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There are a number of different mechanisms by which wetlands can immobilise the metals in mine drainage. Here, the biogeochemistry behind four of these mechanisms (adsorption, biological uptake, precipitation as oxyhydroxides, and precipitation as sulfides) is discussed from the perspective of sustainability. Moreover, treatment wetlands are considered as part of a larger system, also taking into account the source of the drainage and various aspects of the receiving waters. The biogeochemistry of different metal immobilisation mechanisms in wetlands determines what kind of drainage can be treated with success, and it also places an upper limit on the amount of metal that can be removed from the water phase per unit of time. This has important implications for the design of treatment wetlands, perhaps particularly in colder climates. A thorough understanding of the prevailing biogeochemical processes is essential when attempting to establish treatment wetlands after the closing of a mine. If a wetland is to be used as a sustainable æwalk-awayÆ solution, the anticipated change in treatment efficiency over time (as pollutants accumulate in the system) must be considered in relation to the expected changes in drainage quality. It is also important that the total metal immobilisation capacity of the wetland is not exceeded and that the integrity of the system is maintained, in order to minimise liberation of previously immobilised metals.

Jan 1, 2003

In Australia we usually define "resource" in purely material terms, and rarely relate it to intellect and human capacity. We look at the sheer abundance of our natural resources and are satisfied with the feeling that we don't really need-to rely on using our brains. Certainly our country is fortunate to have the mineral resources it does, but in many ways Australia's worst enemy is its "lucky country" syndrome because we tend to underutilise the great resource we have in the capacities of our people. Raw material exports will undoubtedly continue to contribute a major share of our export revenue, but to harness the riches our country has to offer most effectively we need the vision and planning necessary to bring together our material and human resources. There is a need not only to find, exploit and process our minerals economically, but to turn as much of our mineral wealth as possible into high value products before it leaves the country. In particular we must use our brainpower if we want to maximise economic benefit from and political influence over the strategic minerals which leave our shores. In the past we have been successful in finding and exploiting minerals because our mining industry has been in the forefront of private sector research and development. But if Australia is to have an advantage over other mineral rich countries in insulating itself from the effects of cyclical swings in commodity prices, then the future of the industry must lie even more in technological sophistication rather than depending. on such considerations as size and location of mineral deposits. To survive, our mineral industry must have the foresight and resourcefulness to make its own luck. There are two keys to increased efficiency in exploration and production and in further processing methods: enhancement of the skills of the workforce and continual improvement of R&D.

Jan 1, 1986

By E Drueppel, M Mistry, J Pateiro

As mining undoubtedly influences the natural environment future challenges of copper ore mining are minimisation of land use in area and duration, proper land rehabilitation as well as tailings management. One possible solution to avoid these negative impacts could be the application of underground mining with backfilling tailings compounds. This approach would definitely increase the production cost. Against this background the project analyses the influence of an æecologically satisfyingÆ copper ore mining on world market prize and demand as well as on the environment. In the project 261 copper ore mines accounting for 98 per cent of world copper production have been examined. After modelling a backfill plant, analyses of applied backfill techniques were conducted. Afterwards a method of cost estimation was developed and then the backfill plant model was applied in three case studies. The results were transferred into scenarios. The work closes with a short discussion and gives an outlook to forthcoming research. The results presented in this work have been generated within the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 525 entitled æResource-orientated view of metallic raw material flowsÆ. This interdisciplinary project was established at Aachen University of Technology (Germany) in 1997 and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The long-term goal of this research program is the identification of options for the resource-sensitive supply and processing of metallic raw materials. In order to address the sustainable development challenges facing the metals and minerals industry an integrated resource management system is to be developed and tested for important metallic raw materials. Case studies for aluminium and copper are being conducted by the CRC 525 in order to provide useful and efficient tools for decision makers over the entire life cycle of these materials.

