The history of modern day gold mining here in Victoria from the 1970s to now has been very negative on communities and the environment. So much so that many types have been virtually eliminated. I know you are talking about one type, hard rock. The worst ever here has been mining of old leads. Over and over companies worked them and claimed just breaking even when we know they made fortunes.
Here's a few examples. Maryborough large company worked Bluchers gully, found mega, claimed they went broke owing businesses in the town thousands upon thousands, leaving the area getting off scot free. Same company sets up in a different name, same crew, now they work a big lead in Amherst Daisy Hill. Same deal. Now under another name they work Amphitheatre, same deal. Then Moonambel. Same happened with other crews in Moliagul, Jones Creek, Dunolly, Tarnagulla. The other issue apart from ripping off the towns was that when the land is disturbed and stripped of the native vegetation other stuff takes over the area which under normal circumstances isn't a problem. Worst being what we call turkey bush, but im not sure that really is the correct name. It grows so thick that you can't even see through it and stops light getting to the good native stuff to grow. The area becomes overgrown with it and becomes useless. These areas are now useless for detecting as also they dozed into the ground all their rubbish. Beer and food cans, oil and filters anything and everything. Nearly all to worked areas outside the claim boundaries. So in response, and rightfully so, the govt changed the rules and imposed costs per tree removed in the thousands per tree and X amount must be spent on rejuvenation. This put a halt to virtually all of them.
Another result of it all was the creation of no go zones in the form of Nature conservation reserves, a handful they let us in, and national parks. Gold mining here has been its own worst enemy and the enemy of detectorists. Personally im glad they stopped it all. All you see now is mining on private land with deals struck between land owners and the crews doing it. Good riddance to them I say here.
I know there are some good legit hard rock crews, I have no issue with that type.
But overall gold mining in Victoria has had a huge negative effect on access to gold bearing areas and small country towns. So now communities view all types negatively here unfortunately.
That is the problem of small scale mining companies they do not have economies of scale to rehabilitate mined areas. Policing them have been failure by the state governments. All they need to do file for bankruptcy and rebirth into another company. But it has been a problem not just in Victoria either but over the globe.
On the TV show gold rush most professional gold miners laugh at the show on how they portray mining show alluvial smash and grab mining. Most mines are vastly different. It the old days it was open slaver. Things are slowly changing. Today, rehabilitation proposals and plans are developed well before the commencement of construction of modern mines.
These plans are mandated by government regulators, the financiers of the mine, shareholders and stakeholders alike. In preparing these plans, the advice and skill of a large range of experts, including soil scientists, hydrologists, engineers, aquatic biology and water quality specialists are sought. I had a good conversation with an old mining engineer friend of mine. We had worked on projects all over the world. His son is engineer in company that does mine rehabilitation in 35 countries.
Where possible, mines are progressively rehabilitated throughout the mine life as opposed to only after mine closure. Generally speaking while some areas can be rehabilitated on a progressive basis while the mine is operating, others cannot be rehabilitated until mining is complete. Mining is complex beast these days that is why mining proposals take so long to develop.
Public perceptions of mining over all WORLD are based on wild cat mining companies doing the wrong thing. Sadly Victoria has long history of small mining operations, Tasmania too that has left a bad blood in local communities.
Mining directly impacts a small percentage of Australia's land, with figures from the Australian government showing it is about 0.09% or 6,970 sq. km However, the total land under mining tenements, which includes exploration and lease areas, is much larger and can affect a state like Western Australia where 17% of the land was under tenement in 2017-18. The impact can be far-reaching due to effects like pollution and habitat fragmentation, even beyond the immediate mine site.
By far the most damaging environmental impacts is from poor farm practices, Agriculture impacts slightly more than half of Australia's land, with around 55% to 58% of the total land area used for farming, which amounts to approximately 385 to 426 million hectares. Of this agricultural land, the vast majority, around 86%, is used for grazing, while a smaller portion is used for cropping and horticulture. tree clearly not allow enough green belts in past and poor management of streams. have not helped.
In comparison the USA Approximately 51% of the total land area in the U.S. is used for agriculture, which includes cropland, pasture, and range land. This percentage has decreased from 63% in 1949, but the U.S. remains a major agricultural producer.
Mining Estimates suggest the U.S. mining industry has disturbed approximately 8.4 million acres of land for surface mining, with coal mining alone accounting for around 5 million acres. However, the overall land with mining potential is much larger, with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service managing mineral resources on more than 640 million acres of public land, though much of it is withdrawn or restricted from development.
Mining ventures are now complex projects that is why they require hundreds of millions of dollars to develop. For most jurisdictions, each year, a Rehabilitation and Closure Plan is prepared to describe the proposed method of rehabilitation and closure of the site. The overall objective of this plan is: To ensure rehabilitation and closure of the site in such a manner that in the long term the site, and any structures on it, will remain stable; and any water discharging from the site, and any groundwater under the site, will be of a quality such that it will not adversely affect aquatic life, or other users of the water resource.
Such plans describe the proposed method of final rehabilitation and closure that would be carried out in the unlikely event that the site closed sooner than expected. It includes an assessment of any residual risk that the site could potentially pose to the environment and the neighbouring community should early closure occur. Sadly this can have a huge impact on on community's as it can rip the heart and soul out of communities. A lot of country mining towns suffer. In Australia Broken hill is classic example. Mt Isa my old stomping ground is going to be another. In The United states too many to mention whole mining towns struggle to reinvent themselves after mining.
Sadly mining communities all over the world The USA is full of them have suffered from the effects of mining and environmental impacts. Most modern mine operations are dictated by powers to be to include environmental rehabilitation of the mine site after mining.
Modern mines are required to have a programme of monitoring and maintenance that would be necessary at the closed site in the foreseeable future. Prior to opening a mine, most jurisdictions require the posting of bonds sufficient to cover the costs that would be incurred in carrying out the mine closure rehabilitation and monitoring work.
This is why it take years to develop a mine these day. its simply just digging a hole in ground. I have shares in company that actual rehabilitation of mine sites Stantec. With the increase of mining comes the increase of rehabilitation of mine sites.
Today the the requirement of society reflected by stakeholders, financiers, government and shareholders, in the form of the combination of the Rehabilitation and Closure Plan and the bonds, ensures that rehabilitation and closure of the site will occur under all circumstances, and that the costs associated with both the rehabilitation of the land and its long term management will be met, with no cost to the taxpayer.
That is for big mining companies and yet there of course exceptions that do wrong thing like all other industries. The stark reality if it was not for mining gold and other commodities we would not be tying away on my lap top or smart phone and all the luxuries we enjoy today.
Crow
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