A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Site water use Water is used for numerous tasks across the mine site and will depend on the type of operation. Leading practice mines minimise water use while maximising water reuse. Water reuse is defined in a number of ways and is also often used interchangeably with water recycling. Water reuse minimises demand for water from off site and thereby focuses attention on leading management practices within the site. Leading operations generally have better control over water releases because reuse is carried out extensively and consistently. Olympic Dam recognises that the responsible use of Great Artesian Basin (GAB) water is essential to protect the environmental values of the GAB springs, a key concern for some of its stakeholders. The mine monitors the rate at which it extracts water from the two wellfields to ensure that it is always within prescribed limits and that adverse impacts are not occurring. The ongoing challenge is to continue to meet these limits while providing the opportunity to optimise plant production rates. The project confirmed the importance of regular inspection, testing and calibration of process indicators. Significant water savings have been identified and implemented in the three key production areas (see LP Water p.57). Figure 4.23 – Main shaft at Olympic Dam Re-injection into watercourses Re-injection is the practice of replacing groundwater into the same or a nearby aquifer. It can be achieved using engineering infrastructure and/or passive reinfiltration via local water courses. In some circumstances it is preferable to releasing water into surface water systems and/or relying on evaporation. Re-injection is considered water diversion when the receiving aquifer is within the lease boundary and as an output when it is outside the lease boundary. A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 127
Company policies and government regulations are increasingly requiring such actions to provide better stewardship of water resources. Re-injection requires specific geological and hydrogeological conditions with the added aim of being economically feasible. A re-injection operation should be located in: geology that has the capacity to receive water at a sufficiently high rate; that is, exhibit at least moderate permeability). an area with a sufficiently deep naturally occurring water table. areas where the injection quality of injected and receiving waters are compatible. located within a reasonable distance of the abstraction source to minimise infrastructure costs, but not so close that dewatering operations are inhibited due to recirculation. Not all these conditions may be met in all situations where it might be desirable to use re-injection. One example where re-injection is proving feasible is the Yandicoogina iron ore mine in the Pilbara in Western Australia. Mining commenced at Yandi in 1998. A fines iron ore product is produced from the Channel Iron Deposit (CID) ore body. Dewatering is required as the CID ore body is within a significant aquifer system. It is currently standard regional practice to discharge surplus water into existing waterways. However, this has several associated risks including the potential to develop dependent riparian ecosystems on the year-round water supply, in the process losing their adaptation to ephemeral wet season flows. In addition, this discharge may be considered wasteful by other stakeholders, particularly in the dry Pilbara region. Aquifer re-injection allows a component of the water extracted to be returned to the environment, limits impact on downstream surface ecosystems, minimises potential discharge impacts on the surrounding environment, and preserves a valuable resource that may be stored and withdrawn in the future. It is important to recognise that although re-injection has been successfully implemented at Yandi, the application of this technology is dependent upon several factors, in particular, the site-specific hydrogeological conditions. Re-injection should not be considered the ’silver bullet’ for dealing with all excess water management situations. For those operations where it is appropriate, aquifer re-injection can be a powerful tool for the mining community to utilise in order to preserve the groundwater resource and riparian ecosystem integrity (see LP Water p.79). 128 LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY
Page 1 and 2:
LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELO
Page 3 and 4:
Disclaimer This publication has bee
Page 5 and 6:
3.0 DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION 61
Page 7 and 8:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Leading Practi
Page 9 and 10:
viii LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE D
Page 12 and 13:
1.0 INTRODUCTION The Purpose and La
Page 14 and 15:
Airborne Contaminants, Noise and Vi
Page 16 and 17:
Water Management (LP Water) This ha
Page 18 and 19:
