A 43-hectare open-air gold mine waste storage facility as close as 100 metres to Ballarat homes has been given the green light for construction.

Ballarat councillors voted during a council meeting on Wednesday night to support its officers' recommendation to approve the project, despite residents raising concerns for the risk to community health. 

The approval of the tailings storage facility significantly improves prospects for the troubled Ballarat Gold Mine, which is currently under administration and seeking expressions of interest from potential buyers. 

The mine's current tailings storage facility is at capacity, a situation which caused a temporary halt to gold production last year.

The planned new tailings dam in Mount Clear, as big as 30 football ovals with a 35-metre-high wall on one side, will provide up to 10 years storage capacity for the mine. 

Passionate debate

Tailings, a by-product of gold mining, are created when rock is pulverised to extract valuable gold from rock. 

Chemicals are added to assist in the separation of gold from ordinary rock particles, the gold is removed, and the finely crushed rock and chemical slurry is dumped into the tailings dam. 

The sands settle in the dam, allowing the tailings to dry out, before the chemical-traced water is pumped out and reused in the processing plant. 

Tailings often contain arsenic, a known carcinogen, and other contaminants that can be harmful to human health.

City of Ballarat received 53 objections to the tailings dam application relating to health concerns, environmental impacts and the facility's proximity to houses.

Dora Pearce, a retired environmental epidemiologist who has analysed cancer incidence associated with soil arsenic concentrations, led calls for the project to be referred to the state's planning minister for a more thorough assessment through an Environment Effects Statement (EES). 

She said 100 metres from Mount Clear houses was too close. 

Ballarat council director of development and growth Natalie Robertson said the mining regulator, Earth Resources Regulation, advised an EES was not required.

Councillors attached a set of special conditions to their approval of the tailings dam, including that the mine must resubmit its Health Risk Assessment, using updated methodology and local data on contaminants in mine dust. 

The mine will also be required to provide a dust management plan and implement mitigation measures to reduce dust at all times. 

Guided by planning scheme

Councillor Amy Johnson, who supported the approval of the project, said it was a frustrating decision to make, as councillors' considerations were restricted to whether the project met the planning scheme. 

"It is a squarely permitted use of the site," she said during the council meeting. 

Three of the nine councillors voted against the project's approval, including Councillor Belinda Coates who sought referral for an EES.

"There are a few thousands of residents in the direct proximity; if we are not completely reassured there is not risk there, I don't think that is a good position to be in," she said. 

A few of the more than 200 employees of Ballarat Gold Mine spoke at the council meeting about the importance of the mine to the local economy and how, if it folded, hundreds of families would likely move from the town. 

"That wouldn't be possible if I had to fly in and fly out to remain in the mining community." 

Community members can choose to challenge the council's decision through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and so can the mine if it wishes to challenge council's conditions on the permit.