About the Conference
The 7th Annual Best Practice Ecological Rehabilitation of Mined Lands Conference (2017) was held on 29, 30 & 31 March 2017 at Muswellbrook, NSW, organised by the Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment (TFI). The TFI is a multidisciplinary organisation which is well placed as the University of Newcastle’s Environmental outreach arm, to engage with Australia’s leading professionals involved in the broader environmental fields.
This annual conference is a significant event on the Hunter Region calendar. It provides an important avenue for TFI to promote the use of best-practice approaches in the management of rehabilitation of mined lands. The main conference sold out this year, with 220 attendees, making it one of the largest mining rehabilitation conferences in Australia. The breakdown of attendance figures was approximately 45% Rehab Professionals, 20% Industry, 18% Government, 16% Researchers, and 1% Community. Due to the large number of excellent abstracts received, the conference was expanded to include an additional day this year. In 2017 the event was held over 3 days. Across these three days, delegates had the opportunity to participate in various activities, including workshops, mine tours as well as the main conference. Conference ReportClick on the link below to download the conference report.
Conference ProgramAn overview of the conference schedule is listed below:
Wed 29th March: Mine tours and a workshop in the afternoon and a civic reception in the evening. Thu 30th: Full day of presentations with posters and panel session, followed by a dinner. Fri 31st: Presentations till 11 am then there was concurrent workshops that will run until 2:30 pm. The workshops included: New practices to advance mine rehab in the Hunter Valley, and Pathways to relinquishment and opportunities to transition to productive alternate land uses. In terms of cost: the conference registration covered both Thurs 30th and up to 11am on the 31st (excluding the dinner). The dinner, workshops and mine tours were extra. A more detailed conference program is available at the link below: EngageThe 2017 Conference attracted:
Purpose of the ConferenceThe purpose of the Mine Rehab Conference was to bring Mine Rehabilitation Stakeholders together to share our current best practices, and to discuss what we do well & what we can improve & what we would like the future to be.
Mine ToursOn Wed 29th March we conducted tours of current mine rehabilitation practices at a number of mine sites within the Hunter Valley. Over 70 conference delegates attended which allowed them to observe in-situ best practices in progressive rehabilitation of open-cut coal mining operations.
The mine tours included: For more information on the mine tours please click on the button below. Trade DisplaysAn interesting variety of exhibitors and sponsors were on display in the function rooms immediately adjoining the conference main auditorium available during the conference breaks on Thursday. The trade displays included: conference host Muswellbrook Shire Council and sponsor NSW Mining / Minerals Council, and exhibitors: Vital Industries, Creative Water, Menard, Sky Land Management, Robotic Systems, Suez, Skillset Environment, Global Renewables, and Niche Environment and Heritage.
Delegate HandbookThe conference handbook is now available. For a soft-copy of the conference handbook is please click on the button below.
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Conference SponsorsWe want to thank all of our supporters, including our Conference Host, Conference Partner, Major Sponsor, Gold Sponsor and Session Sponsors, without whom we would not be able to bring you such a comprehensive conference. For more information on our supporters please click on the button below.
Conference AppMine Rehab Conference 2017 had its own Smartphone App. It'll keep you up-to-date with the news, events, schedules and much more.
Our Conference used Team App, allowing delegates to stay in touch with all the speakers, sponsors, events and documents by downloading the app and searching for "Mine Rehab Conference"! Conference Presenters and PresentationsThis year we had a full compliment of expert speakers. To access information about the speakers, their presentations and abstracts click on the button below. Note that if there is no presentation on the web page then that presenter has elected not have their presentation made available.
Panel DiscussionThis year’s conference brought together a wide variety of panelists and presented an interesting panel topic for interpretation and debate with “Pathways to relinquishment and opportunities to transition to productive alternate land uses”.
To find out about the panel topic and access information about the panelists, click on the button below. PostersAn interesting selection of poster presentations were on display this year at the Mine Rehab Conference. Poster presenters were introduced to delegates at the conference and had the opportunity to explain their work during conference breaks.
The Student Poster Prize also made a return this year. For more information on the Poster Presentations, the Student Poster Prize and the Poster Presenters, click on the button below. Conference DinnerOn Thursday 30th March there was held a conference dinner in the form of a cocktail dinner. For more details on the Cocktail Dinner click on the link below.
Workshop ProgramThis year brought an exciting program of Workshops for Mine Rehab Conference.
The workshops included:
For more information on the workshops and the workshop convenors click on the button below. Mine Rehab Conference on Twitter |