Publication Name

MINING FOR CLOSURE

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;

Open cut copper mine – Romania

Photograph by Philip Peck

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