Work authorities and mining licensees around Cann River, Swifts Creek, and Orbost in Victoria’s far east can expect a visit from regulator Resources Victoria during November.
The visits seek to ensure mines and quarries are meeting their obligations to manage operational risk, with Resources Victoria aiming to inspect every mine and quarry in Victoria at least once by mid-2026.
This month’s inspections are part of a broad program to ensure licensees and authority holders are meeting the obligations in their work plans, which includes appropriately addressing risk at their sites.
Operators failing to properly manage risk at their sites will be required to take corrective action.
The current phase of inspections follows a successful series of visits to sites around Omeo, Orborst, Bairnsdale, and Cann River in June.
Issues identified by the regulator include inadequate signage, inappropriate fuel management, unsecured gates and fencing, derelict equipment left on site and poor waste storage.
Chief Inspector Resources Victoria Renee Palmer says appropriately managing risk is part of operating a mine or quarry under Victorian law and is crucial to protecting nearby communities, infrastructure and the environment.
In September, the regulator lauded the overwhelming majority of mine sites inspected in 2025 having been assessed as low risk, with no major risks identified, as reported by Mining.com.au.
Across Victoria, between February and the end of June 2025, more than 350 sites were inspected across 50 local government areas.
At about 40% of sites, inspectors required the operator to take action to address minor issues identified and the majority of these have been resolved in the required time without the need for any enforcement action.
A recurring issue was a lack of progressive rehabilitation. Some operators had not started rehabilitation and many of those that had started work had made insufficient progress.
Other issues identified by the regulator include inadequate signage, inappropriate fuel management, unsecured gates and fencing, derelict equipment left on site and poor waste storage.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Resources Victoria
