Researchers from The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Mineral Institute (SMI) have used advanced climate models to develop a new tool which could help estimate the physical impacts of climate change on mining regions.
SMI Research Fellow Dr Nevenka Bulovic and her colleagues from SMI’s Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry have mapped for the first time how Queensland’s key mining regions might be impacted by changes in erosion risk, drought frequency and extreme rainfall.
A United Nations report cited climate change as a key physical and financial risk to the mining sector and this new tool will provide valuable information for mining companies, governments and other stakeholders.
Dr Bulovic said that even if society rapidly decarbonised, climate change wouldn’t end overnight.
“The impacts will go on for decades and possibly longer, so we need to make sure that the expanding mining sector and its stakeholders are prepared for the higher climate change risks they will face in the future,” Dr Bulovic said.
She explained that this project is about using the Queensland government’s Queensland Future Climate Science Program’s state-of-the-art climate projections to map risks that are relevant to mining operations and mining regions.
“We made these maps as projections into the future, and our goal is to develop a screening tool for climate risk assessment to inform investors, government agencies and technical advisors,” Dr Bulovic said.
“We also aim to enhance climate literacy in the mining sector.”
UQ Adjunct Associate Professor Ralph Trancoso, who is also Science Leader of Climate Projections & Services at the Queensland Treasury and a key collaborator in the project explained that his team undertakes high-resolution climate projections and Dr Bulovic was interested in using his team’s projections data for her project exploring future climate scenarios to inform more sustainable mining practices under a warmer world.
“Dr Bulovic has a unique skillset with expertise in both hydroclimate science and mining sustainability, which offers a fantastic opportunity to tackle specific knowledge gaps in the interface of both fields," Dr Trancoso said.
The project was co-funded by SMI’s Resourcing Decarbonisation strategic program, the Queensland government and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). The Queensland Government’s Climate Projections and Services team supported the tool development.
The tool will be available by July 2025 here: https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/qld-future-climate/adapting/
Find out more below about the project: https://smi.uq.edu.au/research/strategic-programs/resourcing-decarbonisation-strategic-program/tools-support-climate-resilient-resource-development
