Combining justice and critical minerals: advancing progressive rehabilitation of critical minerals mines in New South Wales, Australia

The global shift to low carbon energy systems requires the rapid development of critical minerals. The composition of several clean energy technologies requires critical minerals leading to critical minerals exploitation reaching a projected 30 million tonnes of production globally by 2050. Spatial needs in the development of critical minerals provides a salient opportunity to embed justice for regional communities. In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, recent policy ambitions to become a leader in critical minerals exploitation and rehabilitation have seen the adoption of the Mining Amendment (Standard Conditions of Mining Leases-Rehabilitation) Regulation 2021 to create rehabilitation conditions for mined land. British Columbia, Canada, holds similar critical mineral development ambitions as the leading producer of copper and one of the earliest provinces in Canada to regulate mining rehabilitation and reclamation. This article aims to examine whether the NSW mining regulatory framework and the recent mining rehabilitation conditions adhere to progressive rehabilitation principles to uphold justice principles while developing increasingly important critical minerals projects. In the first functional analysis of progressive rehabilitation tools in NSW Australia and British Columbia (BC), Canada, as a comparative Commonwealth mining province, this article provides critical recommendations for reform to encourage progressive rehabilitation supporting a just critical minerals sector.