Minimising disturbance and successful rehabilitation is a fundamental part of mineral exploration.
| Date: | Friday, 11 November 2022 |
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Mineral explorers and prospectors must have approval under the Mining Act 1978, prior to conducting any ground disturbing activities with mechanised equipment. This means submitting a programme of work (PoW) application to DMIRS for assessment.
Once approval is obtained for the activities, it is still important to minimise disturbances as much as possible, comply with the commitments made in the PoW, and with the relevant tenement conditions. It is a standard tenement condition requirement to complete rehabilitation of disturbances within 6 months, unless otherwise approved in writing by a DMIRS Environmental Officer.
Rehabilitation should be progressive, and undertaken as soon as possible after the disturbance is complete. Standard rehabilitation practices include backfilling excavations, permanently plugging drill holes below ground, removing sample bags and other rubbish, appropriately disposing of drill spoil, and finally respreading topsoil and cleared vegetation across all disturbed areas. There may be additional requirements in your specific work area required for rehabilitation success.
A rehabilitation report should be provided to DMIRS once rehabilitation for the PoW is completed, or progressively if preferred.
