YORKE Peninsula farmers have been left "devastated" by the announcement on Tuesday that the SA government had approved the Hillside copper mine.
YP Landholders group chairperson Stephen Lodge, Ardrossan, pictured with Brenton Davey, Graham Mattschoss, Lauren Kakoschke, Stewart Lodge and Peter Klopp, said the news was not a complete shock but upsetting.
"We've been expecting it for quite a while," he said.
"We're surprised it has taken them this long to announce it."
The Rex Minerals Limited approvals of a Mining Lease, Extractive Minerals Lease and an associated Miscellaneous Purposes License came after 6.5 years of exploration and a 3.5-year consultation period.
"There is a community two kilometres away and individuals are less than half a kilometre away (from the proposed site) so there are some people to take into consideration," Mr Lodge said.
Grain Producers SA had condemned the decision with chief executive Darren Arney asking the state government to guarantee the rights of farmers to produce food on their own land.
"This proposal has already caused untold stress on the families and businesses affected and now their fertile farm land will be destroyed by an open-cut mine and a mountain of overburden and impurities," Mr Arney said.
The Yorke Peninsula Landowners Group, Eyre Peninsula's Stop Invasive Mining and Limestone Coast Protection Alliance have joined forces to stand up for the rights of farmers and rural communities - they are organising a Save Our Foodbowl, Water & Tourism rally in Adelaide.
One of the few times the state's farmers have united in protest, the rally - to be held on Saturday - will highlight their concerns about the government's preference for approving mining projects over long-term food production.
The protest groups will converge on the steps of Parliament House at 10am, followed by a march to Victoria Square.
The rally has drawn the support of Family First MLC Rob Brokenshire and Greens MLC Mark Parnell, who will introduce a bill to state parliament in the next month to improve landholder rights and highlight the need for mining companies to consult much wider than with individual landholders.
Key organiser of the rally, Anne Daw, Kingston, is hoping about 2000 people will participate but concerned about apathy among some farmers in the final days.
"But the only way we will stop this (mining projects) is by sheer numbers (protesting). We need to get as many feet on the ground as we can," she said.
YPLOG vice-chairman and Maitland farmer Ben Wundersitz, who will also address the rally, said the group was "gutted" by the decision earlier this week to approve the largest open cut copper mine in Australia.
* Full report in Stock Journal, July 31, 2014 issue.
