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

Throughout this text, a raft of principles, ideas and guidelines are provided. These address the mining policy development, capacity development and in- stitutional development that need to be addressed in order to ensure the operation of existing and new mining operations in order for cost-effective closure fulfilling acceptable sustainability require- ments can be achieved. Further, a wide range of ideas for exploration is presented regarding the re-mining or otherwise valorising of abandoned or orphaned sites in order to make safe and/or reme- diate and close them. In its content, the document establishes that the way forward must include fostering of institutional frameworks that support abandoned or orphaned site management and a shift to sustainable min- ing and minerals processing practice and that this will require immediate and ongoing capacity build- ing for (public sector) institutional actors as well as significant capacity building among industrial actors . Pursuant to that, the new skills and knowledge among institutional actors must be directed at key tasks of hazard and risk-related uncertainty reduction via focused information collection and by risk reduc- tion works at abandoned or orphaned sites. Further, new skills and knowledge applied within sound institutional frameworks within all actors must be applied for risk reduction at operational sites and the development of new resources and re-mining activities that are aligned with sustainable development. All these must include dialogue with key stakeholders such as national and international NGOs, affected citizens, and so forth. This work outlines trends in the expectations of society and the international community, the general content, and the degree of international uptake of best environmental mining in a range of jurisdictions. As such, the principles presented should serve to guide National agencies respon- sible for mineral exploitation, and National agen- cies responsible for environmental quality in their work building of the foundations for good mining policy and administration. Further, such stake- holders can use this document to help inform their own expectations for practice and to stimu- late innovation and creation of solutions tailored to their own circumstance. Innovation will be very important as evidence was found throughout this study that a number of the practices and/or the scale of investments required elsewhere may not be affordable here, nor may they be the most ap- plicable.

greater acceptance/less resistance from key stakeholders (in particular local communities and land owners), improved access to land resources from gov- ernments; improved access to capital from reputable lending institutions; the potential for reduced cost of capital and li- ability insurance; continual feedback upon the manner in which community expectations are being achieved. It is in the best interest of business for such activities to take place at the right phase of mine life in order to minimise such expenditures. As mine decommis- sioning usually occurs at a point in the life of an op- eration where the economic recovery of minerals has ceased, and cash flows are minimal or non-existent, then this is not the time to be undertaking the bulk of rehabilitation operations. Again, it is stressed that the overall mine decommissioning process should be integrated with the overall mine operation planning process. Further, if decommissioning and closure are not undertaken in a planned and effective manner, chances are that the results will also be sub-optimal. the way forward This document was created in order to present prin- ciples, ideas and guidelines for mining policy devel- opment, capacity development and institutional de- velopment that can yield a sustainable mix of social, economic, and environmental outcomes in the SEE/ TRB region. It has been generated in recognition of a fundamental divide between the interests of min- ing companies who typically wish to develop mines, achieve a good return for shareholders, then leave when production is finished and the interests of the communities who desire wealth and income opportu- nities created in their midst that will last over time. This said, the document builds the case for the stra- tegic relevance of Mining for Closure for both the mining industry and for governments. Key actors on both sides clearly recognise that the very viabil- ity of the mining industry is challenged because of high expectations for environmental protection, desires for lower risk to human health, compet- ing land use demands, and the increasing value of the natural environment as recreational space. The survival of the mining industry and sustainable de- velopment of countries in SEE/TRB both require a vibrant extractive industry that society accepts. • • • • •

XII

MINING FOR CLOSURE