Land Rehabilitation & Mine Closure

Planning 4 Sustainable Development provided Sherrin Rentals with legal, policy, and on-site technical design and advice to assist with the closure of the mineral sand mine on Johns Road, Cooroibah, Noosa, Queensland. The services commenced with the production of a Site Based Environmental Management Plan, the generation of the Erosion and Sediment Control Management Plan, and the Land Rehabilitation Plan. Technical backup services in Erosion & Sediment Control auditing and Water Quality Monitoring steered the company to successful negotiations and works to close the sand mine.

Sherrin Rentals inherited a poorly operated sand mine in 2008 as part of a financial settlement. The land and site were subject to a number of outstanding Environmental Protection Orders, one of which required the completion of an Environmental Investigation under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA, 1994). Water was escaping the site and draining to nearby wetlands and environs of the Noosa River & Lake Cooroibah within the Great Sandy National Park. Erosion and sedimentation were rampant and the land was spotted with kaolin dump pits.

Many of the poorly located and constructed sediment basins and water control ponds were failing with landslips and subsidence being frequent occurrences.

P4SD managed the inputs of a number of technical sub-consultants to address: flood modelling, integrated water management, erosion & sediment control, biodiversity impact assessment, water quality management, and geotechnical capabilities and options, among other operational requirements.

The sand mine was operated over a few years to finance the rehabilitation works that were required. By  2014 the decision was made to close the mine. The revised Site Based Environmental Management Plan, Erosion and Sediment Control Management Plan, and Land Rehabilitation Plan – were utilized to steer final rehabilitation works. Over $2.5m was spent on final land rehabilitation works including soil re-conditioning, integrated water management, and re-vegetation works. Closure necessitated close attention to mine closure provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, of 1994. After successful closure, the approach and technical methods, including ‘assisted revegetation’, were used in internal EPA training of officers.