FIXING THE ENVIRONMENT NOW
FOR A BETTER FUTURE TOMORROW
LAND REHABILITATION
OVERVIEW OF LAND REHABILITATION Mining causes severe, long-term damage to the environment. It destroys ecosystems and pollutes water, soil and air. These impacts have consequences for the health and well-being of affected communities. In South Africa, mining is encroaching on our strategic water source areas. In Mpumalanga, which contains most of the country’s high yield soils, and where coal mining has dramatically reduced the availability and productivity of this land, its impacts have potential implications for our future food security. Mining is THE FIX also increasingly being permitted near to or in protected areas and environments, including The Environmental Liability of the Land will be transferred to a national parks and reserves, which will negatively Community Land Trust where all impact our tourism industry. the mining sights will undergo a
Companies are supposed to fix the damage their operations cause. Companies are required by law to rehabilitate the land with provisions already stipulated in the financial costs before operations begin.
WITHOUT A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM WE CAN'T BUILD A HEALTHY ECONOMY
complete environmental assessment and once complete the community will decide on what the best use of the land is
INTRODUCTION Rehabilitation from mining perspective means putting the land impacted by the mining activity back to a sustainable usable condition. The definition includes the concepts of minimisation of loss of land use capability and of net benefit to society. Effective rehabilitation that will be sustainable, in the long term, under normal land management practices.
LITERATURE REVIEW Mine rehabilitation starts before actual mining through mine planning. This step needs to be done independently. (Tennant-Wood, 2011). There is very little transparency from companies when it comes to mine rehabilitation and which companies are doing it and which aren’t. South Africa’s mining laws are flawed as the government does not ensure companies are legally METHODOLOGY obliged to provide detailed documentation on mine Various sources from journal articles to newspaper articles were used for this report. rehabilitation (Mining Technology, 2018).
RESULTS/FINDINGS LEGISLATURE AND FINANCIAL PROVISION ON MINE REHABILITATION General Holder: Refers to an entity that hold an existing right, prior to 20 November 2015 (Beech, 2019). Holder of a right: Refers to entity which acquired the right after 20 November 2015 (Beech, 2019) Authorities require a guarantee that a mine will be able to cover its rehabilitation costs (rehabilitation and remediation of the adverse environmental impacts of prospecting, exploration, mining, or production operations) in the form of a financial provision. This provision needs to be approved by the minster responsible for mineral resources (Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, 2015). This provision will need to include above all provision for early closure (Minerals Council South Africa, 2019). Method for determining financial provision Method for determining financial provision is through detailed itemisation of all activities and costs, calculated on actual costs of implementations of measures required for - Annual rehabilitation as reflected in an annual rehabilitation plan. - Final rehabilitation, decommissioning and closure of the prospecting, exploration, mining or production operations at the end of the life of operations as reflected in a final rehabilitation, decommissioning and mine closure plan. - Remediation of latent or residual environmental impacts which may become known in the future, including the pumping and treatment of polluted or extraneous water, as reflected in an environmental risk assessment report. The applicant or holder of a right or permit must ensure that the financial provision is, at any given time, equal to the sum of the actual costs of implementing the plans and report contemplated in regulation 6 and regulation 11(1) for a period of at least 10 years forthwith. (Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, 2015).
FINANCIAL PROVISION Scope of a financial provision requires an applicant or holder of a right or permit to make financial provision for: - Rehabilitation and remediation. - Decommissioning and closure activities at the end of prospecting, exploration, mining, or production operations; and - Remediation and management of latent or residual environmental impacts which may become known in future, including the pumping and treatment of polluted or extraneous water. Annual rehabilitation plan objective - MPDRA Section 41(3) requires the holder of a prospecting right, mining right or mining permit to annually assess his or her environmental liability and increase his or her financial provision to the satisfaction of the minister (South Africa Heritage Resource Agency, 2017). - Reviewing current rehabilitation being implemented. - Developing a plan, timeline, and budget for the rehabilitation to take place in the next 12 months which will contribute to the final closure plan.' Objective of the final rehabilitation, decommissioning and mine closure plan - Identify a post-mining land use that is feasible through detailing the closure actions that clearly indicate the measures that will be taken to mitigate and/or manage identified risks and describes the nature of residual risks that will need to be monitored and managed post closure (Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, 2015) The financial provision needs to be made through one of these vehicles/mechanisms: - Trust - Cash Deposit - Financial guarantee from a registered bank or financial institution registered as an insurer or underwriter Penalties Mineral and Petroleum Development Resources Act Section (MPDRA) 41(2) provides that, if the holder of a prospecting right, mining right or mining permit fails to rehabilitate or manage, or is unable to undertake such rehabilitation or to manage, any negative impact on the environment, the minister may, upon written notice to such holder, use all or part of the financial provision to rehabilitate or manage the negative impact in question (South Africa Heritage Resource Agency, 2017). A closure certificate needs to be issued to close a mine. If no closure certificate is given out the owner of the mine is still responsible for rehabilitation liabilities. If the owner cannot
COST OF REHABILTATING MINES Best practice for calculating financial closure liability (South Africa Heritage Resource Agency, 2017) 1. Step 1: Determine the primary mineral and saleable mineral by-products. - The intent to prospect (search for mineral deposits) to mineral commodities like base metals and precious metals. 2. Step 2: Determine the risk class of the mine. - The risk ranking is used later to determine the multiplication factors to the master rate. o C-Class Low Risk Facility (Base metals mining) o B-Class Medium Risk Facility (Gold or silver mining/Small scale mining) o A-Class High Risk Facility 3. Step 3: Determine the area sensitivity in which the mine is located. - The risk ranking is used later to determine the multiplication factors to the unit(master) rate.
