Session 2 | Developing regional approaches: shifting from operating independently to collaboratively
| Wednesday, August 2, 2023 |
| 11:00 AM - 12:25 PM |
|
Sponsored By:
|
Speaker
A/Prof Claire Côte
Center Director
Sustainable Minerals Institute
Developing a regional data catalogue to support the technical assessment of post-mining land use
11:00 AM - 11:15 AMPresentation Overview
Mines in Queensland must now prepare a Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure (PRC) plan, with the requirement to justify the selection of the post-mining land use (PMLU) for each rehabilitation domain. Given that there are nearly 200 mines who must undertake a comprehensive PMLU assessment, there is a need to develop methods that will minimise the duplication of effort.
As part of a broader initiative on innovative post-mining land use planning, this project undertook a regional analysis of the technical suitability of several PMLUs and proposed a ranking system to identify the most technically feasible PMLUs for each area. Using these rankings can facilitate the assessment of the potential for a PMLU to be included in a PRC plan.
As part of a broader initiative on innovative post-mining land use planning, this project undertook a regional analysis of the technical suitability of several PMLUs and proposed a ranking system to identify the most technically feasible PMLUs for each area. Using these rankings can facilitate the assessment of the potential for a PMLU to be included in a PRC plan.
Biography
Associate Professor Côte has more than 20 years’ experience in environmental and water resources management for a range of sectors. She has held a number of roles in research and consulting engineering, before setting up the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry with Prof Chris Moran. She has engaged extensively with mining operations in Australia, Africa, Chile and Canada to address water and sustainability issues, documenting and implementing leading practices.
She has extensive industry experience as she worked for the Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Business unit from 2011 to 2018, where she provided technical expertise on environmental and water-related topics, including a range of water quality challenges, particularly in Canada. She designed and implemented the water strategy and supported a range of environmental compliance topics, such as the development of innovative software for tracking legal obligations. She also led novel approaches to improving mine closure planning and the management of final voids.
In her role at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, she is seeking to promote environmental excellence through the mining cycle, based on capacity building and targeted research programs on water and environmental management, closure planning and beneficial post-mining land uses that minimise residual risks.
Dr Sandy Worden
Research Fellow
The University of Queensland
Shifting post-mining land use planning from mine site to regional scale
11:15 AM - 11:30 AMPresentation Overview
Mines in Queensland are transitioning to the progressive rehabilitation and closure plan (PRCP) framework. Mine operators are required to select and justify appropriate and viable post-mining land uses (PMLUs) following consideration of the surrounding landscape, community views and the objectives of local and regional planning strategies. The new approach offers opportunities for considering innovative PMLU options and collaborative use of post-closure mine assets, such as infrastructure, dams and residual voids.
Consideration of regional planning strategies will require a shift in thinking as mine closure is regulated and planned on an individual site basis and selection of PMLUs are commonly considered from this perspective. Planning at regional rather than site-specific scale offers strategic advantages, including the ability to align PMLU selection with the regional context and stakeholder aspirations; address cumulative environmental and socio-economic impacts; consider options that are only viable at scale (i.e. across larger geographic areas); establish more extensive and connected ecological habitat corridors; reinstate larger expanses of functional agricultural land; and optimise regional resources.
This paper presents the findings from a multidisciplinary project that identified PMLU options within Queensland’s four mining regions: the North West Minerals Province, North Queensland, Bowen Basin and Clarence-Moreton and Surat Basin.
Consideration of regional planning strategies will require a shift in thinking as mine closure is regulated and planned on an individual site basis and selection of PMLUs are commonly considered from this perspective. Planning at regional rather than site-specific scale offers strategic advantages, including the ability to align PMLU selection with the regional context and stakeholder aspirations; address cumulative environmental and socio-economic impacts; consider options that are only viable at scale (i.e. across larger geographic areas); establish more extensive and connected ecological habitat corridors; reinstate larger expanses of functional agricultural land; and optimise regional resources.
This paper presents the findings from a multidisciplinary project that identified PMLU options within Queensland’s four mining regions: the North West Minerals Province, North Queensland, Bowen Basin and Clarence-Moreton and Surat Basin.
Biography
Sandy is a social researcher and communication management specialist. Her research interests encompass multi-actor, multi-level governance of mineral resources and the navigation of knowledge boundaries. Much of her work has been focused on the social risks associated with mine project development, mine closure and the transition of mining regions to post-mining alternatives.
Sandy has extensive experience working across the mineral resources sector – on site, in a corporate environment, in government, consulting, not-for-profit and research. She brings practical industry knowledge to her applied research projects.
Miss Kate Baker
Manager
Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner
Maximising regional opportunities for in-pit tailings disposal for Queensland coal mines
11:30 AM - 11:45 AMBiography
Kate Baker – B.Sc
Manager, Office of the Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner
Kate is the Manger of the Office of the Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner. She earnt her degree, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia in the UK. Kate has worked for environmental consultancies in both the UK and Australia before joining the Queensland Government. Prior to working in the Office of the Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner Kate worked on the early development and implementation of the mine rehabilitation reforms within the Department of Environment and Science.
Mr Chris Gimber
Partner
ERM
From 'closing a mine' to 'transitioning a community' - evolving from specific post mining land uses to a holistic post mining vision
11:45 AM - 12:00 PMBiography
Chris is a Brisbane based Partner with over 20 years’ experience in mine closure and rehabilitation spanning various commodities and geographies. Chris has led and managed a range of closure and rehabilitation projects within Queensland. He has a strong technical background in water management, soils and hydrogeochemistry and has provided expert testimony within Queensland and internationally on surface water, groundwater and soils matters associated with mine closure, in addition to presenting over 20 papers on these topics. He was Project Director and also technical expert on water management for the Best Practice Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure documents for Department of Environment & Science (DES), which was the foundation for Queensland Mine Reforms and PRCP Guidelines. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and RPEQ in the disciplines of civil engineering and environmental engineering.
Dr Tira Foran
Senior Research Scientist
CSIRO
Initiating collaborative planning for post-mining land use in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley
12:00 PM - 12:15 PMBiography
Tira Foran is an interdisciplinary social scientist based at CSIRO since 2010. His prior work has focussed on governance challenges associated with energy, water resources and rural development, addressing topics such as policy framing, participation in planning, and implementation. His current work focusses on sustainability transition in Australian regions. He has delivered two research projects for the CRC for Transformation in Mining Economies (CRC TiME), most recently ‘Understanding stakeholder values in post-mining economies’.
Ms Danielle Kyan
Principal Consultant (Mine Closure)
SRK Consulting
Q&A with Session Chair
12:15 PM - 12:25 PMBiography
Danielle has over 21 years’ experience working as a consultant in the mining industry with over 17 years of specialisation in closure cost estimation.
Danielle has worked on mine cost estimating and rehabilitation planning and instructed short courses and workshops for closure cost estimation across a range of commodities within the Asia Pacific region. Danielle has in-depth experience working within the Australian states’ regulatory requirements with a particular focus on Queensland and Western Australia. She has managed closure cost estimation projects that included annual liability reporting, life of mine provisioning, and regulatory financial assurance, and worked alongside external consultants as part of several feasibility studies, due diligence reviews, and financial assurance audits.
Danielle’s early career began in the petroleum and coal exploration sector with a focus on data management, data interrogation, GIS complication, and geophysical basin structure interpretation as part of the SRK Australia basin study team.
Session Chair
Danielle Kyan
Principal Consultant (Mine Closure)
SRK Consulting
