An approach to an ecosystem restoration standard for Ranger Uranium Mine

Authors: Bartolo, RE; Nicholson, J; Rudge, M; Loewensteiner, D; Whiteside, T; Erskine, P; Barnes, M; Humphrey, CL Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_100_Bartolo

Cite As:
Bartolo, RE, Nicholson, J, Rudge, M, Loewensteiner, D, Whiteside, T, Erskine, P, Barnes, M & Humphrey, CL 2019, 'An approach to an ecosystem restoration standard for Ranger Uranium Mine', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2019: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 1267-1280, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_100_Bartolo



Abstract:
Rehabilitation of the Ranger mine site, located in the Northern Territory, Australia, must be completed by the mine operator, Energy Resources Australia Limited (ERA), by 2026. The Supervising Scientist (Australian government’s Department of the Environment and Energy) has developed a series of rehabilitation standards against which the success of rehabilitation can be measured. These standards are not mandatory but will form the basis of the Supervising Scientist’s advice on ERA’s proposed closure criteria and rehabilitation plans, and the eventual success of rehabilitation. A number of the standards describe the requirements for the onsite environment, including the performance of, and restoration associated with, the re-constructed landform. This presentation will focus on the ecosystem restoration standard and is complementary to the landform stability standard (presented at this forum also). The ecosystem restoration standard considers all requirements for restoring the terrestrial ecosystem of the Ranger Project Area (including riparian areas). The paper addresses the following topics:

Keywords: closure criteria, ecosystem restoration, rehabilitation standard, scaling, drones

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