- Title
- After the Goldrush: Developing closure criteria for a mined landscape
- Creator
- Dorinila, Augustine; Bellette, Marc; Florentine, Singarayer
- Date
- 2015
- Type
- Text; Book chapter
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/154968
- Identifier
- vital:11214
- Identifier
- ISBN:978-0-87335-373-1
- Abstract
- Chapter 22 provides an example of variations in local conditions and authorized specifications. The authors present a reclamation case study of an area that was mined 155 years during the gold rush in the state of Victoria, Australia, resulting in significant heavy metal contamination. Using the normal approach of storing the original "natural" vegetation without consideration of ecological differences was not realistic. Measurement of success should cover composition, structure, function and monitoring of invertebrates, because all of these are important components of the ecosystem. This 10 year field trial concluded that (1) only hard seeds survive the pressure of being entombed in stockpiles, so soil should be used soon after stripping to maximize recruitment and diversity; (2) appropriate criteria should be employed for mined sites, especially tailings facilities, with the objective of reverting these to sef-sustaining ecosystems; and (3) future projects should include variables, such as indices of diversity within the ecosystem attributes and at least two reference sites, to suitably portray the ecosystem variation. The authors also discuss how environmental legislation should be based on the ecological settings of the area.
- Publisher
- Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
- Relation
- Responsible Mining: case studies in managing social and environmental risks in the developed world Chapter 22 p. 639-662
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Mineral industries; Reclamation
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