Publication: Mine Closure Standards and Improved Post-Closure Risk Management for Surface and Underground Coal Mines
Loading...
Date
2025-04-16
ISSN
Published
2025-04-16
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This document consists of a summary of best practice standards for coal mine closure and aftercare, complemented by a practitioner’s guide. In combination, these two modules can be used by coal enterprises, line ministries, technical agencies, as well as development partners, looking towards mine closures some 5-10 years ahead, to inform plans for closure, repurposing, and transition that have yet to be drafted. The document aims to serve as a benchmark and reference for the World Bank's coal transition engagements, providing global good practice guidance for coal enterprises and line ministries, as well as development partners. At the same time, the two modules serve as a risk-management tool in a type of engagement that is by its very nature characterized by a high environmental and social risk baseline. The two modules are designed to support the planning and implementation of mine closures, repurposing, and transitions in a forward-looking manner over the next 5-10 years. Additionally, the document functions as a risk-management tool, ensuring thorough understanding and management of environmental and social risks associated with coal mine closure and post-closure aftercare. These standards and guidance will be integrated into the World Bank's systematic coal transition approach, available to staff and clients. In conjunction with the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), this work underscores the World Bank's commitment to proportionate due diligence and global knowledge sharing in coal mine closure practices.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2025. Mine Closure Standards and Improved Post-Closure Risk Management for Surface and Underground Coal Mines. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43074 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Towards Sustainable Decommissioning and Closure of Oil Fields and Mines : A Toolkit to Assist Government Agencies(Washington, DC, 2010-03)Globally, an increasing number of mines and hydrocarbon fields are nearing depletion, following decades of resource exploitation. These operations and the associated infrastructure will require complex and costly dismantling; technical and environmental restoration and rehabilitation measures; and socioeconomic investments to counteract retrenchment, post-closure economic downturns and other effects associated with the end of the project's productive life. The intent of this Toolkit is to serve as a resource to support the development of flexible but systematic regulatory approaches to key components of a sustainable decommissioning and closure planning and implementation process. This Toolkit is organized around what are believed to be core components of a practical approach that governments may adopt or adapt in the process of identifying and managing decommissioning and closure needs. The Toolkit structure is organized as: introduction and overview sets the stage on the purpose and objectives of the Toolkit, intended audience or users, key components and toolkit structure, guideline sources and definitions. General Toolkit guidance document is designed to provide an overview of sector specific trends and challenges related to decommissioning and closure. This is based on experts' opinions on which issues are higher priority and may warrant additional attention on the part of governments. Tool policy and regulatory framework aims to delineate the steps for an enhanced policy and regulatory framework, and provide a platform for the implementation of the remaining tools. Tool two environmental and social best practice and management systems describes how governments can contribute to the implementation of socio-environmental best practices leading to more sustainable decommissioning and closure, and incorporates guidance on the development of a conceptual closure plan. Tool three financial assurance mechanisms provides a roadmap for establishing (or enhancing) sufficient and reliable financial assurance for the extractives sectors, and provides alternatives and templates for further guidance. Tool four enforcements and monitoring emphasize the importance for governments of monitoring compliance with regulations and requirements during the planning and implementation of decommissioning and closure activities. Tool five stakeholder engagement and continuous improvement encourages governments and related agencies to use stakeholder engagement to better understand key community priorities and to contribute as partners in sustainable decommissioning and closure planning, while at the same time fine-tuning government's role in this process.Publication Financial Surety : Guidelines for the Implementation of Financial Surety for Mine Closure(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06)It is now accepted practice that when a company relinquishes a mining title, whether for an exploration or mining site, it is responsible for carrying out the rehabilitation of that site prior to departure. To ensure this is the case, most jurisdictions now require some form of closure plan or rehabilitation program to be submitted to the regulatory authority prior to the start of any work on the site. It is an increasingly common requirement for the closure plan to contain details of the estimated cost of rehabilitation and for a financial surety to be established at the same time. This report aims to provide governments with the information they need to make their own informed decisions. It is based on a review of existing financial surety systems in a number of countries. Questionnaires were sent out to a total of fourteen regulatory authorities; of these, nine provided sufficient detail about their existing financial surety systems to be included as full case studies. These are presented in the section case studies along with a summary of the latest European Union (EU) waste directives. Except where otherwise stated, the financial surety applies to all stages of a mining project, regardless of size. The purpose of the financial surety is to ensure that there will be sufficient funds to pay for site rehabilitation and post closure monitoring and maintenance at any stage in the life of the project, including early or temporary closure. The main aim of site rehabilitation is to reduce the risk of pollution, restore the land and landscape for an appropriate use, improve the aesthetics of the area, and prevent any subsequent degradation. The extent and cost of final site rehabilitation can be reduced if the site is rehabilitated even as it is being mined, so that the rate of restoration is similar to the rate of exploration or exploitation. This ideal is not often achieved, however; the majority of rehabilitation usually takes place once work on the lease has ceased.Publication Managing Coal Mine Closure(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11)Over the last half century, large-scale changes to coal industries across Europe, and more recently in the United States and China, have resulted in as many as 4 million coal workers losing their jobs. The main drivers of these changes are mine mechanization, government policies and competition from other fuels in downstream energy demand markets. At present, economies in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa face these same drivers of change, with large job losses already taking place in China, and with other large coal producing countries in Asia likely to follow. Lessons drawn from the experiences of the Russian Federation (Russia), Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012, complemented by data on impacts of coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China, show that job losses not only take place as the industry contracts but even if