Mining Weekly reports that mining consultancy SRK Consulting SA says that to ensure a level playing field across the mining sector, better general guidelines need to be developed to ensure the implementation of sustainable ‘social transitioning’ after mine closure.  

These would be in addition to the requirements of social and labour plans (SLPs) and Mining Charter III.  “These guidelines could hopefully stimulate dialogue on the principles of the social transition process and enable stakeholders, such as government, communities and developers, to contribute to a more holistic understanding of the resource and capacity requirements,” said SRK’s Jessica Edwards.  She delivered a paper, coauthored by SRK’s senior environmental scientist Ashleigh Maritz, in September, at the thirteenth International Mine Closure Conference in Australia.  A national framework would enable individual mining companies to develop their own specific social transition plans that addressed the specific needs of their project and associated communities, Edwards stated.  She went on to indicate that:  “General guidelines could require mining companies to develop a good understanding of their host communities in terms of their needs, vulnerabilities and assets.  A solid grasp of these baseline factors is critical in developing strategies towards social transition.”  The regulator could also support social aspects of closure by driving the development of indicators and insisting on evidence of sustainable social transition arrangements before a closure certificate was issued.  Edwards highlighted good examples of international social transition projects in the UK, the US and Germany.

• Read the full original of the informative report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

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