In this article:
- Traditional owners collect native seeds to help rehabilitate Argyle diamond mine site
- Gelganyem has started propagation trials and hopes to grow its business
- It’s hoped the program can be used as a blueprint for other communities and mine sites
- Several ways to rehabilitate a mined out area
- See what score you get for your Rehabilitation and Closure program
- Find out about Decipher’s Rehabilitation and Closure solution
The closure and rehabilitation of Australia’s most famous diamond mine is being seen as an opportunity for traditional owners to reconnect with country and grow an exciting new business venture in the remote East Kimberley.
“We have a dreaming over in the hills, the actual diamonds themselves are a part of that dreaming,” Gija man Kolya Sampi said.
“Back in the dreamtime, our tribal ladies were trying to hunt the barramundi and the scales fell off. They are the diamonds they found today.”
Working on country
The former Kimberley tour guide recalled the dreamtime story as he walked through the Argyle mine lease with the Gelganyem seed team, delicately bending branches of Bauhinia trees, shaking its fruit into a bucket.
Mr Sampi is one of 14 Indigenous pickers collecting native seed to help rehabilitate the former Rio Tinto mine site.
“We talk about it when we go back into town, yarn about it with the kids. Get them interested while they’re young so they have a job opportunity in the future.”
“It is very good to come back on country,” Mr McHale said.
“The guys we got together at the moment are amazing. You show them a tree, you show them a seed, they’ll just get stuck into the work.
Last month alone they picked up to 19 different local plant species.
Skilling up traditional owners
Once picked the seed is transported to the Gelganyem processing shed in Kununurra, approximately 200km north of the mine site.
There the seed is processed through a thresher and cleaning machine, then weighed and bagged before being stored in a giant seed library ready to be sold.
Seed samples are also collected and sent to a laboratory in Perth for viability testing.
Traditional owner Steven Clark has been trained to operate the facility and hopes to see the processing team expand into the future.
“Hopefully it encourages everyone to go back out on country.”
Growing a sustainable business
Gelganyem is hoping to take its restoration business one step further, recently starting propagation trials to turn seed into nursery stock which they hope to start planting on-site early next year.
The team works alongside seed collection manager Adam Guest and under the guidance of Curtin University ecologist Adam Cross, the manager of restoration services for Gelganyem.
Mr Guest said the project’s aim is to eventually become a sustainable, fully autonomous business offering rehabilitation services across the Kimberley and beyond.
Gelganyem has started propagation trials to create a consistent supply of native seeds for restoration work.(ABC Kimberley: Courtney Fowler)
“But beyond that it’s about building a sustainable business model which allows TOs (traditional owners) to work for the future, not just for them but for their kids and their kids as well.
“The seeds we are collecting are local to the area but that doesn’t mean we can’t transfer the skills throughout the Kimberley and hopefully through WA.
“We’ll set ourselves up well to do this for any mine site.”
It is hoped if this project continues to grow it could be used as a blueprint for other Indigenous communities across Western Australia.
“Giving them the ability to not just pick the fruit, but also to process, to propagate and plant the fruit, and also maintain the seed once it’s grown [so] they’re trained throughout the whole project.
“I’d like to give TOs a job, moving forward, for life.”
The start of a new chapter
Back at Argyle, the general manager of the former diamond mine Andrew Wilson said the closure and rehabilitation process would take five years to complete, followed by a further period of monitoring, before the land is handed back to its traditional custodians.
The Gelganyem Trust manages the funds and assets under the Argyle Participation Agreement on behalf of traditional owners.
The Indigenous Land Use Agreement, registered in 2005, provides for the transfer of the lease to traditional owners at the completion of mining operations and for the recognition of native title rights over the area.
Returning the land to its former glory is a legacy Kolya Sampi is proud to establish for future generations.
“It will take a while but my kids and grandkids will actually see that, and I hope they appreciate that too.”
How to drive progressive rehabilitation and closure
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=340Weed-sww[/embedyt] Originally published by the ABC.
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Want to find out more about mine rehabilitation?
- See what score you get for your Rehabilitation and Closure program
- What is mine rehabilitation and closure?
- What are some key challenges facing mine rehabilitation and closure?
- How much does mine rehabilitation cost?
- What are the advancements in mine rehabilitation technology?
- What are some best practice mine rehabilitation methods?
- How to take a macro and micro approach to mine rehabilitation
- What is CRC-TiME?
- How to become an industry leader in mine rehabilitation
- Download this free Guide to Mine Rehabilitation in Australia
