News and events
Find out about GHERG’s latest news and upcoming and past events.
Seminar on: 'Integrating values in post-mine transitions: the experience of Lusatia, Germany'
November 2021
CRC TiME partners Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority and Federation University Australia hosted an in-person and virtual seminar on integrating values in post-mining transitions. Guest speaker Karsten Feucht, from IBA spoke on the redevelopment and landscape transformation experience post brown coal mining in Lusatia, Germany.
Karsten Feucht from Germany’s IBA-Studyhouse spoke in his seminar on the importance of identifying and disseminating the values that are important to community and the region when redesigning rehabilitating mine landscapes and regions.
This seminar has been well received by the audience and can be accessed through this link: https://crctime.com.au/blog/integrating-values-in-post-mine-transitions-seminar/
Researchers investigate impact of climate change on coal mine rehabilitation
September 2022
Federation University Australia researchers will investigate how climate change could impact the stability of rehabilitated coal mines.
The 18-month project will look at the critical role of soil covers and vegetation in building safe, stable and sustainable landforms following mining.
Final rehabilitation of the Latrobe Valley coal mines will require at least part of the void slopes to be covered by earthen material and soil.
Vegetation helps stabilise soil against downslope movement and regulate soil moisture, reducing the risk of erosion.
The research, led by Professor Thomas Baumgartl, will examine how changes in rainfall and increased drought will impact the soil and plant cover of rehabilitated mines.
It’s the latest in a series of research projects Professor Baumgartl is undertaking on the rehabilitation of the Latrobe Valley’s brown coal mines and will include laboratory and glass house experiments, as well as hydrological modelling.
Once completed, the project will highlight the potential impact of climate change on design requirements for ground covers in mine rehabilitation.
The $450,000 research project is funded by the Victorian Government as part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies (CRC-TiME) - a national collaboration of universities, industry and governments.
CRC-TiME was established in 2020 through funding from the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program to help support the economic and social transition of Australian mining communities including Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.
Impacts of climate change on mining, related environmental risks and raw material supply
18/01/2021
Climate change and its potential impact on mining has been investigated in a study funded by the German Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt). Thomas Baumgartl from GHERG has contributed to this study as co-author.
The study was undertaken primarily from the angle of the linkage between environmental risks of mining and raw material supply chains, which are critical for countries like Germany.
The reports present some conclusions about the global primary production of important raw materials and their vulnerability to climate change. They also evaluate how these risks might change in the future
More information about the study and the reports on the assessment of a number of selected critical resources can be found here on the Umweltbundesamt website: Impacts of climate change on mining, related environmental risks and raw material supply.
Stable Landforms, Fire and Recovery Implications for Gippsland and Its Future Landscape Uses – Online Workshop Seminar
30/09/2020
GHERG held its webinar on Stable Landforms, Fire and Recovery Implications for Gippsland and Its Future Landscape Uses on Thursday, 3 September 2020.
The presentations from Dr Rob Loch (Landloch, Toowoomba), A/Prof Gary Sheridan (University of Melbourne) and Phill McKenna (University of Queensland) are now available to view online.
View the webinar presentations on the Stable Landforms, Fire and Recovery Implications for the Gippsland Region webinar page.
New projects with Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
15/09/2020
GHERG has recently been awarded two new projects by Victoria’s Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. These projects will investigate the following:
- the effect of water quality on the strength of brown coal
- coal cover stability and long rehabilitated slopes in Latrobe Valley brown coal mines.
To find out more about what these projects entail, go to our current projects page.
Stable Landforms, Fire and Recovery Implications for Gippsland and Its Future Landscape Uses – Online Workshop Seminar
13/08/2020
Thursday, 3 September 2020
9:00 am to 12:00 pm (AEST)
In Gippsland, the landscape has many uses including agriculture, forestry and mining. To ensure the ongoing productivity of our region, we need sustainable land management practices, which will also serve the community and protect the environment. Moreover, our land management needs to consider the ever present threat of fire and droughts, and their social, environmental and economic impacts.
Hear from three leading landform stability experts about:
- planning for the consequences of fire as a threat to our landscapes, as well as planning for landform stability and productivity.
- strategies for constructing landforms for rehabilitation following mining and the use of erosion as a criteria for monitoring success of rehabilitation including agriculture.
- restoration of fire-affected natural environments and the vegetation recovery potential of mine rehabilitated sites.
Presenters are Dr Rob Loch (Landloch, Toowoomba), A/Prof Gary Sheridan (University of Melbourne) and Phill McKenna (University of Queensland).
Register to attend
We hope you will join us for this online workshop seminar. Visit our Eventbrite page to view the program and register for this event.
Events
GHERG is regularly involved in events in a range of areas related to geotechnical, hydrogeological and environmental engineering.
- Rehabilitation and Closure Workshop – Loy Yang (13/03/2020): ‘Cover study at Loy Yang’ and ‘Soil organic matter and aggregate formation in reclaimed soils’, presented by Prof Thomas Baumgartl
- GHERG seminar (23/10/2019): ‘Reclamation of mined environments – The contribution of soil organic matter and microbes to soil development’, presented by Franziska Bucka and Evelin Pihlap (Technical university Munich, Germany); Miriam Munoz-Rojas (UNSW, Sydney).
- Latrobe Valley Geotechnical Group meeting (16/10/2019): ‘Interactions between geology and groundwater in the Latrobe Valley’, presented by HDR student Sid Rastogi
- Latrobe Valley Geotechnical Group meeting (21/08/2019): Modelling of Spatial Variation and Uncertainty in Victorian Brown Coal’, presented by HDR student Ashley Dyson
In the media
GHERG’s work has received recognition in the media. Here are some of our past stories: