A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies

Background: Most mining operations are viable for a period of 30 years, depending on the mineral extracted and the available reserves. Whilst the expectation is that mines will continue uninterrupted until the planned period is complete, unscheduled closure can occur. Sudden and unplanned mine closu...

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Autores principales:	Mbalenhle Mpanza, Elhadi Adam, Raeesa Moolla
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	AOSIS 2021
Materias:	sudden mine closure liquidation south africa winding-up socio-economic environment impacts financial provision Science Q Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4689cb203ceb45e9a48cdc9971ac8061
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4689cb203ceb45e9a48cdc9971ac80612021-11-24T07:49:07ZA critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies1817-44342415-200510.4102/td.v17i1.985https://doaj.org/article/4689cb203ceb45e9a48cdc9971ac80612021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://td-sa.net/index.php/td/article/view/985https://doaj.org/toc/1817-4434https://doaj.org/toc/2415-2005Background: Most mining operations are viable for a period of 30 years, depending on the mineral extracted and the available reserves. Whilst the expectation is that mines will continue uninterrupted until the planned period is complete, unscheduled closure can occur. Sudden and unplanned mine closure can result in immediate environmental and social impacts. In South Africa, the challenges of mine closure are exacerbated by unexpected sudden closures owing to winding-up and business rescue processes. The literature is inconclusive regarding these issues and there is poor integration of affected communities by mining operations. Aim: We reviewed South Africa’s legal frameworks relating to mine closure, the winding-up of gold mining companies and the impact of sudden closure on the environment and communities. Method: This review built on and extended previous systematic reviews. We focused on the regulation for financial provisioning for prospecting, mining, exploration and rehabilitation. Two examples of gold mining companies that were closed prematurely were examined. We also reviewed the mine closure and environmental policies of other countries, notably Australia and Canada and noticed similarities to South African policies. Results: Differences are evident in the enforcement of compliance in Australia and Canada, which are more proactive in dealing with the challenges of winding-up and its impacts. Conclusion: South Africa could adopt these countries’ models to enforce compliance and proactivity regarding sudden mine closure. One recommendation is to establish a fund for immediate rehabilitation in such cases as part of the temporary mine closure framework.Mbalenhle MpanzaElhadi AdamRaeesa MoollaAOSISarticlesudden mine closureliquidationsouth africawinding-upsocio-economicenvironmentimpactsfinancial provisionScienceQSocial SciencesHENThe Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp e1-e21 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	sudden mine closure liquidation south africa winding-up socio-economic environment impacts financial provision Science Q Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	sudden mine closure liquidation south africa winding-up socio-economic environment impacts financial provision Science Q Social Sciences H Mbalenhle Mpanza Elhadi Adam Raeesa Moolla A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
description	Background: Most mining operations are viable for a period of 30 years, depending on the mineral extracted and the available reserves. Whilst the expectation is that mines will continue uninterrupted until the planned period is complete, unscheduled closure can occur. Sudden and unplanned mine closure can result in immediate environmental and social impacts. In South Africa, the challenges of mine closure are exacerbated by unexpected sudden closures owing to winding-up and business rescue processes. The literature is inconclusive regarding these issues and there is poor integration of affected communities by mining operations. Aim: We reviewed South Africa’s legal frameworks relating to mine closure, the winding-up of gold mining companies and the impact of sudden closure on the environment and communities. Method: This review built on and extended previous systematic reviews. We focused on the regulation for financial provisioning for prospecting, mining, exploration and rehabilitation. Two examples of gold mining companies that were closed prematurely were examined. We also reviewed the mine closure and environmental policies of other countries, notably Australia and Canada and noticed similarities to South African policies. Results: Differences are evident in the enforcement of compliance in Australia and Canada, which are more proactive in dealing with the challenges of winding-up and its impacts. Conclusion: South Africa could adopt these countries’ models to enforce compliance and proactivity regarding sudden mine closure. One recommendation is to establish a fund for immediate rehabilitation in such cases as part of the temporary mine closure framework.
format	article
author	Mbalenhle Mpanza Elhadi Adam Raeesa Moolla
author_facet	Mbalenhle Mpanza Elhadi Adam Raeesa Moolla
author_sort	Mbalenhle Mpanza
title	A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
title_short	A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
title_full	A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
title_fullStr	A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
title_full_unstemmed	A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
title_sort	critical review of the impact of south africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies
publisher	AOSIS
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4689cb203ceb45e9a48cdc9971ac8061
work_keys_str_mv	AT mbalenhlempanza acriticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies AT elhadiadam acriticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies AT raeesamoolla acriticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies AT mbalenhlempanza criticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies AT elhadiadam criticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies AT raeesamoolla criticalreviewoftheimpactofsouthafricasmineclosurepolicyandthewindingupprocessofminingcompanies
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A critical review of the impact of South Africa’s mine closure policy and the winding-up process of mining companies

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