Creating Opportunities from Liabilities
When it comes to post mining land use, it’s time to shift our mindset. We are on the cusp of a significant shift with mining challenges.
We need to reframe the conversation about Post-Mining Land Use (PMLU) from the traditional focus on the liability of mining activities requiring it to be returned to past state, to prioritizing solutions that convert the as-mined asset into best possible high-value productive PMLU opportunities.
Over the decades operators exiting from mining have taken different pathways, but only one is sustainable. There is a real opportunity to operate beyond compliance to de-risk the future Queensland economy and protect regional and remote communities and their jobs.
STOP = Scars of the Past
For decades we’ve seen and heard about the enduring scars on landscapes, sparking calls for the banning of mining. Sadly, such demands overlook the significant lifestyle benefits provided by mining, including providing the materials of the latest electronic devices, from which we tweet those calls.
However, looking back over the centuries of mining the industry hasn’t done itself any favours on the PR front either. Those once profitable sites and their associated communities now abandoned are evidence of this. These ‘not great’exits were the result of the prevailing knowledge and practices of their time, and to criticise from today’s perspective is somewhat unfair.
Instead, let’s find proactive solutions to remine, repurpose, and remediate these sites to ensure they become safe, stable, durable, and productive assets.
REWIND = Return to Previous State
Since the 1970s, there has been a growing awareness of the environmental impacts neglecting land rehabilitation. So much so that it’s now regulated and past practices largely rectified. In jurisdictions like Queensland, Environmental Authorities now require Progressive Rehabilitation Closure Plans to permit mining operations. These are backed up by enforcement and penalties. However, as mining is a multi-decade activity, plans locked in at the approval stage, cannot take advantage of evolving land use technologies, thus leading to an inflexibility towards innovative PMLU.
Further the long-term sustainability of mining land rehabilitation is not assured because defaulting to the singular pursuit of environmental remediation fails to provide sustainable economic and social outcomes, particularly in regions that have developed around mining.
If the land use is not economically viable, and without an invested community, then the environmental rehabilitation efforts are at risk of eventual failure. At enviroMETS we believe it’s time to look beyond the aesthetics of the current approach of returning to previous state.
What if... we start thinking differently about the future of mining impacted land?
CONTINUE = Go Forward
We should be prioritising a future aligned with the expectations and aspirations of regions directly and indirectly impacted by mine closures. Engaging the broader Queensland community on the post-mining land use transformation journey is essential.
Regional mining economies are on the cusp of a significant shift, with (CSIRO estimating) some 240 Australian mines due to close by 2040*. Mining remains a critically important economic contributor to Queensland with 500,000 people directly or indirectly employed, and heavily reliant on the sustainability of mining. When mining activity ends, we should have already established commercially successful non-mining enterprises. In other words, diverse businesses utilising the same resources concurrently.
Collaboratively planning for a post-mining future through transformation and critical strategic thinking will deliver real benefits that:
- Derisk the future Queensland economy.
- Protect regional and remote communities and jobs.
- Deliver significant environmental outcomes including decarbonisation and climate positive gains.
- Provide better value for money for government and industry.
However, policy has not kept pace with technology, nor expectations to take advantage of the sunk investment in mining infrastructure assets, or its skilled people. For Queensland resources sector to remain globally competitive we should be rethinking how we prioritise or incentivise high value productive post-mining land use options. With planning and innovation, we can collectively create an opportunity to shape the future of key areas in regional Queensland.
enviroMETS’ Lighthouse Projects
Over the past year we have delivered the following activities through our Lighthouse Projects which support/underpin a multi-year strategy to find new innovative and sustainable value in mining impacted land.
- Perception survey of post-mining land use challenges
- PMLU challenges and priorities workshop
- ‘Regulatory and Industry Practices’ research and reporting
- Multi-stakeholder business case methodology workshop
- Further studies into ‘Regional Planning’, ‘Carbon Impact of Infilling Pits’, and ‘Circularity’.
Looking ahead, our strategy includes additional actions delivered across the following areas:
- Supporting and testing ‘sandbox’ regulatory changes.
- Validation study of ‘Carbon Impact of Infilling Pits’ (a very significant number!).
- Commercial feasibility study for reuse of identified coal mine wastes.
- Development and testing of multi-stakeholder business case methodology.
- Establishment of multiple regional post mining pilot sites.
- Reframe the conversation to prioritise high value productive solutions.
- Identify and promote Queensland METS solutions to international markets.
These actions will provide the economic and social enablers to drive positive outcomes for Queensland; for the resources sector; for industries operating or looking to operate in Queensland; our local and indigenous communities, and the environment.
