As of July last year, mining tenement holders must report ground disturbance under the MRF and pay an annual levy based on the amount and type of ground disturbance they cause on their tenement.

By rehabilitating early, operators can save on their levy payment.

Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said the tool was more effective than the old environmental bond system, saving money for operators and reducing liabilities for the state.

“Early rehabilitation is a good environmental outcome,” he said.

“It means that in the event a mining operator is unable to fulfil their environment obligations following mine closure, the state is left with a smaller rehabilitation liability.”

The second compulsory reporting period for the fund closed on June 30.

At that time, Marmion said 98% of reports had been submitted online, with the Department of Mines and Petroleum expecting to issue just 213 infringement notices for not lodging an MRF report this year, compared to 1184 in 2014.

“It is particularly pleasing that 99.3% of prospecting licences had submitted data before the deadline,” Marmion added.

Over time, it is expected the disturbance data collected through the MRF will reveal a picture of the state’s mining and exploration footprint and rehabilitation trends, improving transparency and helping with the purchase and transfer of liabilities and assets.

There are almost 20,000 mining tenements in WA.

The MRF currently sits at more than $A33 million and levy notices for 2014-15 are expected to yield a further $25 million for the fund.

Tenement holders have 60 days to pay their MRF levy.

Since the MRF was introduced on a voluntary basis in July 2013, industry has recovered more than $1.1 billion in expired environmental bonds under the state’s old system.