BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN

MINING

BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 1

 Introduction

BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 2

 Examples of Best Practices in Mining
The following examples are chosen to illustrate best practices:

• Technical issues • Management issues

– Water Management – Mine Planning for
Environment Protection
– Cyanide Management
– Managing Sulphidic
Mine Waste and Acid • The environmental
Drainage management issues and tools
discussed in the previous
– Tailings Containment section belong also to best
practices, especially
Environmental Management
Systems
BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 3
 What is Best Practice?
• “Best practice” is the best way of doing things.
• “Best practice” in mining protects the environment and
reduces the impacts of mining, and adheres to the
principles of sustainable development.
• “Best practice” is identified by bench-marking the
performance of companies in an industry.
• Best practice is linked to continual improvement;
Improvements in technology or in industry standards
usually call for further improvement.

BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 4

 Why strive for best practice?

Why environmental regulators and inspectors

need to know best practice?

BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 5

 Why strive for best practice?
• To improve environmental performance
• To ensure legal compliance
• To have good community relations
• To reduce waste of the resources – to improve profits
• To maintain competitiveness

Why environmental regulators and inspectors

need to know best practice?
• To be able to discuss with the industry
• To know what can be expected/demanded from industry
• legislation (e.g. environmental guidelines and norms)
• environmental permits, e.g. limits to emissions
• environmental assessments
• To enforce environmental regulations more effciently
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 How to learn more about Best Practices
The World Bank Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook
• Covers most types of industry and other activities
• Being updated at present
The European Comission’s Reference Documents on
Best Available Techniques
• Covers several types of industry and other activities, e.g. smelters
• Being updated periodically
Best Practices Environmental Management in Mining
Booklet Series
• Series of booklets produced by the Australian Government and
the Australian mining industry
• Specialises in mining
• Provide practical advice on understanding and responding to
environmental problems
BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 7
 BPEM in Mining Booklets
Over 20 booklets published by Environment Australia covering:

• Management topics • Technical topics

– Environmental – Tailings containment

management systems – Rehabilitation and
– Mine planning revegetation

– Community consultation – Hazardous materials

– Environmental auditing – Noise, vibration and air

blast
– Cleaner production
– Dust control

BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 8

 Best Available Techniques (BAT)
• The European Union’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
approach is based on the idea that all human activities that may have an
impact on the environment must apply “best available techniques” (BAT).
• BAT is defined as “the most effective and advanced stage in the
development of activities and their methods of operation which indicate
the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle
the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that is
not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact on the
environment as a whole.”
• “techniques” includes both the technology used and the way in which
the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and
decommissioned;
• “available” techniques are those developed on a scale which allows
implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and
technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs and
advantages…
BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 9
 Some Principles in Best
Practices

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 What is Sustainable Development?

• Sustainable development • Another description:

was first defined in – Development that
Brundtland Report: improves the total quality
– “Development that meets of life, both now and in
the needs of the present the future, in a way that
without compromising the maintains the ecological
ability of future processes on which life
depends.
generations to meet their
own needs.”

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 What is Sustainable Development?

Social system Economic system

To improve the To accelerate
health, income and economic growth with
living conditions of greater equity and self-
the poor majority reliance

Natural system
To ensure equitable and
Sustainable sustainable use of the
environment and natural
development
resources for the benefit of
present and future
generations

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 Objectives of Sustainable Development

• Improve the well-being and welfare of individuals and the

community by following a path of economic development
that protects the welfare of future generations;
• Ensure equity within this generation and between
generations;
• Protect biological diversity;
• Maintain essential ecological processes and life support
systems.

