The Sultanate of Oman has been mining since ancient times; now, the sector is part of the national strategy. The history of copper mining dates back to 5,000 years ago.
The mountains of Oman have proven to contain metallic minerals such as gold, copper and chromite in addition to industrial minerals, namely dolomite, gypsum and limestone.
A two-day workshop organised by the Environment Authority Oman has been looking at sustainability in the mining industry.
The experts, while looking at challenges in the sustainability report in the mining sector, said that corporate-level reporting of mining companies is not meeting the needs of the stakeholders. Yet another drawback they pointed out was too many frameworks, standards, specifications, context and mine site reporting.
According to them, there are many opportunities for further government action and engagement with the mining sector to enhance sustainability and reporting of the sector. They also pointed out that it is time to move away from static reports only and instead bring about interactive platforms for stakeholder engagement with different communication forums for various stakeholder needs and more real-time reporting of environmental and social impacts.
An appropriate method would be to follow the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 8, 12 and 16. When local resources are used, there is economic development.
A mining company needs to conduct the right activities to make a mine sustainable, safe, stable, non-polluting and healthy for the neighbouring communities with intergenerational equity so that they do not leave land or water degraded for the next generation.
“In fact, if the company can further add value, then that is a bonus. So it is throughout the life of the mine and designing the closure and making sure you get there,” said Dr Corinne Unger, Research Fellow, University of Queensland Business School.
The designing of the closure must be in place from the beginning, pointed out Tania Laurencont, Principal, Fawcett Mine Rehabilitation Services, adding, “The design for the closure has to be thought about when the government or the company would want to leave the site. So how are they going to leave the site? If it is done properly, it is built into the design.”
The stakeholders play a critical role in projects.
“The agreement should also look into what will happen after the mine is gone. There needs to be a genuine engagement with the community so that it accepts what will occur and they agree with the impacts that might result from the mining operations,” noted Unger.
Laurencont believes that regulators developing new mines and providing oversight must build the capacity around not only environmental management, but also rehabilitation and closure from the start.
“Do not just worry about it 20 years down the track when the mine has got five years to go. Do it right up front so the designs, regulatory inputs and oversight are in place from the start. The capacity of knowledge and experience has to be built,” suggested Laurencont.
Dr Unger concluded by saying that the advice to any country across the globe would be to understand the impact of the activities that occur to make sure that the activities that are approved and the impact from it are limited and do not leave any negative legacies.
@lakshmioman
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