Jan 1, 2003

By Hinkley JT, Smitham JB, Nicol SK

Historical investigations of mineral flotation have highlighted the many factors which affect flotation. Some of these are related to the mineral, its degree of liberation (however defined), solution chemistry and flotation reagents. The complexity of the interactions between these factors often leads to uncertainty over whether the final grade/recovery results obtained in either laboratory or pilot scale tests are in fact the maximum recovery at a specific grade. The reason for this is that there has not previously been a general technique for establishing the floatability of an ore. This study describes the further development of the 'tree' flotation technique for minerals other than coal, and in particular its application to iron ores. Oxides have been chosen as a system of intermediate complexity between the simple coal system and sulphide minerals to illustrate the principles and develop the concepts. The 'tree' flotation procedure consists of the progressive flotation to completion of successive froth products, followed by reflotation to remove entrained material. It therefore represents an 'equilibrium' approach to floatability rather than a kinetic approach. By ordering the various products and tails in order of increasing grade, a cumulative curve of grade and recovery can be constructed against which an isolated batch or plant result on the same ore can be compared. In this investigation, a Jaspilitic iron ore was tested at various grind sizes to determine the 'best' flotation grade-recovery that could be obtained with a given set of reagent conditions. The separation characteristics of a process are best measured on a system which contains particles which behave as 'middlings' with respect to the process in question. For this reason a natural ore was chosen in preference to model systems in order to relate more readily to plant situations.

Jan 1, 1993

Present value maximisation studies are a useful aid in enhancing the economic performance of open pit mining operations. Maximising present value helps to reduce the risk of financial failure. Maximisation of present value also means that the capital invested is being used most efficiently. A characteristic step in determining the present value of an open pit mining operation is to set out the sequence in which increments of material (ore of various grades and waste rock) are mined. Traditionally, present value maximisation has been performed by selecting a cut-off grade for each increment so as to maximise the present value of the total operation, by an iterative process using computers. Kenneth F Lane has developed a method and applied it to many mining operations. An alternative method for determining the maximum present value of an open pit mining operation is given. In this method the maximum present value is determined by working backwards from the end of the operation life, progressively asking the question of each increment `what cut-off grade maximises the the present value at the start of mining of that increment?' The method allows calculations to be performed by a `spreadsheet' package. Present value determinations are characteristically performed under constant conditions (eg prices, costs) throughout the operation life. Unfortunately real life circumstances are rarely constant, with the costs of mining inputs rising at variable rates. The prices received for mineral products have been shown to broadly trend downwards with time in real terms. Treatment of such changes in the determination of the maximum present value of an operation is discussed.

Jan 1, 1994

The mining industry has had lengthy experience with risk management involving technological situations imposing risks to people and property. In such situations the relevant parameters can be fairly well defined, the outcomes can be broadly predicted and probabilities of these can be estimated. Accordingly quantitative risk assessment can be applied. In recent years there has been increased emphasis in risk management on a broader set of potential consequences. These include potential impacts on the flora and fauna of ecosystems. These are typically poorly understood and this is especially true in Australia where the vast size of the continent and sparse population make gathering a comprehensive data base on biological resources a difficult task. The resulting scientific uncertainty and ignorance regarding the potential for serious or irreversible harm to the environment mean not only that quantitative risk analysis techniques are not appropriate, but also that the precautionary principle (PP) needs to be applied as a complement to qualitative ecological risk analysis. The potential for significant impacts is particularly high in Australian ecosystems. These comprise one of the 12 æmegadiverseÆ regions of the world in terms of biodiversity and, hence, have global significance. Moving from risk management to application of the PP by the mining industry provides a significant challenge. Application of the PP has no clear guidelines to follow and, to-date, has been highly unpredictable. However, there is much to be gained for industry in embracing this challenge and taking a pro-active approach in exploring methods that will provide for clearer guidelines and hence more certainty in outcomes of environmental management decisions involving precaution. As well, there could be considerable other advantages for the mining industry in terms of reputation assurance, community acceptance and greater certainty in terms of access to resources.

Jan 1, 2000

Over the past five years, dedicated tertiary mining engineering programs have become financially unsustainable in Australia on the basis of undergraduate enrolments alone. The situation is worse in other minerals related disciplines and extends to the technical minerals education sector. This paper reviews the causes for the current situation. Indicators are presented which suggest that enrolment trends can no longer be attributed only to business cycles in the minerals industry but are also reflective of a fundamental shift in student interest in the sciences and resources based engineering disciplines. Reactive responses to changing trends are diluting and compromising the quality of mining engineering education. It is unlikely that the trends can be reversed or resisted. Tertiary minerals educators need to position themselves so that they can be responsive to on-going change. Two proposals are offered which aim to anchor mining engineering in a long-term sustainable manner. The proposals have a common educational component which is concerned with restructuring how mining engineering programs are presented and providing more flexible access to such programs. However, the two proposals have significantly different commercial components. The commercial component of first proposal is concerned with working within the traditional education framework of universities to endow a critical number of core staff positions. It effectively equates to fund raising. The second proposal is concerned with developing a stand-alone commercial operation around the education and research advantages of the global and multi-disciplinary university system. As a shareholder in this business, a university department would earn dividends that it could then use to support its education initiatives. This proposal provides a performance-based mechanism for supporting university minerals programs and has the potential to be cost-neutral. Both proposals are suited to resource sharing with a select number of international mining schools and to the incorporation of the other tertiary minerals disciplines under threat.

