Building stakeholder engagement in sustainable solutions – the strategic advisory panel on selenium management

Swanson, Stella; Abbott, Rob; Funk, Wes; Kirk, Lisa; McKenna, Gord; Ohlendorf, Harry M.; Sandy, Tom

doi:10.36487/acg_rep/1152_87_swanson

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Another key attribute of transdisciplinary planning is the workshop approach, where relevant experts interact collectively, rather than in stepwise or piecemeal fashion. Additionally, social engagement ensures that stakeholders are abreast of technical issues and that stakeholder views themselves can be incorporated into the outcomes of technical assessments [112][113][114]. Furthermore, a number of practices were noted to lead to successful outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

McCullough¹,

Schultze

Vandenberg³

2020

Minerals

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Pit lakes can represent significant liabilities at mine closure. However, depending upon certain characteristics of which water quality is key, pit lakes often also present opportunities to provide significant regional benefit and address residual closure risks of both their own and overall project closure and even offset the environmental costs of mining by creating new end uses. These opportunities are widely dependent on water quality, slope stability, and safety issues. Unfortunately, many pit lakes have continued to be abandoned without repurposing for an end use. We reviewed published pit lake repurposing case studies of abandoned mine pit lakes. Beneficial end use type and outcome varied depending upon climate and commodity, but equally important were social and political dynamics that manifest as mining company commitments or regulatory requirements. Many end uses have been realized: passive and active recreation, nature conservation, fishery and aquaculture, drinking and industrial water storage, greenhouse carbon fixation, flood protection and waterway remediation, disposal of mine and other waste, mine water treatment and containment, and education and research. Common attributes and reasons that led to successful repurposing of abandoned pit lakes as beneficial end uses are discussed. Recommendations are given for all stages of mine closure planning to prevent pit lake abandonment and to achieve successful pit lake closure with beneficial end uses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

McCullough¹,

Schultze

Vandenberg³

2020

Minerals

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Biotic and Abiotic Sequestration of Selenium in Anoxic Coal Waste Rock

Deen

2018

Mine Water Environ

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The Future Direction of Pit Lakes: Part 2, Corporate and Regulatory Closure Needs to Improve Management

Vandenberg¹,

Schultze

McCullough³

et al. 2022

Mine Water Environ

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Pit lakes may present significant risks to ecological and human receiving environments but can also provide beneficial end use opportunities. The understanding of many processes that influence the magnitude of these risks and opportunities remains limited, and even where our understanding is adequate, the application of that knowledge is not consistently applied. From initial planning to long-term closure, regulation and corporate management of pit lake closure can be improved to realise more sustainable pit lake legacies. In this two-part manuscript, we recommend focus areas for future research by academics (Part 1), and strategies to structurally improve the practice of pit lake closure for mining industry regulators, corporate sustainability officers, global practice leads, and site mine closure planners (Part 2). Here we identify barriers that often limit the understanding of pit lake processes and closure practices and suggest ways that corporate leaders, closure practitioners, and regulators can improve pit lake management. Recommended corporate changes include: conducting risk assessments at an early planning stage; funding pit lake research and trials; allowing data sharing and case study publication; avoiding the simplifying assumption of a fully mixed pit lake when making predictions; integrating climate change into pit lake predictions; improving the quality of technical reporting; generating industry guidance for pit lake rehabilitation; maximizing opportunities for subaqueous, in-pit disposal of mine wastes; creating a positive legacy through beneficial uses of pit lakes; and verifying predictions using long-term monitoring. Recommended regulatory advancements include: raising expectations of corporate pit lake closure planning and execution; acknowledging good pit lake closure examples; balancing the need to simulate long closure periods with expectations of model reliability; considering the value of pit lakes as future water resources during permitting; and requiring closure costing and bonding commensurate to closure risk.

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Building stakeholder engagement in sustainable solutions – the strategic advisory panel on selenium management

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

Realizing Beneficial End Uses from Abandoned Pit Lakes

Biotic and Abiotic Sequestration of Selenium in Anoxic Coal Waste Rock

The Future Direction of Pit Lakes: Part 2, Corporate and Regulatory Closure Needs to Improve Management

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