Exploration Licence 9235 pertains to an area of the Nambucca Valley including parts of Taylor’s Arm and South Arm and is held by Summit Minerals.

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LNV, who claim Summit Minerals did not follow government guidelines for community consultation, are now calling for the licence to be cancelled.

In a letter emailed on 27 December, LNV outlined its reasons for requesting a licence cancellation.

The group is currently awaiting an official response in the matter.

LNV held a large public meeting in November 2023 where group members, as well as Summit Minerals representatives, spoke in regards to the exploration licence.

Since then, a Summit Minerals representative, in a telephone call to a LNV member, reportedly explained that the company had decided not to carry out any mining activities with respect to this licence and so would not be following up on any community concerns as discussed at the November meeting.

“They told us they had decided to cease activity on the mining licence and we saw on the ASX website that Summit Minerals were actively seeking divestment opportunities for this project,” spokesperson Georgette Allen told News Of The Area.

“On 2 December we held another meeting and resolved to write to the NSW Resources Regulator seeking a cancellation and that’s what we’ve done now,” said Georgette.

According to LNV, Summit Minerals displayed no commitment to consult with the Nambucca or Macleay Valley communities, a requirement of government guidelines for exploration licence holders in NSW.

The group claims that Summit Minerals attempted no community engagement before sending out Exploration Access Forms to property owners and that at the November meeting, Summit’s community liaison representatives appeared uninformed about the mining company’s intentions regarding this licence.

“Since these representatives never followed up on the community’s concerns put to them on 14 November, Summit is clearly in breach of the required community consultation practices and our letter sought to have the whole exploration licence cancelled rather than put the community through the threat of mining activities for another four and a half years,” said Georgette.

Summit Minerals could not be contacted for comment.

By Ned COWIE