Legal requirements for mine closure
Tommi Kauppila1 & Niklas Vartiainen2
1Geological Survey of Finland, PO Box 1237, 70211 Kuopio, Finland; tommi.kauppila(at)gtk.fi
2Geological Survey of Finland, PO Box 96, 02151 Espoo, Finland; niklas.vartiainen(at)gtk.fi
In most cases, mine closure is subject to administrative control and legal regulation. In the early phases of a mining project, mining licensing and environmental permitting usually require Closure Management Plans to be presented to authorities. In certain cases, regular updates to the plans are required and there may be revisions of the financial sureties for mine closure. The final closure phase and even certain major continuous closure works are such large undertakings that they also may need separate environmental permits and official closure management plans. A Post Closure Management Plan may be required to make sure that mechanisms and funds are in place to monitor the post closure safety and stability of the site.
These statutory requirements add complexity to the mine closure process because mine operators are required to produce plans and documents that are additional to those used for internal closure management. However, the regulatory requirements are often roughly in line with what should be produced for the management of the closure process anyway.
The following pages describe in more detail financial provisions for mine closure and statutory requirements for mine closure in Finland and in other jurisdictions:
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.