The LRMA board will negotiate a scheme with the Department of Mineral Resources which will allow the LRMA to underwrite the rehabilitation responsibilities of its members.

LRMA secretary Maxine O'Brien said this measure was to ensure the good behaviour of members and was the first step in promoting a rehabilitation culture in the Lightning Ridge mining industry.

"Now we have the basic tools in place to make rehabilitation a priority," she said.

Miners now have to pay a $20 levy a year to go towards the rehabilitation of their claim from January 1 this year.

The LRMA lobbied for the levy and mineral resources minister Kerry Hickey said the funds raised from this levy would help rehabilitation work to continue.

"Today's miners understand that for our industry to survive and thrive, we must pull together and demonstrate our environmental credentials to the community," Mr Hickey said.

At a special meeting held on the weekend, the board members discussed how they were going to keep this levy to a reasonable amount, as it is currently being used to maintain waste dumps and is at risk of rising.

Ms O'Brien said there were currently plenty of rehabilitation works going on.

"There is work going on at Wyoming and the Four Mile with Coocoran set to start soon," she said.

Lightning Ridge miner Allan Johnston has spent the past five weeks rehabilitating a mine at the Deep Four Mile.

"All miners have a responsibility to rehabilitate their mines," Mr Johnston said.

"We want to make this an example of how rehab work should be done, where people can come and see the improvements made," he said.

Mr Johnston said after he was finished filling the mine in he would start to plant trees.

"There's no point in planting trees and not looking after them," he said.

Mr Johnston said he was going to make every effort to make the trees grow and set an example for other miners to follow.