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

objectives of the report

integrated mine planning where a mine closure plan should be an integral part of a project life cycle and be designed to ensure that: 1 Future public health and safety are not com- promised 2 ; Environmental and resources are not subject to physical and chemical deterioration; 3 The after-use of the site is beneficial and sus- tainable in the long term; Any adverse socio-economic impacts are mini- mized; and All socio-economic benefits are maximized. In addition, there is a great interest in the legacies of the past – and how to deal with them. These are discussed below. challenges identified inprevious unep studies Mining legacies are clearly identified as a key en- vironmental issue within SEE/TRB. A desk as- sessment of security risks posed by mining, and particularly those associated with pollution from residual mining wastes Reducing Environment & Security Risks from Mining in South Eastern Europe (Peck, 2004) and the UNEP Rapid Environmental Assessment of the Tisza River Basin (Burnod-Requia, 2004), showed clearly that there are a large number of mineral resource related sites that are of high hazard in the SEE/TRB area. Further, evidence was found that many have significant risks associated with them that threaten the environment, public health and safety, and/or regional socio-political stability in SEE/TRB countries. Moreover, it was found that mining and minerals processing operations can affect (and are affecting) the surrounding environment and communities via: airborne transport of pollutants such as dust, smelter emissions, gases, vapours; 1. After Sassoon (2000). 2. Generally as posed by safety hazards such as unstable tailings impoundments, toxic waters, unsafe buildings, equipment, open holes, and so forth. However, it must be recognised that few (if any) items in the built or natural environment are “hazard free”. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that assume that in all countries there should be transparent debate and agreement on the level of acceptable risk pertinent environmental, social and economic aspects of mines and mining facilities post-closure. 3. The terms applied here, as drawn from Sassoon (2000), van Zyl, Sassoon, Fleury & Kyeyune (2002a) are generic but are in- tended to bear with them the intent and limitations presented in the source documents. • • • • • •

The ENVSEC Initiative seeks to facilitate a process whereby key public decision-makers in South East- ern and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Cauca- sus are able to motivate action to advance and pro- tect peace and the environment. This should occur via the collaborative articulation and adoption of policies, practices and guidelines for sustainable mining practices, Mining for Closure , and closure of mines in order to support the reduction of environ- ment and security risks in SEE/TRB. This document has the aim: to support the articula- tion and adoption of policies, practices and guide- lines for sustainable mining practices, Mining for Closure and closure of mines for the reduction en- vironment and security risks in SEE/TRB. objective I – to present principles, ideas and guidelines for mining policy development, capacity development and institutional development that can yield a sustain- able mix of social, economic, and environmental out- comes in the SEE/TRB region with key foci being: operation of existing and new mining opera- tions in order to ensure and facilitate cost-ef- fective closure that fulfils acceptable sustain- ability requirements; re-mining or otherwise valorising abandoned or orphaned sites in order to make safe and/or remediate and close them (including finding other uses/economic value from sites); closure, making safe and/or remediation of abandoned or orphaned sites; objective II – to support the ongoing assessment of transboundary environmental and human safety risks posed by sub-standardmining operations – both active and abandoned; implementation of risk reduc- tion measures through demonstration at selected sites, evaluation and testing of possible policy chang- es and transboundary cooperation mechanisms. what is mining for closure? The items included above are packaged here as a concept labelled Mining for Closure . In essence, the general ethos of Mining for Closure is captured by • • • Towards that aim, the document has the following objectives:

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MINING FOR CLOSURE