Jan 1, 2000

Prospecting in arid terrain can produce substantial environmental impacts, comparable to or greater in magnitude than the impacts associated with actual mining or petroleum production. Impacts are likely to be particularly severe where prospecting involves intensive geophysical exploration, especially in areas which have escaped degradation by other land uses such as pastoralism. With appropriate environmental planning and management, however, the environmental impacts of prospecting in arid terrain can be greatly reduced and mitigated, at low cost. In many countries, prospecting licences, exploration leases and associated tenements now carry a range of conditions relating to environmental protection. The assessment, avoidance and mitigation of environmental impacts is therefore an important component of and-zone exploration. My aim here is to give an overview of some of the main aspects of an environmental planning and management (EPM) programme for prospecting in arid terrain (PAT). Detailed operational prescriptions for environmental protection procedures are necessarily specific to particular areas and types of prospecting: see. e.g., Buckley (1982a, 1984, 1985a, 1986a), Klepacki et al. (1985) and Stone (1986). The intention here is to provide a checklist rather than a recipe book: as an aid in incorporating environmental aspects into the overall planning and management of an exploration programme, and in liaison with company environmental staff, consultants and regulatory bodies. I also hope to show that whilst some of the techniques used in particular environmental disciplines certainly require specialist expertise, the overall design of an EPM programme is not in the least esoteric, but simply an exercise in straightforward common sense. Perhaps this paper could be subtitled: "Demystifying environmental Planning".

Jan 1, 1988

By C Fountain

It is commonly known that copper smelter terms include penalties if the concentrations of elements, such as arsenic, mercury and fluorine, exceed stipulated limits. It is less commonly known that the behaviour of these elements in the smelters can depend on the processes used to treat the concentrate. The principle behind the penalties is to compensate the smelters and refineries for additional costs caused by the presence of the penalty elements, but these costs will vary depending on the process used and the location of the smelter.The issues caused by the minor elements include effects on the occupational health of smelter workers, increased environmental disposal costs, increased operating costs and reduced cathode copper quality.The effects of minor elements can be surprising. High levels of arsenic in concentrate are considered undesirable, but some smelters add arsenic to anode copper to improve the performance of the refinery.Excess concentrations of some elements will result in rejection of concentrates by smelters. China has blanket import bans on copper concentrates with concentrations of lead, arsenic cadmium, fluorine and mercury exceeding specified levels.This paper will review the behaviour of minor elements in smelters and refineries, explaining the deleterious effects of each of them, to provide a greater understanding for people and organisations wishing to market copper concentrates.CITATION:Fountain, C, 2013. The whys and wherefores of penalty elements in copper concentrates, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 502-518 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

The Ausmelt Catalytic Waste Converter (CWC) has been developed for use in the treatment of industrial wastes and for the recycling of secondary materials. Ausmelt Technology uses a top submerged lance system within a versatile and efficient slag bath reactor. High temperature pyrometallurgical reactions are carefully controlled within an oxidised molten siliceous slag such that metals can be extracted from waste feedstock for recycling, with non-volatile elements reporting to the slag, usually as oxides. Modification of the slag chemistry results in a final slag product that is stable, vitrified and is able to pass standard leach tests such that it is safe to discard or be used in civil engineering applications. Toxic components in the wastes such as organohalides can be completely destroyed and are prevented from reforming. Waste to energy conversion is practiced by the addition of a heat exchanger/steam generator in the converter offgas system. The Ausmelt CWC has been used for recovering zinc from residues and slags, treating spent potliner (SPL) from the aluminium industry and a wide range of electronic and other potentially valuable waste materials. Methods of monitoring the exhaust gases at different stages in the CWC gas handling system are discussed. The assay of these gases prior to emission is used to assist in the control of the converter chemistry to ensure the complete oxidative breakdown of the feedstock.

