Final Year Projects for Resources
Dr Mohan Yellishetty
Hossein Masoumi
Jian Zhao
Roger Dargaville
Stuart Walsh
Tom Hughes
Victor Chang
Dr Mohan Yellishetty
Project ID:
158
Project Topic: Repurposing of abandoned qua
ies
Supervisor(s): Dr Mohan Yellishetty Co-supervisor(s): Dr Peter Bach Industry(s):
OHS
clearance required:
no
Lab-based:
no
Credit
Points:
12
Ethics Approval:
no
Deliverable Online:
yes
Individual
Or Group:
Individual
Maximum Number of Students: 3
Project Description:
Mining is important to the Australian economy contributing to roughly 10% of the Australian GDP. Although it
ings positive impacts towards the community and economy it can also create negative impacts from poor rehabilitation and closure. Neglected mines (also known as abandoned, legacy, derelict or orphaned mines) are mines that have not been terminated and have no obvious owner. A mine that is neglected usually has little to no rehabilitation, creating potential risks to the environment and community such as pollution (acid mine drainage & heavy metal runoff), subsidence and poor vegetation regrowth.
With Melbourne's population expected to double by 2065, Melbourne's water providers have begun planning for a possible water shortages. Coupled with greater consumption caused by population growth and the possibility of worsening droughts due to climate change we need to find more or additional sources to secure continuous supply of portable water.
The analysis would involve a range of things, but some ideas that we could look at:
· Start with GIS-based analysis, look at the site locations, positions within the catchment, u
an demographics su
ounding them, proximity to other existing green spaces, waterways and flood co
idors
· Analyse future population growth and water demands.
Some questions we could answer:
· How can we leverage abandoned qua
ies as alternative water supply storage measures?
· How do location and type of abandoned qua
y influence its future use for enhancing u
an liveability and reducing future hazards and risks?
· What are some of the potential issues faced with rehabilitating these qua
ies for new u
an water applications?
In doing so, the project will:
· Create/improve-on a comprehensive database of mines, both past (neglected) and present.
· Find relationships/distances between neglected mine sites and sensitive receptors (eg. population, vegetation, waterways, infrastructure) to help understand negative impacts.
· Understand management responses and legal framework to help improve cu
ent practices.
Skill requirements: Cu
ent ability to use GIS software and Google Earth is beneficial but can be self-taught. Mining or Environmental Engineering students are prefe
ed.
Training requirement: GIS
Desired Skills:
GIS
What the students will learn:
Interpretation of long-term spatial data sets.
Group/Theme: Resources, Environmental
Keywords: mines, qua
ies, repurposingGIS
minerals
Article
A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine
Rehabilitation in Australia
Tim T. Werner 1 , Peter M. Bach 2,3,4 , Mohan Yellishetty 4,* , Fatemeh Amirpoorsaeed 4,5,
Stuart Walsh 4, Alec Miller 4 , Matthew Roach 4, Andrew Schnapp 4, Philippa Solly 4,
Youming Tan 4, Chloe Lewis 4, Ehren Hudson 4, Kim Heberling 4, Thomas Richards 4,
Han Chung Chia 4, Melissa Truong 4, Tushar Gupta 6 and Xiaoling Wu 4
1 School of Geography, University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia;
XXXXXXXXXX
2 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag), 8600 ZH Dübendorf, Switzerland;
XXXXXXXXXX
3 Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
4 Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia;
XXXXXXXXXX (F.A.); XXXXXXXXXX (S.W.);
XXXXXXXXXX (A.M.); XXXXXXXXXX (M.R.); XXXXXXXXXX (A.S.);
XXXXXXXXXX (P.S.); XXXXXXXXXX (Y.T.); XXXXXXXXXX (C.L.);
XXXXXXXXXX (E.H.); XXXXXXXXXX (K.H.); XXXXXXXXXX (T.R.);
XXXXXXXXXX (H.C.C.); XXXXXXXXXX (M.T.);
XXXXXXXXXX (X.W.)
5 School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
6 Mining Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Udit Nagar, Rourkela, Odisha 769001, India;
XXXXXXXXXX
* Co
espondence: XXXXXXXXXX; Tel.: XXXXXXXXXX
Received: 26 July 2020; Accepted: 20 August 2020; Published: 22 August 2020
����������
�������
Abstract: The Australian landscape is affected by abandoned mines that pose environmental,
public health and safety risks. To promote the beneficial reuse, rehabilitation and/or remediation
of these sites and understand their spatial a
angement, we compiled, classified and analysed a
country-wide geospatial database of all known inactive hard rock mine sites. Following extensive
eview and classification of disparate records of such sites that have been terminated, neglected o
classified as heritage, plus those under care and maintenance in Australia, we assessed state-by-state
eporting and cross-border rehabilitation requirements. This was enabled by the development of the
Mining Incidence Documentation & Assessment Scheme (MIDAS) that can be used to catalogue and
compare active or inactive mine data regardless of reporting conventions. At a national level, and with
four case studies, we performed GIS-based spatial analyses and environmental risk assessments to
demonstrate potential uses of our database. Analyses considered the proximity of sites to factors such
as infrastructure and sensitive environmental receptors. As Australia struggles to manage the ongoing
technical, socioeconomic and environmental challenges of effective mine rehabilitation, the insights
enabled by this national-level spatial database may be key to developing coordinated responses
that extend beyond state boundaries. Our classification and methodology are easily transferable,
thereby encouraging more formalized, systematic and widespread documentation of abandoned
mines worldwide.
