A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

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esponsibility for stewardship in their specific industry, it is a fundamental principle of stewardship that those participants also have a concern in the other industries of the life cycle. An example of stewardship opportunities to reduce sustainability impacts by acting during the development stage of an operation is provided by the Anglo Coal operations in the Queensland Bowen Basin. Removing the methane gas accumulations before mining, results in the elimination of both an explosion risk and a potent greenhouse gas. Furthermore the gas can be used directly in energy production. For example, Anglo Coal has entered into an agreement with Energy Developments Limited for construction of a gas-fired power project at its Capcoal mine. This project will utilise methane drained from underground mining operations for on-site generation of electricity—sufficient to supply a small town. The 32 megawatt project, consisting of 16 reciprocating engines each with two megawatt output, is supported by a Commonwealth Government grant. The greenhouse gas mitigation effect of the power project at full capacity will be 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, including the effect of displacing the emissions from alternative fuels that would otherwise be used to generate the equivalent amount of electricity supplied to the state grid. That amount of mitigation is equivalent to planting 1.6 million trees or taking 250 000 cars off the roads. Minimising waste, generating power and cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions is an excellent example of stewardship that benefits the environment and the bottom line (see LP Stewardship p.24). Planning, Design and Construction of Tailings Storage Facilities Introduction The international mining industry has learnt many lessons over the last decade that have helped to develop leading practice tailings management in Australia. The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) Bulletin 121 (2001) provided a comprehensive report of these lessons, drawing from a range of tailings storage facility failures and incidents. The main causes of failures and incidents identified were: lack of control of the water balance lack of control of construction a general lack of understanding of the features that control safe operations. Conventional economic analysis can lead to minimising initial capital expenditure on tailings construction and deferring the costs of rehabilitation (see case study LP Tailings). Net present value analysis discounts the current cost of future expenditures on closure, rehabilitation and post-closure management. Therefore, if this short-term economic perspective is taken, without taking into account the longer-term social and environmental costs, there is little motivation to invest more substantially at the development stage to avoid or reduce expenditures at the closure stage. There is however a number of reasons for applying leading practice at A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 81
the earliest stage of development, and in designing and operating the tailings storage facility to optimise closure. Designing and operating for closure can avoid significant earthworks expenditures to re-establish stable landforms and drainage systems. Progressive rehabilitation, where possible during operations, enables rehabilitation work to be done while there is an operational cash flow, and management and resources available. Progressive rehabilitation can also reduce the cost of financial assurance required by regulatory agencies. Leading practice tailings management will also minimise the time required for post-closure monitoring and maintenance. Good planning and design are the first steps in ensuring tailings are managed in accordance with the principles of sustainable development as shown below. Leading practice requires alignment between the tailings storage facility planning and the mine plan. Tailings storage facility planning must also be reviewed in response to any changes to the mine plan, and revised, if necessary. This will ensure that any staging or sequential raising requirements are adequately financed and scheduled, and that operation and management activities strive to achieve closure objectives throughout the project life. Consideration should be given to: integration with the mine plan and schedule in developing the tailings disposal methodology. For example, utilising or stockpiling topsoil and waste rock for construction of containment wall raises and/or caps and covers. location of the tailings storage facility to avoid sterilising mineral resources or contaminating water resources. availability of suitable embankment construction materials and surface capping materials. change management. For example, increases in processing plant throughput impact storage requirements for tailings and water, as well as the rate of rise of the tailings surface, can have implications for tailings strength and stability. reprocessing of tailings. Some tailings may contain valuable minerals and therefore a management objective may be to provide interim storage until economic recovery becomes feasible. 82 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
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Water Management (LP Water) This ha
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Site water team Corporate managemen
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Sustainable Mining There is no one
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Mining the resource efficiently. Th
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Efficiency SUSTAINABLE MINING PRACT
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LOCATION: Vilabouly District, Savan
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Leading Practice The handbooks in t
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2.0 PRE-DEVELOPMENT: MINERAL EXPLOR
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The application of high standard en
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The Business Case for Sustainabilit
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The information obtained from these
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conditions are appropriate. In NSW,
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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: Operating major mining projects pre
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
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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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