Bio+mine project: empowering the community to develop a site-specific system for the rehabilitation of a legacy mine

The rehabilitation of legacy mines continues to be a big challenge because of the difficulties in returning them to safe and stable conditions and ensuring that the mined-out areas become productive to support the economic activity of the host community. Previous efforts are often focused on purely technical and environmental aspects, leading to resistance from the local community due to their exclusion from the rehabilitation process. To address the issues associated with legacy mines and lack of participation of the community, we have developed a project, Biodiversity Positive Mining For The Net Zero Challenge (Bio + Mine), focusing on the abandoned Sto. Niño copper mine (Benguet, Philippines). The mine was closed in 1982 without a plan involving local stakeholders and leaving a significant ongoing negative legacy. Using the social-ecological-technological system framework, we will explore the intersections of the structure and functions of socio-economicdemographic, ecological, and technological data useful in devising a more inclusive mitigation strategy for the reconstruction of the supporting ecosystem. We aim to develop a site-specific system, underpinned by the local community's knowledge and practices, that can be a model for wider implementation in other legacy and active mines worldwide

Systems approach toward a greener eco-efficient mineral extraction and sustainable land use management in the Philippines

As the world transition towards a low-carbon future through renewable energy, mining of minerals and metals to attain this goal is substantial. The Philippines will play an important role in such global economy as it is the world’s fifth most mineral-rich country. However, their exploitation has not been maximized to benefit society. Benefits from the mineral resources sector remain less than 2 % of the country’s GDP since 2006, and the mining and mineral processing, including abandoned or legacy mines, are perceived negatively by the public. In low- and middle-income countries with weak implementation of mining and environmental legislation, the mining industry still operates in a linear system which is considered unsustainable. The mining, mineral extraction and processing, and metal extraction are designed to maximize profits with little plan on how to effectively manage mine wastes, protect the environment, transform post-mining land for beneficial use and empower impacted communities. This paper, thus, proposes a systems approach toward greener eco-efficient mineral extraction and sustainable land use management (SAGES). This approach will facilitate a paradigm shift, which is necessary to manage the country’s mineral endowments sustainably without compromising future land use of mining areas while at the same time supporting the needs and aspirations of the impacted host communities. It envisions extending the usability of mining areas beyond the life of the mine and integrating circular economy principles in addressing holistically mine waste management problems. The multi-R framework, originally developed in waste management (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and extended to circular economy strategies, has potential applications in mine waste management in the Philippines. An illustrative case study is then presented that employs a multi-R framework to address the mine waste in an operating Ni-laterite mining site