Assessment of Sabetaung open pit general mine closure process

Authors: Aung, TZ; Thaik, O Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2215_89

Cite As:
Aung, TZ & Thaik, O 2022, 'Assessment of Sabetaung open pit general mine closure process', in AB Fourie, M Tibbett & G Boggs (eds), Mine Closure 2022: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 1203-1218, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2215_89



Abstract:
Unlike many other businesses, mining is only temporary and can cause positive and negative impacts on its surroundings. In the past, mine abandonment was the only option available. However, industry reputation is affected when mines are abandoned, or long-term detrimental environmental impacts emerge because they were not appropriately addressed during the life-of-mine. Hence, mine closure becomes important in the mining sector. Just like many other countries, Myanmar has been burdened with a legacy of unplanned mine closures, hazardous mine sites and abandoned mine sites. This paper assesses the effectiveness of the general mine closure process of the Sabetaung open pit in the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung (S&K) mine project by establishing the appropriate site-specific closure assessment framework. The closure assessment framework is divided into five dimensions (Legal, Community, Closure Preparation, Closure Planning, Closure Implementation and Monitoring) and they are then divided into themes and criteria. In addition to field observation, the assessment is carried out by interviewing the responsible persons from Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited (MYTCL) and from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) to review the actual closure conditions. After obtaining the assessment results, the results are analysed, and a list of suggested prioritised improvements is generated. According to the results of the current assessment, it is observed that the following aspects of the Sabetaung closure process are required to be improved: Post-Mine Land Use, Closure Objectives and Completion Criteria, Post-Closure Planning and Financial Provisioning for Closure. Overall, the S&K mine follows several good mine closure practices in the Sabetaung closure process and has managed to establish an effective closure process.

Keywords: mine closure assessment, S&K mine, Sabetaung mine closure, MYTCL

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