Requirements to Pass this Unit: To pass this unit you must attempt all assessments, and achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.

Assessment Criteria: Assessment at Macquarie University is standards-based. This means that your work will be assessed against clear criteria, which will be made available when the assessment tasks are released to you on iLearn.

Submission of Assessments: Links for the submission of the written assignments will be available on iLearn. Do not submit your written assignments via email or in hard copy without prior arrangement. Quiz: There will be a quiz in week 2, to help you (and the teaching staff) gauge how you are going with the unit content. Examination: The final examination will be held in the practical class time in week 9. Portfolio: The CV component must be submitted online through Turnitin, and the LinkedIn component must be linked to the unit convenor via the LinkedIn software. Major Report/RAP: The major report must be submitted online through Turnitin. Due dates for all assessment tasks are elsewhere in the unit schedule. If you have commitments that will significantly impact your study during the session then you must plan for this in advance as part of an effective individual study plan.

Marking of Assessments: Your written assignments will be marked through Turnitin and feedback will be noted on the assignments. Your assignment grade will be returned using the Grades Report on iLearn. We aim to return your assignments with feedback within 2-3 weeks of the date that you submit your assignment. We appreciate your patience and will advise you through iLearn when your marked assignments and feedback are available for viewing.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty:

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5 % penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a mark of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 2355 h. A 1 h grace period will be provided to students who experience technical concerns. For late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled exams, performance assessments, presentations, or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted: In this unit, late submissions will accepted as follows: Examination – NO, unless Special Consideration is Granted. Portfolio – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies. Major Report/RAP – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies.

Special Consideration: The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials: The freely-available textbook set for this unit is; Lottermoser, B.G. 2010. Mine Wastes. Characterization, Treatment and Environmental Impacts. 3rd edition. Springer, Heidelberg, 400 pp. Other recommended readings for each week will be noted on the iLearn site.

Technology Used and Required: This unit will use iLearn and associated technology.

Essential computer-based components of this unit include recorded lectures, practical exercises (not all weeks - refer to the unit schedule), and online discussion fora for communicating with staff and other students in this unit. If you’re unsure of how to connect to the internet or use the computer system, help can be obtained at http://students.mq.edu.au/support/.

Announcements and General Discussion Forum: The "Announcements" and "General Discussion Forum" link on the unit's homepage are used to share unit-wide announcements and discuss important issues related to the unit. You are expected to read every posting to the discussion forum because important administrative and academic information will be posted there - it is your responsibility to stay up to date.

What is Required to Complete This Unit Satisfactorily? You must receive a unit mark of at least 50 % to pass this unit. In order to receive a Pass grade, you should spend around 11 h per week on this unit in weeks 1-7, which includes lectures, practicals, reading and assessment preparation and completion. On top of that, around 50 hours for the field work and 40 hours for the final assessments. However, grades are awarded on a demonstration of your understanding and ability, not on time or effort! Lectures and practicals provide the framework with which to focus your study of the subject and they are essential for you to engage with.

You should supplement them by reading, especially from the text, but also from current journals, which contain the most up-to-date information. The set readings are relatively modest for a 3000 level unit, and they will be assessable. All lecture material is assessable. You should participate in six 2 h practicals, held at times stipulated by the timetable. Each student should complete all practical sessions. Practicals contain material to supplement the lectures, or comprise exercises which give you skills to help with your understanding of the unit topics and the workplace. All practical material is assessable, and the final practical is a final opportunity for help with the Major Report, prior to the examination.

Practicals provide greater depth to related lecture materials and will assist learning by encouraging your active participation. Important material for the practical classes may be included on iLearn: check the weekly folders. Classroom and practical workload will be spread over the first half of the session, fieldwork in the mid-session break, and major assessments in the second half of the session. Knowing this will help you manage your time effectively throughout the session and work around your other units and commitments.

Grades for each assessment task and the unit as a whole will be awarded according to the following general criteria (course rubric);

Lectures: will be available on iLearn at the start of the week in which they are scheduled. All lectures will be online and you do not have to "attend" a lecture. Lectures provide the framework with which to focus your study of the subject and are essential for you to engage with. You should supplement them by reading, from the textbook, and current journals, which contain the most up-to-date information. The iLearn site contains suggested readings, but please don't limit yourself to those. Lectures are available through iLearn https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login.

Practicals: may contain a mixture of components online, in the classroom, laboratory or field. I’ll supply more information on iLearn. Each student must attend all practical sessions. Practicals may contain material to supplement the lectures, or comprise practical exercises to give you skills to help with fieldwork or the workplace. Practicals provide greater depth to related lecture material and will assist learning by encouraging your active participation. The venue of the practical classes varies (see iLearn). Important material for the practical classes is included on iLearn. You must wear appropriate clothes for the laboratory: closed toe shoes where no part of your foot is visible (imagine dropping a rock on your foot - choose the footwear you'd like to be wearing should that happen).

Fieldwork: There is a compulsory mid-session fieldtrip for all students (there are two offerings due to student numbers – in the first instance these will be divided alphabetically by surname to yield roughly equal numbers). This fieldwork forms an essential component of this unit’s learning and assessment. We will conduct site assessments and propose remediation plans (if necessary) for contaminated sites outside of the Sydney metropolitan area. For this, we will survey and collect soil and water samples. You will measure the elemental compositions of the soil on site, and I will measure (back at the MQU laboratories) the elemental compositions of the water, and perhaps soil mineralogy. You will then use all of this information – collected by all students, or me – to write your major report. On fieldwork, there are professional standards to adhere to for use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Personal Protective Clothing (PPC). Everyone should have sturdy footwear - no running shoes or other inadequately protective shoes (you don't need steel capped boots). You will wear hi-vis tops - either your own hi-vis shirts or a vest that I can supply. Your shirts must have a collar and long sleeves. You must wear a hat with a wide brim - no baseball caps. Either shorts or long pants are OK. Gloves will be required according to the task you are conducting (I can supply nitrile gloves). Safety glasses as required by the task you are conducting (I can supply these). In summary, no sleeves, no collar, no hat, no sturdy shoes = no work.

Week 1 classes: Lectures are pre-recorded, and they will be released on the Sunday night at the start of the week. Practicals start in week 1. There are two practicals scheduled. I need the numbers balanced in those due to resourcing and room size constraints, and the groups will be divided alphabetically by surname. I will email the class with the breakdown of the two groups.

Methods of Communication: We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn. General queries to the convenor can be placed on the iLearn discussion board; if your query is more specific to you, or you want more privacy, email the unit convenor or other teaching staff directly via their email (see iLearn for these communication details).

COVID Information: For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

The unit schedule is under the "Unit Information" tab on iLearn.

The unit continues to evolve away from an online offering which was developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The practicals will be offered in face to face mode only. However, for student convenience, the lectures will remain pre-recorded and available online, and will be released on the Sunday night starting that week. Mapping of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has been undertaken for all lectures (see iLearn). All lectures have been updated and re-recorded. All workshops have been checked for currency and validity of links. Student feedback from last year indicated that it would be preferable to move the portfolio to later in the unit to allow incorporation of some of the unit content within the portfolio.