First Peoples State Relations)
• Heritage Victoria
• EPA Victoria
• Parks Victoria
• East Gippsland Water
• Southern Rural Water
• West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority
• East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority
• VicRoads
• East Gippsland Shire Council
• Wellington Shire Council

Technical reference group representatives were supported by internal experts on specific aspects of the EES studies.

Scoping requirements

The Scoping Requirements set out the matters to be investigated and documented in the EES. Draft Scoping Requirements for this EES were on public exhibition between 13 September 2017 to 6 October 2017. After considering public submissions on the Draft Scoping Requirements, the Minister for Planning issued final Scoping Requirements in April 2018.

To assist with the interpretation of the final scoping requirements, please view questions and answers containing guidance on their development.

Page last updated: 07/07/26