Keywords: mine rehabilitation; abandoned mines; Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
spatial analysis; mine classification; sustainable landscape planning
Minerals 2020, 10, 745; doi:10.3390/min XXXXXXXXXXwww.mdpi.com/journal/minerals
http:
www.mdpi.com/journal/minerals
http:
www.mdpi.com
https:
orcid.org/ XXXXXXXXXX
https:
orcid.org/ XXXXXXXXXX
https:
orcid.org/ XXXXXXXXXX200X
https:
orcid.org/ XXXXXXXXXX
http:
dx.doi.org/10.3390/min XXXXXXXXXX
http:
www.mdpi.com/journal/minerals
https:
www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/9/745?type=check_update&version=2
Minerals 2020, 10, 745 2 of 21
1. Introduction
Mining has long been a key driver of Australia’s economic development. Approximately AUD
$15 billion in metal ores, minerals and coal products is exported every month, accounting for ove
half of the country’s export revenue [1]. The economic contributions of mining are magnified fo
many remote parts of Australia that are almost entirely dependent on continued mine operation.
However, by some estimates, such prolific development has come at the expense of at least 50,000 areas
sca
ed by inactive mines over time [2]. These areas have no plans for rehabilitation and little
prospect for future economic benefit. Inactive mine landscapes can be dramatically changed via waste
disposal, polluted air, soil and water, and socioeconomic and/or cultural impacts. These impacts are
not restricted to immediate mine areas, but can extend well beyond to su
ounding environments
and communities [3]. Recognising this, Australian states and te
itories have established a series of
programs to assess the risks posed by abandoned mines and to prioritise funding for their management.
These efforts have mainly been conducted independently, resulting in different reporting practices
and classification schemes adopted between jurisdictions. Such variation means that cross-state
comparisons are fraught with data inconsistencies, leading to uncertainty in attempts to form a national
picture. Following recent recognition that the federal government has a distinct role to play in the
management of abandoned mine sites, a unified national database is clearly needed.
In Fe
uary 2017, the Australian Senate refe
ed an inquiry into the ‘rehabilitation of mining
and resources projects as it relates to Commonwealth responsibilities’ to the Environment and
Communications References Committee for inquiry and report [4]. The terms of reference were
later updated to further incorporate matters relating to the rehabilitation of power station ash dams.
Commonwealth responsibilities are defined under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act, [5]). In the context of mine areas, this legislation may be triggered
when matters of national environmental significance (e.g., world heritage areas, national parks,
Ramsar wetlands, and areas of significant cultural heritage) are impacted. The cost of rehabilitation
obligations, adequacy of existing regulations, effectiveness of cu
ent Australian rehabilitation practices
in safeguarding human health and repairing and avoiding environmental damage (among a numbe
of other issues) are considered relevant to the national inquiry [4].
Effective management of these issues requires comprehensive baseline data on the location and
nature of Australia’s inactive mines. In this endeavour, this study has sought to compile a comparative
database that encompasses data on all such sites in Australia. It is a product of several preliminary
studies conducted by the authors that investigated inactive mines in Australia. Past national-level
databases of mining activity have been developed to assist in attracting mining exploration investment,
to inform the public and industry analysts on resource endowments, and in some cases to assist in the
eprocessing of mine wastes. An example is the ProMine database in Europe that seeks to enable the
ecovery of valuable materials from discarded mine wastes [6]. Yet, there is comparatively less research
focussing on the development of national-level databases for tracking abandoned or inactive mine areas
for purposes of remediation and/or rehabilitation. Such databases that provide data on mine location
and nature have been demonstrated to provide key preliminary data for a range of potential GIS and
emote sensing applications to assess mine impacts. At a local scale, studies such as Bao et al. [7] and
Taylor et al. [8] use remote sensing and GIS to evaluate mine rehabilitation effectiveness, allow fo
adjudication of mining-related conflicts and to provide concrete recommendations for the management
of health in towns adjacent to mines. At a sub-national scale, Lechner et al. [9] demonstrate the
effectiveness of spatial methods in informing state and national government planning for costs of mine
site rehabilitation. At a global scale, Sonter et al. [10] and Werner et al. [11] demonstrate the application
of spatial methods to compare impacts between mines, to inform international policy, and to address
issues affecting the mining industry overall. Northey et al. [12] also used mine location data to explore
the exposure of base metal mines to water scarcity and climate change. Collectively, these underscore
the
eadth of spatial insights that could be derived from new knowledge of Australia’s inactive mine
locations. This study aims to enable and demonstrate some such insights. It is part of an ongoing
Minerals 2020, 10, 745 3 of 21
esearch program led by Monash University that seeks
oadly to facilitate more comprehensive and
systematic spatial analyses of inactive mines globally.
In the following sections, we present an overview of our database and compilation strategies.
We then conduct national-level spatial analyses of cu
ent spatial a
angements of all mapped inactive
mines. While we note that mines interact with their su
ounds in