Site water team Corporate managemen
Page 20 and 21:
Sustainable Mining There is no one
Page 22 and 23:
Mining the resource efficiently. Th
Page 24 and 25:
Efficiency SUSTAINABLE MINING PRACT
Page 26 and 27:
LOCATION: Vilabouly District, Savan
Page 28 and 29:
Leading Practice The handbooks in t
Page 30 and 31:
2.0 PRE-DEVELOPMENT: MINERAL EXPLOR
Page 32 and 33:
The application of high standard en
Page 34 and 35:
The Business Case for Sustainabilit
Page 36 and 37:
The information obtained from these
Page 38 and 39:
conditions are appropriate. In NSW,
Page 40 and 41:
Such richness also brings challenge
Page 42 and 43:
The dunefields of Shelburne Bay had
Page 44 and 45:
Community Engagement in the Early S
Page 46 and 47:
Baseline studies and social impact
Page 48 and 49:
Upon completion of the study, resea
Page 50 and 51:
The scenarios envisaged for the Wat
Page 52 and 53:
2. Reflections on the significance
Page 54 and 55:
Engaging with Indigenous communitie
Page 56 and 57:
Figure 2.9 - A New Township under C
Page 58 and 59:
Geochemical assessment aims to iden
Page 60 and 61:
Regardless of the project phase (ex
Page 62 and 63:
Evaluating Performance: Monitoring
Page 64 and 65:
For these reasons, it is important
Page 66 and 67:
Risk Management and Exploration Exp
Page 68 and 69:
Post-mining & closure Resource deve
Page 70:
level of family diversity was maint
Page 73 and 74:
Introduction The development and co
Page 75 and 76:
MINE: Mt Todd LOCATION: Near Kather
Page 77 and 78:
Airborne Contaminants, Noise and Vi
Page 79 and 80:
Biodiversity Management During Deve
Page 81 and 82:
Rather than taking a generic approa
Page 83 and 84:
Step 2: Working in collaboration On
Page 85 and 86:
course was designed to train and pr
Page 87 and 88: Adjustments for changes in the mine
Page 89 and 90: indicators of high importance durin
Page 91 and 92: Operating major mining projects pre
Page 93 and 94: the earliest stage of development,
Page 95 and 96: Watercourse diversions In order to
Page 97 and 98: Figure 3.7 - Morwell River after di
Page 99 and 100: tailings disposal techniques contin
Page 101 and 102: Figure 4.2 - Predicted blast overpr
Page 103 and 104: Responsible management of biodivers
Page 105 and 106: Leading practice management of wate
Page 107 and 108: MINE: Pierina Mine LOCATION: Distri
Page 109 and 110: Weipa - a sustainable approach to t
Page 111 and 112: Adopting the International Cyanide
Page 113 and 114: Box 1: Major recent incidents invol
Page 115 and 116: MINE: Chatree gold mine LOCATION: P
Page 117 and 118: The audit outcomes also highlight t
Page 119 and 120: Mercury for gold recovery in small/
Page 121 and 122: Figure 4.9 - Geological control to
Page 123 and 124: highest rating group for the whole
Page 125 and 126: Figure 4.13 - Beverley uranium mine
Page 127 and 128: from 2.5 - 3.0 tonnes/man-shift to
Page 129 and 130: Figure 4.17 - Sunrise Dam TSF Taili
Page 131 and 132: Dry stacking bauxite residue is now
Page 133 and 134: Once the water is used underground
Page 135 and 136: The Rio Tinto “Excellence in Wate
Page 137: Background Image: Sourced from GOOG
Page 142 and 143: 5.0 MINE REHABILITATION AND CLOSURE
Page 144 and 145: Closure involves the implementation
Page 146 and 147: Biodiversity and Closure Introducti
Page 148 and 149: e better than the high standard bei
Page 150 and 151: Figure 5.7 - Pasture and shelter tr
Page 152 and 153: The Argyle Diamonds case study (see
Page 154 and 155: support and on site accommodation a
Page 156 and 157: Having the right information to mak
Page 158 and 159: Figure 5.13 - Misima after rehabili
Page 160 and 161: In January 2011, the PNG government
Page 162 and 163: MINE: Former lignite mines LOCATION
Page 164 and 165: Fig 5.16: Former Minister Stein Coa
Page 166 and 167: Figure 5.19 - Rehabilitated mine si
Page 168 and 169: Figure 5.21 - Pit water treatment p
Page 170 and 171: Final Rehabilitation Rehabilitation
Page 172 and 173: Figure 5.23: Aerial view of Area 4
Page 174 and 175: Landform construction In general, e
Page 176 and 177: The Hsin-Chen Shan quarry terrain i
Page 178 and 179: Figure 5.29 - Spreading topsoil at
Page 180 and 181: Risk Management Risk at closure and
Page 182 and 183: During the 1980s and 1990s, a numbe
Page 184 and 185: An example of direct vegetation is
Page 186: Water Management Central to a mine
Page 189 and 190:
Department of Resources, Energy and
Page 192 and 193:
GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS Abandoned min
Page 194 and 195:
Biodiversity offsets Conservation a
Page 196 and 197:
Cultural heritage Cultural heritage
Page 198 and 199:
Engagement At its simplest, engagem
Page 200 and 201:
High rate thickener A thickener thr
Page 202 and 203:
NAPP Net Acid Producing Potential,
Page 204 and 205:
Product stewardship This is perhaps
Page 206 and 207:
Risk management process The risk ma
Page 208 and 209:
Sustainable development Sustainable
show all

A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?