BACK TO THE BOTTLE TREE

After 40 years of coal mining at Newlands, Glencore is progressing one of the largest coal rehabilitation projects in Australia.

Newlands, 150 kilometres west of Mackay, began operating in 1983 and reached the end of its scheduled economic mine life in 2023, marking the start of the significant process of rehabilitation and closure.

“For 40 years Newlands provided thousands of jobs and support for local businesses, the township of Glenden and contributed to government revenues through taxes and royalties,” said Newlands Project Manager Nick Baillieu.

“With this rehabilitation project, we aim to demonstrate that while mining operations have a temporary impact on the land, successful rehabilitation can return this land to productive pasture or high-quality native woodland.”

Progressive rehabilitation had been underway throughout the life of the mine, with Newlands becoming the first Queensland coal mine to have rehabilitation certified by the State Government in 2017. Further rehabilitation was certified in 2021, and over the past two years Glencore has spent more than $330 million on rehabilitation at Newlands, with 614 hectares now certified by the Queensland Government.

To capture the scale of the work underway, Glencore has released a short documentary, “Back to the bottle tree”, featuring Newlands employees and footage of the rehabilitation and the planning, budgeting and years of work involved.

“The scale of the project is enormous,” said Senior Environment and Community Advisor Paul Keelin.

“In 20 or 30 years’ time, I just hope people remember there was actually a coal mine here.”

Nick said the documentary was also about the people who made Newlands what it was.

“The documentary is an opportunity to celebrate our people. The same workers who made this coal mine a success are also now involved in its rehabilitation and closure.

“It’s important to acknowledge our people and pay tribute to all their hard work.”

Over its 40-year life, Newlands produced around 229 million tonnes of thermal and steelmaking coal from 25 open cut pits and two underground mines, and at its peak was known as the “Coal Factory”.

Two of the mine’s most recognisable pieces of equipment have also made the transition from mining to rehabilitation. Draglines “Big Pedro” and “The Mighty Samson”, which spent decades removing overburden to uncover coal, are now assisting with rehabilitation of the mine.

“Newlands was renowned for a can-do attitude,” said Stuart Clark, who managed the coal handling and preparation plant at Newlands.

“This just proves, you can do the full circle. You can come in, take the resources that we need for everyday life and when it’s finished, it’s going to be used for cattle land, like it was prior to being mined.”

“If someone asked me how Newlands should be remembered, I would say it was a fantastic place to work,” added Nick.

“It had a 40-year mine life, extracted a resource that helped many people in their livelihoods and then gets returned to its previous land use in a socially and environmentally responsible way. This is the whole role of miners.”