JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A common misconception of mine closure is that it requires planning for an end-of-life event, when, in actual fact, it should be a life-long process that should be started as early as when the planning of a mine starts.

The process should be implemented throughout the life of the mine, stressed Sandton-based law firm Webber Wentzel partner Robert Appelbaum.

Webber Wentzel, along with advisory firm Aurecon and environmental consulting company MSA Group, earlier this week hosted a workshop to delve into how mine closure should be undertaken.

The workshop included a focus on a growing movement around the globe and in the mining sector that no harm should be inflicted on the environment.

However, it was highlighted that this ideology becomes more complicated in the context of leaving mining communities in a better state when a mine eventually closes, compared to its state before mining started. Worryingly, Appelbaum pointed out that South Africa has more than 6 000 abandoned mines, with not a single case of successful mine closure recorded. This, he said, was the result of the process being more complicated and more costly than mining companies had ever realised.

Inadequate stakeholder engagement, concerns around residual risks and, therefore, liabilities and the web of legislation involved were contributing factors to the lack of successful mine closures.

Mining majors with the capacity and resources to successfully close mines have traditionally sold their assets to junior miners that do not have the resources or capacity to successfully close mines.

Prompting mining companies to rethink how to effectively plan for closure are the Financial Provisioning Regulations of 2015, which were labelled during the workshop as “game changing” for the industry. This law requires mining companies to produce a risk assessment report, which acts to determine the potential financial liability associated with the management of latent environmental liabilities post-closure, and considers long-term water treatment risks.

The law also requires a mining company to produce a yearly rehabilitation plan, which reflects activities undertaken for concurrent rehabilitation and remediation of the site and /or operations, on a year-on-year basis.

A final rehabilitation plan is also required, aimed at identifying and assessing final post-mining land use for the operation, in addition to infrastructure and activities to be decommissioned and/or remediated upon closure.