A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

Leading practice management of water quality should also include management and
monitoring of process reagents, solid and liquid wastes (including domestic wastes),
hydrocarbons, degreasers and sewage effluents. These aspects can be particularly
important during periods of high rainfall, when it may be difficult to retain all surface
and groundwater runoff from mining-related infrastructure, including contractor sites.
The water quality guidelines do not fully address the difficulties associated with
their application to temporary waters. In particular, the trigger values contained in
the guidelines are based on steady-state conditions that by definition do not occur
in temporary waters; there are no toxicity-based trigger values provided for inland
salt lakes; and the recommended biological water quality assessment strategies are
untested for mining impacts in all but a few types of temporary waters. This limits
their use in the arid and semi-arid zones of Australia, where temporary waters
dominate, and where the majority of mining occurs.
Habitat structure in aquatic ecosystems is a major controlling factor of biodiversity.
Sedimentation of stream beds, pools and backwaters can result in reduced
biodiversity due to the reduction in the available niches. Stream diversions that do
not match the pre-existing habitat structural diversity will be unlikely to support the
original aquatic biodiversity. This may affect biodiversity upstream and downstream
of the diversion by alteration of organism passage and reach-scale ecosystem energy
flow. Leading practice managers design compensatory habitat structures into the
diversion, such as planting additional overhanging reeds, rushes and shrubs and
constructing natural or above natural densities of large woody debris structures.
The engineering design of the diversion should account for the increased hydraulic
roughness associated with these structures.
Alteration of the landscape caused by mining that results in altered flow paths and
velocities of surface and ground waters will result in altered geomorphic influence on
the receiving aquatic ecosystems. The resultant impacts on aquatic habitat structure
and the biodiversity dependent upon it need to be considered.
The Community and Mining Operations
The Business Case for Community Engagement
Engaging with communities and contributing towards community development is not
only the right thing for companies to do, it also makes sound business sense. First
and foremost, companies need to secure broad community support and acceptance
in order to protect their ‘social licence to operate’.
Companies that are perceived as closed and non-responsive will be much less likely
to have the trust and support of a community than those which share information
openly, listen and respond to people’s concerns, and show that they care about
the community and are committed to its development. By listening and engaging,
companies will also be better placed to identify emerging community issues at an
early stage and deal with them proactively rather than reactively. Consequently,
these companies will also have a greater opportunity to put their views to the
community, and having those views heard.
The time taken to plan, finance, insure and regulate any operation has increased
substantially in the past few decades, particularly in the case of large-scale mines.
In these circumstances, there can be real financial returns for those companies that
94 LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY