Climate change adaptation for Australian minerals industry professionals
Authors: Leah Mason and Damien Giurco
Year: 2013
This report identifies mining-industry specific impacts and adaptation responses for climate-change related events including floods and storms, droughts, and higher temperatures. While extreme events may have been anticipated in the planning of case-study mines, the extent and costs of damage were not accurately predicted. In areas where flooding and storms are infrequent events, the costs and losses from events that have exceeded the design assumptions of operations have been large, and return to production has taken many months. Even in areas where such events are routine, it is still possible to under-estimate the effects and the risk posed by an accumulation of small impacts. The research found limited information on climate change adaptation for mining and minerals professionals in the public domain. Consultation during this project identified a range of adaptive approaches to planning which build on an established culture of safety and risk assessment in the sector and that can assist Australian mining and mineral processing professionals in responding to the prospect of increased risk from a changing climate. Research activities used to develop the guide included a desktop literature review; a stakeholder consultation workshop; an online survey of end-users and selected interviews, followed by the development of the guide, Adapting to climate risks and extreme weather: A guide for mining and minerals industry professionals.
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