Mining for Closure: Policies, practises and guidelines for sustainable mining and closure of mines

adequate capacity among regulatory person- nel; ongoing research and testing of remediation strategies and technologies and integration of results in Mining for Closure review processes; surveillance of the views and desires for the in- volvement of local communities (in particular where such parties wish to ensure the quality of information that they are receiving – de- manding a role in site monitoring and access to information to ensure accountability of op- erator and governments are examples); the maintenance of communication between private and public bodies to improve closure policy and regulations; ongoing searches for financing measures for clean-up; disaster response; spills management and so forth, particularly for orphaned sites. It is necessary to underline that it is the role of gov- ernment (as the representative of stakeholders in the nation state) to ensure that the expectations of stakeholders are met. Further, it must be noted that stakeholder expectations are inherently fluid – and indeed that such expectations can be influenced, and perhaps should be where they do not best re- flect the interests of all. the governmental case for mining for closure While there are other advantages defining the gov- ernmental case for pursuit of Mining for Closure , it suffices to summarise them within the following broad categories: the prevention of harmful environmental and social impacts; lower risk of non-compliances; greater acceptance/less resistance from key stakeholders (in particular local communities and land owners); lower financial burdens to the national purse for mine closure and rehabilitation, and lower risks for significant liabilities post-closure. In the context of developing and restructuring economies, these points are perhaps even more telling than for wealthier nations. It is clear how- ever, that where governments do not have sufficient fiscal resources to deal with legacies, then even more innovativeness and flexibility will be required in order to protect the public and the environment from the risks posed by mining legacies. • • • • • • • • • •

the business case for mining for closure It is also important – and fortunate – that it also makes good business sense to adopt best environ- mental practice in mining, and to mine for closure . Importantly for mining organizations, these bene- fits evidence themselves both during mining oper- ations and at the end of mine life and as such, they constitute far more than just cost savings that can be achieved during the execution of a task forced upon them. continual reduction of liabilities via optimization of rehabilitation works undertaken during the productive phase of mining operations rather than deferral of costs to the end of the project; provision of a basis for estimating rehabilita- tion costs prior to final closure so that suffi- cient financial and material resources can be set aside; ongoing testing, assessment and feedback re- garding the effectiveness of rehabilitation de- signs and/or processes in a site specific fash- ion during the active mine life; increased efficiency in execution of work (e.g. in reduction of double-handling for waste ma- terials and topsoil); possibilities to optimise mine planning for ef- ficient resource extraction and return of eco- system to a functional form; reduced areas of land disturbance through use of smaller waste landforms and mining paths, and in some circumstances progressive backfilling; identification of areas of high risk as priorities for ongoing research and/or remediation; the direct involvement of operations personnel in achieving mine rehabilitation outcomes; the involvement of key stakeholders (especial- ly local communities) in setting priorities for mine rehabilitation; reduction of ongoing responsibilities for the site and facilitation of timely relinquishment of tenements and bond recovery; reductions in impacts on local communities in terms of environmental, social and economic impacts of mine operations; reduction of exposure to contingent liabilities related to public safety and environmental hazards and risks; lower risk of regulatory non-compliances, • • • • • • • • • • • • • Benefits (principally after Environment Australia, 2002a) include inter alia :

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MINING FOR CLOSURE