GIS as a mine rehabilitation tool: examples from Wangaloa Coal Mine

Abstract

At the Wangaloa Coal Mine, South-East Otago, ArcGIS is being used to manage, integrate, analyse and visualise the diverse range of datasets being generated from an interdisciplinary research team. GIS will assist with identifying spatial and temporal patterns associated with the current site rehabilitation strategy.

The Wangaloa opencast coal mine, owned by Solid Energy NZ Ltd, was closed in 1989 after more than 40 years of operation. Rehabilitation efforts involving more than 60,000 native plants began in October 2001. At Wangaloa sample points were randomly selected at 100 m intervals and recorded using a differential GPS. Plant and soil data have been collected at each sample point, and invertebrate data within substrate divisions. Plots of 8-9 plantings have been established within approximately 5 m of each sample point (figure 1). Since September 2003 seasonal monitoring of planting growth and survival has been carried out. Baseline chemical and physical datasets have been generated from soil collected, along with seasonal pH and moisture factor. Relationships between plant, soil and invertebrate data will be explored based on their spatial patterns.