Mining related site.
Abandoned mines in Australia are often an after-thought by those who pursue the worthy cause because it gets placed in the 'too hard basket'.
mining.com.au
In South Australia, there are more than 5,000 inactive mines, with more than half (3,759) neglected, abandoned, or unrehabilitated mines in the state.
A catalogue of consequences
What the country is now facing is not just a catalogue of abandoned mine features, but the consequences of more than a century of mining carried out in an area before environmental protections, closure obligations, or modern safety legislation existed.
These sites are not just empty pits in the ground. Without proper closure or rehabilitation, abandoned mines can accumulate explosive gases due to poor ventilation, collapse due to weakened structures, and contaminate soil and waterways.
Some of the hazards of an abandoned or old mine working are openings where someone can fall into an open pit or quarry, deadly gases, cave-ins, unsafe structures, unstable explosives, highwalls, and water hazards – to name a few.
As the search for Gus Lamont continues, it has drawn renewed attention to a largely unseen but widespread issue across Australia. This is the sheer number of abandoned, neglected, or unrehabilitated mine sites left behind.
While efforts are underway to identify and catalogue these sites, vast areas remain under-surveyed. The tragedy unfolding in South Australia is not only a moment of national heartbreak, but a reminder of why the work to identify these sites and address this issue matter.
www.abc.net.au
