LAND REHABILITATION GUIDELINES FOR SURFACE COAL MINES Coaltech Research Association May 2019 Minerals Council of South Africa Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa GUIDELINE INTENT The initial Guidelines for the Rehabilitation of Mined Land was compiled in 1981 (supported by the Minerals Council of South Africa, then referred to as the South African Chamber of Mines), with a subsequent update approximately 26 years later in 2007. Since then, notable changes to South African mining rehabilitation- related legislation have taken place, as have mining houses’ needs to update in-house standards, guidelines and protocols to focus on site-specific rehabilitation processes. The Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa (LaRSSA) has been established to provide a platform for sound technical advice and guidance, as well as access to an experienced network of interdisciplinary practitioners, academics, regulators and companies, whose expertise was used to update the earlier guidelines, with specific reference to Surface Coal Mined Land. The intent of this Land Rehabilitation Guideline for Surface Coal Mines is as follows: • To provide a consolidated, up-to-date document covering the key aspects of good practice planning, implementation and ongoing management of surface coal mines from a land rehabilitation perspective; • To provide standardised guidance for setting corporate standards and policies, and site-specific land rehabilitation plans; • To emphasise the importance of upfront, and aligned, mine and rehabilitation planning that focuses on setting appropriate rehabilitation targets, that are aimed at achieving an agreed post-mining landscape capable of supporting a mixed suite of future uses, and which will ultimately streamline and optimise business expenditure; and • To provide technically sound, simple, and practical approaches for implementation by all levels of land rehabilitation practitioners, mine planning teams, and administrating regulators; all of whom are responsible for mining-related land stewardship in our country. Although this Guideline includes relevant land rehabilitation actions for all types of surface coal mined land, it has been updated based largely on experience within the Mpumalanga Coalfields, in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Although its actions could be implemented on surface coal mines across the country, its intention is not to provide region- or site-specific rehabilitation specifications or relinquishment criteria. Just good practice guidance. This Guideline is a collection of existing knowledge and information relevant at the time of compilation. There may be gaps and omissions, and this document should be reviewed and revised on a regular basis. Raina Hattingh Phil Tanner Mark Aken Guideline Update Senior Reviewer Senior Reviewer i Disclaimer This Guideline has been developed by Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa. It was undertaken as a project supported and endorsed by the Coaltech Research Association (Coaltech), a research subsidiary of the Minerals Council of South Africa (MinCoSA). The efforts of all contributors are gratefully acknowledged, specifically the LaRSSA Council Members of 2017/2018. The views and opinions expressed in this Guideline do not necessarily reflect those of Coaltech, MinCoSA or the LaRSSA membership base. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, Coaltech, MinCoSA or LaRSSA do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. Users of this Guideline should bear in mind that the Guideline is provided as a general reference and is not intended to replace the need for professional advice relevant to the particular circumstances of individual users. Reference to companies or products in this handbook should not be taken as Coaltech, MinCoSA or LaRSSA endorsement of those companies or their products. For a copy, please contact: Coaltech Research Association [email protected] or Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa [email protected] Suggested citation for this Guideline: Land Rehabilitation Guidelines for Surface Coal Mines. Land Rehabilitation Society of Southern Africa, Coaltech, Minerals Council of South Africa. 2018. ii GUIDELINE LAYOUT The Guideline comprises the following sections: Section A: Planning - Sets the scene for surface coal mining-related land rehabilitation, understanding South African statutory requirements and defining the need for dedicated upfront land rehabilitation planning and design in conjunction with operational mine planning. Section B: Implementation - Provides the in-field land rehabilitation context, challenges and opportunities for on-site implementation. It further provides generic rehabilitation objectives, implementation actions and suggested relinquishment criteria for the core components of land rehabilitation. Section C: Monitoring - Provides guidance on monitoring protocols needed to identify rehabilitation progress, as well as to determine the need for corrective action that would require refinement of implemented actions. Section D: Adaptive land management - Documents the key aspects of ongoing land management, post- rehabilitation, to manage residual and latent risks, aiming to ensure rehabilitated mined land provides long- term opportunities for its subsequent land users. Throughout the Guideline: Concepts, ideas or notes considered key to land rehabilitation are NOTE provided in green blocks: APPENDIX Appendices are highlighted in orange blocks: Additional resources that are considered valuable as further guidance ADDITIONAL for land practitioners are highlighted in yellow blocks: RESOURCE iii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................1 SECTION A: PLANNING ............................................................................................................................3 SETTING THE SCENE ....................................................................................................................3 1.1. Surface coal mining context.............................................................................................................. 3 1.2. Land rehabilitation context ................................................................................................................ 5 1.3. Land rehabilitation terminology ......................................................................................................... 7 1.4. Key land rehabilitation aspects – what is the target? ..................................................................... 14 LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Intent of this section ........................................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Development of the legal realm related to rehabilitation and closure ............................................ 15 2.3 Regulations pertaining to the financial provision for rehabilitation and closure ............................. 16 2.4 Other legislation determining rehabilitation and closure compliance ............................................. 18 PLANNING & DESIGN FOR LAND REHABILITATION ..............................................................19 3.1 The business case for successful rehabilitation ............................................................................. 19 3.2 Applying a risk-based approach ..................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Using the post-mining land use as a rehabilitation target .............................................................. 22 3.4 Special attention for sensitive habitats ........................................................................................... 23 3.5 The need for upfront planning ........................................................................................................ 25 DEVELOPING THE REHABILITATION PLAN ............................................................................26 4.1 Rehabilitation plan framework ........................................................................................................ 26 4.2 Plan ................................................................................................................................................. 27 4.3 Implement ....................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Monitor ............................................................................................................................................ 38 4.5 Refine, correct, re-plan ................................................................................................................... 41 SECTION B: IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................................................42 SURFACE LANDFORM DESIGN AND PROFILING ...................................................................44 5.1 Context ...........................................................................................................................................