Mine rehabilitation
Environmental awareness and the need for mining companies to respond to environmental requirements has accelerated in the past three decades.
Today it is widely recognised that all mining areas should be treated so that their post-mining condition is essentially indistinguishable from their pre-mining condition. This requires consideration of fauna and flora, soil, water and air contamination as well as the needs of the local inhabitants.
IAI bauxite mine rehabilitation surveys
The International Aluminium Institute's first Bauxite Mine Rehabilitation Survey was carried out in 1991 with the aim of collecting definitive data on a wide range of key topics relating to the environmental impacts of bauxite mines and their rehabilitation. The survey described the impact of programmes in place at 18 mining locations, representing 65% of total world bauxite production.
The survey was repeated(in 1998 and 2002. The latest report, published in June 2004, covers 23 mining locations in 12 countries, where 70% (99 million tonnes) of the world’s total production of bauxite is mined. Of the land disturbed each year by bauxite mining, 89% is forested, 8% agricultural and pasture, 2% wetland and 1% shrubland. Post-mining land use shows 89% being returned to native forest, 4% to commercial forest, 4% to agriculture and pasture and 1% used for urban and industrial development, housing and recreational purposes.
In 2002 the total area mined per year was 20 km2, 2.4 km2 of which was tropical rainforest. The majority of mines have introduced measures such as wildlife reserves and corridors and wildlife research and monitoring programmes. Formal written rehabilitation plans are in place at 97% of the surveyed mines (compared to 88% in 1998 and 82% in 1991) and the current rehabilitation rate is 17 km2 per year - 83% of area mined per year (compared to 79% in 1998 and 70% in 1991).
