A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

Secondary impacts such as changes in grazing patterns and the introduction or
increases in weeds and feral fauna should be addressed by the development and
implementation of land management plans. Identification and control of problem
weeds, including the prevention of introduction in and adjacent to operating
areas, should be carried out. Where feral fauna such as the fox, cat, pig or goat are
negatively impacting conservation values, their numbers should be monitored and if
necessary, control methods implemented.
Leading practice biodiversity management goes beyond minimising long-term
impacts from operations. It identifies opportunities for improvement in the lease and
adjacent areas by introducing innovative and sustainable land management practices
and/or controlling weeds and feral fauna to the greatest practicable extent. These
initiatives may be undertaken by the companies themselves, or in partnership with
government and NGOs.
Managing impacts on aquatic fauna
Aquatic ecosystems occupy low-lying parts of the landscape and will, therefore, be
the ultimate recipients of runoff from mining activities. The linkages between the
quality of terrestrial ecosystem management and receiving aquatic ecosystems are
typically very strong. It is therefore difficult to achieve good outcomes from planning
management of aquatic ecosystems without due consideration of these linkages.
Mining impacts on aquatic ecosystems arise from four sources:
water quantity issues
water quality issues
habitat structure issues and
organism passage issues.
Alterations of the surface runoff and/or groundwater flow characteristics and
pathways can affect water quantity. Mined landscapes can differ greatly in rainfallrunoff
relationships from the original landscape. Rehabilitated landscapes will
commonly have altered topography from the original landform, resulting in changes
to the directions, quantities and timing of surface flows.
Furthermore, mines often intercept or use aquifers. The geological layers mined may
themselves be important aquifers supporting groundwater dependent ecosystems.
In the arid and semi-arid regions that host much of the Australian mining industry,
ground waters are commonly key resources used by mining companies. The impacts
on these ecosystems during and post operation need to be understood as do
mechanisms for their maintenance and rehabilitation.
The ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) Water Quality Guidelines summarised in Batley et
al. (2003) together with associated state and territory legislation, constitute a water
quality risk-management framework for management of biodiversity in aquatic
ecosystems. Leading practice management of water quality impacts follows the
risk-management framework of the guidelines. It should also ensure the monitoring
program sensitivity can detect trends in water quality parameters while the
measurements remain below the water quality objectives. This allows management
steps to be implemented before a declining trend of water quality can lead to
biodiversity impacts.
A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 93