A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

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Risk Management and Exploration Exploration is a high risk activity. In the 1960s, Canadian researchers found that to produce a commercial mine, around a thousand mineral prospects are investigated, of which only a hundred are drilled for reconnaissance and only ten progress to intensive drilling. Modern exploration may have altered the ratios but not by much. Such figures highlight the high commercial risk and low success rate of exploration throughout the world (Environment Australia 1995). Effectively applying risk management principles early lays the foundation for good relationships throughout the whole mine life cycle. There are many examples of relationships being damaged at the exploration/discovery stage or during mine feasibility. This creates difficulties for stakeholder relationships that can carry through to the construction, operational and closure phases of mining and may require significant additional management effort, delay project start-up or adversely affect the life of the mine. One method of incorporating risk planning into a mineral project’s monitoring program is to develop a risk register which incorporates life-of-mine risks and monitoring with the completion criteria relevant to each. Separate risk registers can be developed for each phase of operations from exploration to closure, and updated as the operation progresses. A risk register can provide both a framework to identify significant risks and the control measures to mitigate those risks (which is recommended as part of an environmental management system under ISO14001:2004, or any other mechanism for managing impacts) (see LP Monitoring). Water Management Planning Introduction Access to water is a fundamental human right. The communities within which industry operates, or impacts upon, expect and demand that: (1) they be involved in decisions regarding the allocation of water resources, (2) industry uses water efficiently, and (3) industry does not negatively impact on water quality. Traditionally, community and other stakeholder consultation have been undertaken during the environmental assessment and project approval stage. Engagement with local catchment management authorities and other stakeholders during development and review of catchment water sharing plans should be sought. The dialogue around water use and allocation has had to deal with allocation of a scarce water resource between competing users. On a purely value-adding criterion (dollars generated per megalitres of water used), mining and minerals processing adds significantly more financial value per volume of water consumed than all agricultural uses (ACIL Tasman 2007). Under certain conditions in some jurisdictions water markets or contracting arrangements can be over-ridden to enact a hierarchy of use which includes domestic or town water, the environment, stock water, agriculture and industry. In the more remote areas, where the economic competition for water may not be as direct when compared with those operations in close proximity to urban areas and agricultural enterprises, the cultural and environmental values of water can be significant drivers. Sites may have opportunities to contribute positively by working towards maintenance of values. A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 55
Many examples exist where mines provide water to community members. This can range from stock and domestic uses to formal supply of larger volumes for irrigation through infrastructure designed, constructed and managed by the mining company. For example, the Bingegang pipeline in Central Queensland supplies many stock and domestic users along its path of several hundred kilometres. Cadia Valley Operations manages onsite raw water storages to ensure downstream flow targets are met to supply agricultural needs (see LP Water p.44). Water supply can also be part of agreements associated with dewatering. This can occur through ’make good’ agreements connected to changes in hydrological conditions caused by the mine. Prior to, during, and post operations there is a need to understand the community environment—how water is used, who uses the water, seasonality of use, and existing and future stakeholder and community demands. Ongoing dialogue helps these communities understand the mine’s water needs and for the industry to understand community expectations when making business decisions involving water use. Few communities surrounding mines will have an intuitive grasp of the concept of mine closure. Therefore, it is particularly important that this concept is explored with the community early in the operation and that closure planning involves community throughout. This will minimise long-term legacies with communities over unrealised expectations post closure. Community consultation and engagement techniques are discussed in the Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program’s Community Engagement and Development. Given the sensitivity of water for livelihood, environment and cultural support, a great deal of community engagement is likely over water-related issues, as illustrated in the Iluka case study. Water Management Plan A comprehensive site Water Management Plan (WMP) is fundamental to leading practice water management. Its size and complexity depends on the nature of the operation, hydrology, and the cultural and environmental sensitivity of the surrounding area. It is a public statement about how to manage both operational use of water and potentially adverse impacts of operations on the local and regional water resources. The WMP identifies all water management issues associated with developing, operating and decommissioning a project. The main water issues to be covered at each stage of the life cycle (see Figure 2.14) are summarised in Figure 2.15. Water quality issues during exploration and other phases of the mining cycle are summarised in Table 2. 56 LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY
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LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELO
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Disclaimer This publication has bee
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3.0 DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION 61
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Leading Practi
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viii LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE D
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1.0 INTRODUCTION The Purpose and La
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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 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
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The audit outcomes also highlight t
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Mercury for gold recovery in small/
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Figure 4.9 - Geological control to
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highest rating group for the whole
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Figure 4.13 - Beverley uranium mine
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from 2.5 - 3.0 tonnes/man-shift to
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Figure 4.17 - Sunrise Dam TSF Taili
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Dry stacking bauxite residue is now
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Once the water is used underground
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The Rio Tinto “Excellence in Wate
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Background Image: Sourced from GOOG
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Company policies and government reg
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5.0 MINE REHABILITATION AND CLOSURE
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Closure involves the implementation
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Biodiversity and Closure Introducti
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e better than the high standard bei
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Figure 5.7 - Pasture and shelter tr
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The Argyle Diamonds case study (see
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support and on site accommodation a
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Having the right information to mak
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Figure 5.13 - Misima after rehabili
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In January 2011, the PNG government
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MINE: Former lignite mines LOCATION
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Fig 5.16: Former Minister Stein Coa
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Figure 5.19 - Rehabilitated mine si
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Figure 5.21 - Pit water treatment p
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Final Rehabilitation Rehabilitation
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Figure 5.23: Aerial view of Area 4
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Landform construction In general, e
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The Hsin-Chen Shan quarry terrain i
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Figure 5.29 - Spreading topsoil at
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Risk Management Risk at closure and
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During the 1980s and 1990s, a numbe
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An example of direct vegetation is
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Water Management Central to a mine
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Department of Resources, Energy and
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GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS Abandoned min
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Biodiversity offsets Conservation a
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Cultural heritage Cultural heritage
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Engagement At its simplest, engagem
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High rate thickener A thickener thr
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NAPP Net Acid Producing Potential,
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Product stewardship This is perhaps
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Risk management process The risk ma
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Sustainable development Sustainable
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A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

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