Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program Handbooks
Following consultation with the Australian mining industry [and other interest groups] on the key issues affecting sustainable development, the LPSD developed the following 14 handbooks.
A Guide to Leading Practice Sustainable Development in Mining *New*
[PDF, 7MB]
This reference book draws together the key messages of all the handbooks throughout the life of a mine, and includes case studies on Australian and global leading practices.
Airborne Contaminants, Noise and Vibration [PDF, 4MB]
This handbook will address issues related to emissions of airborne contaminants (dust, gas, odours, etc.), noise and vibration control at mining operations. These issues can have a significant impact on local communities and contribute to concerns about ongoing environment and health risks.
Biodiversity Management [PDF, 765KB]
Acknowledgement of the importance of biodiversity is increasing due to greater awareness of the need to protect biodiversity, the increasing presence of larger mining operations in remote, undeveloped locations, and in particular, the significantly increasing demands and pressures on biodiversity through an expanding population.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF,1.9MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.25MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 1.2MB].
Community Engagement and Development [PDF, 3.37MB]
The concept of 'community' is commonly used in the minerals industry to indicate the geographic community in the operation's area of interest. In the context of the mining industry, an example of where the 'community' of a mine may be broader that just people living in the surrounding area is where the mine is a fly-out or drive-in drive-out operation and the workforce and their families live in a distant town or city. Leading practice now identifies two related ways in which mining companies can interact with people: community engagement and community development.
Community engagement and development are complex and challenging activities. Mining companies, like many organisations (both public and private) need to be able to respond to the evolution of understanding in social practice as well as changing community expectations and political contexts. It also needs to be understood that what works in the context of one community may be ineffective or even counter productive in another. Moreover, the outcomes of some community development activities may not be known until some years later.
This handbook has been translated into Indonesian [PDF, 1.68MB], Chinese[PDF, 1.9MB], Spanish[PDF, 1.8MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 3.5MB].
Cyanide Management [PDF, 2.26MB]
Managing cyanide to minimise risks to human health and environmental health represents one of the key challenges facing the mining industry. In order to assist the global mining industry improve its management of cyanide, the International Cyanide Management Code was developed by the International Cyanide Management Institute (ICMI 2006) to provide a risk-based management process by which mining industry can implement and demonstrate best practice for cyanide management. The Code provides a set of best-management practice documents that addresses the production, transport, use and disposal of cyanide as well as procedures for the management and administration of a compliance verification and certification program.
Evaluating Performance: Monitoring and Auditing [PDF,4MB]
This handbook will address the ongoing impact of all stages of a resource project from initial planning through development and operation, to closure and rehabilitation. It includes requirements for an environmental impact assessment for a project, development and implementation of environmental management systems, performance, monitoring and auditing – all of which contribute to a company’s social licence to operate.
Hazardous Materials Management [PDF, 2MB]
Hazardous materials are used at most mining and mineral processing operations in Australia. Many waste products generated by these operations can be hazardous to human health and the environment. This handbook will outline the principles to manage hazardous materials in the mining industry.
Managing Acid and Metalliferous Drainage [PDF, 8.7MB]
The problem of acid and metalliferous drainage encompasses all issues associated with the actual and potential environmental effects of sulfide oxidation resulting from mining activities. Its significant potential for long-term environmental degradation makes it one of the biggest environmental issues facing segments of the mining industry.
Once established in mining wastes such as waste rock stockpiles or tailings impoundments, acid drainage may persist for tens to hundreds of years and be difficult and costly to remediate.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF, 2.8MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.55MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 1.5MB].
Mine Closure and Completion [PDF, 3.2MB]
Poorly closed and derelict (orphaned and abandoned) mines provide a difficult legacy issue for governments, communities and companies and ultimately tarnish the mining industry as a whole. Increasingly, as access to resources becomes tied to industry and corporate reputation, effective closure processes and satisfactory mine completion becomes critical to a company's ability to develop new projects. Taking a more integrated approach to mine closure planning, and doing it earlier, can achieve effective mine closure and completion.
