Mining: creating positive legacies for regional areas David Moult, CEO, Yancoal
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he mining industry’s immediate and present benefits to regional areas are clearly and widely communicated. Mining is a critical generator of regional jobs, regional economic activity, and regional government revenue. This has been especially true in challenging times, such as throughout the COVID-19 pandemic or periods of prolonged drought. In these times, mining operations become an important economic lifeline for nearby communities as other sectors such as agriculture and tourism suffer temporary downturns. However, mining is not a ‘forever’ industry: mines inevitably close. What is often overlooked is the very real and lasting future legacies that mining companies can provide to regional communities and their economies after mining ends.
Long gone are the days when mining leaves behind scarred landscapes or abandoned mine workings. The industry recognises that it is merely a temporary steward of the land while resources are extracted. Part of the ‘whole of life’ mining process now requires careful and informed planning for post-mining land use, which requires consultation with environmentalists and ecologists, surrounding communities, and governments. In many aspects, the level of planning that contributes to the rehabilitation, eventual relinquishment and re-use of mined land is just as intensive as that involved in the mining process itself. The aim is to leave beneficial and sustainable assets for the generations that follow. There are many examples of how this has been achieved in varying forms across Australia, although the promotion of these achievements is usually the sole domain of industry groups and individual companies. Some recent examples include: Anglo American’s progressive rehabilitation since 2012 of its Dawson coal mine in Central Queensland, at which a 165-hectare area has now been fully rehabilitated and is being used by local farmers for cattle grazing; and the relinquishment of Lake Kepwari in Western Australia by Premier Coal, a Yancoal-operated mine, following the successful rehabilitation of an open cut coal mine into a recreational hub for water-skiing, wakeboarding, boating, fishing and swimming. In some regional areas mining is just the latest (and in some instances probably the last) industry that will serve as a steward of the land.
BBMC Yearbook 2021
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Operational and technology trends
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In some areas of the Gloucester Valley, where rehabilitated land is being used for grazing, local farmers often comment that the quality of the rehabilitated pasture is better and more valuable than it was prior to mining activity.