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 Precautionary Approach

In order to protect the environment, the precautionary

approach shall be widely applied by States according to
their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or
irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not
be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures
to prevent environmental degradation.
Principle 15, Rio Declaration

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 Concepts that Support
the Precautionary Approach

• Valuing environmental • When setting policies,

assets actions, activities consider
short-term and long-term:
• Involving the community in
decision-making – Economic goals
– Environmental goals
• Developing
– Social goals
environmentally sound
international – Equity goals
competitiveness and an • Recognising the global
economy that can dimension of impacts on the
enhance environment environment
protection
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 Precautionary Approach in Mining
• Adopting environmental codes of practice
• Consulting with key stakeholders
• Comprehensive environmental impact and risk assessment studies
• Environmental management systems
• Setting targets for environmental protection to the highest
level technically achievable
• Constantly reviewing technical developments which could
be applied to further reduce impacts or the risk of impacts

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 Biological Diversity

• The different species (plants, animals and micro-

organisms) in an area (species diversity)
• The differences that exist within species (genetic
diversity)
• The different habitats and ecosystems in an area
(ecosystem diversity)

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 Why is Biodiversity Important?

• Healthy ecosystems and ecosystem services

• Providing food, clothing, other raw materials
• Controlling pest plants, animals and diseases
• Resource for natural compounds
• Beauty, tranquillity, ethical values

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BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 19
 What are the Impacts of Mining on the
Environment (Worksheet 1)?

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 Impacts of Mining on the Environment
• Contamination of • Noise or vibration
surface water or
• Impacts of tailings
ground water
storage on soil, water
• Changes to flow rate of and air
surface or ground
• Acid mine
water
drainage
• Air pollution
• Loss of flora and
• Damage to soils fauna
• Wind and water erosion • Damage to
heritage sites.

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BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 22
 Mine Planning for
Environmental Protection

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 Environmental Issues
• Air quality • Transport
• Noise & vibration • Subsidence
• Water management • Rehabilitation
• Water quality • Visual impacts
• Soil conservation • Hazards & risks
• Biodiversity, flora & fauna • Solid wastes
• Archaeology & heritage • Socio-economic issues
protection • People’s health, nuisance

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 Air Quality

• Dust impacts • Planning solutions

– Health hazard – Minimise area of pre-
– Loss of environmental stripping
amenity – Rehabilitate mined areas
– Aesthetic impact as soon as possible
– Water haul road surfaces
– Consider using binders
on haul roads

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 Noise & Vibration

• Noise and vibration • Planning solutions

impacts
– Disturbance of nearby – Control noise sources
residents and land – Use good blast design
holders
– Bunds and screens
– Potential injury to
– Develop operational
human health
plans
– Possible structural
– Consider land use zoning
damage
– Nuisance

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 Water Management
• Flood impacts • Planning solutions
– Worker safety – Design appropriate flood
– Damage to equipment diversion works such as
– Inundation of surface levees
workings

• Drought impacts • Planning solutions

– Disruption of processing – Model water balances
– Conflict with other water – Harvest and conserve water
users – Build retention ponds/dams

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 Water Quality

• Impacts • Planning solutions

– Increased sediment in
runoff
– Metals in discharge
– Acid or saline waters
– Groundwater and
surface water
contamination
– Impacts on aquatic flora
and fauna
– Develop a water
management strategy
– Use sedimentation ponds
– Install grit and oil arresters in
association with oil
separators around
workshops, vehicle wash-
down pads and process
plants

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 Soil

• Impacts • Planning solutions

– Erosion – Develop a topsoil
– Possible contamination management plan
– Affects success of – Reuse topsoil in
rehabilitation and rehabilitation programs
revegetation programs – Rehabilitate mined
areas as soon as
possible

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 Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna
• Impacts • Planning solutions
– Displacement of – Survey pre-mining flora and
animals fauna and identify rare and
– Habitat reduction endangered species
– Loss of plants and – Develop a rehabilitation
animals strategy
– Damage to the – Minimise mine impacts on
ecological integrity of flora and fauna through
the area layout and design

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 Archaeology & Heritage Protection

• Issues • Planning solutions

– Potential damage to – Consult the local community
artefacts or sites of for help in identifying these
historical and heritage sites
value – Carry out site surveys
– Sites may be of – Plan to minimise
scientific or spiritual disturbance and conserve
significance archaeological & heritage
sites

