The ‘Bird in Hand’ gold deposit area at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills has been proclaimed by the Governor at the request of the State Labor Government, protecting it from future mining applications.
Any future applications are now prohbited at the known Bird in Hand gold deposit, which was previously subject to a development application by Terramin Australia.
The proclamation mechanism has been successfully used in the past to protect the Mintabie Town Lease Area and the Burra Monster Mine Historic Area – and continues to preserve those areas’ unique environmental and heritage qualities.
It follows Minister for Energy and Mining Tom Koutsantonis’s decision in February to decline Terramin’s application to develop the Bird In Hand gold underground mine, following a comprehensive process.
The minister determined that while the proposed mine would have had a short-term life, the potential impact on surrounding businesses – including world-class wineries such as Petaluma and Bird In Hand – and associated regional tourism could have longer-term implications.
Image of a gold mine site by Khushie singh, Wikimedia