COST OF REHABILTATING MINES
COST OF REHABILTATING MINES 4.1. Step 4.1: Determine the level of information available for calculating the financial liability -The information available for this PR study area is extensive and a large number of specialist assessments needs to be conducted in the immediate area. 4.2. Step 4.2: Determine the closure components associated with the mine. -Item 1 - General Surface Rehabilitation: -Landscaping that facilitates surface runoff and results in free draining areas is required. - The area must be free of remnants of structures and surface infrastructure, to give the rehabilitated area a “neat” appearance. -The final area must be suitable for revegetation -Item 2 – Two to three years of maintenance and aftercare Monitoring of rehabilitation. -Control of alien plants. General maintenance. 4.3. Step 4.3: Determine the unit rates for the associated closure components. -Demolition practitioners need to be consulted to get an exact unit rate. -Unit (Master) rates (Page 27/47) from a 2005 document released by the department of mineral resources of South Africa have been used for the purpose of this example. Using the CPI from 2005 to 2021 a current price estimate may be determined. -A multiplication factor is applied depending on the risk and sensitivity. .
COST OF REHABILTATING MINES 4.4. Step 4.4: Determine and apply various weighting factors (site specific). -The factors are based on where the mine is located.
4.5. Step 4.5: Identify the areas of disturbance. -The areas of disturbance need to be measured in hectares (ha). Some examples of disturbances are: o Drill holes and trenches o Site camps 4.6. Step 4.6: Identify any specialist studies required. -An independent third party calculated these costs. 4.7. Step 4.7: Calculate the closure liability using the guideline template provided.
BENEFITS OF REHABILTATING MINES Environmental Mitigates the following environmental effects of mining (Wikipedia, 2020): - E-rosion (Wikipedia, 2021) o Soil erosion is caused by lack of soil management and chemical exposure in mining which results in a decrease in water availability. This may disturb productive grazing in farming areas and the destruction of ecosystems. - Sinkholes (Wikipedia, 2021) o Sinkholes are caused by cavities underground left when they are not refilled after mining. This poses a threat to life and property. - Loss of biodiversity (Wikipedia, 2021) o Destruction of habitat is the main cause of loss in biodiversity as well as direct and indirect poisoning through food and water caused by the mine extracted material. Contamination of soil, underground water, and surface water (Wikipedia, 2021) o Mines use water for mine drainage and mine cooling which increases chances of water pollution. Social Mitigates the following social effects of mining (Wikipedia, 2020): Poor health due to contaminated water and crops which has resulted in 56% mortality in a community around a mine site in China (Dabaoshan mine) (Wikipedia, 2021). o Poor health leads to a weak labour force which will affect the socioeconomic wellbeing of people as they are unable to work. Which mines are currently doing
MINE REHABILTATION PRACTICES Hydrology - Assess the hydrogeology of the site and all connected strata and develop a conceptual model of the mine site’s groundwater systems. Flooding - Requires flood plain modelling for the purpose of voids located within a flood plain being rehabilitated to a stable condition. Soil Capping and material assessment - Capping involves placing a cover over contaminated material such as landfill waste or contaminated soil (Enviromental Protection Agency, n.d.). Waste characterisation - Characterise mine wastes in a report that describes the likely physical behaviour and chemical reactivity of the waste materials under the conditions in which they would be stored. Landform and cover design - A final landform design must demonstrate that the land will be safe and structurally stable. A cover design is required for the surface treatment of a mine landform or other waste material. Water management - The management of surface and groundwater is a key consideration in achieving long-term rehabilitation success. Revegetation - A revegetation plan must propose activities that will establish self-sustaining vegetation communities that are appropriate for the intended post mining land use (e.g., natural ecosystems, grazing, forestry, and some agricultural and other land uses) Tailing and storage facility 9 | P a g e - Tailings storage facilities (TSF) commonly contain some of the most hazardous materials on a mine site and may represent a significant long-term risk to environmental values. - Tailings (residue following extraction of valuable material from metal ore processing)
WHICH MINES ARE CURRENTLY DOING IT? There are currently 6000 abandoned mines that are being rehabilitated by the government (Mail and Guardian, 2019). Top 11 Mines ranked in terms of having clear rehabilitation financial plan breakdowns. (Mining Technology, 2018). The bottom 3 companies’ rehabilitation financial breakdown is a line item in the Statement of Financial Position 1. Atlatsa Resources 2. Exxaro Resources 3. Impala Platinum 4. Wescoal 5. Anglo American Platinum 6. Eastern Platinum 7. Northam Platinum 8. Royal Bafokeng Platinum 9. Lonmin 10. MC Mining 11. Wesizwe Platinum
WRITTEN BY MASEHLE MAILULA AND LERATO MASUBELELE