Discussion #1 - Question #1

Question 1.

Effective Prcatices and Approaches to Minimize Impacts in

Production, Processing and Mine Closure

In my line of work as an environental officer the most effective practices and appraches have been observed when the activity is undertaken by registered companies that have proper organisational structures.
In such instances the mines or quarries will be well secured, there are efforts to ensure health and safety policies are in place. Also,they do  implement health and safety guidelines and regulations
During processing, it is common to find that the the company will have an environmental management plan in place and most times the mitigation measures are usually implemented especially where they are in proximity to human settlements.
In the decommissioning phase, since we are dealing with known entities,  most will submit rehabilitation plans and follow through on rehabilitating the pits left behind. Howewver, the biggest challenge is that in some cases due to lack of proper monitering sometimes the rehabilitation is done using garbage or sometimes harzadous wastes and the rehabilitation process takes a long time. It is also uncertain whether there is  any professional input in the rehabilitation proces hence the need for closure monitoring.
In contrast, when the activity is undertaken by artisanal miners there is total disregard of health and safety practices.It is common to find abadoned quarries/mines once they are done. It is diffcult to accost anyone since they play a cat and mouse game with authorities. It is also in artisanal mining where there have been fatalities after collapse of quarry walls, landslides, rockfalls and suffocation in underground tunnels.
In conclusion, in my opinion, it is best to deal with registered companies. Alternatively, because mining activities are a source of livelihood for artisanal miners, it would be good to encourage them to form organised groups,register the groups and centralize/control the processing activities this may see them fetch better prices. It would then be easier to develop capacity on health and safety issues as well as promote environmental conservation

 

 

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In Uganda a similar observation is true. Unsustainable practices by foreign mining companies have been criticized by a cross section of people and the regulators have been forced to act. Artisanal mining has remained highly unregulated with high negative risks on the environment and safety. Occasionally fatalities have been registered.

This morning the police have evicted over 10,000 people at gold mines in central Uganda at Mubende due to environmental degradation, poor health and safety conditions at the mining area. Kudos to the government. Our further expectations are enforce the law even in the development mineral subsector.

Thank you for sharing this with us Charles but my worry what efforts have you made with the government to educate miners on environmental, Community, health and safety? How many people have you train on this sector before they neglect your training? After their arrest what efforts have you put in place to prevent future implications of your fellow miners?  Do they have free access to the mining code?  

The Ministry says they are recalling all the Mining licences to establish sanity in the sector but I strongly suggest that this exercise continues nationawide because look! its actually the National Army UPDF that carried out the operational saying that they were helping the Minerals Sector to clean up their docket....As a journalist who covered teh story I also learnt that the arrests and evictions were stemming from teh fear that rebel groups can take advantage of the open pits as their oeprational cells. I doubt if this good exercise will roll out entirely across the country.

I agree that there is need to finalize the approval of the bill to regulate the management of the development minerals sub sector in Uganda. This will result into sustainable utilization. We who were trained so begin talking to all stakeholders about the importance of prudent use of these resources.

 

Excellent points you have raised Joan. 

To fellow alumni, who are either in associations/cooperatives or work with associations/cooperatives,

What is your experience in terms of improved health and safety practices/standards once a group has been mobilised or formed?
Which measures/practices have you seen and used, that have contributed to improved health and safety practices? 

Discussion-Question #1

Thé effective practices andapproaches to minimise environmental impacts on production, processing and quarry closure.

      In Cameroon it requires an elaborated environmental management plan and thé mitigation measures to beimplemented and a proper waste management plan before thé authorities issues a mining permit.  Thé usual approach for thé management of waste is to contain and collect them at thé point of production  treat thé waste to make them environmentally safe, and dispose of them to thé land, water and air.  Thé method used at a particular mine dépends mainly on an évaluation of cost, environmental performance and risk of failure.  Selecting appropriate waste storage locations, and proper material characterization, including thé prédiction of long term chemical behavior.

      =Permits are issued on shutdowns to cover mine closure, and site cleanup. Mine closure activities often involved containing and covering tailings to prevent their escape into thé environment, minimizing thé amount of water seeping from tailings into surface of ground water, covering waste rock piles and exposed matériels with top soils and planting végétation to prevent érosion, and designing thé final land formation to minimise érosion and post closure maintenance.

     = ln most cases rehabilitating thé lits left behind is thé biggest challenge because of thé lack of monitoring and it is been donne by dumping waste and garbage or hazardous waste and thé réhabilitation process takes a longer périod.

     = whereas thé artisanal and small scale mining is been undertaken clandestinely.  There is total disregard of health and safety practices.  It is common to find abandoned quarries in communities.  Therefore very difficultés to monitor and control them, since they are illégal.  They are always involved in fatal accidents like drowning, collapse of quarry walls, landslides, suffocation in rivers and fire disasters.

     As a Sworn Inspector of mines, l suggest that, mining activities should be legalized at all levels because it is a source of livelihood and creates employment to thé local communities.  It would be beneficial to build thé capacities of miners with thé training acquired from ACP Development Minerals on health, safety and sécurity as well as environmental conservation, and encouragé them to organized legalized groups or coopératives to control their activities for sustainability to increase their income to reduce rural Exodus.

A good write-up mbu. I propose that the Cameroon government should introduce online licinesing application and online licinesing in order to eliminate favouritism and curroption at the level of obtaining any mining permit. If this is put in place, it will gradually eradicate illegal mining and hence ease environmental impact assessment as the miners will be made known from the number of permits issued and numbers of mining sites  

Il n'existe aucun favoritisme lors de l'attribution des permits aux artisans. Rappelons nous que l'ancien code minier ne prenait pas en compte l'exploitation semi mécanisée et pourtant cela se pratiquait sur le terrain par ce que les citoyens camerounais (qui étaient les seuls à qui le gouvernement donnait des permis) les vendaient en retour aux expatriés qui exploitent avec des engins. Je ne pense pas qu'il y ait favoritisme à ce niveau. 

Concernant le problème de réhabilitation des sites abandonnés je pense que le gouvernement doit trouver des partenaires privés ou mettre en place un budget spécial afin de non seulement clôturer les puits mais aussi les valoriser pour l'agriculture, l'élevage, la pêche ou même le tourisme.