How does Bravus care for the environment?

At Bravus Mining and Resources, we are committed to caring for the unique environment in which we operate. As an Australian energy company, our Carmichael Mine and Rail Project in central Queensland’s Galilee Basin has created thousands of regional Queensland jobs and opportunities for local communities. Our mining of high-quality Queensland coal is part of the Adani Group’s global energy mix of coal and renewables, which provide reliable and affordable power for developing nations.

Throughout the planning, construction and operation of our mine and rail assets, we have worked to promote sustainability and to ensure our operations make a positive impact on social economic and environmental outcomes. When it comes to Bravus and the environment, we operate safely and sustainably and ensure we meet the significant environmental requirements as set out both in legislation and in our values. We are proud to uphold these from the start to the finish of each of our projects.

How Does Bravus Care for the Environment?

At Bravus, we have ensured a keen focus on protecting the local environments in which we operate, both during and after our projects are constructed and completed. The Carmichael Project was built and operates under some of the strictest environmental conditions ever imposed on an Australian mining project. The Mine and Rail Project was approved by the Australian and Queensland Governments under seven different Acts of both the Queensland and the Australian Parliaments. It required a detailed Environmental Authority and Environmental Impact Statement and the publishing of all management plans, reports and programs related to environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.

We worked closely with scientific experts to prepare detailed environmental plans and strategies to guide our projects, with many of these plans also reviewed by third-party specialists. We are committed to transparently operating in line with these requirements and to reducing our impact on the environment.

Comprehensive environmental management plans give the community confidence we have built and will operate the Carmichael Mine responsibly and sustainably and demonstrate our determination to care for the environment. These detailed management plans govern and guide our approach to environmental management, water management, native flora and fauna protection and mine rehabilitation at the close of operations.

Environmental Management

Bravus is committed to respecting the environment and to upholding its strict conditions for operations. These conditions are applied across the entire project to ensure we can reduce the environmental impact of the Carmichael Mine and ensure healthy land, air and water locally.

Environmental management at Bravus takes into account the entire lifecycle of the mine, from exploration to construction, operation and closure. In particular, Bravus has dedicated strategies in place to ensure responsible management and conservation of water resources, a targeted environmental management plan for the Black-throated Finch, and a comprehensive and staged rehabilitation plan.

Our strategies for protecting the environment were prepared by scientific experts and are in line with the regulations imposed on other mining operations. We are transparent about our plans and strategies and regularly publish compliance reports and groundwater data monitoring reports.

Water Management

Water use at the Carmichael Mine is strictly controlled to conserve this precious resource and to meet Queensland and Australian regulatory requirements. These regulations govern the approved sources of water the mine utilises, and when and how much water is used. Bravus monitors and reports on these activities to ensure our water use is sustainably managed.

The Carmichael Mine does not use water from the Great Artesian Basin and has safeguards in place in case there is seepage from the Basin to the mine. Under the conditions imposed on the mine, Bravus cannot take water from the Suttor River in drought and can only take limited water from the river in flood after farmers and other users.

Bravus sources its water from rainwater that falls directly on the mine site which is captured in dams, from recycled water captured on site and from local aquifers within the coal seams. A flood levee wall and 500m buffer zone on each side separates the mine from the Carmichael River to protect the local environment.

Native Flora and Fauna Protection

Bravus has created a 33ha conservation area at Moray Downs West to protect habitat for local flora and fauna. The area is the size of 33,000 standard rugby league football fields and is 126 times the size of the open-cut mine area, making it one of the largest privately managed conservation areas in Queensland. As part of our care for the environment, Bravus has also ensured there is a five-kilometre buffer between the conservation area and any mining activity or infrastructure.

A key part of our native fauna protection is our work to protect the local population of the Black-throated Finch, the small, native bird with a distinctive black mark beneath its beak. As part of our management plan, we work to protect the finch through weed, fire and livestock grazing management as well as enhancing local water source locations. We have signed a contract with the local Woongal Environmental Services to manage the finch habitat on the non-mined areas of our leases.

 

Mine Rehabilitation

The Carmichael Mine may have not long started operations, but Bravus has a detailed and approved plan for the area’s rehabilitation when it eventually ceases operations. Like all Queensland coal mines, the Carmichael Mine was approved with a set of comprehensive rehabilitation conditions, the same that apply to all existing coal mines to reduce their environmental impact.

As per the plan, Bravus will undertake progressive rehabilitation at the mine site rather than large-scale works at the end of operations. These progressive works will involve the staged restoration of areas that were disturbed during the exploration, construction development and resource extraction phases of the project. Bravus is committed to ensuring that any land that was disturbed by mining activities is progressively rehabilitated to be a safe and stable landform. The rehabilitation works will not cause adverse environmental impact and will ensure the land can sustain an approved post-mining land use.

Learn More About Bravus and the Environment Today

At Bravus, we are committed to managing and minimising the impact of the Carmichael Mine on the local environment and to rehabilitating the sites in which we operate. Our care for the environment is demonstrated in our suite of dedicated environmental management strategies governing how we manage resources like water, protect local species and take a staged approach to mine rehabilitation. We are also dedicated to using local resources and people to help us to manage the environment and within our business, with Bravus so far creating 2600 jobs in Queensland and delivering more than $1.5 billion in contacts to benefit regional Queensland.

Learn more about our environmental management here.