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

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Reclamation should return the site to a safe and stable condition, free of safety hazards (such as unsafe buildings, equipment, open holes, etc.) and should return the mine site to viable and, wherever practicable, self-sustaining ecosys- tems that are compatible with a healthy envi- ronment and with human activities. Recognition that while there should be meas- ures to address and prevent ongoing pollution from the site, all encompassing requirements to return a site to its original condition or to a condition permitting particular land uses may be inappropriate. Governments should have a general policy of requiring financial assurance that is prudent in light of all reasonably fore- seeable risks, but there must be recognition that insistence upon on protection against ex- tremely unlikely events will impose excessive costs and as a consequence investment incen- tives may be significantly reduced. Again, it is vital to include communities of interest (and/ or relevant NGOs) thoroughly in the process of formulating rehabilitation goals in order to allow them to contribute to the formulation of solutions.

Requirements for financial assurance, or any change in the required standard of reclamation, should be identified as early as possible in dis- cussions between company and government. Where a government seeks to alter the required standard of reclamation, or to require a finan- cial assurance instrument where none was re- quired previously, particularly where the mine is only marginally profitable or is approaching the end of its life, a creative approach to the design of the instrument may be called for. It is appropriate that the tax regime of the country recognize that financial assurance im- poses some costs on the operator, in particular, hard forms of security (such as letter of credit, cash bonds or trust funds), which impose two kinds of cost: direct carrying cost and loss of use of the funds for productive investment. It is reasonable to demand that Miners ac- cept the costs and liability for environmental protection of the site during operations and for reclaiming the site upon closure. Where conditions such as acid mine drainage exist, it is reasonable that companies also accept the necessity of funding long-term care and man- agement. However, government legislation should explicitly provide that at a certain mo- ment the company could be relieved of future liabilities for the site. In most cases, this relief would be given as soon as site reclamation has been successfully completed. In the case of acid drainage, it should be considered as soon as necessary funding arrangements have been established for long-term care. A number of actions and/or adoption of new ap- proaches are also necessary so that negative social legacies of mining can be circumvented. Approaches should be sought where site objectives can transcend environmental quality criteria alone to include em- ployment and social outcomes, as well as long-term resource stewardship. Instances exist where the com- bination of solutions (or preventative strategies) for physical and social legacies can be combined. Meas- ures that can help achieve this include inter alia : the use of operational wastes as a resource for alternative product manufacture; the utilization of the land for periodic and low effort (anthropogenic input) uses such as graz- ing, local agro-forestry or non-food crops; the valorization of site features or mining-re- lated infrastructure in new development initia- tives to create sustainable local level employ- ment over a longer period; • • • • • • •

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Open cut copper mine – Romania Photograph by Philip Peck

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MINING FOR CLOSURE