Closure and Further Use of Mines
The continuous closure of mines is a part of all responsible mining activities. It means that certain parts of mining waste areas are closed while other activities are still ongoing. GTK offers a service for planning mine closures and identifying further uses for the mine already at the early stages of the mining project. As a new service, GTK is developing test platforms for the long-term behaviour of tailings and waste rock, which can also be used to determine the functionality of, for example, cover structures.
Boosting mine closures with careful planning
GTK’s range of technical closure solutions includes various alternatives that can be tested on a smaller scale before actually closing the mine.
Managing the closure plan digitally
You can plan and manage continuous mine closures with the help of GTK’s expertise and digital closure plan.
Enabling after-use with high added value
All mining areas should be built and closed in a way that makes after-use as easy as possible and ensures that the site causes as little harm to the surroundings as possible.
The planning of mine closure begins even before the mine is opened. A closure plan is required to obtain a mining permit and as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. In fact, the closure and follow-up of a mine may be the most time-consuming and costly part of the entire mining project. The environmental impacts of mine closure can be substantial and prolonged, which is why special attention should be paid to the planning of the mine closure.
GTK offers services for the following steps:
- planning the mine closure already at the early stages of the mining project
- field testing and modelling of technical closure solutions such as cover structures
- digital management of closure plans; and
- enabling after-use with high added value.
The closure process is managed by an updated closure plan, which can be either on paper or in digital format. GTK has developed a digital management tool for continuous mine closure in the context of the Closurematic project.
Related elsewhere
Discover Closurematic, a digital mine continuous closure management tool
Research on the topic
Explore the topic in depth through scientific publications, articles, research reports, and research projects.
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