Mount Morgan gold, silver and copper mine, which is now filled with contaminated water. (Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland)
An expert from the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute is warning Australian taxpayers they will be left with a bill running into tens of billions of dollars unless the government starts taking mine rehabilitation seriously.
According to environmental scientist Peter Erskine there currently are more than 50,000 abandoned mines in the country, a legacy of the early mining days when firms simply walked away once the profits dried up, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports.
He said the situation in Queensland is particularly worrisome as there hasn’t been a mine closed in the state for the past 33 years. What’s more, Erskine claims the government doesn’t want to take on the risk of a closed mine, adding that the industry is reluctant to spend the money required to safely close an operation.
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2 Comments
GaryDoggett
What’s missing from the report is the state government’s response to why they resisted the progressive rehabilitation of mined land in Queensland until finally conceding to mining industry lobbying in 2005. Following is a better analysis of the situation in Australia than the ABC report, which shows signs of being engineered by the anti-coal movement for which Mr Buckley is a regular spokesperson.
https://theconversation.com/what-should-we-do-with-australias-50-000-abandoned-mines-18197
BS study
50000 abandoned mines. i don’t think so. BS study. more like 50000 mineral occurrences in Australia. give no credibility to this story