Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Grand designs

10 minutes

Find Out: The how and why of mine rehabilitation

25 minutes

Take Action: Using an abandoned mine for renewable energy

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

understand the impact of abandoned mine sites
explore innovative practices in mine site regeneration, focusing on how sustainability priorities can transform these sites into renewable energy hubs.

Students can:

assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of abandoned mine sites
outline methods used to rehabilitate mine sites, and the benefits these methods provide to the environment and communities
evaluate how the Kidston Clean Energy Project demonstrates sustainable and efficient practices by transforming an old mine site into a renewable energy source.

Tune In: Grand designs

Curriculum connections

This lesson looks at the impact of abandoned mine sites, and how sustainability priorities such as efficiency and limiting environmental impact have led to innovative practices in mining and mine site regeneration through the development of the Kidston Pumped Hydro renewable project. This Science lesson is 1 of 3 in the Year 8 unit. Using the 3 lessons as a package will enable you to teach your students about renewable energy in more detail by looking into the energy types, transfers and transformations in renewable energy, as well as an in-depth look into Kidston and its sustainability.

Step 1

Using the attached Visual Explainer, display the following aerial image (slide 2) of the abandoned Kidston gold mine site for your students to observe and discuss.

Image source: Drive North-west QLD

Refrain from telling students too much about what the image shows. Instead, prompt them with the following questions to draw out their wonderings about the image, and discuss their responses as a class.

What do you think this image shows?
Where do you think this is? (Remote, regional or urban?)
Does it look like this area is currently being used in any way? How can you tell?
Does this landscape look healthy?

Step 2

Explain to your students that this image shows an abandoned gold mine in Kidston, a remote town in Northern Queensland. Ask them what they think happens to old mines when they are no longer being used.

Highlight that old mining sites can be ‘rehabilitated.’ Students may have heard this word before in the context of health. Why do they think mines need to be rehabilitated?

Step 3

Distribute the Student Worksheet to your class and assign your students a quick 5-minute design challenge in groups of 3-4. They will design their dream rehabilitation project for this mine.

Invite students to think about repurposing this area to benefit the environment, society and the economy. This is a big ask, so groups can focus on improving just 1 pillar of sustainability. However, if you have groups requiring extension, task them with trying to improve all 3.

Encourage students to think big and dream – the idea doesn’t have to be easily achievable. For example, like the image on slide 3 of the attached Visual Explainer, the mine could be decontaminated and filled with water. The surrounding area could be heavily planted with native plants and landscaped to create an oasis-style swimming area. Sustainable accommodations, shops, restaurants and roads could be built to bring tourists into the area, providing jobs for local people. The plants and large pool would provide environmental benefits for the area and animals. The pool and accommodation would benefit society as a fun tourist destination and the businesses would benefit the local community economically.

Step 4

Invite each group to share their mine rehabilitation idea with the class. You might like to discuss the benefits of each as you go and have a vote on the strongest idea at the end of your discussion.

Find Out: The why and how of mine rehabilitation

Step 1

Explain to your students that mines have several negative social, environmental and economic impacts when they close down. Restoring these abandoned environments can lessen these negative impacts or open up exciting opportunities!

Note: Mining itself has a wide range of positive and negative impacts. For this lesson, we are talking about what happens when a mine reaches the end of its useful life.

Divide your class into 3 groups and distribute ‘The Impact of Mine Closure’ Factsheet. Within their groups of 3, students should choose 1 topic each - social, environmental or economic - and note down the impacts of their chosen topic in their Student Worksheet. Encourage students to share their findings after reading their section so the whole group has a completed table.

Step 2

Once your students have completed their tables, bring the class together to discuss the impacts they discovered.

Step 3

Next, task your students to discover ways mines can be rehabilitated by looking into the 6 articles below. Students might like to choose an article that interests them, or you can allocate them.

Students should read their article using the link on the Student Worksheet and note down any important points, focusing on:

the environmental, social and economic impacts of abandoned mine sites
key strategies used to regenerate mine sites and limit environmental impact
exciting future prospects.

