Apiarist opposing Rio Tinto’s Mt Cattlin lithium waste plans told to buzz off after ‘bee babette’ evidence

A bee scientist called upon by a State Government appeals office for her expertise has taken the sting out of claims against Rio Tinto’s lithium waste processing plans. WA’s Office of the Appeals Convenor, which assesses environmental approval appeals, has rejected a bid to stop Rio from turning waste at its mothballed Mt Cattlin lithium mine near Ravensthorpe into road building materials. Earlier this year, Rio secured approval for a mobile crushing and screening operation to churn through stockpiled basalt waste rock left behind from the production of spodumene concentrate. Jerry Venter, who lives about three kilometres east of the mine, claimed dust from the operation would harm beehives on his property and said mining activity prior to Mt Cattlin being fully wound down last month had already damaged some hives. But the apiarist’s claims were refuted by Kit Prendergast, a native bee scientist who calls herself the “bee babette”. She has a PhD in the biodiversity of native bees and works at Curtin University and the University of Southern Queensland. “During the appeal investigation, the licence holder provided a formal letter of opinion from Dr Kit Prendergast . . . a bee scientist with over 70 peer reviewed articles on bee health, conservation and ecology,” the Appeals Convenor’s report stated. “Dr Prendergast believes that the appellant’s beehive loss is most likely from ongoing drought, rather than dust from mining operations.” The bee scientist concluded “there is no evidence in the literature that inert dust kills hives” and by chance had conducted her own research in the area a year ago. “Dr Prendergast conducted pollinator surveys along roadside vegetation about 3km northeast of the mining operations in July 2024 and recorded many honeybees on the native flowers, and other insects including native bees.” But the Appeals Convenor — Eve Drain — recommended Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn order the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to amend one of the licence conditions granted to Rio. Ms Drain said an amendment was required to “remove ambiguity and require management action if a dust exceedance is found”. Rio in March scooped up the Mt Cattlin mine, which sustained about 300 jobs when at full tilt, as part of its $10.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium. Arcadium in September earmarked the open pit mine’s mothballing amid low lithium prices.