Bengalla Mining Company Pty Limited - Rio Tinto Coal Australia

Rehabilitation & Landscape
Management Plan
3.2.4 Revegetation
Revegetation is undertaken progressively and as soon as practicable after the completion
of surface preparation. Seeding of a rehabilitation area commences as soon as practical
after raking using either a tractor mounted seed spreader or direct hand seeding.
Generally, pasture areas and trees and shrub areas will be sown separately. Where
utilised, tube stock may be planted in rip lines at approximately 5 m spacing and in an
irregular pattern along the contour to achieve as natural a result as possible.
The typical pasture and tree species used for revegetation are shown in Appendix C.
3.2.5 Monitoring
In accordance with EP 5.1 access to rehabilitated areas is closed to all equipment and
vehicles not involved in the rehabilitation process.
Site inspections of rehabilitated areas are carried out on an annual basis as required by
EP 5.1. The main aim of these inspections is to confirm rehabilitation processes, identify
areas of erosion, the presence of weeds and/or feral animals and ensure appropriate
maintenance activities are undertaken.
In order to evaluate and monitor vegetation in these annual inspections, a monitoring
transect will be established at regular intervals (approximately 300 m) along the
overburden emplacement slope on rehabilitation which has been established for greater
than two years with the following descriptive parameters recorded:
• Describe the vegetation in general terms;
• Assess and describe the grass cover: namely, the total percentage cover and
dominant species;
• Assess, describe and estimate the weed cover (%) and the dominant weed species
(in particular declared noxious weeds);
• Estimate the percentage of bare ground;
• Describe tree health, noting signs of drought stress, nutrient deficiencies or
disease;
• Assess the overall percentage of healthy trees; and
• Establish and mark a permanent photo point for visual comparison over time.
Further, the annual inspection will also record the following parameters at each transect
to assess and monitor soils and erosion:
• Describe the type and extent of erosion (e.g. gully erosion, erosion rills, tunnel
erosion failed water management structures);
Ref: 071025 bmc rehabilitation & landscape mp Page 12