Responsible mine closure is of critical importance to the mining industry. There have been many examples all over the world (in both developed and developing countries) of poor mine closure having an impact on the environment and on the health of people and communities living close to the mine.
Closing and rehabilitating a mine is a very complex task. Of key importance is for the mine operator to demonstrate that the mine site has been returned to the baseline conditions or conditions that were agreed during the permitting phase. Demonstrating agreed conditions have been met required monitoring and data acquisition.
Closure can be considered to take place over a number of phases. The phases can be taken to be:
- Progressive rehabilitation
- Active Closure
- Passive Closure
- Aftercare
Data acquisition is required for all of these closure phases, with the requirement reducing as the mine goes into aftercare. However, the requirement for data continues into aftercare and for decades thereafter. Therefore, the collection of reliable low-cost data into perpetuity is highly desirable. earth observation is a possible solution.
This page has no comments.