Strategies for tackling the challenges of mine rehabilitation

Life-of-mine planning must include effective rehabilitation practices. This process is critical not only for achieving safe, stable, non-polluting, and self-sustainable landforms but also for compliance with regulatory requirements that mandate clear objectives and completion criteria.

It can be a challenge to ensure rehabilitation practices and monitoring frameworks are aligned to final land uses and objectives when closure may be years or decades away.

In our experience, these challenges and complexities may present an opportunity to innovate when it comes to preparing rehabilitation monitoring programs.

Our Principal – Environmental Management, Callum Gawne, steps out the challenges of mine rehabilitation and the enhancements we recommend.

Alignment with completion criteria

Monitoring design must be informed by defined objectives and completion criteria. However, in many cases, these criteria are still pending finalisation, making it challenging to have confidence in your monitoring program.

Methodology utilisation

Ecological monitoring programs often adopt established methodologies, such as NSW’s Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM), focusing on vegetation indicators compared to benchmark ecological communities. However, there is opportunity to expand monitoring beyond these established methodologies to gain additional leading indicators and provide options to adjust the program (i.e increasing time between field assessments and supplementing with spatial analysis of remotely sensed data).

Tracking trajectory

Temporally defined phase criteria and the right monitoring indicators can support understanding of trajectory towards objectives.

To enhance rehabilitation monitoring programs, we recommend:

1. Invest in completion criteria development if they aren’t yet mature/approved.

2. Consider the likes of state and transition model methodology in developing phase/temporal criteria to ensure monitoring/criteria alignment and that you have considered influencing factors.

3. Investigate/trial supplementary leading indicators that may improve understanding of trajectory.

4. Explore spatial analysis of remote sensing data – AI and software advances are continually improving capability and applications.

Onward’s team of experts can provide advice on rehabilitation management and planning including progressive rehabilitation and mine closure.

For help on your mine rehabilitation project, get in touch with us admin@onward.au