THE NEXT FRONTIER IN MINE REHAB

DENDRA CEO SUSAN GRAHAM EXPLAINS HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE CHANGING THE WAY ECOSYSTEM REHABILITATION IS BEING UNDERTAKEN IN THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY.

Given the vast and remote expanses of the Australian resources industry, keeping on top of mine rehabilitation processes is easier said than done.

This is why Dendra, a leading environmental technology company, has developed a platform to enable operators to visualise and analyse end-to-end terrestrial restoration in one place.

"Ecosystem restoration is complex and, in many cases, a mine's environmental teams and consultants are very detail-oriented," Dendra chief executive officer Susan Graham told Australian Mining.

"But there are many different stakeholders when it comes to ecosystem restoration, so we've built a new platform to bring simplicity to the process while also enabling our clients to manage complex sites and gain valuable insights at very large scales.

"These insights can direct them to the highest priority issues and the biggest wins on-site, so our clients can engage everyone from consultants, contractors, regulators and community stakeholders." Graham said the new platform will be particularly beneficial for large mine sites, which need to simplify their understanding of their operations.

"The platform addresses some serious pain points in the market, where the challenges begin the moment a seed hits the ground, whether it's erosion weathering away at the soil, or invasive plant species competing with the valuable native species you've just planted," she said.

"Having a data platform to support managing these aspects helps to address each of these issues and avoid restoration or rehabilitation failures and rework, while also providing proof and data to relinquish the mine site once it is fully rehabilitated." Dendra backs its platform with ultra-high-resolution mapping and artificial intelligence (AI) insights, enabling miners to generate crystal-clear visualisations of their sites to detect success and many ecosystem risks that present opportunities for improvement.