Research Initiatives for the Remediation of Land Following Open-Cut Coal Mining in Central Queensland

In 1992, BHP Coal Pty Ltd, the operator of eight open-cut coal mines in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland, embarked on a major research and development program which still continues today. The Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation at the University of Queensland was one of the research groups that became involved with the program. A series of linked, multidisciplinary projects was developed, focusing on developing procedures to overcome, or at least minimize, the major impediments to the establishment and persistence of self-sustaining ecosystems on postmined land in the central Queensland coalfields. The research addressed both control and/or amelioration of factors that affect plant establishment, as well as control and/or management of those factors limiting growth and ongoing sustainability. Surface crusting, salinity, competition during establishment, and water availability had been identified as the major limitations to successful establishment, while among the sustainability issues, water availability, nutrient availability through the reestablishment of effective nutrient cycling, compaction, and erosion were identified as key issues. Linking both programs is the role of species selection, both plant and microbial, in fostering establishment and sustainability success (Figure 3.1). Figure 3.1 An overview of the major limitations to effective establishment and sustainability of ecosystems established on postmined land in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203740897/f817f29c-f580-4805-a8c5-e1f1c121dded/content/fig3_1.tif"/>