Long-term Planning

Starting tailings closure decades early could save millions, boost trust and turn mine waste into long-term assets worth talking about

What if the key to slashing tailings closure costs and winning community trust is to start the work decades before the mine shuts down? For Justin Walls, Principal Consultant (Tailings Engineering) at SRK Consulting, the best time to plan for tailings storage facility (TSF) closure is now – not when the mine is about to shut down.

Alcoa fights for future in the Jarrah Forest as approvals debate heats up and rehabilitation record takes centre stage

When Elsabe Muller, president and vice president operations of Alcoa Australia, took the stage at Optus Stadium for the WA Mining Club’s July luncheon, she knew the audience expected candour.

Fuel cells with brains: How smart methanol tech is keeping remote mine sites running, quiet, and green - even when solar taps out or winter bites

What if the smartest way to power your remote mine site was silent, clean, low-maintenance - and already outsmarting diesel and solar in the field? For Chelsea Kovacs, business development manager at SFC Energy Canada, the answer lies in compact, intelligent fuel cell technology - specifically, direct methanol fuel cells that operate quietly, efficiently, and with minimal emissions.

Geologists break the model mould and ask what if we started resource estimation from scratch

What if resource estimation wasn’t just updated, but completely reimagined? At the AusIMM 2025 Mineral Resource Estimation Conference in Perth, two respected voices in the field—Jacqui Coombes and Paul Hodkiewicz—stepped away from PowerPoint slides and into a candid, thought-provoking dialogue that challenged the mining industry to rethink its most foundational assumptions.

How erosion models are busting gullies, predicting the future and helping miners design landforms that last centuries and pass the pub test

What if you could fast-forward a century to see whether your rehabilitated mine landform holds its shape or collapses into a network of gullies? At a recent seminar hosted by the Office of the Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Commissioner (OQMRC), one message rang clear: erosion and landscape evolution models are no longer just academic exercises—they’re digital crystal balls for mine closure planning.