{"id":57918,"date":"2024-02-05T09:25:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T09:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/?p=57918"},"modified":"2024-02-05T09:25:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T09:25:54","slug":"digging-for-a-brighter-future-around-mine-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/blog\/2024\/02\/05\/digging-for-a-brighter-future-around-mine-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging for a brighter future around mine closures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Guy Boggs, co-Editor-in-Chief of Research Directions: Mine Closure and Transitions<\/a><\/em>, is hoping to make headway on a pressing global issue that has seen little progress to date.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Across the world, every mine that opens will have to close at some point \u2013 because every resource is finite. But what does a successful closure look like, when looked at through social, cultural, economic and environmental lenses?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a simple yet complex question under the scrutiny of Dr Guy Boggs, Chief Executive Officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies, in Perth, Australia \u2013 and now co-Editor-in-Chief of Research Directions: Mine Closure and Transitions<\/a><\/em>, launched by Cambridge University Press late last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guy has a PhD in Geomorphology and Spatial Information Systems, where he examined post-mining landform design for a proposed mine in a highly sensitive environmental and cultural setting. Over the past 20 years, he has worked as an academic, teaching Geography and Spatial Information Systems, and in industry (mining and agriculture) on enabling the adoption of innovative sustainable practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He had a passion for the environment for a young age: \u201cMy parents provided great opportunities to be part of science-based conservation management through volunteer programs, science-based friends and their development of community-based natural resource management groups. This led to a thirst for understanding how natural processes work, and what happens when we modify them for our use.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Complex systems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guy came to the field through his PhD research in the late 1990s: \u201cMy PhD focussed on planning for the closure of the proposed Jabiluka Mine located next to the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park. The project attracted me because it provided complex technical and environment modelling questions, recognised that scale and geography was important, and was a major problem for one of our most critical industries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every mine that opens has to close at some point. Every mine also changes a site and its region while it is active \u2013 whether this be the natural environment, the development of infrastructure or the interaction with regional economies and its social context. Guy continues: \u201cThe science of mine closure and transitions looks at how to optimally close a mine and the transition to the future beyond the mine. This is a global issue and one that is recognised as having had limited solutions developed and progress made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Guy\u2019s leadership alongside Prof. Thomas Baumgartl from Federation University, Research Directions: Mine Closure and Transitions<\/a><\/em> will look at mine closure and transitions through a complex systems approach, recognising the need for transdisciplinary contributions to solving the problem: \u201cOne of the most simple but complex questions the journal poses is \u2018What does success look like?\u2019 This seems like a question we should know the answer to, but it is clear that there is still debate and confusion as we look at this through social, cultural, economic and environmental lenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also have such a limited track record of success globally, with very few mines closed successfully but many thousands abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we approach global decarbonisation, Guy identifies three key connection points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n