Environmental Regulation in the Western Australian Mineral Sands Mining Industry

Mineral sands make up only 3% of the value of mineral production in WA. However, the distribution of mining operations, close to the more highly populated south-west coastal areas, and the wide range of land-tenures and land-uses involved has resulted in the most complex range of regulatory procedures found anywhere in the State's mining industry.Mineral sands are mined on private agricultural and "minerals-to-owner" land, State forests, nature reserves, coastal reserves and vacant Crown land. Local Government authorities, State Government departments and private landholders can, depending on the land tenure, be involved in setting the environmental conditions for mining operations and supervising subsequent rehabilitation. In the past, rehabilitation was predominantly aimed at establishing an agricultural land-use after mining; however, it is now necessary for mining companies to rehabilitate mined areas to a much wider range of end land-uses.