production is increasing. The mitigation of social conflict and economic distress are of grave concern as globally the coal industry enters a new era of downsizing. The objective of this report is to share with governments lessons learned regardingcoal mine closure. Indeed, the full set of coal mine closure issues is diverse with few positive case studies to date to draw on. The complexity of technical issues and vested interests along with the myriad of potential risks which may unfold will require combining time-tested and new approaches, and applying a broad array of skills. In this issues paper, we have sought to identifylessons from the past that can guide policy makers for more successful future mine closures. Nine lessons learned are presented for government consideration, drawn from three sets of literature. First, analysis from coal industry adjustment and downsizing experiences in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Romania from 1994 to 2012 where interventions ranged from preparatory diagnosticand technical studies to planning and financing of eventual closure programs. Second, observations and insights on impacts from coal industry adjustment in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, and China. Third, evidence-based interventions that have helped to mitigate potential negative social and labor impacts from mass job losses in other industries.Publication Mine Closure and its Impact on the Community : Five Years After Mine Closure in Romania, Russia and Ukraine(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-06)Against the backdrop of economic transition, several countries in Eastern Europe have undertaken far-reaching programs to restructure their coal sectors, which in the 1990s were in a state of deep crisis. One aspect of restructuring has been the closure of loss-making mines, which are often located in communities where the coal industry is the dominant employer, and the significant downsizing of the workforce. Mitigation efforts that are implemented at the time of mine closure (such as severance payments) are usually intended only for the laid-off workers. The authors examine the impact of mine closure on the entire community five years after mine closure in Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods and based on interviews with national, regional, and local experts, and members of the affected population, the authors describe the effect of mine closure and evaluate the various mitigation efforts that have been used by governments in such cases. They conclude with policy recommendations of broad relevance to programs of industrial restructuring in communities dominated by a single industry.Publication Enhancing Environmental and Social Sustainability of Mining in Armenia(Washington, DC, 2014-06-01)This paper aims to inform Armenia's policy dialogue on environmental and social issues in the mining sector. The paper is based on the premise that for the mining sector to have positive, long-term impacts in Armenia, it is necessary to take into consideration the short- and long-term environmental and social impacts of the sector and to promote strategic planning and efficient management of natural resources. The mining sector in Armenia has yet to adopt global best practices in this sector, and this paper aims to provide guidance on some of the mechanisms that can be adopted to improve the governance and overall impact of mining in the country. The document is structured as follows: chapter one presents an introduction to this thematic paper. Chapter two provides an overview of the mining sector in Armenia, including its underpinning institutional and regulatory framework. It also singles out policy gaps and regulatory inconsistencies that need to be addressed. Chapter three presents some useful lessons of the application of Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) as a tool for sustainable planning of mining development in the country. This chapter also compares uses of an SESA versus Environmental Impact Assessments and defines the need and use of Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA). Chapter four describes the principles of valuation of natural capital as a means to complement traditional cost-benefit analysis and comparisons of development alternatives in the decision-making process. Chapter five looks at the design and implementation of benefit-sharing mechanisms to ensure that the mining activities lead to positive social impacts across the country. Chapter six looks at the process of determining and dealing with the social costs of mining in Armenia. Chapter seven provides a series of conclusions and recommendations as well as implementation challenges that will summarize the application of such recommendations in present-day Armenia and its mining sector.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Doing Business 2020(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020)Doing Business 2020 is the 17th in a series of annual studies investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. It provides quantitative indicators covering 12 areas of the business environment in 190 economies. The goal of the Doing Business series is to provide objective data for use by governments in designing sound business regulatory policies and to encourage research on the important dimensions of the regulatory environment for firms.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication A Blue Transformation for Pacific Maritime Transport: Overarching Regional Transport(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-06-29)This report has eight chapters. Following the introduction (Pacific Peoples and the Sea), the next six chapters each focus on a separate significant component of Pacific maritime transport, analyzing the major influences and challenges, and, where relevant, key areas for future attention. The topics are: international shipping, gateway ports, domestic maritime transport, four related sectors, cruise ship tourism, tuna fisheries, fossil fuel imports, and bulk shipping, natural disasters and climate resilience, and sector governance and institutions. The final chapter, transforming pacific maritime transport, ways forward, distils the report’s findings into the most significant and far-reaching opportunities to transform maritime transport in the Pacific. These are grouped into three broad themes, infrastructure, services, and governance and capacity building. Ways Forward comes at the end and, for readers unable to view the whole report, is a good place to begin. The rest of this executive summary explains why the Pacific is a special case for investment and provides a summary of the main chapters and findings. But first, it describes which Pacific Island countries contributed to the study.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Zambia Poverty and Equity Assessment 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-25)Zambia is simultaneously amongst the poorest and the most unequal countries in the world. In 2022, 64.3 percent of the population - about 12.6 million individuals - was living on less than US$2.15 a day. This level is not only the 6th highest in the world but it is also misaligned with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita level. In four of the five poorer countries, GDP per capita is between one-quarter and one-half of Zambia’s GDP per capita. The remaining country is South Sudan, which is immersed in a protracted fragility and conflict situation. At the same time, consumption inequality is high, even when compared with the sub-group of highly unequal resource-rich countries. In 2022, the Gini index stood at 51.5 - significantly above the World Bank’s newly adopted high-inequality threshold of 40. This places Zambia as the country with the 4th highest inequality in the region and the 6th highest globally. Resource-rich countries with similar or higher inequality have substantially lower poverty levels.