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MINING FOR CLOSURE
xiii
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).
In order to
Mine for Closure
, jurisdictions, policies
and work approaches should be:
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.
Low hazard and viable
– Viable, rather than only
self-sustaining ecosystems, that are compatible
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.