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 Transport

• Transport impacts • Planning solutions

– Traffic noise – Upgrade and use
– Traffic congestion existing roads
– Potential reduction in – Construct new facilities
road safety dedicated to the mine
– Increased road wear – Stagger shift times
and tear with surrounding
industries to reduce
road congestion

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 Subsidence

• Subsidence impacts • Planning solutions

– Surface damage – Modify extraction
(ground movement methods
and slope change) – Modify buildings or
– Waterlogging soils or other surface
making land more structures before
flood prone mining so they can
– Potential damage to better withstand
buildings or subsidence
infrastructure

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 Rehabilitation

• A key goal of mine planning is ensure the

rehabilitation of disturbed lands to a stable and
productive post-mining land use which is acceptable
to the community
– Design and create appropriate landforms for the
minesite
– Establish appropriate and sustainable ecosystems

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 Visual Impacts
• Visual impacts • Planning solutions
– Removal of vegetation – Consider location of
– Modification of viewing points, quality
landforms of the visual resource
– Create colour – Suitable colour choice
contrasts for buildings and
– Impose structures into equipment
a natural landscape – Tree plantings
– Perimeter screening
(bunds & vegetation)

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 Hazards & Risks

• Hazard issues • Planning solutions

– Natural disasters – Planning can assess and
– Operational hazards minimise hazards and risks to
– Site accidents the environment, personnel &
the community
– Blasting
– Training, emergency
– Spills
procedures, careful blast
design, traffic rules, EMS,
appropriate environment
performance targets

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 Waste Management

• Waste issues • Planning solutions

– Overburden – In-pit disposal
– Slimes, muds and – Mechanical
tailings from ore de-watering
concentrators and – Incineration (possible
processing plants electricity generation)
– Maintenance wastes – Effluent land irrigation
(oils and lubricants) systems
– Staff waste (sewage,
wash water)

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 Socio-Economic Issues

• Issues • Planning solutions

– Local and regional – Understand and
economic issues accommodate the
– Community attitudes concerns and needs of
and concerns the local people
– Impacts on neighbours – Effective and
continuous community
consultation
– Specific programmes
to support the
community
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 Mine Planning Components

1. Mine location 5. Biophysical impacts

2. Pre-mining investigations 6. Socio-economic issues
3. Construction 7. Environmental monitoring
4. Pollution prevention 8. Mine closure

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 Mine Location: Issues to Consider

• Location in drainage basin • Location of processing plants

• Surrounding land use • Location of waste dumps
• Proximity to utility • Location of hazardous materials
infrastructure stores
• Labour market
• Visual exposure
• Cumulative impacts

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 Pre-Mining Investigations
• Baseline investigation is required to:
– Enable mine planners and environmental scientists to
understand the environmental and social issues that
need to be addressed
– Ensure the financial viability of the mining operation
– Gather sufficient information about flora, fauna,
landscape, soil types and drainage system to provide a
sound basis for planning rehabilitation

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 Construction

• Community concerns when large numbers of construction

workers move in (housing, infrastructure, cultural issues)
• Transport issues (construction materials and bulk
samples/trial shipments)
• Environmental safeguards during construction
• Worker housing

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 Pollution Prevention and Controls

• Incorporate pollution controls into the design phase of

operations
• Control and contain contaminants on site
• Training of mine employees in environmental awareness
and responsibilities

• Air pollution control systems

• Noise control
• Water pollution control

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 Biophysical Impacts

• Design safeguards can minimise biophysical impacts; for

example, soil erosion can be minimised by:
– Understanding soil structure
– Landform design
– Drainage networks
– Incorporating runoff silt traps and dry detention ponds in
the rehabilitated landform

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 Socio-Economic Issues

• Promote the positive aspects of mining while recognising

and addressing adverse effects.
• Issues that need special consideration:
– Land use planning
– Land acquisition and resettlement
– Community infrastructure
– Employment
– Archaeological and heritage issues

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 Environmental Monitoring

• Environmental monitoring provides information to:

