Kath and Wayne Bordieri have felt their home quiver and rock hundreds of times from underground blasting by a nearby mine outside of Bendigo in Central Victoria.

They can point out the damage they blame entirely on Fosterville Gold Mine (FGM) — the biggest gold mine in Victoria, which employs more than 800 people.

Every architrave above the doors inside their home has cracks, brickwork has damage and a bathroom vanity also cracked as their home shook last year.

"It's a stressful time, a headache, it is a nightmare," Ms Bordieri said.

"We've also tried to have chickens and they have not laid eggs."

The couple has lived at their property for 11 years and doesn't want to move.

But they said the mining was wearing them down.

"It's an intrusion on our lifestyle and our home, the last few years have been horrendous," Ms Bordieri said.

Fosterville Gold Mine said it had an "established process for investigation", where concerns were raised around damage to property caused by the mine.

It said all claims related to the recent earthquake on November 5 remained under investigation, "however if it has been determined that damage has resulted from FGM activities, we would absolutely work with the landholder to remediate this, as we have done previously".

Inquiry concerns

The Axedale couple is part of a group of residents planning to give evidence to a Victorian government inquiry examining Fosterville Gold Mine's proposal to extend mining operations for at least the next 10 years.

The inquiry is assessing the potential environmental impacts of the proposal, which includes the construction of mining infrastructure such as tailings storage, vent shafts and water management facilities.

"It's going to be a nightmare. Our home, our castle is slowly getting destroyed," Ms Bordieri said.

Earlier this month the company admitted its operations caused a 3.5-magnitude earthquake on November 5, which was felt from near Bendigo to Echuca on the New South Wales border.

Appearing before the inquiry on Tuesday, legal counsel for the mine Marita Foley SC said mining operations called "stope firing" caused the earthquake, and there were eight aftershocks in the days following, ranging from 1 to 1.8 in magnitude.

Ms Foley told the inquiry the company's modelling had predicted an earthquake was possible.

The inquiry heard FGM received nine reports of "cosmetic" property damage, which were not structural and were being investigated by the mine.

Ms Foley told the inquiry FGM's methods would not change in the aftermath of the quake.

"FGM continuously reviews seismic data and regularly updates the underground stress model and mine plan to ensure that seismic risks to workers and the community are minimised," she said.

Blasting anxiety

That explanation is no comfort to Lisa Williams, who wants to build her dream home on a bush block behind the FGM mine, just outside of Bendigo.

The property is dotted with rock boulders, which Ms Williams fears could be dislodged by seismic blasting.

"I've asked the mine to provide engineers so we could better understand what we require to protect our homes," she said.

But Ms Williams said the mine rejected her calls after a meeting with them.

Many of the 1,000 submissions made to the current inquiry are by mine employees and their families, including children, who have urged the government to support the mine's expansion.

"If the mine was to close it would have a large impact on our family," a child, whose name had been redacted, wrote.

"We may have to move from Bendigo or [redacted] may have to fly-in fly-out to ensure our family has a constant income."

The company previously told the inquiry it estimated its expansion would benefit the Bendigo region's economy by $1.3 billion in the next decade.

A submission by Axedale resident Chris Lancaster said his house had been damaged by "excessive and intolerable" blastings this year, and that he had recorded 20 blasting times between December 2023 and August 2024

"I have a two-storey house built just to the standard building codes of Bendigo, not reinforced as you would find in Northern Australia to withstand hurricanes and cyclones," Mr Lancaster's submission said.

The Fosterville Gold Mine Sustained Operations Project Inquiry will sit in Bendigo next week, and hearings will continue until December 13.

The inquiry will then report to Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny.