Publication Name

MINING FOR CLOSURE

actions. This was continued with a regional meet-

ing in Skopje in 2004 where priorities were con-

firmed and further work suggested. This included

the assessment of regional cross-border risks from

mining and industry, improved management of

common river basins (e.g. Tisza, & Sava), and the

promotion of nature conservation as a tool to en-

courage regional cooperation.

Current or planned activities include rehabilitation

of most prominent hot-spots (e.g. a feasibility study

for closing the Lojane mine in FYR Macedonia)

and fostering cooperation in the Tisza and Prespa

international basins. Further, and as has been men-

tioned, a desk assessment of security risks posed

by mining, particularly by residual mining wastes

and pollution, was performed during 2004.

Among the outstanding environmental, social and

economic challenges confronting the mining indus-

try and affected communities – that of abandoned

and orphaned mine sites

has been particularly

slow to be tackled. The potential costs of rehabilita-

tion on a wide scale, the lack of clearly assigned (or

assumed) responsibility, the absence of criteria and

standards for rehabilitation, as well as other factors,

have delayed action by both the industry and by

public authorities. Further, (as has been intimated)

that the efforts by international bodies to address

this issue and provide guidance to national and in-

ternational institutions in their role as stakeholders

in mining activities remain insufficient. This im-

portant deficiency in international action has seri-

ous implications for the SEE/TRB region.

1.3

The ENVSEC Initiative seeks to facilitate a proc-

ess whereby key public decision-makers in South

Eastern and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Cau-

casus are able to motivate action to advance and

protect peace and the environment. In the context

of this ENVSEC project, 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

so as to aid the reduction of environment and secu-

rity risks in SEE/TRB.

This document has the aim:

to support the articulation and adoption of policies,

practices and guidelines for sustainable mining

practices,

Mining for Closure

and closure of mines

for the reduction environment and security risks in

South Eastern Europe.

This document has the objectives:

to present principles, ideas and guidelines for

mining policy development, capacity develop-

ment and institutional development that can

yield a sustainable mix of social, economic,

and environmental outcomes in the SEE/TRB

region with key foci being:

operation of existing and new mining op-

erations in order to ensure and facilitate

cost-effective closure that fulfils accept-

able sustainability requirements;

re-mining or otherwise valorising aban-

doned 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;

to support the ongoing assessment of trans-

boundary environmental and human safety

risks posed by sub-standard mining operations

– both active and abandoned; implementation

of risk reduction measures through demon-

stration at selected sites, evaluation and testing

of possible policy changes and transboundary

cooperation mechanisms.

1.4

As will be demonstrated throughout this docu-

ment, a large number of mining related studies as

produced by a large range of social actors – from

Government to community interest groups – have

underlined the importance of managing a plethora

of environmental, social and developmental chal-

lenges related to mining activities. Mining legacies

18. Within this document, abandoned mines are deemed to be

those where rehabilitation is incomplete but whose legal owners

still exist. Orphaned sites, on the other hand, refer to abandoned

mines for which the responsible party no longer exists or cannot

be located while idle mining assets refer to abandoned mines that

are currently under some form of care and maintenance.

19. At the time of writing, the draft desk-assessment report, titled

Reducing Environment & Security Risks fromMining in South Eastern

Europe: Desk-assessment study for the Environment and Security Ini-

tiative Project

and

The Rapid Environmental Assessment of the Tisza

River Basin

is are available via the Environment and Security inita-

tive’s web portal at

www.envsec.org

why is this document

required?

challenges identi-

fied in previous

unep studies

•