Western Australian mining industry representatives have struggled to point to even a single instance of a mine site having been rehabilitated to a high standard.
There are upwards of 11,000 abandoned mine sites and about 200,000 abandoned mining “features” across the state of Western Australia (WA), features meaning things such as storage facilities, pits, shafts and tailings.
Mines get abandoned for many reasons: commodity prices collapsing or demand dipping, costs spiralling, lower than expected ore grades, regulatory breaches, changes in policy or government. In these cases companies leave the taxpayer to clean up their messes: resulting in what are at best eyesores, at worst safety or public health risks.
A recent inquiry also heard that while a national standard for ecological restorations of mine sites was launched in 2016 by ARC Centre for Mining Restoration in Perth, examples of such standards being met were rare across Australia.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Mine Site Restoration (CMSR) is a new model for workplace integrated researcher training. It will deliver restoration-industry-ready professionals focused on the needs of the mining sector, to enhance the capacity of industry to deliver improved financial, social and environmental outcomes.
Scale and context are key drivers of research priorities for restoration. Thus there is a clear need to develop proven, cost-effective, and scalable restoration solutions. These restoration needs form the foundation of the CMSR. The CMSR is structured as six thematic research areas: restoration genetics, seed technology and enablement, rare species management, restoration ecophysiology, restoration trajectory, and mining industry policy extension.
Together these themes will create a multi-disciplinary, integrated training centre that complements the proponents’ substantial existing capacity in restoration research.
A new partnership has triggered the process for researchers and industry to work together and map the way forward for restoration research on Banded Ironstone Formations (BIFs) of the Yilgarn Plateau.
The Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI) and Centre for Mine Site Restoration (CMSR) partnership brings together Curtin University, the University of Western Australia and the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority.
The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Mine Site Restoration received Australian Government funding of $5 million through the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Program.