Mupane Gold rehabilitates old mining sites

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Wednesday June 9, 2010 00:00

According to the mine's environment, health and safety advisor, Abby Poole, protection of the environment and community engagement are of paramount importance to their business.

She was giving a presentation at Mupane Gold Mine's stakeholder session held at Tati River Lodge here last Friday.

Defining the term 'closure,' Poole said it was a period after ore extraction, production, decommissioning and reclamation (restoration to productivity) while 'rehabilitation' meant returning disturbed land to a satisfactory condition.

'All mines close sooner or later, but a mine can choose how to close,' Poole said. 'Mupane Closure Plan Committee was formed for feedback, advice and update as well as to discuss progress.'

Unlike most local mines that have abandoned mineshafts after mining, Poole said Mupane Gold Mine had produced a government-approved closure plan covering Mupane and Signal Hill. This, she said, was a working document with a few updates done in 2009.

The objectives of the plan included making the sites safe for casual human and animal access, restoring native vegetative cover for grazing and ecology, protecting surface water and groundwater resources and establishing a post-mining environment with potential for economically viable activities.

The closure plan for 2010 was also for more closure studies and designs for covers on mine features, the production of a document giving background information, the introduction of a 'technical document' for review by experts, and progressive rehabilitation.

Elaborating further, Poole said the closure plan included methods for rehabilitation, monitoring, costs and timelines, approvals and administration.

The application of topsoil, sloping waste rock landforms, battering and ripping waste rock landform slopes, using abandonment or safety bunds, using rock for erosion control, and ripping or removing concrete foundations were also included. The plan detailed dismantling and removing process plant, removing contaminated soil control drainage and ripping heavily trafficked roads as well as blocking access to areas with safety concerns.  Poole said the objective of monitoring was to verify rehabilitation work and environmental performance to confirm achievement of closure objectives. 'The monitoring programme should check for accuracy of environmental assessment, any unforeseen environmental impacts, and the effectiveness of mitigation measures,' she said.

Monitoring time frames depended on follow-up period duration to measure improvement or stability after rehabilitation. It also depended on annual frequency providing reliable data, relevant parameters, the effects the mine had on the environment, site complexity and success of the closure. Mupane Gold Mine plans to monitor for four years.

Poole said the end of monitoring and relinquishment should follow the successful closure achieving desired conditions, monitoring of closure outcomes including chemical and physical stability for several years post-closure, and establishing that there were no apparent problems. Poole revealed that closure costs for 2008 were estimated at about US$4.9 million (P33 million). She said new estimates showed about US$6.7 million (P47 million), noting that the two-year timeline for closure would be pushed back as a new life of mine was being proposed up to mid-2013.

Poole noted that Mupane Gold Mine was engaged in other operational activities and that mining activities were continuing at Mupane site and at Signal Hill. There were plans to start mining at Golden Eagle and Molomolo.'Environmental impact assessments are being carried out for Golden Eagle and Molomolo with closure or decommissioning committee in place,' she said.

In addition, Poole said Mupane Gold Mine was engaged in community projects at Matsiloje Village where it was working closely with the Village Development Committee.