Anglo American’s Dawson coal mine has reached a rehabilitation milestone showing mined land can be responsibly restored for future agricultural use.

An 82ha area at Dawson Mine has achieved progressive certification for rehabilitation under the Environmental Protection Act, the first of Anglo’s five steelmaking coal operations in the Bowen Basin to do so.

The land now supports cattle grazing, with up to 135 head on the agisted land near the Central Queensland communities of Moura, Banana and Theodore.

Image at top of page: Property agistee Michael Kucks and Anglo American environmental specialist Larry Hantler on the rehabilitated land at Dawson mine.

Anglo American environmental manager Jason Fittler said the rehabilitation work at Dawson was an important step for the company and the wider industry.

“We’ve been working towards this since 2012 and it’s incredibly rewarding to see the land thriving again – this time as productive grazing country,” he said.

“Our goal has always been to return the land to a sustainable use and this certification shows we’re doing just that.”

The certification is issued through Queensland’s environmental regulator – the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

Farmer Michael Kucks, from MNK Kucks Pastoral, said the trial showed great weight gain in the cattle compared to non-mining grazing land.

“Some of land is better than it was before mining,” he said. “The cattle are hard to find sometimes, the grass is too long. A paddock full of grass like that – any grazier is happy to see it.”

The process to achieve certification involved reshaping the land, returning carefully stockpiled topsoil containing native seed banks and beneficial bacteria, and then sowing grass seed as ground cover to prevent erosion and provide food for grazing animals.

Reliable water sources also ensure the land remains useful and productive after mining.