Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is the process of gasifying coal in situ, that is, where it is lying under the surface, so that it can be used as a fuel or chemical feedstock. This fact sheet explores a number of elements of the UCG process including technology and environmental management.

Looks at Environmental Management Plans, Impact Statements, plans of operations and financial assurance for mining activities in Queensland.

Looks at legislation and regulators, environmental authority, progressive rehabilitation and the role of Government in mining activities in Queensland.

An interactive resource for secondary science students developed by the Minerals Council of Australia.Students become 'virtual metallurgists' and undertake on the job training, conduct experiments, alter variables and examine the consequences, assess the cost and environmental impact of their actions and interact with on-site staff to discover more about a range of careers.This interactive is also suitable for chemistry teachers to use for demonstrating the importance of chemistry and highlighting job opportunities in the minerals industry.

Identify how mines affect the environment and investigate ways of reducing the impact. This is a student worksheet comprising a diagram showing activities at a mine site and a table to be completed by the student. Students use the table to summarise environmental impacts of the mine and actions taken at the mine to reduce these impacts.

Ensham mine is an open cut coal mine located in Central Queensland near Emerald.In this activity you assume the role of an environmental scientist and identify any critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable flora and fauna present at the Ensham mine site.

In this activity students assume the role of an environmental scientist in planning the reshaping of a steep waste rock dump or spoil pile into a gradual slope using a scale model. They then take on the role of a bulldozer driver in carrying out these plans.

Find out how the landscape is repaired after open cut mining. This is a PowerPoint presentation showing rehabilitation work carried out at the Ensham open cut coal mine in Central Queensland. The slides are predominantly pictorial and illustrate the processes of planning, removal and stockpiling of overburden, mining, surface reshaping, return of topsoil, planting and monitoring.

Rehabilitation is the process of returning a mine site to an agreed and sustainable land use after mining. Mining companies under their social license to operate and legislative obligations need to follow many processes to rehabilitate land successfully.This unit, based on a case study of Ensham open cut coal mine in Central Queensland, leads students through a range of learning experiences that provide an insight into the decision making processes required to achieve this. The unit culminates in an activity in which students prepare a fully costed rehabilitation proposal for a mine site.A series of PowerPoints which support the unit, uses diagrams, maps and high quality images to demonstrate, progressive rehabilitation in the context of topsoil removal, spoil pile construction and revegetation, species selection and tree planting.

Students undertake a number of baking activities which demonstrate how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are formed.