Community and land use

Fosterville Gold Mine

Fosterville Gold Mine is located 20 km east of Bendigo.

The site commenced operation in 2005. It is licensed to operate as an underground and open cut mine and is assigned mining licence MIN5404.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd owns the mine. Its subsidiary, Fosterville Gold Mine Pty Ltd is the licence holder.

Current status

View the licence area and location on Resource Licences near me.

The Minister for Planning’s assessment of an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) to extend underground mining operations within Fosterville Gold Mine’s current licence area concluded in May 2025.

In assessing the EES, the minister found that the potential impacts from mining could be acceptably managed through strong environmental management practices and mitigation measures. Read the minister’s full assessment on the Department of Transport and Planning website.

The minister’s assessment paved the way for Fosterville Gold Mine to apply to Resources Victoria for permission to vary its work plan. The mine intends to lodge a series of work plan variations over the next 18 months to implement the project assessed by the EES.

On 29 October 2025, Resources Victoria approved the first of these work plan variations following a thorough assessment of the proposed changes.

This work plan variation enables Fosterville Gold Mine to construct a new tailings storage facility and an additional mine vent shaft. Resources Victoria’s assessment of the work plan variation included ensuring all EES recommendations had been met.

There will be no changes to the speed of mining operations. These will continue as per current operations with ore mined using the same underground mining methods and processed through the same treatment plant.

Regulatory compliance

Works conducted on-site are regulated and managed under the conditions stated on the Fosterville Gold Mine’s licence and approved work plans. Read more about regulatory compliance.

Common compliance enquiries and concerns about the mine’s operations are raised from time-to-time by local community members. These include concerns about noise, vibration, dust and mine-induced seismic events.

Seismic events associated with mining are a common occurrence where there is a sudden release of energy within a disturbed rock mass. This released energy is radiated as seismic waves.

Resources Victoria is responsible for investigating all community concerns reported as complaints. This includes conducting targeted audits of various aspects of the mine’s operations, with the most recent of these focusing on dust and on blasting.

Although audit results continually indicate that Fosterville Gold Mine is conducting underground mining activities within legislative requirements, Resources Victoria is committed to working with the operator on ways to minimise mine-induced seismic events.

Community updates

Fosterville Gold Mine is responsible for keeping the local community informed about mine operations, including upcoming activities that may impact residents and actions being undertaken to address any potential impacts.

Read more information and download the latest quarterly newsletter via the Fosterville Gold Mine website.

Enquiries and concerns

Fosterville Gold Mine is responsible for all aspects of mining operations, including risk management and complaints handling.

If you have an enquiry, concern or complaint about activities occurring at the site, please contact the mine operator in the first instance via:

This will enable the operator to respond immediately.

Should your issue or concern remain unresolved, please contact the regulator responsible for the area it relates to as outlined below.

Resources Victoria

Resources Victoria is responsible for regulating activities within the boundary of the work authority area. See Resource Licences near me for the exact site boundary. If you have a question or concern related to quarry activities within the boundary, please:

Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA)

EPA prevents harm to human health from pollution and waste. Issues monitored by EPA include:

  • dust and other discharge from the site
  • noise emissions.

To lodge a report, contact EPA’s 24-hour pollution hotline on 1300 372 842 or online via the EPA’s reporting pollution page.

City of Greater Bendigo

City of Greater Bendigo manages zoning matters relevant to different land use types and has responsibility for the roads and land outside the licence area boundary. Relevant issues include:

  • mud or erosion of the roads around the boundary
  • truck movements on local roads to and from the site
  • working hours.

Enquiries to City of Greater Bendigo may be lodged via email requests@bendigo.vic.gov.au or phone 1300 002 642.

Page last updated: 31 Oct 2025