Innovatia

precede a spike in mine closures over coming decades. Meeting this future demand creates significant opportunity for innovation and an expanded view of how we conceptualise the mine closure supply and value chains. A new way of thinking While mine rehabilitation is not a new topic, it is one that has been underpinned by a shared belief that after a mine finishes, it will be re- turned to a state that closely resembles what was there before. This belief has underpinned our policy development, mine planning, and associated investment through the life of a mine, and is closely connected to the com-

munity’s social licence for the sector. This ap- proach fails to recognise that as mines develop, they build infrastructure, create communities, and radically change the landscape. If we are to deviate from this ‘single path’, we will need a new way of thinking as well as the skills, knowl- edge, technology, business settings, and policy “Positioning mines for positive end- of-life transitions is a restorative process requiring the involvement of many government officials.”

MINING TRANSFORMATION FOR ENDURING VALUE The Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies, launched in 2020, is creating opportunities to bring Australian innovation in the emerging mine closure sector to the global market. By Dr Guy Boggs A ustralia’s resource wealth is well known,

What is driving this transformation of the sector? While social licence has long been recognised as important, recent challenges have demon- strated that this is one of the most significant business risks mining companies face. Public confidence in the sector’s ability to minimise the net social and environmental impact and deliver enduring value by closing, relinquish- ing, and transitioning mines and their commu- nities is critical, and central to social licence. What’s more, this is driving decision-making within the investment community and our ability to recruit the next generation into the sector. Transforming the sector to one that not only generates wealth during the operating life of a mine but also leaves a positive legacy will be critical in attracting and building the work- force of the future. Australia has experienced a mining boom and it is inevitable that this will

from the 19th century eastern and west- ern gold rushes in places such as Ballarat and Kalgoorlie to the iron ore driven ‘mining boom’ of the 2000s. This mineral wealth has helped build our regions and cities, driven our society’s GDP, and enabled the investment in and development of other industries. Extracting this wealth from our mineral resources is a partner- ship between government, mining companies, and the community, requiring a fine-tuned set of skills, technologies, and business acumen to ensure profitable and sustainable sector. While the focus in the past has been on optimising the exploration, construction and operational phas- es of a mine’s life, it’s now becoming clear that it is just as critical that we ensure mines can close, be relinquished and transition communities, infrastructure and land for next use if we are to have a sustained resource sector.

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