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Australia's 80,000 disused and abandoned mines have enormous potential for nearby communities.
These range from rehabilitated pits converted to recreational lakes to sources of critical minerals and renewable energy.
The Genex pumped-hydro project in northern Queensland for example will generate up to 900 jobs and store its water in two pits of the old Kidston goldmine.
It has a storage/generation capacity of 250MW for 8 hours (2,000MWh) and will ramp up in less than 30 seconds.
A second example of long-term storage is Broken Hill's underground Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system being built for Transgrid by Canadian company Hydrostor.
The air is stored in purpose-built caverns and, when needed, is released to spin a turbine.
When completed, it will be the world's biggest CAES facility and provide at least 8 hours of storage.
Another exciting use of old mine sites is the recovery of critical and rare metals from tailings dumps.
Critical metals are vital for clean energy and advanced technologies like smartphones, computers, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.
Reusing and rehabilitating old mine sites could well be the next "mining boom" in regional Australia.
- Ray Peck, Hawthorn, Victoria
Apply for $10,000 grant
Australia Post is encouraging not-for-profit groups with the primary purpose of improving mental health and wellbeing in local communities to apply for a Community Grant.
Each year there is diversity across Community Grant applicants and the valuable services they provide their community. From after-school programs that help teenagers navigate loss, to groups supporting people experiencing loneliness while living or caring for someone with dementia.
The common thread running through all the projects Australia Post supports as part of this grant is a primary focus on improving mental health and wellbeing.
If you're interested in applying, please do check the Community Grant Guidelines at http://auspost.com.au/grants - you have until 11.59pm on July 2, 2023 to get your application in.
