Industry practitioners have gathered at Stanmore Coal’s Isaac Plains mine in Queensland amid the sector’s transition to a progressive rehabilitation and closure plan. Its new requirements set out by the state government were a special interest to the Central Queensland mining rehabilitation group (CQMRG) workshop attendees. Over 70 environmental specialists exchanged views on compliance, environmental monitoring, legislation, rehabilitation and water management. “We were proud to demonstrate the efforts made by Stanmore Coal in the rehabilitation space since our acquisition of the Isaac Plains site in November 2015,” Stanmore Coal general manager Operations Bernie O’Neill said.

“We’ve made incredible headway to ensure the quality and quantity of rehabilitation undertaken on site since the care and maintenance period not only meets our legislative requirements, but also ensures our activities are self-sustaining with little maintenance required in the future.”

This is the second CQMRG workshop that Stanmore Coal has hosted at the Isaac Plains mine site. The workshop’s keynote speakers included representatives from Stanmore’s contracting partner, NRW’s subsidiary Golding Contractors, as well as CQMRG and Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science. Since acquiring Isaac Plains from Vale SA and Sumitomo for $1, Stanmore Coal has used spoil placement methods and seeded more than 300 hectares at the site. The company aims to rehabilitate an additional 200 hectares by the end of the year. Originally published by Safe to Work.

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FAQ:

What is CRC-TiME?

The CRC-TiME brings together 50 leading mining companies, mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies, regional development organisations, local, State and Commonwealth governments and research partners. This unique coalition will bring scale and coordinated investment in research that will deliver transformational change in mine closure. CRC-TiME will provide all the stakeholders involved with the closure, relinquishment and creation of a post-mine regional future with new tools and technologies to make better decisions and lower residual risk into the future.

Who is involved in the CRC-TiME?

There are over 50 leading mining companies, METS companies, regional development organisations, local, state and Commonwealth governments, and research partners including: Alcoa, BHP, Decipher, Rio Tinto, and South32.