The Chuwar coal mine in Ipswich, Qld is the first open-cut coal mine in Queensland to be fully rehabilitated.
The Queensland Government critically assessed the project and concluded that all rehabilitation requirements had been met in full, deeming the site safe, stable, non-polluting, and able to support grazing.
New Hope Group has surrendered environmental authority and mining leases for the site.
The site was subject to open-cut coal mining throughout the 1980s.
New Hope Group made the decision to backfill the voids, reshape and rehabilitate the area to meet community expectations, New Nope Group chief executive Rob Bishop said.
“The extensive rehabilitation works were conducted between 2014 and 2017, with ongoing works undertaken over the past eight years,” he said.
“Our progressive rehabilitation program at New Acland returns mined land to agricultural and conservation uses while contributing to the region’s agribusiness industry,” Bishop said.
“To date, more than 740ha of land has been rehabilitated at New Acland,” he added.
“At the time of the Queensland Government’s announcement, it was the largest single area of certified rehabilitation for an open cut coal mine in Queensland.
“To put the size of the area in context, the certified, rehabilitated land at New Acland covers about 300 Suncorp Stadiums,” Bishop said.
This news story was first published on Australian Mining.
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
