The implications for the family are profound.

For Paul and Sarah, the approval of Astron’s work plan was “gut-wrenching”, and having to tell their children was “very upsetting”.

“This is our home,” she says.

Not going down ‘without a fight’

At former mine sites, visited by SBS News, a dried-up lake and farmland that no longer produces crops reveal signs of environmental degradation. Locals claim that despite rehabilitation efforts by mining companies, a small portion of the land has become permanently uninhabitable.

In 2008, then-Victorian planning minister Justin Madden said the Donald Project would have “overall economic benefits for the region and the state” as well as “net social benefit” in a report responding to Astron’s Environmental Effects Statement (EES), which was approved by the government.

“The Victorian Critical Minerals Roadmap is supporting the development of the industry, setting the right conditions to deliver maximum benefit across the state while ensuring transparency and regular engagement with local communities.”

Astron has also emphasised the project’s potential economic benefits, saying in a statement to SBS News it will “attract new expertise to the Wimmera while developing homegrown skills”. The company says it plans to hire 200-300 contractors to establish the mine’s construction, and employ 100 people on-site from 2026 onwards.

The race for rare earth minerals

Vlado Vivoda, honorary fellow at The University of Queensland’s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, says the US is working with its allies, including Australia, to create “alternate supply chains”.

“Australia has 8 per cent of the world’s rare earth mineral deposits, or the fourth largest reserve in the world,” he says.

But Australia’s push to become a bigger player in the global race for rare earth minerals relies on digging up prime agricultural land.

Damaged Earth

The mine’s EES, approved by the Victorian government in 2002, stated evidence from other mine rehabilitation sites “suggests agricultural crops on restored soils will be comparable or better than on similar non-mined landforms”.

Ross explains this is because the soil has not been levelled sufficiently and water drains unevenly across the once-arable paddocks, which the landowner estimates has cost millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Before the mine opened in 2004, Ross says Lake Kanagulk was one of the “best crayfish fisheries in the state”, drawing in tourists and money to the town.

He says Iluka Resources is still diverting water away from the lake and into a freshwater dam on the mine site.

Parks Victoria, which manages the lake site, told SBS News it doesn’t have records on water levels.

“It’s a downside when EES’s aren’t done properly and the real environmental effects are not truly looked at long-term,” Ross says.

Communities feeling duped

The work plan for the Douglas mine, published in 2003, specified the mine site would keep its footprint constrained to “approximately 2,000 metres long” and rehabilitated as soon as work had been completed, with the project then moving onto other sites.

Ross says Wimmera residents are concerned that mining companies won’t be held accountable if they don’t follow their own impact statements and are allowed to revise their plans through “work plan amendments”, which are readily issued by the government.

Iluka Resources disputes claims made by Ross, telling SBS News they are “unfounded, inaccurate and being repeated again as a part of an ideological campaign against the mining and processing of critical minerals in Victoria”.

Iluka says the rehabilitation of Pit 23 started in 2021 and is scheduled for completion by December 2025.

Rebuilding trust

Trust between some regional Victorians and mining companies is low, says Minyip resident Ryan Milgate, who lives next door to the Trotters.

“It’s a really uncertain future that we’re facing,” he says.

“It’s kind of crazy like this huge global race, and it comes down to Aussie farmers, I mean, it’s [Australian] government policy as well,” he says.

James Sorahan, executive director of the Minerals Council of Australia’s Victorian branch, says mining is “very highly regulated in Victoria, as it should be”.

‘We don’t know what’s going to happen’

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he says.

“But it’s my generation’s job to make sure it carries through to other ones.”