Mine Closure and Community

Mining operations can have a significant impact on communities and landscapes. When a mine closes, the environmental challenges of reclaiming disturbed landscape and the social challenges affecting a community when a main source of local revenue disappears can be profound. In order to address these potential impacts, Barrick plans mine reclamation from the onset.

In the past, closure planning has been the responsibility of operation management and had focused primarily on employees, reclamation efforts and environmental stewardship. However, we have now placed a greater focus on social closure planning. The social aspects of mine closure will affect the future of the stakeholders we have partnered with, the communities who have welcomed us and our integrity as a socially responsible company. Social closure planning in collaboration with the local communities and governments is, therefore, essential.

The social aspects of mine closure are a addressed in a dedicated section of Barrick’s Community Relations Standard. We are committed to planning for the social aspects of closure from the outset of the mining operations, and we want to avoid creating unsustainable dependency on the mine during operations.

The CR Standard requires that social issues are considered and included in the Mine Closure Plan as part of the Pre-feasibility Study. All sites must undertake a Social Closure Impact Assessment (SCIA) and a Social Closure Risk Assessment, and complete a Social Closure Plan (SCP) three years prior to anticipated closure. SCIA’s focus on identifying the social risks and impacts to a community from mine closure and are followed by the development of mitigation plans to address these risks and impacts. Also, all sites approaching closure develop a closure-focused Stakeholder Engagement Plan, updated annually to support the closure process.

Most closure planning activities take place during mine development and operations and focus on promoting local capacity building. We support education and skills development, and work in close collaboration with local economic diversification programs where they exist, in order that a healthy, sustainable community can continue to flourish once closure is complete.

At our Pierina mine in Peru, exploration efforts extended the life of the mine for several years; however, social closure planning had begun years earlier in response to the original date for closure. Stakeholder consultation is critical during this pre-closure phase, and the community relations team at Pierina continued to engage with local communities on closure issues even with the extended life of the mine. Consultation continues today. At our Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea, closure is likely to be more than 10 years away, yet integrated closure planning has already commenced with a detailed examination of the potential social impacts and risks to the communities in the Porgera valley following mine closure.