February 21, 2025
While over 200 operating mines in Queensland grapple with Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Planning (PRCP) monitoring requirements, aerial intelligence is transforming how these intricate compliance processes are managed and tracked. The result? Months of PRCP work compressed into days, with verified data that meets legislative requirements.
PRCP requirements
All mines with a site-specific environmental authority (EA) need to submit a PRC Plan to the Queensland government. The plan, and its accompanying schedule, shapefiles and maps, demonstrate the method and location of any rehabilitation and management efforts required to maintain a stable condition on the site. Every three years the plan is audited.
Why mining companies modernise rehabilitation monitoring
To produce the PRCP, mining companies either have people in-house working on this or they engage a consultant. PRCPs require coordination across various departments and areas of expertise – and this cross-functional effort increases with mine complexity. Preparing the Plan can take several months from start to approval, or even longer if the site is complex or additional information is required. Teams often lack a “common-operating-picture” of the site for decision-making. Aerial intelligence changes that.
The PRC Plan is a fundamental prerequisite for mining activities. Operations cannot begin under an environmental authority until this critical document is approved. Plus there are significant penalties for willfully or non-willfully contravening the PRCP conditions (in other words: you need to follow through on what you state in your Plan).
Bottom line: PRCPs represent both a significant investment and a long-term commitment. Navigating complex legislative requirements is a non-negotiable part of this process, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Success depends on establishing a transparent, efficient framework from day one. With our aerial imagery and AI-powered insights, Outline Global transforms your PRCP from an administrative challenge into a digital advantage, providing precise mapping and data solutions that streamline regulatory compliance.
From paper to pixels: digital PRCP for rehabilitation monitoring
A PRCP powered by Outline Global’s aerial intelligence brings the following benefits:
- Time, cost and resource savings
Transform months of work into days with a single comprehensive aerial survey. Our automated feature detection and analysis eliminates the need for full-time personnel and reduces cross-functional team involvement. - Clear site visualisation
Our high-accuracy imagery and data provide clear, indisputable visibility of your areas of interest and rehabilitation progress. - Proactive risk management
Our quick turnaround, accurate data combined with automatic change detection give you peace of mind that you are detecting issues early. - Enhanced situational awareness
Aerial imagery and spatial data provide a complete view of your site, allowing a systematic and whole-site approach to rehabilitation management. - Greater stakeholder engagement
Aerial imagery makes it simple to share and view what’s happening on your site. Everyone sees the same picture, making it easier to work together and make decisions based on clear, up-to-date data. - Less rework
Aerial imagery captures exact site conditions, eliminating guesswork and conflicting versions and avoiding costly corrections later. - Evidence
Our automated validation ensures your data meets legislative requirements while providing verifiable evidence of your rehabilitation progress. - Promotes understanding of change
Clear visual oversight of the land supports monitoring of culturally significant and heritage-sensitive areas while enabling communities to track environmental changes on their land. - SMART Compliance
Deliver measurable, temporally-defined data that aligns with the PRCP requirements of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound rehabilitation criteria.
data stack of mining track showing satellite imagery, Outline imagery, Outline insights and analysis ready data.
Outline Global – for PRCP rehabilitation monitoring
Outline’s advanced aerial monitoring detects everything that matters for your PRCP – from rock slopes and voids to vegetation cover, tree canopy, and weed invasion. We deliver clear insights into your final site design, monitoring and post-surrender condition to ensure you meet your legislative requirements.
Fly and detect
Our aircraft capture high-resolution aerial imagery, LiDAR, and sensor data across vast and remote areas. The data we collect is yours to keep – no subscriptions, no drone limitations.
We apply AI and machine learning to the data to automatically detect key features for PLMU and NUMA to support your PRCP.
Lastly, when you’re ready to monitor these features and track your milestones, we fly again, applying automatic disturbance monitoring to the data to pinpoint changes in the features.
Outline’s change detection process for PRCP: capture for baseline, AI insights, re-capture, AI insights for change detection.
Key features for PRCP submission support
For the PRCP submission, we provide:
- Spatial data files and shapefiles in the format compliant for submission
- Spatial data required for proactive rehabilitation monitoring and assessment of your environmental footprint, such as changes in terrain, hydro and vegetation canopy
- Automatic detection of relevant features for rehabilitation monitoring and management.
Monitor land stability and milestone progress through a combination of regular aerial surveys and automated change detection, tracking both PMLU rehabilitation and NUMA management requirements.
Outline data can automatically detect and track changes in:
- Erosion Patterns
Aerial imagery and spatial data for monitoring erosion through surface analysis, change detection, and terrain mapping. Our data can help you:- estimate erosion rates
- predict the type of erosion and where erosion is likely to occur
- predict the movement of materials offsite
- assess erosion risk and depth of cover required for any encapsulated materials
- Landform
Monitoring and assessment of voids, low walls, tracks, and other critical landform features for stability and compliance. - Vegetation
Monitoring vegetation establishment, detection of changes in tree canopy, and weeds, and spatial analysis of vegetation patterns.
- Water
Multi-spectral imaging for surface water assessment, change detection for water bodies, and drainage pattern analysis.
Image showing unsecured rocks have fallen, informing land conditions for post-mining remediation efforts.
Example of data layers and object segmentation stored in spatial geodatabases for PRCP submission.
Disturbed Tracks are automatically mapped and topologically inspected ready for Spatial Information Submission.
Future-ready: beyond basic compliance
Mining is complex enough. Transform your PRCP requirements into streamlined digital workflows that save time and effort. We deliver data that is:
- Reliable and ready to use
- Rigorously managed and transparent
- Comprehensive and representative of nature
- Consistent, yet adaptive to site-specific parameters
- Accurate and precise mapping of rehabilitation and improvement areas.
Investing in Outline Global for your PRCP rehabilitation monitoring ensures you meet essential legislative requirements while building a flexible, scalable foundation that evolves with your mining operation. As regulations change and rehabilitation milestones approach, your digital infrastructure adapts seamlessly, turning compliance into a competitive advantage.