Herberton tailings storage facility remediation project
Herberton was established in 1880 to support local tin mining and within a year, over 150 mines were being worked in the area. At the height of its mining activity, Herberton was the richest tin mining field in Australia, though the population steadily declined following the cessation of tin mining in 1978.
- View a glossary of mining terms used on this page.
The tailings storage facility was constructed in 1965 to receive tailings from the nearby mill operated by Great Northern Mining Corporation (GNMC). The mill, located on the bank of the Wild River, operated from the late 1800s until 1983. The primary product was tin, although copper and antimony concentrates were also produced. The mill, plant, equipment and buildings were dismantled and removed in the early 1980s.
The tailings storage facility site was surrendered to the Queensland Government in 1989 and is now managed by us.
Rehabilitation activities between 1997 and 2000 consisted of earthworks to form diversion banks and drains and eventual capping with impermeable clay layer to limit water flow through the tailings and direct water off the tailings storage.
Project snapshot
Region: North Queensland
Location: 60km south-west of Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands, Latitude -17.383287, Longitude 145.381251
Commodity: Tin
Mining type: Mineral processing and tailings storage
Date of abandonment: October 1989
Status: Ongoing management and monitoring
Native title interest: Jirrbal People represented by Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
Public land registers: Portions listed on the Environmental Management Register
Photo gallery
Key risks
Health and safety risks associated with flow of poor-quality water over a road adjacent to the foot of the tailings storage facility.
Environmental risks associated with:
- generation of acid and metalliferous drainage and potential impacts on the Wild River
- degradation of the capping cover and diversion drains, which could increase the amount of acid and metalliferous drainage.
Completed works
- Capping of the tailings storage facility in 1997
- Installation of 13 groundwater monitoring bores to facilitate regular water quality monitoring
- Removal of mineralised sediments at the toe of the tailings storage facility
- Placement of limestone rock at the toe of the tailings storage facility to assist in passive treatment of seepage water
- Installation of a culvert to minimise public exposure to tailings storage facility seepage
- Geochemical characterisation of the sediments in the Wild River
- Installation of a water-quality monitoring station to monitor for any adverse impacts to the Wild River
- Installation of water hazard signs in proximity to the tailings storage facility
- Sampling in partnership with the University of Queensland and the Queensland Government’s New Economy Minerals Initiative.
Planned works
- Geochemical characterisation of the tailings to assess and quantify the risk of acid and metalliferous drainage generation