Derelict mines are sites of past mining or minerals processing activity for which no individual, company or organisation can be held responsible for their management or remediation. These can pose a potential risk to public health and safety as well as environmental risks of site stability, contamination or offsite impacts.
The NSW Government runs the Derelict Mines Program (DMP) which receives funding of $1.72 million per year to administer priority public safety and environmental improvement work at derelict mines in NSW. The program is co-ordinated by an inter-agency committee and is administered by the Department of Primary Industries-Mineral Resources (DPI-MR). The NSW Minerals Council is represented on this DPI-MR Steering Committee.
The priorities of the program include the removal of threats to public safety, reduction of pollution impacts from erosion and contamination, reduction in the risk of bushfire, and addressing public concerns. DPI-MR maintains a database that contains characteristics of over 500 individual former mine sites and provides the basis of a priority listing of sites for remediation works.
The ongoing remediation and management of derelict mine sites is the responsibility of government, however the industry is involved in the voluntary rehabilitation of abandoned sites, especially where these sites are on or adjacent to future or current mining tenements.