Red dirt contrasts sharply with green banks of algae along the creek that trickles through the defunct Sunny Corner silver mine.
The NSW Audit Office warned that the security deposit - which was then $2.2 billion - did “Not include sufficient contingency given the substantial risks and uncertainties associated with mine rehabilitation and closure” of the state’s 450 mines.
More than 100 years ago, Sunny Corner had a population of 5000 and was a wealthy community, mining copper and silver.
Campbell says one example of a modern mine undergoing rehabilitation that will prove whether governments and industry are up to the task is the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory.
Despite the challenges of rehabilitation upon closure, old and abandoned mines including Sunny Corner offer the best example of what can go wrong if nothing is done.
I’ve walked around the old mine site there, the bare earth and orange and green colouring is certainly different - really not a place you want to drink the water.
