The Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources has developed a number of strategic frameworks which seek to provide guidance for the development of consistent approaches across jurisdictions on a range of issues affecting the resources sector.
ABANDONED MINES
The Strategic Framework for Managing Abandoned Mines [
PDF, 773KB] aims to promote a strategic approach to managing abandoned mines so that risks are minimised, sites are managed efficiently and sustainably, and the values associated with these sites are recognised.
Mine closure
The Strategic Framework for Mine Closure [PDF, 120KB] was launched at the Minerals Council of Australia Environmental Workshop in Perth, Western Australia on 1 November 2000.
The Framework was developed by a Joint Working Group of the (former) Australian and New Zealand Minerals and Energy Council and the Minerals Council of Australia. The objective of the Framework is to establish principles for mine closure that can be applied in a general sense to the development of closure plans for all mining operations. The Framework's principles would also be used by Governments to provide a nationally consistent basis for the review and development of mine closure regulations.
The Strategic Framework recognises that mine closure planning is typically site-specific. The Framework is not intended to provide a detailed set of guidelines for mine closure. The Scope of the Framework is to provide principles for mine operators as site-specific closure planning is developed and implemented over the life of a mine.
Tailings management
The Strategic Framework for Tailings Management [PDF, 296KB] will foster improved regulation and management of mine related tailings (wastes) by establishing agreed principles that can be applied to tailings facilities by government regulators and industry. The Framework was developed cooperatively by the Minerals Council of Australia, the MCMPR and industry.
Water management in the minerals industry
The Strategic Framework for Water Management in the Minerals Industry [PDF, 1,208KB] aims to promote a strategic approach to water management at mining and processing sites so that water management is more efficiently managed and valued as a vital business, community and environmental asset.