Are miners the bunnies or the bilbies of the rangelands?

Abstract

In order to be preferred land-users of the Australian rangelands, mining operations should legacy net environmental, social and economic benefits in the regions that they operate. The positive and negative environmental implications of the Olympic Dam mine in arid South Australia are compared in this study. Criteria assessed include the relative area of affected v. improved landscape, environmental research, pest control and the facilitation of proactive conservation and sustainable diversification outcomes. A call is made for consistent treatment of potential environmental impacts across all rangeland users and the adoption of biodiversity trading to improve regional conservation outcomes. A challenge is issued to miners and other rangeland land-users to demonstrate that, like bilbies, their net environmental effects are beneficial.