From mine to wine: creative uses for old holes in the ground - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/from-mine-to-wine-creative-uses-for-old-holes-in-the-ground-3245)	This article explores creative and sustainable ways to repurpose abandoned mines, such as turning them into wedding venues, wine cellars or environmental education centres. These innovative rehabilitation options not only address environmental concerns, but also provide economic and social benefits to local communities.
Restoration won’t work: a new way to fix old mines - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/restoration-wont-work-a-new-way-to-fix-old-mines-21236)	This article explores traditional mine site rehabilitation in the context of the complex nature of Australian ecosystems. It argues that efforts should be redirected towards creating biodiversity-rich ecosystems or supporting conservation efforts, turning mine sites into areas that contribute positively to the environment.
Treasure from trash: how mining waste can be mined a second time - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/treasure-from-trash-how-mining-waste-can-be-mined-a-second-time-59667)	This article discusses how old mine tailings, often considered waste, can be re-mined to extract valuable metals like lithium, cobalt and indium. This process extends the life of existing mines and offers a more environmentally and economically sustainable solution to mine site rehabilitation.
Turning Hazelwood’s empty coal mine into a lake could help heal mining towns - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/turning-hazelwoods-empty-coal-mine-into-a-lake-could-help-heal-mining-towns-74258)	This article discusses how the closure of the Hazelwood coal mine in Victoria's Latrobe Valley presents an opportunity to transform the site into a ‘pit lake’ for recreational and economic use. Drawing on Germany's successful pit lake conversions, the authors explore the challenges and potential benefits of rehabilitating these sites for community development.
The stunning recovery of a heavily polluted river in the heart of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/the-stunning-recovery-of-a-heavily-polluted-river-in-the-heart-of-the-blue-mountains-world-heritage-area-176246)	This article discusses the recovery of the Grose River in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area after being polluted by a nearby coal mine. The successful rehabilitation efforts, which included halting pollution sources and natural ecological processes, highlights the potential for significant environmental restoration even in heavily impacted areas.
Cleaning up Australia’s 80,000 disused mines is a huge job – but the payoffs can outweigh the costs - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/cleaning-up-australias-80-000-disused-mines-is-a-huge-job-but-the-payoffs-can-outweigh-the-costs-215447)	This article highlights the challenges and opportunities of rehabilitating Australia's 80,000 disused mines, emphasising that while the costs are high, there are many potential environmental, social and economic benefits.

Step 4

Once students have finished reading their article, bring the class back together and discuss their findings. Write a list on the whiteboard of proposed ways to rehabilitate mines and ways these have positive social, environmental and economic impacts.

For social and economic benefits, draw students' attention to the employment opportunities repurposing a mine can create when old mines are transformed into renewable energy sites (see the Future Energy Jobs Guide for more information).

Take Action: Using an abandoned mine for renewable energy

Step 1

Watch the following video with your class, which shows the transformation of the old Kidston gold mine site.

Kidston Solar Project: Australia's renewable energy world-first- The Climate Council

Step 2

Show your class slides 4 and 5 of the Visual Explainer, which provides a side-by-side comparison of the Kidston mine site before and after. Explain to your students that the abandoned mine they saw at the beginning of the lesson was turned into a renewable energy hub with solar and pumped hydro.

Image source: Genex

Encourage your students to think about the video and the images by discussing the following questions:

What changes do you see in the site? What positive impacts does this have?
What does the surrounding environment look like?
What has been added, and why is this beneficial?

Step 3

In the same groups as before, instruct students to dive deeper and investigate the positive social, environmental and economic impacts of renewable energy hubs such the Kidston Project.

Encourage students to use the resources provided below and their own research to answer the questions on their Student Worksheets.

Why are renewable energy hubs like this important to create?
What are the positive social, environmental and economic impacts of turning this particular site into a renewable energy hub?
What makes this project sustainable and efficient?

Resources:

250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project - Genex (https://genexpower.com.au/250mw-kidston-pumped-storage-hydro-project/)
Kidston project mines new gold: clean energy - CSQ (https://www.csq.org.au/casestudies/kidston-project-mines-new-gold-clean-energy/)
Kidston gold mine lives on as pumped hydro plant - ArenaWire (https://arena.gov.au/blog/queensland-gold-mine-lives-on-as-pumped-hydro-plant/)
Researchers found 37 mine sites in Australia that could be converted into renewable energy storage. So what are we waiting for? - The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/researchers-found-37-mine-sites-in-australia-that-could-be-converted-into-renewable-energy-storage-so-what-are-we-waiting-for-223978)
Energising Queensland - Genex Power | Tony(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5rpFXy3oxI)
Energising Queensland - Genex Power | Kyle(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CW0OEARw20)
Energising Queensland - Genex | Gurpinger ‘G’ Mand(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1bnhtQlbVQ)

Step 4 (optional)

Throughout the lesson, students will likely have discovered that renewable energy projects like Kidston create jobs that have significant social and economic impacts on local communities and the region. But what jobs are there exactly? If your students are interested in this topic, invite them to explore the Future Energy Jobs Guide (https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/ckan-publications-attachments-prod/resources/57272966-0265-4a95-87b4-fcbc92a30ed6/future-energy-jobs-guide-interactive-pdf-version-final.pdf?ETag=0aa487ce72a1cf5b5cfb991edf3eb93c) to see what types of jobs exist, especially in the environmental space. They can find out about:

careers of interest
the skills and qualifications required for these careers
how these careers could enable them to contribute to environmental sustainability and community development.

Step 5

Bring the class back together to discuss their findings.

How did the negative impacts of the abandoned mine site that students discovered at the beginning of the lesson change through the creation of the Kidston Project?
What possibilities do projects like Kidston open up for mine rehabilitation in the future?

Reflection

Reflect on the lesson with your students using the ‘I used to think…Now I think’ thinking routine.

Are Gold Mines a Golden Opportunity for Renewables?

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Lesson Guides and Printables

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Are Gold Mines a Golden Opportunity for Renewables?

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Lesson Guides and Printables

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