Environment Management

Mine environmental management

We have a lot of experience in mine environmental management where there are a plethora of issues relating to the interaction of mine landforms with the natural landscape, water-rock interactions including acid and neutral drainage, revegetation and habitat reconstruction. Our work is mainly directed towards developing effective solutions for mining companies to manage these issues, and in doing so, protect surrounding areas from the potential impacts of mining.

Planning for mine closure and lease relinquishment

This is one of EWL Sciences’ key areas of interest and investigation. Closure criteria have a significant impact on the scope and cost of mine closure programs. Producing closure criteria that will satisfy the scrutiny of regulators and stakeholders and yet be appropriate and achievable for each particular mine and locality represents one of the most challenging aspects of closure planning.

Closure criteria relate to post-mining landscape condition and proposed land use, soil quality and water (surface and groundwater) quality, vegetation and faunal habitat status, aesthetics and access.

Surface and groundwater assessments

We model hydrological processes using information derived from field investigations to provide the basis for computer models that predict the impacts of changes or development on catchment flows, groundwater recharge and discharge characteristics, surface and subsurface solute movement, and water quality and groundwater flow patterns. This approach is especially important in designing strategies for decommissioning and rehabilitating minesites, especially when one of the key drivers is to try and ‘engineer’, as closely as possible, the pre-mining surface water and groundwater flows and conditions.

Land resource assessment and management

Land resource assessments and land capability assessments are key interests for which we have significant experience. Much of the work we’ve done is for strategic development planning for companies and government. Digital terrain analysis is one of the tools we use in analysing areas to characterise landscapes and environments. Reconnaissance and detailed soil survey are additional specialist tools, together with catchment and site water balance modelling. Issues such as sustainable irrigation, erosion and landscape remediation planning are addressed in this work.

Our approach to management of threatened species is often via the formulation of integrated fire, weed and fauna strategies that, where required, are integrated with development.

We have skills in weed identification, weed mapping and control methods for controlling or eradicating weed populations. In addition, we have staff with over two decades of experience in assessing and managing exotic and feral animals, particularly feral cats, dogs, pigs and buffalo.

Surface water and groundwater quality assessments are a specialty, including establishment of field sampling stations, QA/QC protocols controlling collection and analysis of samples, and evaluation of water quality and water level data.

EWL Sciences has fielded very effective teams including specialists from various alliance partners to develop Environmental Impact Assessments as part of development proposals, principally mining. The work has included the preparation of all documentation required by approvals authorities, investigations to obtain baseline data (environmental, social and financial) and interactions with government and politicians to guide the assessments through due process.

Revegetation

Our approach is based on research and the implementation of methods tailored for the very different conditions that are found at different types of mine sites (for example, strip mines such as bauxite and mineral sand operations compared with ‘hard-rock’ operations where gold, base metals and uranium are mined).

Key lessons are in respect to:

• availability and management of seed and other propagating materials;
• site preparation and vegetation establishment techniques;
  fertiliser strategies;
• weed and fire management;
• predictability of revegetation performance; and
• monitoring criteria and methods.