Towards sustainability in underground coal mine closure contexts: A methodology proposal for environmental risk management

TLDR

The mining sector requires community and governmental support to manage environmental risks, restore its reputation, and adopt sound practices, yet operational methodologies for post‑closure risk management remain scarce despite tools like life‑cycle assessment and EU research initiatives. This paper aims to supply operators with an organized framework for managing environmental risks during underground coal mine closures, addressing uncertainties in the post‑closure phase and tailoring guidance to coal types and extraction methods. The authors developed the framework through a literature review and expert interviews with European universities, research institutions, and coal mining companies in Poland and Spain.

Abstract

The mining industry needs community and regional governmental support to maintain its current activities and, more importantly, to develop future projects. The failure to manage environmental risks in an acceptable manner during mine operation, closing and post-closing periods is a critical factor. The mining industry must regain its reputation that has been lost over decades and centuries of environmental degradation. Several environmental management tools (e.g., life cycle assessment, multi-criteria decision analysis, etc.) are widely applied during mine development, operation and closure periods. Nevertheless, due to uncertainties associated with the post-closure phase and the end of economic activity (implying no more revenues for stakeholders in the form of workers’ salaries and municipality taxes), it is crucial to adopt sound management practices during this period to achieve sustainability in the mining sector. As operational methodologies that can be used as a reference are lacking, the management of environmental risks during and after underground coal mine closures is, in many cases, limited or is developed without specific guidance. This statement is supported by the fact that the European Commission, through the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, encouraged research, pilot and demonstration projects and accompanying measures within the coal sector via the coal programme priority of recent years (2012–2014), namely, the “Management of environmental risks during or after mine closure”. The aim of this paper is to provide mine operators with an organized informational framework that could be applied during future underground coal mine closures independent of the major environmental problems faced and directly connected to the types and characteristics of coal and the exploitation methods used. The investigation was conducted using a literature review and interviews with experts from European universities, research institutions and coal mining companies from Poland and Spain.