A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

More documents

Recommendations

Info

During the 1980s and 1990s, a number of mine operators in NSW and other States and Territories became insolvent and mining leases, along with the closure and rehabilitation liabilities, were passed back to the government. In many cases it was found that the security bond held by the government agencies represented only a small portion of the actual amount required to effectively close the operations to appropriate standards. Mining companies and regulators are now using a spreadsheet based security bond calculation tool to more realistically estimate the rehabilitation bond to ensure sufficient funds are available should the mine close prematurely. The tool divides the mine into separate areas that have similar rehabilitation needs for post-mining land use. These areas are called ‘domains’ and they typically include areas such as infrastructure, run-of-mine, tailings storage facilities, overburden and waste rock dumps, active operational areas and voids, and surface water structures. The below picture is an example of a typical mine layout showing the allocation of domains (see LP Closure p.31). Figure 5.34 – Examples of domains for estimating rehabilitation costs A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 171
Mine tailings rehabilitation and closure Tailings cover options The rehabilitation and closure of tailings storage facilities (TSF) provide some of the biggest challenges to mine management in both coal and hard rock mining. In almost all cases a cover is required over the TSF. Possible tailings cover systems, in approximate order of increasing technical complexity and costs are (Williams, 2005 and LP Mine Rehabilitation Handbook, 2006): direct vegetation of the tailings. a thin layer of gravel placed directly over the tailings surface for dust mitigation. a vegetated, mono-layer cover, aimed at shedding rainfall runoff in a humid climate. a vegetated, non-shedding store/release soil cover, aimed at minimising percolation through it by the release of stored seasonal rainfall by evapo-transpiration during the dry season. a capillary break layer, overlain by a non-shedding, vegetated growth medium, aimed at controlling the uptake of salts into the growth medium to sustain vegetation, for application in a dry climate. combinations of the above. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the different cover systems are summarised in the following table. COVER SYSTEM ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Direct vegetation • Low cost, if it works • May not be sustainable due to lack of nutrients and/or fresh water Thin gravel • Low cost, if dust suppression is the key aim Shedding mono-layer • Provides a vegetated cover in a humid climate Store/release • May limit percolation to the underlying tailings Capillary break • May limit the uptake of salinity into the overlying growth medium allowing vegetation • Will not vegetate • Will not limit rainfall infiltration and resulting seepage • May deform due to consolidation of the underlying tailings, or desiccate in a dry climate, resulting in seepage of rainfall infiltration • Requires a significant thickness of cover including a sealing layer at the base • May fail if inappropriate and unsustainable vegetation is selected • An inappropriate or too thin a capillary break material will allow salt uptake into the growth medium in an evaporative climate • Too thin or too coarse-grained a growth medium will not support vegetation 172 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 and 138: Background Image: Sourced from GOOG
Page 139 and 140: Company policies and government reg
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 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?