Institute releases landmark position paper
VANCOUVER, BC (March 30, 2021) — A landmark position paper released today charts a course for the transformation of mine closure and reclamation toward a more responsible and environmentally sustainable practice. Mining with the End in Mind, published by the Landform Design Institute (LDI), makes the case for planning for post-mining land uses even before mining starts, which is the first of the 12 principles of landform design advocated by the Institute.
“Truly sustainable mine closure requires incorporating and implementing these measures into mine operations even before breaking ground,” reads the paper’s summary. “This will result in better long-term landscape performance and lower costs, reduced liability, and less risk. Mines will more effectively meet their commitments to successful reclamation.”
As described in the paper, the Institute will provide the tools practitioners needs to make landform design a common practice. It will advocate for the integrated, multidisciplinary and collaborative approach integral to this transformation.
Landform design is a discipline that has grown out of the concept of mine reclamation, which started in earnest in the 1960s and evolved under the rubric of progressive reclamation. Landform design has helped mines, regulators, Indigenous peoples, and local communities collaborate on creating mining landforms and landscapes that reliably and economically meet agreed-upon goals and objectives.
While much direction exists on what needs to be done and why, little practical guidance is available on how to implement landform design. Practitioners require the tools to transform the mining industry into a genuinely responsible steward of post-mining landscapes. And a central source is needed to generate and distribute useful and educational resources. The Institute will fulfill these functions.
The Landform Design Institute (LDI) was established in 2019 to provide the knowledge, education, and support that landform design practitioners need to build truly sustainable mining landscapes, and to make landform design routine in the mining industry worldwide by 2030.
Download the position paper here.