Cleaning up Australia's 80,000 disused mines is a huge job – but the payoffs can outweigh the costs
- Written by: Mohan Yellishetty, Co-Founder, Critical Minerals Consortium, and Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
ShutterstockNewly announced closures of Glencore’s copper and zinc mines in Mt Isa will add to a huge number of former mines in Australia. A 2020 study by Monash University’s Resources Trinity Group found more than 80,000 inactive mine sites across the country.
Globally, a 2023 study estimates the mining footprint at around 66,000...
