Woolley, M & Hutton, A 2009, 'New regulatory approaches in rehabilitation cost estimation — how successful have they been?', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2009: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 275-186, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/908_12
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/908_12_Woolley/)
Abstract: The global financial crisis and related reductions in commodity prices have had a significant impact on the 
mining industry, and as a result more mines may be forced into premature closure. Inevitably some of these 
are likely to join lists of derelict mines across the nation. 
For state governments across Australia, the need has arguably never been greater to ensure security bonds 
at mine sites are accurate and that the related liabilities are adequately covered by the security bonds that 
are held. Strategies to limit future government liabilities have been developed by some governments such as 
New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria who have recently developed and implemented new approaches to 
closure cost estimation to assist in establishing more accurate security bonds. 
Following an independent assessment of the security review process, including benchmarking of processes 
against other agencies in Australia and worldwide, the NSW Department of Primary Industries – Mineral 
Resources (DPI–MR) implemented a recommendation that mine operators have the responsibility for  
self-assessment of the total costs required for rehabilitation and closure. 
A rehabilitation cost estimate tool (referred to in this paper as the rehabilitation calculator) was developed 
to provide a consistent approach for all NSW mine sites to be used in their estimation of closure liabilities. 
The costs would then form a guide for the NSW DPI–MR to use in security bond calculation. 
The rehabilitation calculator has been used as a basis for closure cost assessment in NSW since 2005 with 
some minor amendments. It has since been reviewed, improved and adapted for use by the Victorian DPI in 
their management of mines and extractive industries. 
This paper explores the improvements and refinements made to the rehabilitation calculator, and suggests 
further improvements that can be made. It also includes discussion on the outcomes of the use of the 
rehabilitation calculators in both NSW and Victoria over the last two to four years, with commentary from 
perspectives of both government and industry stakeholders being considered. 
The paper concludes with a discussion on the possible benefits of a national approach to closure cost 
estimation, with particular reference to a consistent approach for those companies that operate across state 
borders.