– Demonstrate compliance with environmental
legislation
– Assess and improve environmental performance
– Refine operational practices
– Safeguard the interests of both the mining company
and the community

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 Mine Closure

• Mine closure should be planned before the

commencement of operations
• Issues to consider:
– Long term water management
– Post-mining land use
– Final rehabilitation
– Safety of mining voids
– Sustainability

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BEST PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MINING 48
 Water Management

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 Rivers and Streams
Mine operations can affect rivers and streams in an area.
– Quantitative changes: amount of water flowing in the stream
– Qualitative: adding dissolved or suspended solids to the water
– Effects on competing community uses for water, e.g.drinking
water, transport, fishing

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 Water Management Plan
Important components of the minesite water management plan
include:
 Minesite water balance.
 Water supply.
 Drainage.
 Erosion management.
 Water treatment.
 Flood risk and hazard.
 Managing geo-chemically aggressive materials.
 Managing hazardous materials.
 Water monitoring.

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 The Hydrological Cycle
Minesite water management is about limiting adverse
effects of mining operations on the regional hydrological
cycle and ensuring that hydrological processes do not
jeopardise mining operations.
The hydrological cycle is the interchange of water in all its
physical forms between the atmosphere, earth’s surface
and the biosphere:
• Rainfall • Stream flow
• Infiltration • Ground water flow
• Surface runoff
• Evapotranspiration
• Percolation
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 The Hydrological Cycle

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 Infiltration
• Infiltration occurs when rainfall reaching the ground
moves down into the soil profile
• Infiltration is affected by:
– The soil’s saturated hydraulic conductivity and its
initial moisture content
– The surface condition of the soil
– Intensity, duration and pattern of the rainfall event
• Compacted soil reduces infiltration which increases
surface runoff and may increase soil erosion

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 Surface runoff

• Runoff occurs when water reaches the ground faster than

it can infiltrate into the soil
• Surface runoff is a major cause of soil erosion
• A cover of vegetation slows surface runoff and binds the
surface soil

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 Percolation and Ground Water Flow
• Percolation: vertical movement of water under gravity
through saturated or nearly saturated soil to recharge
aquifers
– Clearing vegetation reduces infiltration and
percolation; this may adversely affect ground water
tables
• Ground water flows from recharge areas to discharge
areas
– Ground water flow is affected by geology and
hydraulic variations in the aquifer

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 Streamflow

• Surface runoff which flows down a catchment and

eventually into rivers and streams becomes ‘stream flow’
• Mining activities can alter stream flow regimes (water
diversion, erosion behaviour)
• Streamflows can also affect mining operations (flood risk,
water shortages)

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 Seasonal Variation
• Precipitation and evapotranspiration which largely drive
the hydrological cycle may have distinct seasonal
variations such as ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ seasons
• Seasonal rainfall variation can significantly affect minesite
water management
• Mining operations may have to be scheduled by season
to minimise environmental risk

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 Seasonal Variation

Average Monthly Rainfall in Copperbelt (1970 – 2000)

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 Water Balances
• A minesite water balance is a tool used to assess
amounts of water entering, leaving and moving across
the minesite
• The water balance equation incorporates:
– Rainfall
– Infiltration
– Surface runoff
– Evapotranspiration
– Percolation

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 Best practices
• Best practices in water management include:
– economical use of water resources, including
recirculation
– collection of waste in tailings impoundments
– Minimising discharges to nature, e.g. with treatment
systems
– progressive rehabilitation of pits, dumps and other
waste facilities;
– continual improvement

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 Minesite Water Management System
• A minesite water management system consists of a
number of physical elements plus a number of process
elements
• The water management system should be expressed as
a part of the environmental management plan or separate
water management plan
• This is based on a proper knowledge of all water streams
at the mine site (quantity and quality)
• Uncontrolled releases of water represent a failure of a
water management system and is not best practice

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 Physical Elements
A minesite water management system has several inter-
connected physical elements that:
– Supply water for mine operations
– Convey water
– Store water and liquid wastes (e.g.tailings)
– Dispose of water by evaporation or discharge
– Improve water quality

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 Physical Elements
• Water supply: sources may include
– Dams
– Boreholes
– Natural water bodies
• The effect of using water for the mining
operation must be carefully considered.

