Gold mine fined $350,000 for dust emissions, and told to post about it on social media

What has happened?

In Environment Protection Authority v Cadia Holdings Pty Limited [2025] NSWLEC 27, the operator of the Cadia gold mine near Orange was sentenced for three air pollution offences. Alongside a total penalty of $350,000, the Court made a range of additional orders, including requiring the company to publicise the offences on its social media accounts.

Context

Cadia Holdings pleaded guilty to three offences under s 128(1)(b) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). The offences involved operating exhaust fans on a ventilation shaft of its underground mine so as to emit solid particles above the prescribed limit of 100 mg/m³, on occasions in November 2021, March 2022 and May 2023. Sampling recorded concentrations more than two times, and on another occasion more than three and a half times, the limit.

The decision

Justice Pritchard assessed the objective seriousness of the offences, having regard to:

  • the harm caused or likely to be caused by the emissions;

  • the practical measures available to prevent them;

  • whether the harm was foreseeable; and

  • the company's control over the causes.

The Court took into account the guilty pleas, the steps the company had since taken to reduce emissions (including installing filtration plants) and its good character.

The orders included:

  • a total penalty of $350,000, after discounts for the pleas and other mitigating factors, with half paid to the EPA;

  • an environmental service order requiring payment of $61,500 to fund new air quality monitoring equipment for the Rural Air Quality Monitoring Network;

  • publication of notices in the Australian Financial Review, the Daily Telegraph and the Central Western Daily;

  • pinned posts about the offences on the operator's Facebook and X accounts for at least seven days, linking to the judgment; and

  • payment of the EPA's legal costs.

How will this affect you?

  • Exceeding prescribed emission standards can lead to prosecution and significant penalties, even where the operator is working to fix the problem.

  • Courts are increasingly using publication orders, including on social media, to promote general deterrence.

  • Prompt remediation and cooperation with the EPA remain important in reducing penalties.

Further information

For further information please contact Darren Bick, Director, on +61 416 167 556 or darren.bick@bicksteele.com.au.