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Press Release
PRESS RELEASE
New Proceedings
October 2001
Abandoned Mines: Problems, Issues and Policy challenges
for Decision Makers
UNEP-Chilean Copper Commission Americas Regional Workshop
18 June 2001 Santiago, Chile
Abandoned mines and their environmental, social and economic impacts
remain one of the most neglected mining related issues as we enter the
twenty-first century. While some of these abandoned sites result from
sudden mine closure as a result of economic changes, most are the result
of inadequate, improper or neglected mine closure over the past decades
and centuries. Abandoned mines are a serious, global problem affecting
all former mining countries including: Brazil; Canada; France; Philippines;
South Africa; and the United States of America.
The physical impacts of abandoned mine sites include: altered landscapes;
unused pits and shafts; land no longer usable due to loss of soil; pH,
or slope of land; abandoned tailings dumps; changes in groundwater regime;
contaminated soil and aquatic sediments; subsidence; and changes in vegetation.
These problems have social and economic impacts on countries and individual
communities due to: loss of productive land; loss or degradation of groundwater;
pollution of surface water by sediments or salts; fish affected by contaminated
sediments; changes in river regimes; air pollution from dust or toxic
gases; risks of falling into shifts and pits; and landslides.
While some countries have started to address the issue, many have not
due largely to financial and legal liability concerns. The purpose of
this jointly sponsored Workshop was to share what each of the Latin America
and the Caribbean countries are doing and discuss how the sharing of information
could be mutually beneficial. Participants were challenged to explore
innovation approaches to remediating abandoned mine sites by considering,
amongst other things: models of shared responsibility; turning liabilities
into assets through governments adjustments to land use, land occupancy
or site ownership definitions; revision of liability concepts associated
with abandoned sites; maximizing potential for commercial exploitation;
developing low cost remediation procedures or techniques; scheduling remediation
over a lengthy but pre-determined time period; and considering new approaches
to remediation funds.
All stakeholders - governments, industry, communities and environmental
groups were challenged to be creative in finding practical solutions to
this major environmental and social issue.
The full text of the Report (in pdf format) and all papers presented
during the Workshop are available, on the following websites:
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