Leadership and multi-disciplinary approach needed in mine reclamation
VANCOUVER, BC (Dec. 20, 2019) — Traditional mine reclamation isn’t yielding the results society is increasingly demanding, and a more multi-disciplinary approach with clear leadership from mine management and regulators is needed, according to a new Vancouver-based institute focused on the design of post-mining lands.
“All mines need to start preparing for reclamation before they even begin operations,” said Gord McKenna, Chair of the Landform Design Institute, which was launched in September and formally incorporated Dec. 10. “And the team of specialists needed to reclaim lands affected by a mine should be formed before the first shovel hits the ground.”
Today, the Institute announced its new Board and Technical Advisory Panel. Mike O’Kane, new Chair of the advisory panel, emphasized the urgency of the paradigm shift. “The Institute could bring awareness of how to value building the landform better, earlier, so that closure planning and mine planning are done together,” said O’Kane, Senior Technical Advisor with Okane Consultants. “This approach will actually reduce mine life-cycle costs.”
The Institute just wrapped up its first-ever five-day course in landform design, held in Edmonton in conjunction with the University of Alberta. Over 40 professional practitioners from Canada and abroad attended the Dec. 5–10 course, and heard some of the world’s leading experts describe revolutionary and sustainable new approaches to mine reclamation.
McKenna, a 30-year veteran of mine reclamation and principal of McKenna Geotechnical Inc., said society will no longer accept mines delaying reclamation until decades after mining starts. Reclaiming most of the mine land during operations rather than waiting until mine closure will become the norm rather than the exception. Several industry representatives who attended the course concurred with the Institute’s call for change.
“Initiating mine closure planning prior to the start of operations can save considerable costs at closure,” said Brian Ayres, Principal Geoenvironmental Engineer with SNC-Lavalin. “All key stakeholders need to be involved at the beginning of mine site closure planning.” Ayres noted that a team with up to 12 different specialists is needed before mining starts.
“We can’t pass off responsible, sustainable mine closure to future generations anymore,” said Michelle Murphy, Senior Civil Engineer with Klohn Crippen Berger. “The paradigm shift has to happen now. The landform design course takes what you already know and shows you how to see it differently.”
Local communities also need to be involved from day one. Several course presenters described the need to respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which recognizes Indigenous peoples’ rights to control their traditional lands. In November, BC became the first jurisdiction in Canada to enact the Declaration.
Under the approach advocated by several industry experts at the landform design course, new mines around the world will take all aspects of reclamation into account when the mine opens, involving experts in several areas, including landform design and construction, mine waste management, groundwater and wetland design, and revegetation and ecology. Existing mines are starting to adopt this approach as well.
The Institute’s new Board consists of senior mine reclamation practitioners, and in addition to McKenna includes O’Kane; Rob Abbott of Abbott Strategies; Anne Naeth, Professor of Land Reclamation and Restoration Ecology of the University of Alberta; June Pollard, a senior engineering geologist at J. Pollard Consulting; and Lois Boxill, Global Technology Manager for tailings at BASF. The Institute will add directors from industry in the new year.
In addition to O’Kane, the Technical Advisory Panel includes Andy Fourie of the University of Western Australia, Nick Beier of the University of Alberta, Justin Straker of the Integral Ecology Group, Dirk van Zyl of the University of British Columbia, Jason Fisher of the University of Victoria, David Williams of the University of Queensland in Australia, Steve Day of SRK Consulting, and Kathleen Hanley of BGC Engineering.
McKenna said the course, which will be held again in December 2021, and the establishment of the Board are great steps toward the Institute’s goal, which is to make landform design — based on sound ecological and engineering principles — routine in the mining industry worldwide by 2030. A landform design textbook is also slated for production in 2020.