Nominations for the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS)’s 2019 Resources Sector Awards for Excellence are now open.
The awards aim to acknowledge and celebrate innovation, outstanding performance and leadership in the Western Australian resources sector.
This year’s Resources Sector Awards for Excellence once again bring back the prestigious Golden Gecko Award for Environmental Excellence.
Geckos are among the last species to return to an area after a land disturbance such as mining, and their presence indicates a return to a healthy functioning ecosystem. Thus, the DMIRS chose the gecko to be a symbol of environmental performance.
Now in its 27th year, the Golden Gecko Award recognises outstanding performance from companies and people behind projects which provide greater environmental outcomes for Western Australia.
Receiving a Golden Gecko Award helps a company to build the reputation of being a responsible corporate citizen with a responsible attitude to the environment.
Last year BHP Iron Ore were recognised for their research project, Chasing Ghosts: Understanding Ghost Bat Ecology in the Pilbara.
Evidence of the presence of the ghost bat in BHP’s Mining Area C initiated a significant collaborative project across the industry, government and academia which resulted in a regionally relevant understanding of the ecology and management of the ghost bat population in the Pilbara.
WA Port Authorities and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development were also awarded for their world-first State Wide Array Surveillance Program, in which the program uses molecular techniques with a collaborative marine biosecurity surveillance network to rapidly respond to a potential incursion of an introduced marine pest.
The 2019 Resources Sector Awards for Excellence also feature a Community Partnership Resources Sector Award which recognises companies that are building sustainable partnerships with communities that extend beyond the life of a project.
A project created in partnership between Pilbara Regional Strategy, Foodbank WA and BHP, ‘Healthy Food for All’ took out the Community Partnership Resources Sector Award in 2018.
Nominations for this year’s awards close on 29 April and the winners are expected to be announced on 22 August.
More information on previous winners and current nomination information can be found here.