Towards sustainable mining (part II): Accounting for mine reclamation and post reclamation care liabilities

Espinoza, R. David; Morris, Jeremy Wade

doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2017.01.010

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…They significantly extend the payback period and decrease the rate of return (Espinoza, & Morris, 2017).…”

Section: Responsibility Of the Organizing Committee Of The Conferencementioning

confidence: 99%

"Environmental Costs of Mining Production in the Perspective of the Mine Lifecycle "

Jonek-Kowalska¹

2017

The European Proceedings of Multidisciplinary Sciences

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The main aim of the article is to identify and present environmental costs of mining production in the context of Sustainable Development (SD) and a lifecycle of the mining enterprise. This aim is accompanied by two research questions: (1) What are the environmental costs of mining production in theory and practice in a lifecycle of mining enterprises? And (2) What are the key determinants of environmental costs of mining production in a lifecycle of the mining enterprise? In order to achieve this aim in the first part of the article the process of mining production is described from the long-term perspective including: projecting, building, operating and liquidation stage of a coal mine. On the basis of process analysis the identification of environmental costs is conducted in a model approach. And in the empirical part the environmental costs of mining production are analysed using international case studies. In the final part of the article the main theoretical and practical assumptions regarding environmental costs management in mining production are formulated. The results allow us to state that, the environmental costs of mining production are varied in the lifecycle of a coal mine and that they also depend on the geographical location of the mining enterprise. Environmental costs of mining production have to be predicted in a long-term perspective including also post-liquidation costs together with taking into account the sources of their covering and models of financing.

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“…They significantly extend the payback period and decrease the rate of return (Espinoza, & Morris, 2017).…”

Section: Responsibility Of the Organizing Committee Of The Conferencementioning

confidence: 99%

"Environmental Costs of Mining Production in the Perspective of the Mine Lifecycle "

Jonek-Kowalska¹

2017

The European Proceedings of Multidisciplinary Sciences

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“…This brings about socio-environmental, financial and economic liabilities, affecting mainly communities close to the mining sites, where processes associated to extraction and processing of minerals are carried out, including electric generation, mineral transportation and waste disposal, among others (Marnika et al 2015, Ettler et al 2016, Lechner et al 2016, Schoenberger 2016, Espinoza and Morris 2017, García-Ordiales et al 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abandoned and/or paralyzed mining sites that are distributed along the country constitute potential sources of air, water and soil pollution, as well as potential harm to the environment and population's health (Obiora et al 2016, Antoniadis et al 2017, Ghorbani and Kuan 2017, Christou et al 2017, Espinoza and Morris 2017, Unger 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Necessity of Intervention Policies for Tailings Identified in the Antofagasta Region, Chile

Esquenazi

Norambuena

Bacigalupo

et al. 2019

Rev. Int. Contam. Ambie.

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The aim of this work was to establish the intervention requirements of 30 tailings deposits located in the region of Antofagasta, Chile, identified in the National Tailings Survey carried out by the National Service of Geology and Mining of the Chilean government in 2017. For the evaluation, the data of 49 geochemical characterizations of the samples registered as of October 2017 were considered. The methodology used for evaluation was based on the Dutch Soil Regulation Circular, from which two ways of assessment were developed. The first approach uses a simple graphic method that depends only on the concentration of the elements in the solid phase of tailings and the percentage of clay in the soil. The second approach considers that the information related to the clay percentage is not available, therefore, this work defines the concepts of threshold factor and adjusted threshold factor. Using the proposed method, this work presents the analysis carried out on the elements of environmental significance related to mining activity in Chile: Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb, As, Cd and Hg. The methodology allows delimiting areas of foreseeable risks for people and/or environment, resulting in three criteria for each element: 1) requires intervention, 2) requires conditional intervention, 3) does not require intervention. These results are summarized by means of a final score that determines the level of priority assigned to each sample. The analysis of results indicates that Hg intervention is not required, there being only one case requiring conditional intervention. Regarding Cu and Zn, 100 % of the measurements indicated at least the requirement of a conditional intervention. Within the region, the commune of Sierra Gorda contains 67 % of the tailings whose intervention must be prioritized according to the score obtained (greater than four out of a possible maximum of eight). On the other hand, the two tailings of greater tonnage (the sites of Talabre and Laguna Seca) do not present a requirement for priority intervention at the moment.

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“…There is increasing pressure on the resources sector and regulators to deliver a sustainable approach to mine waste management, and to integrate strategies that will produce the best practicable option for the environment. The vast amount of waste produced by the mining industry, of which a large proportion is tailings, has the potential to cause numerous environmental problems, and arguably represents one of the most significant barriers to sustainability (Espinoza & Morris 2017). A tailings storage facility (TSF) is often one of the major environmental liabilities of a mine site, and is amongst the most visible legacies of a mining operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of tailings management options: a conceptual case study in Western Australia

Carneiro¹,

Fourie²

2019

Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure

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The vast amount of waste produced by the mining industry, of which a large proportion is tailings, has the potential to cause numerous environmental problems, and represents a possible barrier to sustainability. Although the choice of a strategy for tailings management has historically been dictated primarily by technical and economic factors, the sustainability of the selected tailings disposal method is becoming increasingly important in decision-making. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely adopted as an environmental systems analysis tool and can be used for evaluating the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing operations from a life cycle perspective. In spite of its appeal, however, the application of LCA in the mining industry, especially in tailings management is still a work in progress. Aimed at addressing this research gap, this paper reports on the results of a cradle-to-grave LCA study carried out to investigate the environmental profile of two different tailings management options. A conceptual case study for the disposal of gold tailings in Western Australia as a slurry, or as filtered tailings, was considered. The environmental impacts of each option were assessed, environmental hotspots were identified, and cleaner production measures were suggested to improve the overall environmental performance of tailings operations in Australia. In the context of mine waste management, this paper ends with a discussion addressing the benefits and challenges of applying LCA as an environmental decision-support tool, providing more information to the decision-making process and facilitating better communication with stakeholders.

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Towards sustainable mining (part II): Accounting for mine reclamation and post reclamation care liabilities

Cited by 32 publications

References 11 publications

"Environmental Costs of Mining Production in the Perspective of the Mine Lifecycle "

"Environmental Costs of Mining Production in the Perspective of the Mine Lifecycle "

Necessity of Intervention Policies for Tailings Identified in the Antofagasta Region, Chile

Life cycle assessment of tailings management options: a conceptual case study in Western Australia

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