Jan 1, 2002

ITSL Technology group employs around 100 people at Mississauga in Canada. Its long and proud history as a driving force for the worldÆs nickel industry continues, progressively adapting to meet IncoÆs ongoing development needs. The nickel industry, unlike many others in the minerals processing world, has not evolved into one or two narrow technology paradigms. Rather, each process requires a degree of optimisation to meet the characteristics of the ore. Without a competent team to address this complexity, the uncertainties that arise can greatly increase the risk (and costs) associated with the nickel industry developments. The development work carried out at ITSL Technology ranges from milling and metallurgical processing of ores through to development of value added products for the battery and electronics industries. It covers routine evaluation of ores for exploration (mine planning and greenfield), and provides on the ground support to bring specialist technical perspectives to site-based projects. In recent years, ITSL Technology has had as its particular focus the process development and commissioning support for IncoÆs major projects. Over the next several years, Inco will commission its Goro laterite operation, design and construct the further processing facility for VoiseyÆs Bay, undertake major upgrades at Sudbury, Thompson and PT Inco, and bring forward some additional resources currently in the exploration stage. The appropriate mix of both internal and external resources to effectively manage this project portfolio will prove critical to success. The key to ITSL Technology meeting these development challenges has been in working closely with its internal customers to ensure alignment of the value proposition, to identify the critical issues to be managed, and to understand the deliverables required. This paper discusses examples to reinforce these principles in the definition and development for two different projects; processing of VoiseyÆs Bay ores and concentrates and resource optimisation at Thompson.

Jan 1, 2006

By Somerville M, Muray A, Bocking M

Australia has an extremely large total hot dry rock (HDR) resource above a depth of 5 km, equivalent to 7500 times its present annual energy consumption, of which 80 per cent underlies the Great Artesian Basin. The resources most likely to be exploited first are those residing in homogeneous granitic bodies beneath sedimentary basins containing insulating rocks such as shales and coal measures. In the Sydney Basin south of Muswellbrook, an area of high geothermal gradient corresponds to a gravity low thought to be a buried granite body at a temperature of possibly 250¦C. This locality is suspected to have the ideal geological characteristics for Australia's first hot rock test facility. Australia's high HDR potential is possibly unique in the world, in that the potential sites satisfy four independent, geological conditions, each considered as favourable for the creation of a resource, and for the ease of extracting that resource. They are: ò Higher crustal heat generating capacity than that of normal continental crust. ò Much of the Australian continent is covered by sedimentary basins which contain a high proportion of shales and coal measures that have low thermal conductivities, thus providing an insulating blanket for the heat being generated beneath. ò The sedimentary basins are in many places underlain by large untectonised granitic bodies that are not only a major contributor to heat generation, but also ideally suited to the establishment of HDR reservoirs. ò The crustal shortening stress field that is found in the majority of the Australian continental crust results in a vertical minimum principal stress orientation which should result in the development of favourably oriented horizontal stimulation cells necessary for maximising an HDR resource.

Jan 1, 1995

Urban railway systems need high invest- ments, especially if their routes and stations have to be placed in the subsurface. In the FRG the construction and equipment cost of urban underground railway systems are in the range of 60 to 100 Mill DM per km tunnel. For this reason, track sections on the surface and on elevated structures are used as far as that is possible. Considering whole systems, the costs are in a range from to 45 Mill DM per km length for a metro system with about 80 % of its tracks and stations in tunnels and from 20 to 25 Mill DM per km for a light railway system with about 25 % subsurface infra= structure. The amount of route lengths in tunnels depends on the size of a city, the situation regarding above ground structure and free space on the surface, the level of service quality which has to be achieved with the railway system etc. Despite of the urgent needs to improve the transport conditions there very often arise doubts if an urban railway system is really necessary and can be justified in an economic sense. The experience from many cities around the world shows, that there arise a lot of benefits from urban railway systems, especially with larger sections placed under- ground. They are to be found in the interests of the operator (f.e. operating costs), the user (travel time, quality of service etc.) and regarding social aspects (environmental protection, accidents, consumption of energy Etc.).

Jan 1, 1987

Mining of the silver-lead-zinc orebodies at the George Fisher Mine officially started in 2000. A review of mining performance to date shows that many of the extracted primary stopes have experienced some degree of hangingwall dilution. The degree of hangingwall failure in the stopes became progressively more extensive throughout mining of the orebodies in 2001 and 2002, culminating in the unplanned catastrophic failure of the 744D stope in which the ore between 13C (2683RL) and 12L (2714RL) sublevels caved into the previously mined cavity between 13L (2654RL) and 13C sublevels. This was followed several months later by another unplanned caving event in a nearby stope, 740D. As a direct result of these unplanned failures it was decided to mine the stopes with a smaller span than had been previously planned and in a primary-secondary pyramidal stoping sequence. To limit the exposure of the stope hangingwall, a hangingwall drive is no longer developed and therefore geologists no longer have access to the detailed geological information that this provided. Geologists at George Fisher Mine have had to be adaptable and flexible in response to these proposed changes and rely more on data from drilling than mapping for their geological interpretation. The result is that the drilling cycle has become much more critical in the planning process.

