https://www.miningweekly.com

Nema amendments bring land rehabilitation to the fore

LAND REHABILITATION FOCUS The Nema amendments have shifted the focus from closure plans as a guide for post-mining planning documentation to rehabilitation plans

A FUTURE AFTER MINING Aligning mine planning with rehabilitation goals is vital to successfully rehabilitating areas impacted on by mining

20th March 2015

By: David Oliveira

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

Font size: - +

Amendments made to the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) in October last year indicate that government is focusing more on mining-related land rehabilitation schemes, says land rehabilitation membership organisation the Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa (LaRSSA) council member Raina Hattingh.

She tells Mining Weekly that the amendments have resulted in the focus shifting from closure plans as a guide for post-mining planning documentation to rehabilitation plans that must be updated and submitted for regulatory approval every year.

“A rehabilitation plan will provide significantly more detail than the yearly closure costing report required in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA),” Hattingh states.

She notes that the amendments require mining companies to submit detailed documentation in which the rehabilitation goals for each upcoming year are stipulated.

The goals also need to indicate improvements on the previous year’s rehabilitation activities and the costs of these goals to enable adequate financial provisioning.

Hattingh notes that the details on the exact focus, content and progress of rehabilitation, decommissioning and closure planning during operations and at closure are required to be submitted every year. “This is notably more in-depth than the current closure plan content stipulated in the MPRDA where a detailed closure plan with this information is required to be submitted for approval at cessation of operations.”

Although closure-related legislation has always supported a risk-based approach, Hattingh explains that “the amended regulations require ongoing documentation and monitoring of the achievement and/or implementation of corrective action of scheduled environmental and engineering design measures and interventions, working towards a predefined, approved, post-mining land use”.

The requirement to submit more detailed documentation is, therefore, compelling mining companies to place land rehabilitation higher up on the agenda when drawing up their yearly mine plans, she adds.

Hattingh argues that aligning mine planning with rehabilitation goals is vital to successfully rehabilitating areas impacted on by mining, as it promotes the design of a post-mining rehabilitation plan that can, at a minimum, work towards effectively limiting water ingress over back-filled pits, improving the integrity of local water catchments and potentially significantly improving post-mining land use by selectively placing valuable available growth medium according to predefined land capability requirements.

“Best practice incorporates upfront post-mining land use planning as part of mine and rehabilitation planning. Understanding the opportunities and constraints of the possible post-mining landscapes, whether they are environmentally and/or socially driven, empowers an operation to identify the most practical and cost-effective solutions for land rehabilitation.”

She adds that most of these solutions can be implemented during the operational phase, while opportunities for the communities that remain after final mine closure can also be created.

Meanwhile, Hattingh points out that, while mining houses generally act in accordance with legislation, the fact that many of South Africa’s ageing mines are nearing final decommissioning points to an increasing need to create value-generating post-mining land uses.

She asserts that the scale of economic liabilities incurred by moving significant volumes of material to rehabilitate final footprint areas; having to manage long-term environmental impacts, particularly those pertaining to water and food resources; successfully implementing a value-enhancing landscape and obtaining buy-in from remaining stakeholders, can all be notably reduced if mine and rehabilitation planning is undertaken in a structured, integrated manner.

“To lessen the burden, mine managers are understanding the value of using operational budgets to cover concurrent rehabilitation practices instead of making provision for potentially unlimited amounts of money for post-mining rehabilitation and monitoring,” she adds.

She notes that, since the promulgation of the MPRDA in 2002, mining companies have had to submit yearly financial provisions to the Department of Mineral Resources for both unscheduled and life-of-mine closure scenarios. As such, mining companies are accustomed to land rehabilitation forming part of the yearly mine plan.

However, Hattingh adds that fulfilling rehabilitation goals does not always take place according to plan, as fluctuating commodity prices impacting on a mine’s profitability result in efforts to recover profits taking precedence over land rehabilitation goals.

“This has been particularly evident in the coal mining industry over the past two years, where declining coal prices have resulted in coal miners downscaling, with the budgets and capabilities of many environmental teams being significantly affected.”

However, Hattingh states that amid the turmoil of mining markets, regulatory changes and social challenges, some mines are successfully achieving positive land rehabilitation results. These are often the majors that have either learned from previous rehabilitation experiences or have the financial and human capital resources to implement planned measures underpinned by good mine and rehabilitation planning.

“They are making a concerted effort to improve material replacement methods and limit latent environmental impacts towards enhancing the capabilities of the post-mining landscape for the people.

These operations should be encouraged to share their successes and failures through information platforms such as LaRSSA, thereby empowering other operations – especially the smaller mining operators – to aim for similar achievements,” she concludes.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

Comments

Latest News

Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Showroom

Rentech
Rentech

Rentech provides renewable energy products and services to the local and selected African markets. Supplying inverters, lithium and lead-acid...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Hanna Instruments Image
Hanna Instruments (Pty) Ltd

We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.11 0.142s - 93pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now