Environmental Stewardship
When John Stacpoole, inspector of mines at the NSW Resources Regulator, took the stage at the Life of Mine | Mine Waste and Tailings 2025 Conference in Brisbane, he didn’t waste time on pleasantries.
Tailings monitoring is a lot like health care - when it’s reactive, it can cost you dearly, but when it’s proactive, structured and consistent, it becomes a powerful tool for preventing failure, demonstrating stewardship, and building long-term confidence in your facility.
In a sector where “take-or-pay” contracts have long dictated how miners move their commodities, one new entrant is promising a more flexible model that puts the needs of producers first.
In one of Australia’s wettest mining regions, a carefully engineered soil cover has proven it can keep both water and oxygen out of acid-forming waste rock - even under two metres of rain a year.
When BHP needed a new Engineer of Record for one of Australia’s most complex tailings sites, the Olympic Dam handover became a masterclass in how to get it right.
GV Price, senior staff consultant with KCB Australia, has spent a career helping mines grapple with the nuances of geotechnical standards.
In a mining landscape increasingly defined by lower ore grades, ESG scrutiny, and complex feedstocks, recovery performance has never been more critical.
As the mining industry edges closer to a tipping point on tailings management, a panel of global experts at the 2025 Life of Mine | Mine Waste and Tailings Conference in Brisbane issued a clear message: discipline in operations, humility in design, and a more adaptive mindset will be critical to preventing the next tailings disaster.
At a time when mining operations are under growing pressure to optimise resource use, reduce waste, and demonstrate environmental stewardship, access to real-time data is no longer a luxury - it’s a necessity.
In the high-stakes world of Australian mining, where downtime can cost millions and conditions test even the toughest machinery, one company is redefining how mine sites manage water and turn dewatering from a necessary burden into a strategic advantage.
