Small Mines Safety Program

The Small Mines Safety Program aims to address risks to public safety from early mines.

These mines were small in scale and typically managed by individuals rather than large companies.

Any ongoing impacts were commonly associated with safety risks from mine workings or open shafts.

How the program works

The program carries out works by region, rather than fixing one mine shaft or tunnel at a time.

The process begins with an audit to identify each site and feature.

Using a risk-based approach, sites are either backfilled, or grates or covers are installed to reduce the risk to public safety.

Works commenced

The Tennant Creek mineral field was given priority for safety work. This was because of its close proximity and density of the mines near the town.

The area was audited and over 150 legacy mine sites were found in the goldfield.

Each mine shaft has multiple shafts and tunnels, totalling over 400 in the region.

A large contract is underway to address risks from these shafts and tunnels.

Planning underway

A 3-year audit is currently underway to assess over 600 sites across the Territory, including:

• Pine Creek
• Alice Springs
• Katherine
• Darwin.

Once the audit is complete for a region, each site will be assessed using a risk-based approach to identify the most appropriate type of remediation (if necessary).

This information will be used to plan future remediation programs.

More information

To find out more, read the legacy mines annual statement on the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade website.