Soil Science and Rehabilitation
we are leaders in
soil assessment and the planning and evaluating of rehabilitation and mine closure plans
- Qualified soils scientists and geochemists.
- Rehabilitation Plans.
- Mine certified supervisors (S 1,2,3) for field test pit excavation and drilling programs.
- Management of laboratory programs to evaluate chemical, physical and biological parameters of soil and regolith.
- Rehabilitation relinquishment services.
- Expertise in arid, temperate and tropical environments.
- Proven experience in waste rock and tailings rehabilitation (RGS personnel have a mine site field trial site over 15 years old).
- Soil cover system design, modelling and performance monitoring services for waste rock and tailings rehabilitation.
- Produce Soil Management Plans, Rehabilitation Plans, Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plans.
- Pioneered development of Geochemical and Physical Sampling and Analysis Programs (GaPSaAP) to integrate geochemical and physical sampling and analysis of soil and regolith materials.
- Produce Rehabilitation Material Sampling and Analysis Plans for environmental and engineering studies (RaMSaAP).
case studies
RGS new or recently completed projects
some additional
information
Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plans (PRCP)
The Queensland government is seeking better mine rehabilitation, improvement in financial assurance and assessment and action on residual risk. The mining rehabilitation reforms include:
- Financial assurance reform
- Mining rehabilitation reforms
- Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Bill 2018
- Financial Assurance under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 Guideline
The reforms are being developed to reduce environmental harm and ensure that there is adequate financial provisioning. The need to develop a robust and defensible life-of-mine (LoM) plan is being driven by:
- amendments to the Queensland Government Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Bill 2018 (the Bill); and,
- amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act) that will require a Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan (PRC Plan) DES has a guideline outlining the process of development for a PRC Plan)1.
A PRC Plan will have mandatory content.
- A rehabilitation planning component which documents the:
- consultation processes undertaken to develop the plan;
- the proposed design of the mine;
- the final landform including encapsulation and cover design requirements;
- different post-mining land uses or non-use management areas for the site,
- methodologies and trials for rehabilitation; and,
- any post-closure management requirements for the site.
- A progressive rehabilitation and closure plan schedule component which includes:
- all mined units (not just waste);
- maps of final rehabilitation outcomes for each area;
- tables of time-based milestones for achieving each post-mining land use or non-use management areas, and,
- any conditions imposed on the schedule by the administering authority.
A PRC Plan can be considered as a piece of iterative reverse engineering that defines probable, not definitive, end points for final landform design, rehabilitation goals, and environmental performance and then develops the planning, scheduling and design for the mine to meet these needs.
RGS is currently engaged by several Queensland clients to assist with the development of their RPC Plan.
[1] https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/management/env-policy-legislation/mining-rehabilitation-reforms.html#progressive_rehabilitation_and_closure_plan
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