Rehabilitating land following mining is a major and growing issue for Western Australia, with around 2.5 million hectares of land currently under an active mining lease.
About 85% of mining proposals assessed by the Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have had rehabilitation and/or closure requirements recommended and subsequently applied by the Minister for Environment through a Ministerial Statement. This is in addition to the conditions for rehabilitation and/or closure specified under the Mining Act 1978.
This project collected and analysed publically available information on the conditions for mine site rehabilitation in Western Australia. Information was collated about mine rehabilitation and/or closure conditions recommended by the EPA under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986, to provide baseline information of the requirements for rehabilitation in the state.
The WABSI-led project was funded by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and undertaken with researchers from The University of Western Australia.
The project report is due for release soon.