ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT AS THE BASIS FOR MINE CLOSURE AT ISCOR MINING

This paper discusses the principles and application of risk assessment and management as the basis for environmental management within the m ining: industry. Unlike in other industries, mines are required to obt ain closure certificates in terms of section 12 of the Minerals Act, w hich should ultimately release them from further environmental respons ibilities. it is emphasized that the concept of environmental risk ass essment and management, when applied correctly will mean that the mine will be identifying and managing environmental issues beyond those se t by current legal requirements and management strategies. The focus s hifts from conventional minimum legal compliance management to managem ent of real environmental risks. The advantage of this approach is tha t the perceived 'shifting of legal and management goalposts' due to ch anging environmental laws or management principles, will not influence or dictate the mine's short or long-term management objectives or act ions, mine closure funds can be more accurately determined and mine cl osure should become a relatively simple procedure. The risk assessment approach has been applied to the planning of mine closure at Iscor's Durban Navigation Collieries (Durnacol) in Kwa-Zulu Natal and certain key risk issues such as the long-term risk of water pollution from coa l discard dumps have already progressed to fully quantitative risk ass essment. This paper will discuss the process, which has been followed to date, with particular emphasis on the most recent phase, namely qua ntitative risk assessment and management of pollution from coal discar d dumps. It is believed that the approach that is being pioneered at D urnacol and which overcomes some of the more obvious deficiencies of b oth the EMPR and the traditional IEM process will ultimately serve as the model for all responsible mines in South Africa. It is also believ ed that this approach will enable the authorities to issue closure cer tificates with the confidence that there will be no unforeseen surpris es in the years after closure.