Jan 1, 2003

By M Noppe, I Glacken

There are many critical nodes along the mine value chain, from orebody to mineral product, and inter-disciplinary input is required to analyse the variability and uncertainty at each node in order to identify and mitigate areas of risk. Mining differs from many other industries in that the variability in the product is dictated largely by the inherent nature of the input material (the orebody). The true characteristics, including the variability of the orebody, are never known exactly and are instead based on estimates derived from sample data. A further difference is that bottom-line gains are largely controlled by world commodity prices, which can vary with time, rather than by local supply and demand issues. Methods for identifying, reporting and responding to this inherently variable raw material are discussed. These include analytical and reporting methods, equipment and software, risk analysis and reality checks (eg reconciliation). Sampling results, mineral resource and ore reserve estimates and economic assumptions are a function of the variability of the orebody. Risk quantification should be expressed as a level of confidence, which takes into account the scale or period over which the risk is being assessed (life-of-mine, annual or shorter production periods) and should convey the likelihood, severity and consequence of occurrence of a given event. The future generation of mining specialists needs to understand the entire mine value chain to better manage risks and maximise mine dollar-value.

Jan 1, 2002

In essence, these statements concur, However, management predominantly controls the organisation's communication environment (5), Consequently, the participation by employees in safety is greatly influenced by the quality of upward communication, (See section on authority for discussion on two way communica-ò tionò) Emotional survival contributes to the communications and it is said to occur as follows: -- We. aU tend to move towaAA 6.itw tLon,s which aid the achievement oj5 owc goa o and way {y/wm ones which testh ict achievement." Consequently, although the work force are prepared to contribute, they will not make the effort for long if management does not respond in deed. The Robers report includes the following statement; "Satiety and heat h at wank is a matte o6 e66ic,ient management. But it .L not a management pn.enogative. Wank people muht be encouAagad to pattiaipate úu.Uy in the making and movutoni:ng ob a/vua.ngements ban .6aJety and heath, at their. pace ofj wonk.t'(3) Attitudes dominate within this region. Emotional surviv- al is paramount. Management is the catalyst. They dominate the communication channels. Participation does not exist without two way communications and positive responses by those involved, Fault Doctrine. Eliminate faulty human behaviour. This concept lives with us as the predominant prior- ity of many safety programs. The concept is a drain on limited resources., Remember, malaria. At one stage this disease was believed to be caused by the mat or bad air emanating from persons whose profaneness or impious behaviour incurred such reprisal. Today, such a concept of malaria seems so ridiculous, (9)

Jan 1, 1979

By J Bryant

In recent years the mining industry has suffered from skill shortages in a range of disciplines including mine geology. As a consequence, many businesses operate with incompletely filled organisation charts and technical professionals are frequently thrust into roles earlier than previous generations of geologists, engineers and metallurgists. Exacerbating the difficulties managers face with recruiting suitably experienced professionals is the churn of people through roles. Churn may be caused by internal pressures related to the rapid increase in projects and opportunities within a company or by external factors including the high workforce mobility resulting from the advent of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO). Historically, new entrants into the mine geology profession often received on-the-job training from their more experienced colleagues. This training, supplemented with targeted skills and knowledge enhancement through dedicated short courses, ensured the wide range of skills, knowledge and abilities required in the complex role of mine geology were continually renewed. Faced with an influx of new graduates and a dearth of mine geology professionals in the critical ten to 15 year experience range, the industry needs to develop new paradigms to ensure that the full business benefit of the mine geology function is delivered. This is increasingly important as the complexity of business planning built on geologically-based variables grows. Mine geologists are now faced with the potential incorporation of geometallurgy and waste characterisation along with energy efficiency, carbon-economy and other environmental issues into their roles. Providing baseline data, models, operational control and reconciliation for a wider range of variables further stretches the already limited geological resources available to the industry and exposes personnel with relatively low levels of experience to potentially business transforming decision processes. This paper outlines a successful approach to mentoring at the individual and team level. It discusses what went well and what could have been done differently from both the mentor and menteeÆs perspective with examples from case studies and offers insights into a new approach to dealing with gaps in organisation charts and high turnover of personnel.

