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

with a healthy environment and with human activi- ties and are low hazard should be left post-mining. Measures to address and prevent ongoing pollution from the site should be in place. Considered and flexible – The target condition of a mining site should be carefully considered in the light of long-term environmental stability but not in the absence of social and economic uses that can contribute to making it safe. All encompass- ing requirements to return a site to its original condition or to a condition permitting a maximum range of land uses may be inappropriate. Jurisdic- tions should be flexible in devising solutions that match site-specific needs in terms of the types of mining operation, climate, topography, the sensi- tivity of the surrounding environment, and social requirements, and which deliver outcomes con- sistent with sustainable development principles and objectives Synergistic – Synergies between actors, particularly actors with the capacity to provide rehabilitation service at lowest cost, should be pursued. This may be achieved by providing incentives for the current industrial actors to provide expertise, equipment, supplies and personnel to support government funding in addressing legacies. Elastic – Innovative, flexible and forgiving frame- works for indemnification against potential liabili- ties should be sought, particularly in situations where this may provide the necessary incentives for multi-stakeholder participation in reclamation/ rehabilitation works. Reasonable – There must be recognition that in- sistence on protection against extremely unlikely events will impose excessive costs and as a conse- quence, investment incentives may be significantly reduced. Reasonable approaches must be applied when jurisdictions seek assurance against the pos- sibility of loss or damage to the environment. Creative – In situations where the mine is only marginally profitable or is approaching the end of its life, a creative approach to the design of the in- strument may be called for. Incentive based and tax balanced – the tax or royalty regime of the country should recognise that finan- cial assurance imposes some costs on the operator. This should be balanced to ensure that sustainable development objectives are assured.

a codification of principles

A number of principles can be used to guide the management of existing and new mining opera- tions in SEE/TRB so that acceptable sustainabil- ity requirements and cost effective closure can be achieved. These principles can be used to support work with abandoned and orphaned mining sites in order to make them safe and/or remediate, and close them. It should be noted that the items listed below should be seen as congruent and synergis- tic and not exclusive (e.g. such as strict and flexible rather than strict versus flexible). Consistent – Mine closure requirements and proce- dures should be consistent with those in place in other territories of the region. This is particularly important where two countries share trans-boundary risks. Centralised – Governments should strive for an independent mine closure law that establishes a single agency for implementation. Strict – Legislation should apply the polluter pays principle strictly and should ensure that the owner or operator of a mining operation is responsible for execution and completion of successful reclamation. Financially assured – Legislation should provide that (particularly for new operations and operations with considerable lifespan remaining) financial assur- ance is provided to ensure successful reclamation. Long-term financed – Where conditions requiring long-term care exist, the funding of long-term care and management should be included in assurance. However, government legislation should explicitly provide that at a certain moment the company can be relieved of future liabilities for the site. Temporally bounded – Where long-term care is in- volved, the operator should be responsible to pro- vide it until relieved of liability, but amenable tem- poral bounds of such liability should be included in agreements. This requires that care be long-term financed. In order to Mine for Closure , jurisdictions, policies and work approaches should be:

Low hazard and viable – Viable, rather than only self-sustaining ecosystems, that are compatible

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MINING FOR CLOSURE