Mine completion ultimately determines what is left behind as a benefit or legacy for future generations. If mine closure and completion are not undertaken in a planned and effective manner, a site may continue to be hazardous and a source of pollution for many years to come. The overall objective of mine completion is to prevent or minimise adverse long-term environmental, physical, social and economic impacts and create a stable landform suitable for some agreed subsequent land use.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF, 2.3MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.8MB], Spanish[PDF, 1.9MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 3.5MB].
Mine Rehabilitation [PDF, 3.6MB]
Rehabilitation is the process used to repair the impacts of mining on the environment. The long-term objectives of rehabilitation can vary from simply converting an area to a safe and stable condition, to restoring the pre-mining conditions as closely as possible to support the future sustainability of the site.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF, 1.8MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.5MB], Spanish[PDF, 2.2MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 2.6MB].
Risk Management [PDF, 1.3MB]
Risk is an unavoidable consequence of mining operations and there is a business case to embrace a robust and comprehensive risk management approach. The mining and minerals processing industry faces several different types of risk including economic, environmental, social and regulatory risk. Agreement on how to recognise these various types of risks, and the management practices employed to address them, is vital for the sustainability of mining activities, be they large projects or small, established operations and process plants or new development opportunities.
Stewardship [PDF, 6.4MB]
Stewardship involves the care and management of a commodity through its life cycle. Stewardship needs to be an integrated program of actions aimed at ensuring that all materials, processes, goods and services are managed throughout the life cycle in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
Stewardship is an evolving concept within the mining industry aimed at building partnerships throughout the life cycle of materials to ensure sustainability of their production, use and disposal. While participants in each sector have a responsibility for stewardship in their specific industry, it is a fundamental principle of stewardship that those participants also have a concern in the other industries of the life cycle.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF, 9.8MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.9KB], Japanese[PDF, 2MB], Korean[PDF, 1.8MB], Spanish[PDF, 2.0MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 4.3MB].
Tailings Management [PDF, 1MB]
Tailings are a combination of: fine-grained solid materials that remain after recoverable metals and minerals have been extracted from the mixed ore; and any remaining process water. The physical and chemical composition of tailings varies with the nature of the material, that is, the inherent geophysical and geochemical parameters, and the manner of its processing (that is, the mechanical and/or chemical transformation process and any additives). Tailings are most commonly stored in surface tailings storage facilities which often represent a large proportion of area disturbance at mining operations.
Mining companies must strive for excellence in the management of risks and implementation of both the operational works and the closure plans for tailings facilities. A key objective is to encourage the mining industry to take a longer-term approach to the planning of tailings storage facilities.
This handbook has been translated into Chinese[PDF, 1.9MB], Indonesian[PDF, 1.6MB] and Vietnamese[PDF, 1.6MB].
Water Management [PDF, 2MB]
Water is integral to virtually all mining activities and typically the prime medium that can carry pollutant into the wider environment. Consequently, sound water management is fundamental for all mining operations. Water must be managed at all stages of the life cycle of minerals operations. A key principle to sound water management is the recognition of water as an asset with social, cultural, environmental and economic value.
Working with Indigenous Communities[PDF, 2.0MB]
Within the exploration and mining sectors, there is growing recognition that relationship building and agreement making with Indigenous people and other people with rights and interests in land and waters are more practical ways of dealing with native title matters than litigation and costly legal processes. Similarly, requirements for the appropriate recognition and handling of Indigenous cultural heritage issues will be better managed by building on sound relationships.
There is also growing recognition that Indigenous communities can make a significant contribution to mining operations in other ways as well: ways that offer both the community and the mine substantial benefits. An example is in the area of environmental co-management, and this will be discussed. Some of these objectives and measures can often be incorporated into land access agreements.
This handbook has been translated into Spanish [PDF, 2MB]
Hardcopies of the handbooks may be obtained by contacting the Program Manager on +61 2 6213 7144 or sending an email to sdmining@ret.gov.au.