Golden Gecko Award finalists

Nomination: Scarborough Energy Project’s Marine Fauna Observation training program

Developed in partnership with Worley, Current Environmental, and Hungry Minds, this initiative saw 414 marine crew members fully trained in the Marine Fauna Observation training program, enabling them to monitor marine fauna as part of their daily duties.

Nearly two years of valuable marine data has been collected as part of the program, including more than 900 sightings of whales, dolphins, turtles and sharks, enhancing understanding of Western Australia’s offshore environment.

Continuous auditing by Woodside’s environment team ensures the program meets regulatory requirements and is embedded in vessel assurance activities.

Nomination: Yandi Seed Production Area

The Yandi native seed project trialled a large-scale native Seed Production Area (SPA) at the Yandi mine site in the Pilbara. The 3.5-hectare trial involved preparation of the Yandi mine site, irrigation and the sowing of Triodia across dedicated plots.

While SPA is used globally, this represents the first scaled initiative of its kind in the Pilbara. Initial results have been promising. From a sowing rate of two million seeds per hectare, the first harvest delivered a yield of approximately 26 million seeds per hectare. The site functions as a living trial to assess cultivation techniques and support future restoration work.

The project is part of the Banjima Land Rehabilitation Partnership, a collaboration between BHP and the Banjima Native Aboriginal Title Corporation.

Nomination: Marine Environmental Quality Monitoring Program

The Marine Environmental Quality Management Programs (MEQMPs) implemented across Western Australian ports have demonstrated a coordinated, risk-based approach to protecting marine environments.

Designed to go beyond minimum compliance, the programs enable trend detection in water and sediment quality, early identification of environmental risks, and the generation of actionable data to support port planning, impact mitigation and transparent reporting to regulators, stakeholders and the community.

The MEQMPs have been voluntarily developed and maintained across multiple years and integrated into each port authority’s environmental governance framework. 

Nomination: Sandy Ridge hazardous and challenging waste disposal

The radioactive waste disposal operation at Sandy Ridge facilitates the safe disposal of naturally occurring radioactive material from offshore oil and gas operations. It is also Australia’s first commercial geological repository licenced for Class V hazardous and low-level radioactive waste.

Since 2023, more than 6,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste has been safely disposed at the facility, including Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material from offshore oil and gas operations, legacy uranium processing and mining tailings. The site has also accepted more than 1,500 Disused Sealed Radioactive Sources for secure management and disposal.

Environmental stewardship is embedded in the facility’s design and operations. A prefunded trust guarantees that the WA Government will monitor the site for 100 years post-closure. The site is powered by solar energy during daylight hours and is independently certified to ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), and ISO 45002 (Health and Safety) standards.

Nomination: Closure in Design Framework

The Closure in Design (CiD) Framework embeds closure considerations into the earliest stages of mine planning and design, helping to drive environmental excellence across Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

The framework is adaptive to study scale and complexity, scorecard-driven to ensure transparency and accountability, and developed in consultation with subject-matter experts across geotechnical engineering, hydrology, hydrogeology, geoscience, heritage, rehabilitation and mine planning.

The CiD defines minimum requirements that influence mine design and scheduling, supporting reduced impact mining practices, lowering long-term closure liabilities and minimising risk.

Nomination: Cape Lambert Turtle Programme

Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert Turtle Programme has delivered positive outcomes for local turtle populations, including the maintenance of populations during major construction activities, and increased nest numbers.

Monitoring at Bells Beach and Delambre Island has shown the local nesting population has increased from around 120 turtles per year between 2009 and 2015 to more than 200 turtles in 2023 (67 per cent), making Bells Beach a regionally significant mainland nesting site.

Community engagement is a key feature, with partnerships supporting nature conservation, education, awareness, training and employment opportunities for Ngarluma people, as well as fostering two-way learning between Rio Tinto staff and the local community.

Nomination:  Alternative means of compliance using Bismuth Based Alloys for well plug and abandonment

BiSN’s wel-lok™ technology directly contributes to long-term environmental protection by delivering permanent gas-tight barriers during the well abandonment process. The barriers prevent future hydrocarbon migration, eliminate potential leak paths and allow operators and regulators to proceed with full land and seabed rehabilitation.

On Thevenard Island the technology was used to seal more than a dozen legacy wells, some over 30 years old, as part of Chevron’s decommissioning program. On Barrow Island, a Class A nature reserve and World Heritage listed area, BiSN tools were deployed during the phased decommissioning of hundreds of inactive wells.

Nomination: Redefining environmental excellence in care and maintenance

At IGO’s Forrestania Site, focus is on balancing resource extraction with environmental preservation through habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring and sustainable land management.

Since acquiring Western Areas in 2022, IGO has invested in improving the mine closure knowledge base for this site. In 2024, a Governance Framework was formalised to integrate conservation, care and maintenance data, and cross-functional planning.

As active members of IGO’s Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Panel, the Ballardong Traditional Owners have played a central role in shaping IGO’s approach to responsible care and maintenance activities at Forrestania.

Forrestania is one of the first Western Australian mine sites to deploy Eradicat. Using approaches co-designed with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, IGO is helping to change predator-prey dynamics and sharing these methods across the industry.

The site is also the first in Australia to trial Tree Ring fertilisers made from locally sourced, repurposed materials to retain moisture and embed nutrients.

Habitat dens have also been installed for Chuditch to support population growth.

Nomination: Greater Port Hedland Vertebrate Pest Management Program

The Greater Hedland Vertebrate Pest Management Program (VPMP) has grown to involve multiple stakeholders in a coordinated effort to manage and reduce environmental damage caused by red foxes and feral cats.

Covering a broad area around Port Hedland’s turtle nesting beaches, the program reduces the re-establishment of fox populations, by applying leading practice controls and promoting information and resource sharing across multiple land tenures. Prior to the VPMP, high predation levels threatened turtle nests.

Positive trends in fox population reduction have been observed. The program goes beyond regulatory compliance, with industry supporting and sustaining the program and creating widespread awareness of feral pest impacts on biodiversity, the economy and society.

Nomination: Esperance berth renewal and DMT stormwater system

Southern Ports collaborated with external experts to develop an innovative stormwater filtration system at the Port of Esperance.

The new system captures rainwater washing across the new hardstand and berth in a 200 cubic metre chamber, removing suspended particulates before flowing through a filter to remove dissolved contaminants, preventing pollutants from washing into the sea.

Since completion, the system has been shown to remove up to 80 per cent of ammonia contaminants from stormwater and has enabled the port to increase its licensing capacity for fertiliser imports.

The Port of Esperance was the first port to demonstrate the effectiveness of its stormwater filtration system in removing both particulate and dissolved contaminants. 

Nomination: Thevenard Island Retirement Project Site Restoration

Following the retirement and decommissioning of facilities on Thevernard Island, Chevron demonstrated positive environmental outcomes through the reuse of cement-containing materials for landform reconstruction, diverting approximately 29,000 m3 (54,000 tonnes) of waste from landfill.

Active planting was chosen to enable faster vegetation establishment and reduced the timeframe to restore ecosystem function.

To return the site to the State for parks and recreational, Chevron partnered with Golder Associates to conduct a detailed site investigation and risk assessment, identifying key environmental, economic and technological considerations for the Remedial Action Plan. Field studies with Astron Environmental assessed the burrowing and rooting depths of indigenous species, to determine the depth at which the presence of cement-containing materials would pose no adverse impact to endemic flora or fauna.