DMIRS shares regulatory experience of mine site rehabilitation with Murdoch University students studying Ecological Restoration.
| Date: | Tuesday, 04 July 2017 |
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One of the Department of Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety’s (DMIRS) leading mine site rehabilitation and environmental management experts, Dr Danielle Risbey, was invited to deliver a guest lecture last month at Murdoch University.
Speaking to 20 third year environmental students, Dr Risbey’s presentation focused on mine site rehabilitation from a regulator’s perspective and shared some of the challenges mine operators encounter in their efforts to achieve successful rehabilitation.
With more than 15 years’ experience at the department and having regulated mines in all parts of Western Australia (WA), Dr Risbey currently manages a team of environmental officers who assess proposals and undertake environmental compliance inspections in the northern half of WA.
“I described four key mine closure objectives that mining companies need to achieve: being a safe, stable, non-polluting and self-sustaining post mining landscape. It was also highlighted that it is expected that industry designs for closure via robust, risk and evidence based decision making that is informed by effective stakeholder engagement” Dr Risbey explained.
Dr Risbey said her presentation illustrated examples of sites operating in challenging environments and presented real life scenarios that the students were unlikely to have learnt from text books or lectures. Examples of what can happen when rehabilitation work is done to either high or low standards were included.
“I hope I was able to give the students an appreciation of the planning and implementation processes involved and broaden their understanding of the challenges associated with mine sites rehabilitation, and that successful mine closure is a whole of mine life process.”
