Whitehaven coal

Rehabilitation at Maules Creek Mine will ultimately see the site become a woodland forest of more than 1,000 hectares.

The vast majority of the site will use geomorphic design, a best-practice landscape design process that encompasses a landscape’s natural features to move water through the rehabilitation area and produce more natural looking landforms. It generally requires less maintenance and provides greater stability once established, helping to create self-sustaining environments over the long-term.

Rehabilitation has been undertaken progressively since operations began in 2010. The historic land use within the mining lease area (ML1609) was predominately agriculture (grazing and cropping) and forestry – and the aim of rehabilitation and mine closure is to return the land to the agricultural land class or vegetation type that existed prior to mining.

Rehabilitation practices include (but are not limited to) sealing boreholes utilised for gas drainage and exploration purposes, and repair of surface subsidence impacts. Woodland areas that have been disturbed are rehabilitated with native vegetation species prevalent in the surrounding area.

While Whitehaven will hold onto the land for decades to come, with mining approved until 2044, areas of rehabilitation on former agricultural and pastured land will be used for light grazing in the coming years.

The planned final land use at Tarrawonga is woodland as well as land suitable for pasture, and as at 1 January 2022, approximately 157 out of a total 568 hectares of woodland has been rehabilitated.

Progressive rehabilitation has been underway since seeding first occurred in 2007. While a traditional rehabilitation landform design has been used, in future we plan to adopt a more geomorphic rehabilitation design allowing better drainage, less maintenance and a more natural appearance.

To provide as much habitat as possible for fauna, we have established standing habitat trees on the slopes of the rehab, and will be installing nest boxes in more progressed rehabilitation areas.

Rehabilitation at Werris Creek aims to establish an open box gum woodland on the overburden emplacement area, and a safe, stable and non-polluting landform. As at 30 June 2023, 235 hectares have been rehabilitated.

We use standing “stag” trees recycled from the clearing process to provide instant habitat for local birds, bats and marsupials – a tangible benefit for native species. Some stag trees are placed on the ground to provide habitat for a variety of ground-dwelling species including reptiles, insects, marsupials and birds. We also create boulder clusters, providing habitat for local reptiles and crevices for hiding animals. These allow populations of reptiles to establish within the rehabilitation areas.

Coupled with native groundcover and the planting of native canopy seedlings, this approach ensures the open box gum woodland is constantly developing and progressing towards an established and mature ecosystem.