A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia
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 arrangement, we compiled, classified and analysed a country-wide geospatial...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-08-01
|
| Series: | Minerals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/9/745 |
| _version_ | 1797556207050817536 |
|---|---|
| author | Tim T. Werner Peter M. Bach Mohan Yellishetty Fatemeh Amirpoorsaeed Stuart Walsh Alec Miller Matthew Roach Andrew Schnapp Philippa Solly Youming Tan Chloe Lewis Ehren Hudson Kim Heberling Thomas Richards Han Chung Chia Melissa Truong Tushar Gupta Xiaoling Wu |
| author_facet | Tim T. Werner Peter M. Bach Mohan Yellishetty Fatemeh Amirpoorsaeed Stuart Walsh Alec Miller Matthew Roach Andrew Schnapp Philippa Solly Youming Tan Chloe Lewis Ehren Hudson Kim Heberling Thomas Richards Han Chung Chia Melissa Truong Tushar Gupta Xiaoling Wu |
| author_sort | Tim T. Werner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 arrangement, we compiled, classified and analysed a country-wide geospatial database of all known inactive hard rock mine sites. Following extensive review and classification of disparate records of such sites that have been terminated, neglected or classified as heritage, plus those under care and maintenance in Australia, we assessed state-by-state reporting 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:58:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-04991d6a61bc4132b55deb00461479b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-163X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:58:33Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Minerals |
| spelling | doaj.art-04991d6a61bc4132b55deb00461479b62023-11-20T11:02:01ZengMDPI AGMinerals2075-163X2020-08-0110974510.3390/min10090745A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in AustraliaTim T. Werner0Peter M. Bach1Mohan Yellishetty2Fatemeh Amirpoorsaeed3Stuart Walsh4Alec Miller5Matthew Roach6Andrew Schnapp7Philippa Solly8Youming Tan9Chloe Lewis10Ehren Hudson11Kim Heberling12Thomas Richards13Han Chung Chia14Melissa Truong15Tushar Gupta16Xiaoling Wu17School of Geography, University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, AustraliaSwiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag), 8600 ZH Dübendorf, SwitzerlandDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaMining Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Udit Nagar, Rourkela, Odisha 769001, IndiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Monash University, 23 College Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaThe 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 arrangement, we compiled, classified and analysed a country-wide geospatial database of all known inactive hard rock mine sites. Following extensive review and classification of disparate records of such sites that have been terminated, neglected or classified as heritage, plus those under care and maintenance in Australia, we assessed state-by-state reporting 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/9/745mine rehabilitationabandoned minesGeographic Information Systems (GIS)spatial analysismine classificationsustainable landscape planning |
| spellingShingle | Tim T. Werner Peter M. Bach Mohan Yellishetty Fatemeh Amirpoorsaeed Stuart Walsh Alec Miller Matthew Roach Andrew Schnapp Philippa Solly Youming Tan Chloe Lewis Ehren Hudson Kim Heberling Thomas Richards Han Chung Chia Melissa Truong Tushar Gupta Xiaoling Wu A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia Minerals mine rehabilitation abandoned mines Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis mine classification sustainable landscape planning |
| title | A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia |
| title_full | A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia |
| title_fullStr | A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia |
| title_short | A Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia |
| title_sort | geospatial database for effective mine rehabilitation in australia |
| topic | mine rehabilitation abandoned mines Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis mine classification sustainable landscape planning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/9/745 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT timtwerner ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT petermbach ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT mohanyellishetty ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT fatemehamirpoorsaeed ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT stuartwalsh ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT alecmiller ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT matthewroach ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT andrewschnapp ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT philippasolly ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT youmingtan ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT chloelewis ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT ehrenhudson ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT kimheberling ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT thomasrichards ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT hanchungchia ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT melissatruong ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT tushargupta ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT xiaolingwu ageospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT timtwerner geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT petermbach geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT mohanyellishetty geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT fatemehamirpoorsaeed geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT stuartwalsh geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT alecmiller geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT matthewroach geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT andrewschnapp geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT philippasolly geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT youmingtan geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT chloelewis geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT ehrenhudson geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT kimheberling geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT thomasrichards geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT hanchungchia geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT melissatruong geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT tushargupta geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia AT xiaolingwu geospatialdatabaseforeffectiveminerehabilitationinaustralia |