The Queensland Government is investing $15.8 million over two years in managing abandoned mine sites across the state, including at the abandoned Collingwood Tin mine site near Cooktown.
Work to date at the site has included shutting off a 200-metre-deep ventilation shaft and ensuring there are no uncontrolled releases of water into the Annan River catchment, which provides Cooktown’s water supply and feeds into the Great Barrier Marine Park.
A grate is installed at the underground mine entry to prevent public access, while still allowing access for animals, including the endangered large-eared horseshoe bat.
Other work has included the demolition and removal of the abandoned processing plant and equipment, remediation of the former drill core area and significant work on the high-voltage electricity network to maintain power to the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC) Aboriginal Rangers office on site.
Native plants and a safe, usable site will eventually replace the abandoned mine site.
Works recommence later this month with replanting scheduled for later this year and early 2023. The project is expected to be completed by June 2023.
Member for Cook Cynthia Lui said specialists from the Department of Resources had been working closely with the JYAC on the $7.5 million project to make the site safe and usable again.
The former tin mine, 35km south of Cooktown, operated for three years from 2005 to 2008.
The operator went into liquidation in 2015, leaving the Government to make the site safe.
Other planned remediation projects range from the mine shaft investigations and repairs in the historic gold mining towns of Gympie and Charters Towers to plugging gas wells in the southwest.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said large-scale mining has been central to Queensland’s economy and development since the 19th century.
“This history has left us with a legacy that the Government continues to manage to maintain public safety and protect our natural environment,” he said.
“The Palaszczuk Government’s major reforms to mine rehabilitation and the financial ‘bonds’ for mines more than four years ago now mean that taxpayers and the environment are better protected when mining ends or sites are abandoned.”