❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks details on the Mining Rehabilitation Fund's receipts, expenditures, and future plans. The Minister provides detailed financial breakdowns and project updates, revealing limited rehabilitation activity relative to fund size.
AnsweredQoN 6246Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) Special Purpose Account established by the Liberal-National government in 2013 to hold levy collections from mining operators, and ask: (a) Can the Minister advise for each financial year and to the end of the March quarter this year the following amounts: (i) Total Receipts from mining operators; (ii) Total interest earnings; (iii) Total payments made towards rehabilitation works; and (iv) Total administration costs; (b) Can the Minister advise what rehabilitation projects have been funded by the MRF since 2013 and their final or cost to date; (c) Can the Minister advise for the cost of each of the rehabilitation projects whether funds were drawn from the interest account or the capital account; (d) Can the Minister confirm that the year to date payments from the MRF, as reported in the 2019-20 Quarterly Financial Results Report in March, totaled $0.6 million and no rehabilitation payments have been made; and (e) Has the Minister a forward program of rehabilitation works for the remainder of this financial year and for future years, and if so, what are the estimated funds required for each project and where are they located?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
11 August 2020
Responded by
Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Energy; Industrial Relations
Response time
5 days
The Mining Rehabilitation Fund was created by legislation of the Parliament of Western Australia.
(a)
(i) Total receipts from mining operators: 2013/14 $6.7m 2014/15 $25.6m 2015/16 $27.8m 2016/17 $27.6m 2017/18 $29.0m 2018/19 $30.7m 2019/Mar2020 $32.6m Total $180m
(ii) Total interest earnings:
2013/14 $0.2m 2014/15 $0.7m 2015/16 $1.3m 2016/17 $1.7m 2017/18 $2.2m 2018/19 $3.0m 2019/Mar 2020 $1.0m Total $10.1m
(iii) Total payments made towards rehabilitation works, inclusive of investigative and on-ground activities:
2013/14 0 2014/15 0 2015/16 $101 270 2016/17 $228 428 2017/18 $15 232 2018/19 $18 952 2019/Mar2020 $253 994 Total $617 876
(iv) Total administration costs for administering the Mining Rehabilitation Fund and the Abandoned Mines Program:
2012/13 $673 882 2013/14 $1 600 287 2014/15 $1 232 318 2015/16 $897 170 2016/17 $763 097 2017/18 $607 634 2018/19 $603 849 2019/Mar 2020 $431 403 Total $6 809 640
(b) The following projects have been funded by the MRF since 2013. The below costs are inclusive of investigative and on-ground works associated with rehabilitation; and associated administration of the projects.
Ellendale $670,000
Black Diamond $180,000
Pro Force $29,000
Bulong $101,000
Elverdton $36,000
Yalgoo $10,000
(c)
Ellendale Principal
Black Diamond Interest
Pro Force Interest
Bulong Interest
Elverdton Interest
Yalgoo Interest
(d) The $0.68 million reported in the 2019-20 Quarterly Financial Results Report in March, has been reported as administrative costs. This figure includes administrative costs and investigation costs associated with rehabilitation projects. Upon review it has been determined that investigation costs specific to a rehabilitation project are to be reported as rehabilitation costs for the project. The reported administrated costs in (a) above have been re-casted to reflect this determination.
(e) The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has an Abandoned Mines Program and has announced four specific sites for further investigation: the Bulong Pilot Project (40km east of Kalgoorlie), Elverdton Pilot Project (10km south of Ravensthorpe), Donnybrook Shaft Project (5km south of Donnybrook), and the Ellendale Diamond Mine (120km east of Derby). The scale of required rehabilitation at these sites is under investigation and the funds required for each project has not been finalised.
(a)
(i) Total receipts from mining operators: 2013/14 $6.7m 2014/15 $25.6m 2015/16 $27.8m 2016/17 $27.6m 2017/18 $29.0m 2018/19 $30.7m 2019/Mar2020 $32.6m Total $180m
(ii) Total interest earnings:
2013/14 $0.2m 2014/15 $0.7m 2015/16 $1.3m 2016/17 $1.7m 2017/18 $2.2m 2018/19 $3.0m 2019/Mar 2020 $1.0m Total $10.1m
(iii) Total payments made towards rehabilitation works, inclusive of investigative and on-ground activities:
2013/14 0 2014/15 0 2015/16 $101 270 2016/17 $228 428 2017/18 $15 232 2018/19 $18 952 2019/Mar2020 $253 994 Total $617 876
(iv) Total administration costs for administering the Mining Rehabilitation Fund and the Abandoned Mines Program:
2012/13 $673 882 2013/14 $1 600 287 2014/15 $1 232 318 2015/16 $897 170 2016/17 $763 097 2017/18 $607 634 2018/19 $603 849 2019/Mar 2020 $431 403 Total $6 809 640
(b) The following projects have been funded by the MRF since 2013. The below costs are inclusive of investigative and on-ground works associated with rehabilitation; and associated administration of the projects.
Ellendale $670,000
Black Diamond $180,000
Pro Force $29,000
Bulong $101,000
Elverdton $36,000
Yalgoo $10,000
(c)
Ellendale Principal
Black Diamond Interest
Pro Force Interest
Bulong Interest
Elverdton Interest
Yalgoo Interest
(d) The $0.68 million reported in the 2019-20 Quarterly Financial Results Report in March, has been reported as administrative costs. This figure includes administrative costs and investigation costs associated with rehabilitation projects. Upon review it has been determined that investigation costs specific to a rehabilitation project are to be reported as rehabilitation costs for the project. The reported administrated costs in (a) above have been re-casted to reflect this determination.
(e) The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has an Abandoned Mines Program and has announced four specific sites for further investigation: the Bulong Pilot Project (40km east of Kalgoorlie), Elverdton Pilot Project (10km south of Ravensthorpe), Donnybrook Shaft Project (5km south of Donnybrook), and the Ellendale Diamond Mine (120km east of Derby). The scale of required rehabilitation at these sites is under investigation and the funds required for each project has not been finalised.
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