van Tonder, DM, Coetzee, H, Esterhuyse, S, Msezane, N, Strachan, L, Wade, P, Mafanya, T & Mudau, S 2008, 'South Africa’s Challenges Pertaining to Mine Closure — The Concept of Regional Mining and Closure Strategies', in AB Fourie, M Tibbett, I Weiersbye & P Dye (eds), Mine Closure 2008: Proceedings of the Third International Seminar on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 87-98, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/852_9
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/852_9_Van Tonder/)
Abstract: The South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) initiated the Sustainable Development 
Through Mining (SDM) initiative in 2005 to develop and implement a strategy for sustainable development 
in the mining sector, with a view to reporting, in terms of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI), to 
the United Nations in 2010 on the sector’s sustainability goals. This initiative has generated, and supports, a 
variety of projects under its sustainability banner, including some specifically orientated towards mine 
closure and its variegated dimensions and implications. The specific focus area of this paper is the 
development of the concept of regional mining and closure strategies to deal with closure challenges where 
mines have an inter-connected and/or an integrated environmental impact, for instance the gold mining 
areas within the Witwatersrand mining basins of South Africa. Regional mining and closure strategies 
present an innovative departure from past regulatory closure approaches. The paper moves on to consider 
further policy and legislative interventions necessary for mine closure in such circumstances and outlines 
proposed strategies to address these.