Mining has occurred in WA for more than 150 years, resulting in many thousands of workings that were abandoned after exploration or mining. Few of these site workings and their associated features have been recorded, with many remaining undocumented. As a result, the health, safety or environmental risks and potential historical, cultural, social, environmental, educational or economic value of these sites are unknown.
During the early 1980s, the effects of mining on the environment became a key consideration in assessing and approving mineral exploration and mining activities.
Unconditional Performance Bonds (UPBs) were introduced and imposed on exploration and mining companies to ensure mine sites would be appropriately rehabilitated prior to closure.
In 1997, the then Department of Minerals and Energy commenced a programme to capture, from a safety perspective, baseline data relating to historical mining-related features. While not a complete record of the abandoned sites in the State, the database currently contains over 190,000 abandoned mine site features.
The Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012 (the ‘MRF Act’) was passed by the WA parliament and the Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) became operational in 2013.
The MRF requires all Mining Act tenement holders to annually report areas of disturbance on their tenements and, providing they meet a minimum threshold, pay a levy based on the disturbance area.
MRF funds will be used to rehabilitate future abandoned mine sites, when all other avenues to ensure rehabilitation have been exhausted. Interest generated from the MRF shall be used to rehabilitate legacy abandoned mine sites (sites that have not had an MRF reporting obligation).
The data captured during the inventory of abandoned mines programme and the creation of an ongoing source of funding provides the foundation for further development of the inventory, site prioritisation and rehabilitation or management of known abandoned mine sites.
In addition, land managers may have obligations relating to the management of abandoned mine sites. This policy, and supporting material, will assist them in that decision making.
It is important that a robust policy and project framework is in place to support decisions regarding the prioritisation, management and/or rehabilitation of these sites.
