NuGrow’s collaboration with CS Energy uses innovative techniques to revegetate the Kogan Creek Mine levee

NuGrow’s recent partnership with Queensland energy provider CS Energy has led to the rehabilitation of an upgraded flood levee – and the results have been outstanding.

NuGrow’s Revegetation Services worked with CS Energy to deliver their first project in the resources sector – the revegetation of the flood levee at CS Energy’s Kogan Creek Mine, which supplies black coal to the neighbouring Kogan Creek Power Station.

The mine pit’s levee walls were raised and extended in late 2018 to deliver increased flood protection to the mine. In consultation with the Kogan Creek Environment team, NuGrow developed a custom plan for the rehabilitation of the site using their exciting hydrocompost solution, Hydroganics.

Hydroganics is a major land revegetation alternative that delivers an affordable, high-quality, compost-based germination media and erosion control solution unlike anything else on the market. Hydroganics combines a unique germination media that uses up to 20 times the organic material of traditional hydromulch, with wet application and seed optimisation to provide instant erosion control and soil protection. It utilises the benefits of tailored compost and slow-release nutrients to re-build soil structure, organic matter and fertility, creating long-term value.

The NuGrow team delivered 3.5 hectares of Hydroganics to the site at a rate of 100m³/ha, effectively turning bare soil into a sea of green on an impressive scale.

Kogan Creek Acting Environmental Business Partner Lisel Dingley explained that the team reduced rehab costs by turning the subsoil layer into topsoil through the use of compost and microbes, which can be likened to a probiotic for the soil.

“It was the first time we have incorporated native species into site rehabilitation – not just a native species but those that are locally endemic to the area,” Lisel said. They were collected by a custom-built quad bike native seed harvester from the local area.

“We also included a wide variety of grass and legume species. Legumes naturally provide nitrogen to the soil, which keeps plants growing and enables them to create their own nutrient cycling system, reducing the need to add fertilisers.”

This highlights the extreme functional flexibility of the Hydroganics solution, which allows the company to deliver a custom blend of seed mix, tackifiers, biological inoculants, wetting agents and ameliorants specifically designed to meet the unique needs of each client. The optimum mix is often determined in collaboration with ecologists, soil scientists and seed experts – and the results can be seen in the outstanding development that has transformed the Kogan Creek Mine levee site.

The rain in January and February 2020 brought all the preparation work of the previous few months to fruition, turning the levee into a green and thriving vision within the space of a week.

NuGrow Revegetation Services General Manager, Ben Brown, said “The best revegetation outcomes are often achieved when a collaborative approach is taken. The success of this project is largely due to the combined effort of several industry experts bringing knowledge from their specific fields and merging this together to come up with the best solution. The wide variety of treatments that NuGrow Revegetation Services offer means that our clients have multiple options when choosing what products will work best for their project.”