This is a summary of the mining and quarrying guide. Download the guide for more information. You can print the mining and quarrying poster for your business.
Mining and quarrying are defined in the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990(opens in a new window).
The mining and quarrying life cycle can include:
- pre-competitive geoscience
- exploration, discovery and feasibility
- development and land clearing
- operational activities
- decommissioning activities
- site rehabilitation
- closure and post-closure management of the mine.
Your legal obligations
The Environment Protection Act 2017(opens in a new window) establishes the legal framework for protecting human health and the environment in Victoria from waste and pollution.
Duties
The Act sets out 13 duties to protect human health and the environment. Duties apply to individuals and businesses.
The general environmental duty applies to any activity that creates a risk of harm to human health and the environment.
Other duties may also apply to your activities, including:
- duty to manage contaminated land
- duty to notify us of contaminated land
- duty to notify us of a notifiable incident
- duty to take action to respond to harm caused by a pollution incident
- unreasonable noise duty
- waste duties.
Regulations
The Environment Protection Regulations 2021(opens in a new window) support the Act to address some risks of harm that need further controls.
There may be specific requirements that apply to your activities under the Regulations – for example:
- noisy or smoky vehicles
- onsite wastewater management systems
- ozone depleting substances, like methyl bromide and chlorofluorocarbons
- air pollutants that need to be reported to the National Pollutant Inventory.
Permissions
Under the environment protection legislation, we issue permissions for some activities. These include licences, permits and registrations. Different types of permissions have different requirements.
Examples of activities relating to mining and quarrying that require a permission include:
- A13c – Waste and resource recovery (small)
- A14 – Reclaimed wastewater supply or use
- A17 – Containment of Category D waste soil
- A18 – Discharge or deposit waste to an aquifer
- A20 – Onsite wastewater management systems
- A22 – Temporary storage (asbestos)
- G02 – Coal processing
- L08 – Receiving waste acid sulfate soil for treatment.
Compliance and enforcement
We:
- support businesses to comply with the law through guidance and education
- enforce the law if the environment or community is deliberately or negligently exposed to harm.
Our authorised officers visit businesses and premises to:
- conduct inspections
- provide advice
- assess compliance with the law and any specific permission conditions.
Local councils also have powers to enforce certain environmental laws.
Risk management
It's your responsibility to understand and manage the risk of harm to human health and the environment from pollution and waste from any work you do.
Use a risk management process to help you eliminate or reduce risks so far as reasonably practicable.
Common mining and quarrying hazards
A hazard is something that can cause harm to human health and the environment, particularly if it’s not managed well.
As part of the risk management process, you must identify hazards and assess their risks.
Common mining and quarrying hazards include:
- waste, including drilling waste, waste soil and combustible waste
- chemical storage and handling
- dust
- erosion and sediment
- land and groundwater contamination
- noise
- odour
- stormwater contamination
- wastewater.
This is not a complete list, but it gives you an idea of some hazards that may impact human health and the environment. Every site is different and has a unique set of hazards and risks.
If you need more information to better understand hazards in your industry, sources of information include:
- Resources Victoria for guidelines and codes of practice that identify hazards, controls and recommended practices for industry
- Department of Transport and Planning for information about Victoria’s planning system
- Local councils for information on building regulations and the Victorian planning schemes and what they mean for your operations
- WorkSafe Victoria for guidance and advice relating to health and safety at your workplace, including storing, handling and transporting dangerous goods, and controlling exposure to crystalline silica.
Control measures
The controls you put in place depend on your business activities and hazards.
Check controls regularly to make sure that they’re working, well maintained and effective and that they remain the most appropriate option.
For more information about controls, download the mining and quarrying guide. You can use the action plan (Appendix A) as a template to list actions you can take to improve the way you control risks.
We also have some information about controls on our website:
Assess and minimise air pollution from your business
Control dust from your business
Control noise from your business
Control odour from your business
Manage and store combustible recyclable and waste materials
Manage electronic waste for reprocessing
Manage erosion and sediment from your business
Manage fire risk at your business
Industry example
This example shows you how to apply a risk management process to manage dust on a mining site.
Identify hazards and assess risks
Samson is an environmental site manager with a mining company. The worksite is often dry and exposed, so dust is a common hazard that needs to be controlled.
Samson identifies the dust comes from:
- clearing vegetation
- drilling and blasting
- equipment like crushers and conveyors
- stockpiling soil and rock
- vehicles travelling on unsealed roads.
Put controls in place
To control and manage the dust, Samson makes sure:
- a buffer zone separates dust-generating activities from neighbouring land
- onsite roads near sensitive areas – for example, those with protected plants – are sealed and treated with clean water
- equipment that makes dust is kept in buildings fitted with extraction fans.
The site’s environmental management plan also contains dust controls. Samson's staff must:
- restore disturbed areas
- dampen blast areas before they blast
- dampen unsealed roads
- cover or wet loads when they move materials.
Dust-prone roads also have enforced speed limits.
Check controls
On a regular basis, Samson:
- keeps a log of controls and equipment
- maintains equipment to make sure it’s working well
- monitors dust levels near sensitive areas
- identifies other present or potential dust sources.
Samson monitors weather conditions so that the site's controls or activities can be changed when conditions change – for example, when it's dry and windy. Samson adjusts the dust controls depending on their effectiveness and if other onsite conditions change.
Samson records dust complaints and uses them to inform decisions about controls and activities.
Samson is confident the company is managing risks associated with dust.
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