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

to conduct remediation in the event a mining company going bankrupt and being unable to cover the costs of rehabilitation; inadequate financial security to address remedi- ation if, and where such funds were set aside; unforeseen economic events that caused early cessation of activities or left companies bank- rupt, such as a sudden drop in metal prices, insurmountable difficulties with mining/mill- ing, and/or infrastructure problems; past technical practices undertaken such as the sinking of numerous exploration shafts and mineral deposit test pits that were never back-filled prior to the introduction of drilling equipment for mineral deposit evaluation; national security issues such as the supply cut-off for strategic metals in times of conflict leading to rapid mining activity with scant consideration of closure requirements or op- erational longevity; Loss of mine data including records of under- ground workings and surface openings due to natural disaster, regulatory flux, unscheduled cessation of activities, political disruption and conflict; Political unrest, conflict and political instabil- ity leading to unscheduled cessation of activi- ties of a number of mines; 79 Small scale mining conducted by artisanal or illegal miners, also including the uncontrolled occupation of mine sites. Since abandonment today is usually sudden and unplanned, governments are often left responsi- ble for mine closure and rehabilitation. Clark et al . (2000)) stated the following about the costs associ- ated with abandoned mines: closure and rehabilitation costs must be directly or indirectly born by the State. As such the aban- doned mines represent not only a major liability for the government but for the affected communi- ties, adjacent areas and society at large: the lat- ter must ultimately bear the financial burden of ensuring appropriate closure. It is clear that most of the points outlined above can be planned for, or are preventable in some way. Indeed there are growing expectations around the • • • • • • •

Dissemination of information to the partners and the public in a timely manner is considered an im- portant function for multi-stakeholder programs undertaken in Canada. NOAMI has been active in its transfer of information and utilises a number of routes. An abandoned mines Internet site (www. abandoned-mines.org) has been established and is regularly updated with information, reports and newsletters. The Secretariat issues communication documents, such as newsletters, on the activities of the orphaned and abandoned mines initiative. These newsletters are posted on the website, as well as electronically distributed to the Secretariat’s mailing lists. This discussion is intended to build upon that pre- sented in Section 4.1, however the focus in this text is upon the actual motivation for abandonment rather than just cessation/closure. The following quote from Nazari (1999) is provided to set context for this discussion. Mine closure is, typically, required at a time when the operation is no longer economically viable, when cashflow is often severely restricted or nega- tive, and when the value of assets is below the ex- penditures required to achieve the environmental objective of mine closure. The objective of securing mine closure funding at an early project develop- ment and implementation stage is to mitigate against the risk that an enterprise may either be unwilling or unable to undertake mine closure due to lack of funding A range of reasons for mine abandonment are pre- sented in literature surrounding the industry (En- vironmental Protection Agency, 1995b; Mulligan, 1996; Nazari, 1999; Sengupta, 1993; Smith & Un- derwood, 2000; van Zyl et al ., 2002b; WOM Geo- logical Associates, 2000). A number of the mining related elements that are held to contribute to the creation of abandoned mines include: the general absence of mine reclamation poli- cies and regulations until the latter part of the twentieth century; ineffective enforcement of mine reclamation policies and regulations if, and where in exist- ence; the absence of financial security mechanisms to ensure funds for parties such as government • • • why are mine sites abandoned? 4.3

79. Examples include the Kilembe copper mine in Uganda that was abandoned in the early eighties due to political unrest and the Bougainville mine in Papua New Guinea was abandoned in 1989 due to a landowner rebellion (van Zyl et al ., 2002b).

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MINING FOR CLOSURE