The mine rehabilitation monitoring team at the MWH Perth office has just completed its busiest year to date. The team clocked 361 incident free field days, conducting rehabilitation monitoring at over 40 mine sites across four Australian states. From the humid tropics of Queensland and the Northern territory to the deserts of South Australia, through the remote Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields regions of Western Australia, with clients including three of the world’s biggest iron ore miners and a prominent oil and gas producer.
Quadrat monitoring in the Pilbara
The mine rehabilitation monitoring team forms an integral part of MWH Perth office in Western Australia, building on the track record established by the former Outback Ecology, now part of MWH. The team comprises six dedicated scientists, with experience across a range of mining sectors and locations. In addition to monitoring of rehabilitated mining areas, the team conducts invasive species (weed) monitoring, works with clients and stakeholders to develop quantifiable completion criteria, and develops rehabilitation plans, strategies and monitoring procedures.
The primary method used for monitoring rehabilitation is Ecosystem Function Analysis (EFA), which assesses the landscape organisation and ecosystem function across rehabilitated and natural landscapes. Vegetation attributes and erosion are also assessed to build an overview of the condition of the rehabilitated area. Recently the group has begun to develop capacity in using remote sensing data, complemented by on-ground monitoring, as a cost-effective strategy that may boost information to clients while reducing field risks. This method allows the assessment of whole landforms, and can be a powerful tool in identifying areas where vegetation establishment may be inadequate or where erosion is an issue.
Transect located at an iron ore mine
As part of our ongoing engagement with industry, we have recently presented a paper at the 2014 Goldfields Environmental Management Group workshop in Kalgoorlie and have had a paper accepted for the American Society of Mining Reclamation in Lexington, Kentucky in 2015. In addition to we work directly with clients offering hands-on workshops to industry clients and regulators, demonstrating the methods used for monitoring and how they can be used in mine rehabilitation and closure.
For more information on our mine rehabilitation monitoring capacity, please contact Stephanie Birch, Rehabilitation Monitoring Team Leader or Dr. David Jasper, Discipline Lead – Rehabilitation & Closure, in the MWH Perth office.
