A guide to leading practice sustainable development in mining

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4.0 MINING & PROCESSING OPERATIONS Figure 4.1 – An example of sustainability impacts of a mining operation – breakthrough of the Ridgeway sublevel cave – Orange, NSW, Australia Key Messages the operations phase is the most challenging as far as sustainability is concerned as mines can have longevities of 50 or more years planning decisions for sustainability made in the development phases impact either positively or negatively in the operations phase systems need to be developed and reviewed throughout the mine life particularly environmental management systems and community engagement initiatives risk management techniques are essential in managing sustainability impacts during operations a focus on materials stewardship particularly in the waste stream will pay sustainable dividends companies are increasingly including the local community in managing the impact on biodiversity water management continues to be a major issue for mine management and eliminating the acid mine drainage risk is at the forefront of research A GUIDE TO LEADING PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINING 87
tailings disposal techniques continue to evolve such as in in-pit or thickened discharge methods the safe storage and handling of cyanide and other hazardous substances is now well established with much guidance material available for mine management. Introduction Mining operations in Australia and internationally cover a range of commodities, sizes, and methodologies. The Australian minerals sector is in the top five producers of most of the world’s key minerals commodities including The world’s leading producer of bauxite, alumina, rutile, and tantalum. The second largest producer of lead, ilmenite, zircon and lithium. The third largest producer of iron ore, uranium, and zinc. The fourth largest producer of black coal, gold, manganese and nickel. The fifth largest producer of aluminium, brown coal, diamonds, silver and copper (MCA). Australian mining methods range from surface mining that may include strip mining with draglines; truck and shovel or conventional open pits; and alluvial or placer mining, including dredging for mineral sands, precious metals and gems. Underground coal mining ranges from longwall and bord and pillar while caving and stoping methods are most common in hard rock mining. Apart from “mining”, this chapter will also highlight sustainability issues associated with mineral processing, metallurgical operations and occasionally refinery operations. Each of these methods may result in significant potential impacts on the sustainability of mining operations and thus each operation demands the highest level of management skills to minimise any negative impacts. This Chapter covers leading practice in sustainability during the production or operations stage of the mining cycle. It is during this phase that the benefits or costs of the planning decisions implemented during the earlier phases are realised. This is also the phase of mining where the greatest potential impacts on the environment and the community occur. Airborne Contaminants, Noise and Vibration A recent newspaper article (Safe, 2009) highlighted the issue of noise and its impacts, both real and perceived on the local community. The article detailed the recent formation of an anti-noise lobby group – Noise Watch Australia. One featured case involved a retiree who moved to a heavily timbered block some distance from a capital city. A sawmill increased its production to 24 hours, 7 days a week. In his words, “the noise drove us darn crazy” and consequently he sold up. Another complainant stated “the growth of noise in communities across Australia is still not recognized for what it is – another form of pollution that’s having serious health impacts on many people”. The World Health Organisation was quoted in the article as saying that up to three per cent of heart disease deaths, or more than 200,000 globally, are due to long time exposure to chronic traffic noise. 88 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
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The dunefields of Shelburne Bay had
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Community Engagement in the Early S
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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: Figure 3.7 - Morwell River after di
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
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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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