Jan 1, 2009

By Mackenzie W. R, Harding C. G

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a large country of over 1 000 000 square kilometres situated on the Atlantic coast of north-west Africa. It is bounded to the north by Western Sahara and Algeria, to the east by Mali, and to the south by Mali and Senegal. With the exception of a narrow strip in the south along the Senegal River valley, the country lies entirely within the Sahara. The north of the country is largely devoid of vegetation, and it is estimated that 90 per cent of the population of 2.1 million people live in the southern quarter of the country. From about the turn of the century, Mauritania was ruled by the French from Dakar in Senegal and, until 1960 when it obtained independence from the French, Mauritania did not have a capital. Today, the capital is Nouakchott, home to an estimated 600 000 Moors of mixed Arab, Berber and African descent. After independence in 1960, disputes over Spanish Sahara to the north led to a military coup in 1978 and it was not until 1991 that a democratic constitution was adopted. The new constitution declares Mauritania to be an `Islamic, African, and Arab Republic.' It provides for an executive president, elected for a six-year term, and for a bicameral legislature, consisting of a national assembly and a senate. The first presidential and legislative elections were held in 1992 under United Nations' supervision. Mauritania's economy is predominantly pastoral, and the country depends heavily on foreign aid. Its principal export industries are iron ore mining (about ten million tonnes per annum from mines near Fderik in the north) and fishing. Mines d'Or d'Akjoujt SA (MORAK), a company in which General Gold Resources NL (GGR) has 42.5 per cent equity, produces over 50 000 ounces of gold per annum, which represents the third largest export industry in the country.

Jan 1, 1996

Drilling has disclosed a sequence of Cainozoic sediments immediately to the west of the Ediacara mineral field containing little or no dolomitic debris in the lower and middle sections, but with gravel beds of dolomite derived from local rocks in the upper part. It is suggested that the lower and middle sequence of Cainozoic strata was deposited over the area of the Ediacara Range, and that this range was uplifted, probably as a horst block, during Quaternary times and was first exposed to subaerial erosion during the upper Pleistocene epoch.Lower Cambrian dolomites with associated stratiform lead mineralization, which formed the target of drilling on the western downthrown block of the Ediacara Fault, were eroded before deposition of Cainozoic sediments.Intense leaching of basal Cambrian dolomites around the periphery of the Ediacara Basin took place during Mesozoic and Tertiary times. This leaching process has resulted in enrichment of copper and lead mineralization in a thick marginal zone of residual clayey material overlain by dolomitic collapse breccia. These zones of leaching and enrichment were preserved under Cainozoic sediments which have subsequently been eroded. The Ediacara Fault appears to have been a major conduit for mineralizing fluids and is the main lineament of the Torrens Hinge Zone. Contemporaneous movements on this fault have controlled rates of depositionand thickness of sediments across the fault during Adelaidean and Cainozoic times. Though latest movements of this fault have been west block down, the predominant movement has been east block down with associated thickening of sediments to the east in the Adelaide Geosync1ine.

Jan 1, 1972

In Australia a social impact assessment (SIA) is generally required prior to the approval of a mineral resource extraction or processing projects as a part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. In recent years there has been increased attention on the adequacy of the SIA process applied in major project assessment. Most applications have focused on the impact identification process with little attempt given to the community negotiating power over how impacts will be addressed. The impact assessment tends to occur at a single point in time, with no subsequent re-evaluation or ongoing social impact management and monitoring process. The assessments rarely specify how responsibilities for impacts on communities may be apportioned between project proponents and government, and have been inadequate in dealing with cumulative project impacts. In Queensland, concern about these shortfalls have led to the release of the Sustainable Resource Communities Policy 2008 and requirements for social impact management plans (SIMP) to be developed for each resource development in the State. In this paper a 'pressure-state-response' approach to impact assessment is used to develop an 'impact-response-monitoring-evaluation' (IRME) framework that can be applied to ongoing evaluation and monitoring of social impacts. The framework is applied to coal resource developments in the northern Bowen Basin in Queensland to identify core requirements in a SIMP. The IRME framework is flexible enough to be implemented at various spatial and time scales, for the wellbeing of the local and regional mining and non-mining communities in Australia. The framework can be further examined in other mine developments and could be integrated with the existing mining or environmental protection acts.

Jun 1, 2010