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 Physical Elements
Conveyance Storage
• Pumps, pipelines and open • Water storages (i.e. tanks or
channels for moving water dams)
• Issues include: • Tailings dams
– Capacity and reliability • Open cut pits
– Integrity (potential for • Issues include:
rupture) – Capacity
– Channel capacity and – Spills: likelihood, impact
bed and bank erosion – Seepage and impact on
ground water

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 Treatment
• Water treatment commonly used on minesites:
– Sediment basins
– Wetlands
– Chemical treatments
• Common issues include capacity, efficiency, retention
time and safety

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 Treatment
Sediment basins
• are an effective way to remove coarser-sized particles,
i.e. sand-sized particles or greater (> 0.1 mm diameter)
• have to be large to remove significant quantities of silt-
sized particles (0.01 - 0.05 mm),
– e.g. for medium-sized silt (0.02 mm diameter), a surface
area of 2000 m2 per m3/s of inflow is required to achieve a
removal efficiency of 50%).
• are not effective at removing clay-sized particles (<0.005
mm) unless supplemented by chemical dosing (typically
gypsum).

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 Treatment
Sediment basins
• Discharge volumes need to be estimated, and on the
basis of these results and any regulatory requirements,
an appropriate basin size can be selected.
• In selecting a basin size – 'Big is better' for sediment
basins
• E.g. effluent from Nchanga concentrator and main tailings
dam, and about 150 000 m3/d (1.7 m3/s) – 50% reduction
(medium-sized silt) in sediment load, would require a
pond with a surface area of 2000 x 1.7 = 3400 m2 (e.g.
100 m x 34 m)

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 Treatment
Constructed wetlands
• are being increasingly used as cost effective (and
aesthetically attractive) components of minesite water
management and treatment systems
• can be designed to remove fine suspended solids, polish
the water produced by onsite sewage treatment plants,
strip nitrate from pit water, remove heavy metals or
process reagents (cyanide, xanthates) and neutralise the
acidity in acid rock drainage.
• are especially suitable for treatment of seepage from
waste dumps and tailing ponds after decommissioning of
the mine, as they can be self-sustainable

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 Treatment
Conceptual design of a wetland
system for treating Acid Mine
Drainage

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 Treatment
Ranger Uranium Mine, Australia
•The current constructed wetland is one of the largest of its type in Australia.
•Results so far indicate effective removal of U, Mn and nitrate at flow rates up to
3 000 m3/day.

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 Treatment
Henty Gold Mine, Tasmania
•Possible contaminants in
minewater and surface runoff
include suspended solids, and
hydrocarbons from fuel and oil
spills.
•Mine water passes through a
settling pond to remove
suspended solids; flocculant and
coagulant are added
•The settling pond is drained
In addition a wetland system has
periodically to remove been constructed: two cells between
accumulated sediments. the settling pond and the polishing
•A floating plastic containment ponds with a contact area exceeding
boom contains hydrocarbons in 1200m2 .
the settling pond
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 Disposal
• There are three ways to dispose of excess water on a
best practice minesite:
– Evaporation (from evaporation basins, tailings dams,
open cut pits, water storages, and application of water
on land)
– Controlled release to surface waters from a storage
– Recharge to ground water

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 Process Elements
• Minesite water management system
– Erosion or sediment control plan
– Plans for management of hazardous materials and
wastes (acidic, alkaline or highly reactive)
– Inspection and maintenance plan
– Water monitoring (volume, flow and quality)
– Reporting

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 Erosion and Sediment Control Plan
• Aim to control risk of sediment loss from disturbed areas
– Silt fences, sediment dams
– Revegetation of spoil piles and other disturbed areas
• Good sediment control protects streams from degradation
by suspended sediments

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 Managing Hazardous Materials and Waste

• Mines use many hazardous materials.

