Mining legacy
"Mining legacy" refers to adverse impacts on the environmental and socio-economic setting where mining has taken place in the past. Rio Tinto recognises that unresolved issues of this legacy continue to obstruct discussion concerning mining's contribution to society's transition to sustainable development. The debate was advanced by the Global Mining Initiative and the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development project, in which Rio Tinto was a full participant.
Mining legacy derives from centuries of mineral extraction during which societies have been transformed by development and social change. Many operating sites met or exceeded the standards and regulations of the time. Our understanding of social and environmental impacts has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, and as a result the standards and regulations have driven improved performace and minimised the impacts.
For these reasons, we believe that progress in resolving outstanding issues of mining legacy must be made by a broad coalition of players, including mining companies, governments, local communities and multilateral organisations. We are willing to work with others, and initiated two activities in 2004, which continued in 2005.
First, we started to compile examples of leading practice in mine closure from around the Group, which we intend to communicate broadly. Just as the best operating practices can lead to better outcomes at closure, the best closure practices can tell us something about how to deal with legacy issues. The Rio Tinto Closure Standard was launched in 2005 and the review of plans prepared under its requirements will further increase our awareness of avoiding creating a negative legacy and how best to deal with what already exists.
Second, we helped initiate the Post Mining Alliance, which arose from the partnership between Rio Tinto and the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. The alliance, which now contains other companies, research providers, local government and NGOs, is entering a development phase. Its mission is to seek solutions to mine closure and legacy issues globally by facilitating the involvement of a broad group of parties. The development phase lasts until mid-2006, by which time we hope that the alliance will be supported by a broad global coalition.
In 2005 we continued to support the Post Mining Alliance and to participate in its management. The initiative has received wide interest and recognition as the only global project seeking to promote work on mining’s legacy. A series of case studies has been analysed and are being written up to help with securing long term financial support from all sectors.
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