Scoping study - Coal mine voids, Queensland
Prepared for Office of Water Science on behalf of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development.
About the document
As part of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development's (IESC's) Hydrology research priorities, the IESC is aiming to increase the understanding of residual (final) coal mine voids in Queensland through the scoping study to identify the location and potential impacts of these features within the landscape.
A total of 71 Environmental Approval (EA) records are associated with open cut coal mining in Queensland, consisting of 12 that are currently in pre-construction and 45 in operation.
The scoping study consists of the following:
- A database of current open coal pits in Queensland and characterisation of the vulnerability to potential impacts.
- Case study analysis of residual coal mine voids for four selected mine sites.
- Development of a risk assessment approach to assess the risks of residual coal mine voids to water resources and the receiving environment.
Four coal mine sites were selected as case studies to examine a range of characteristics of residual voids, including strategies for rehabilitation, and to assist in developing a risk assessment approach for consideration by the IESC.
For the four selected case studies, publicly available information (for example, environmental impact statements, impact assessment reports, EA records and IESC advice) and information made available by the Queensland Government was collated and interrogated for the purposes of characterising proposed or existing residual voids according to the following attributes.
Esri Shape files and KMZ files of the digitised coal mine pits, including key attributes that can be uploaded by the user to Queensland Globe, are also provided as part of the scoping study outputs.