Dr David Laurence: "The mining industry employs more environmental scientists to my knowledge than any other industry.  They are alsoit’s a job that’s in demand because it’s highly paid and it’s also an interesting job to do.  In Australia for the last 40 years we’ve been involved in environmental science on mine sites because the legislation demanded it.  We’ve had rules in our Mining Act here in New South Wales since 1973 to say that mines have to be environmentally managed properly and rehabilitated, progressively re-vegetated.  So the industry is certainly aware of its responsibilities.  It’s done that through a strong regulatory environment involving things like a bond, a security deposit.  So every new mine has to put in a bond to cover the cost of rehabilitation.  That gets reviewed annually by the government and the company itself.  Sometimes there’s a third party brought in to do an independent costing for the government."

Categories: Coal in Australia, Environment, Environment & Climate, Government, Jobs, Sustainable Mining
Author: Dr David Laurence