Abstract
The Rum Jungle legacy site in Australia’s Northern Territory is on the traditional lands of the Warai and Kungarakan peoples. It is one of the world’s iconic sites in the history of ARD assessment and management. Many, at the time novel, concepts were implemented during the rehabilitation works carried out in the mid-1980s. This was one of the first applications of a multilayer cover system to reduce the rate of oxidation and limit infiltration of water into waste rock. The site also saw the application of partial pit water treatment and the establishment of a flow through regime to progressively improve water quality in the legacy open pits. The target for the rehabilitation was a 70% reduction in loads of metals to the receiving river system. This target was exceeded and the performance has been maintained to this day.
Whilst the 1980s rehabilitation met its technical objectives, the planning and implementation of the works did not address the cultural health and concerns of the traditional owners. Moreover, while the load reduction in metals resulted in a major improvement to aquatic ecosystem health several kilometers downstream, metal concentrations at the site boundary remain much higher than contemporary standards, with only 1% ecosystem protection.
This paper will overview the history of the site and discuss the multi-disciplinary approach that has been followed to develop a fully costed rehabilitation plan to bring the site to a condition so that it can both be returned to its traditional owners and meet contemporary environmental performance objectives.