– Grease, oils, petroleum products, toxic substances
such as cyanide
• Spoil and other mine wastes may react with oxygen and
water and generate water pollution.
– Pyritic material oxidises to form sulphuric acid (acid
mine drainage).

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 Inspection and Maintenance

• The water management plan must be maintained,

inspected and modified if necessary. Some issues
include:
– Bed and bank erosion in channels
– Silt build-up
– Damage to pipelines
– Calibrating monitoring equipment

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 Monitoring
• Baseline monitoring
– Essential pre-mining information
• Design monitoring
– Data required to design the physical and process
elements of the management system
• Operations monitoring
– Data from daily measurements of the system
• Incident monitoring

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 Best Practice Minesite
Water Management Plan
• Community expectations • Flood risk and hazard
• Statutory requirements • Water supply
• Risk Management • Soil erosion
• Minesite water balance • Water quality
• Monitoring hydrological processes • Computer models
• Operational monitoring • Performance indicators
• Emergency monitoring • Training and research

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 Community Expectations
• Communities expect responsible management of mining
operations
– Community consultation from planning to closure
– Liaison with stakeholders from areas that might
be affected
– Protection of water quality for downstream users
and habitats during operation, during closure,
and after rehabilitation

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 Statutory Requirements
• Best practice includes:
– Identifying all relevant environmental and water
resources legislation
• Legislation may apply to the mine lease or to the
broader catchments containing the lease
– Effective communication with regulatory agencies to
make sure legal requirements are met

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 Risk Management
• Hydrological Risk
– Risk associated with processes that fluctuate randomly
such as floods or drought
• Operational Risk
– Risk to safety, the environment or the economics of the
mine arising from its operations

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 Minesite Water Balance
• An minesite water balance summarises the major sources and
destinations of water flows onto, across and off the minesite
• For a storage dam values include:
– Inputs (rainfall, ground water flow, runoff, returns from
process)
– Outputs (inputs to process, evaporation, seepage, discharge,
pump transfers)

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 Monitoring of Hydrological Processes
• There are three phases of hydrological monitoring:
– Baseline monitoring
– Operational monitoring
– Post-mining monitoring
• Typical hydrological processes monitored include rainfall,
evaporation, stream flow and water quality

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 Streamflow and Water Quality
• To monitor stream flow the mine management should:
– Identify existing or past official stream-gauging
stations near the minesite
– Establish at least one ‘key’ stream-gauging station
• Water quality monitoring points are needed at both
upstream and downstream of the minesite on all major
streams that are at risk from mining operations
• All liquid releases to the envionment need to be
monitored, both quantity and quality

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 Operational Monitoring

• Flows in key pipelines

• Inspection of hydraulic integrity of key pipelines
• Water levels and water quality in key storages (especially
‘dirty’ water storages)
• Minesite rainfalls
• Silt build-up in silt traps and wetlands
• Bed and bank erosion in channels

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 Emergency Monitoring
• The emergency monitoring plan should address:
– The volume, discharge rate and quality of water that
‘escaped’ and the impact on downstream water
bodies;
– The possibility of alerting downstream landholders and
water users of what has happened and what the
consequences might be.

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 Water Supply
• Recycle as much water as possible
• Evaluate the risks and plan for supply shortfalls
• Evaluate impacts on downstream flow, habitats and other
users
• Assess risks and consequences of dam failure
• Assess uses of water storages after mining (e.g.irrigation,
recreation)

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 Soil Erosion
An erosion management plan should:
– Identify areas of existing or likely erosion
– Plan appropriate controls
– Seek regulatory advice and approval of the plan
before implementing the plan
– Try to control erosion at the source

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 Water Quality
A water quality management plan should:
– Identify water quality issues and plan controls
– Seek approval from regulatory authorities before
implementing plan
– Separate runoff from ‘clean’ areas of the minesite from
‘dirty’ area runoff
– Control pollutants at the source
– Design and implement water quality monitoring
programs

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