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Abandoned, Derelict & Orphan Mines (continued)
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Some useful resources and links |
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Australia
- The
rehabilitation of abandoned mining lands in Tasmania (Australia)
- describes the administration of a Program of rehabilitation of
“abandoned mines” by the Tasmanian State Government agency Mineral
Resources Tasmania, which incorporates the principal of a Trust Fund
under the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995. A committee
comprizing government and external stakeholders administers the
Trust Fund and the program of rehabilitation work. Criteria for
selection of sites and allocation of priorities are listed, a link
provides access to Annual Reviews that provide updates on the
Program and a map shows sites of active interest and provides links
to reports on individual sites. A report on ARD management and
rehabilitation at the Mt Bischoff tin mine field is available
here.
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News on abandoned mines from NSW (Australia)
- an overview of the “Derelict Mines Program” administered by the
New South Wales State Government Department of Primary Industry,
administered through the Derelict Mines Committee, comprizing
representatives of several state government departments.
Historically, funding comprised AU$125,000 each year from 1974 to
1994, AU$500,000 from 1995 to 1999, AU$1.5million in 1999/2000 and
AU$1.65million from 2000 to 2004; recent project expenditure
included appointment of a project coordinator, state-wide surveys of
the number and impact of derelict mine sites and development of a
database on derelict mine sites, as well as work on major sites.
Sites within conservation areas were given priority.
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News release from NSW DPI on works at three sites in 2006
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Managing Derelict Mines from NSW DPI (Australia) – more
information on the “Derelict Mines Program” administered by the New
South Wales State Government Department of Primary Industry. It
defines ‘derelict mine’ for the purposes of the Program and outlines
the current aims of the Program, its priorities and its funding and
administration. No information on individual sites is publicly
available through these links.
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Mount Morgan mine rehabilitation
- detailed information on the major rehabilitation project that the
Queensland State Government Department of Natural Resources, Mines &
Water carried out at this famous gold mine near Rockhampton,
Australia. “The long-term objectives of this project are to: reduce
the contaminant load associated with Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) which
leaves the Mount Morgan minesite and enters the Dee River; develop
sustainable long-term alternatives to ARD interception and water
treatment; conserve the site’s significant mining heritage; and
develop and apply best-practice rehabilitation and management to the
Mount Morgan site. Following the cessation of mining and
reprocessing around 1990, a period of rehabilitation commenced for
parts of the mine site. In 1993 the state government accepted
responsibilities to manage the historical environmental impacts of
the mine site. Environmental impacts from the mine site primarily
consist of severe acid rock drainage issues with associated high
levels of dissolved heavy metals and salts. Acid rock drainage
impacted seepage and runoff from the site contaminates both
groundwater in the immediate vicinity of the site and the Dee River
environment for significant distances downstream. In January 2000
the Department of Mines & Energy (now NRMW) proposed a 10 year
conceptual plan for rehabilitating the site and embarked on a two to
three-year program of studies to identify the key sources of impacts
and develop a range of rehabilitation scenarios. As well as the
rehabilitation programs, future site use issues will focus on
tourism, education and research with interpretation of the
industrial archaeology of this site as an important component. The
economic future of Mount Morgan township is reliant to a large
extent upon tourism and the Queensland Heritage Trail Network (QHTN)
project aimed at developing and promoting a ‘whole-of-town
experience’. Five years of rehabilitation planning studies are now
complete. Long-term assessments and trials are continuing. The
construction of a lime dosing (water treatment) plant to mitigate
future environmental impacts to the Dee River from contaminated
water spills from the open cut pit is nearing completion. The $3.4
million project is funded by the Federal and State governments under
the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality through the
Fitzroy Basin Association. A failure impact assessment undertaken in
mid-late 2003 found that three historic dams in the Dee River
adjacent (to) the minesite were unsafe. A number of investigations
on groundwater, tailings, geomorphology and structural stability
determined a recommended option, which was the removal of the three
dams and the contaminated tailings and water contained by the dams.
The construction phase of the project is now complete, with
monitoring and reporting continuing for two years. The total cost
for the project was approximately $8 million.” A CD documenting the
Queensland State Government-funded rehabilitation project
investigations at Mt Morgan gold mine is available from the
Department through this link. The Department estimates that overall,
throughout Queensland, the number of abandoned mines in need of
significant rehabilitation is less than 100 and that State
expenditure to 2006 on rehabilitation of abandoned sites is AU$12
million on rehabilitation and AU$8 million on shaft capping.
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In Western Australia, the Geological
Survey of WA has compiled an inventory of abandoned mine sites (Ormsby,
W.R., Howard, H.M. and Eaton, N.W., 2003. Inventory of abandoned
mine sites: progress 1999 – 2002. Geological Survey of Western
Australia, Record 2003/9). The Inventory is updated and released on
DVD – the latest in February 2006 - and the work is summarized in:
Strickland, C. and Ormsby, W., 2006. Field inventory of abandoned
mine sites in Western Australia. Australian Centre for Geomechanics,
May 2006 Newsletter, Perth (from which these notes are compiled).
Access to the 2003 Record is obtained through the web
here and the 2003 Record itself (the Inventory) is
here.
The references provide an inventory of abandoned mines in Western
Australia. The project began in 1999 with the stated objectives of
accurately locating and documenting abandoned mine sites, recording
the factors relevant to public safety and environmental hazards that
they pose, assessing their state of preservation and quantifying the
“aggregate” risk at each site. The inventory is intended is to
provide a basis for planning for rehabilitation at high risk sites.
Mines were considered as abandoned if they were non-operational
since 1990 – an interesting view of the meaning of abandoned mine.
The MINEDEX database operated within the WA Department of Industry
and Resources, and used as a basis for the Inventory, contains 11411
historic mine sites (defined as pre-1985). A database has been
developed specifically for the project that holds, for example,
photographic images of each site.
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The Australian Centre for Mining
Environmental Research held a Workshop on ‘Management and
Remediation of Abandoned Mines’ in November 2003 in Brisbane,
Australia. A copy of the table of contents can be seen
here and a copy of the Proceedings in book or CD form can be
purchased from
here. Papers include descriptions of abandoned mines programs by
the state agencies in each Australian state and summaries of some of
the main issues, particularly acid rock drainage at both coal and
metalliferous mine sites.
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North America
Europe
More general sites that make reference to the issues of abandoned mines
Organizations
with interests in general mine waste and waters
Acid Rock Drainage (ARD)
There are many
organizations working on the issue of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), also known as
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), issues associated with
closed mines and derelict mine sites.
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The old open cut
Canbelego gold mine, Cobar, Australia, around 1975 (Photo:
G. McIlveen, CMLR). |
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The historical Day
Dream smelter near Broken Hill, Australia in 1986 (Photo:
G. McIlveen, CMLR). |
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Abandoned,
Derelict & Orphan Mines |
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Some well-known Abandoned
Mine Sites |
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