DMIRS’s Abandoned Mines team shares experience of mine site rehabilitation
| Date: | Thursday, 27 July 2017 |
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The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) recently hosted a forum in Perth for a group of Australian government officials to workshop new ways to prioritise abandoned mine site rehabilitation.
The Leading Practice (LeaP) group, established under The Land Access for Resources Working Group, promotes intergovernmental cooperation in the practices and process relating to the management of abandoned mines across Australia. The group is investigating the development of a national code of practice for managing abandoned mines.
Sarah Bellamy, who manages the department’s Abandoned Mines Program, outlined the approach Western Australia is currently taking in developing a preliminary analysis and risk assessment tool.
“As part of the workshop, we also arranged a visit to Black Diamond, the first of the four pilot sites to be rehabilitated as part of the DMIRS Abandoned Mines Program. We gave the delegates an overview of the project, including some of the challenges we faced, the successes and also our lessons learned.
“It was really beneficial to showcase Black Diamond to the group as it is a prime example of how effective stakeholder engagement and the successful completion of rehabilitation works can improve community and visitor safety at abandoned mine sites,” said Ms Bellamy.
The delegates also visited Iluka Resources’ Yoganup, Yoganup West and Cloverdale sites as further examples of successful mine site closure and rehabilitation. DMIRS thanks Iluka Resources for hosting the delegates.
