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, use 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.

Queensland Resources Council acknowledges Ensham Resources for their invaluable assistance with this presentation and supply of images.