International Activities

Related Links

• Mineral Exploration Code of Practice - Mineral Resources Tasmania, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. Tasmanian State Government, Australia. 4th Edition, March 1999.

• Onshore Minerals and Petroleum Exploration - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1996.

• Mineral Exploration Best Practice Guidelines - Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), BC and Yukon Chamber of Mines.

• Best Practice and Reporting Guidelines for Exploration and Mining Companies (Adobe PDF 45KB) - Draft Guidelines released in October 1999 by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) providing best parctice guidelines for mineral exploration activities and the writing oftechnical reports disclosing mineral exploration information. The guidelines, developed by an industry committee, are designed to assist Qualified Persons (QPs) in the design, implementation and reporting of exploration program results and to help determine whether they have discharged their responsibilities adequately.

• Environmental Excellence in Exploration (E3) - Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). An initiative to make available the most current information on effective and proven environmental management practices for mineral exploration worldwide.

• CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves (Adobe PDF 75KB) - Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Canada. (Also available in Francais)

• Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines - Draft (Adobe PDF 81KB) - Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, February 2002.

• Draft Discussion Paper: CIM Special Committee on Valuation of Mineral Properties (CIMVal) (Adobe PDF) - Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, Canada.

• Australasian Code for Reporting of Identified Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves - Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC), The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australia.

• Code and Guidelines for Technical Assessment and/or Valuation of Mineral and Petroleum Assets and Mineral and Petroleum Securities for Independent Expert Reports - The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australia.
  

• Guidelines to help you get Environmental Approval for Mining Projects in Western Australia - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia, March 1998. (Adobe PDF 172kB)

• Environmental Management for Mining - Legislation, Guidelines, Codes of Compliance, Forms, etc for the state of Queensland, Australia. - Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

• Mine Planning for Environment Protection - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.

• Environmental Impact Assessment - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.
  

• Mining Act Information Series - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia

• Guidelines for Mining in Arid Environments - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia (Adobe PDF 716kB)

• Environmental Notes on Mining - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia
  • Waste Rock Dumps: Issue Number 1, January 2001.(PDF 1246kB)
  • Care and Maintenance: Issue Number 2, January 2001. (PDF 122kB)
  • Firebreaks: Issue Number 5, March 2001. (PDF 89kB)

• Explosive and Dangerous Goods Guidance Notes - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia

• Explosives Regulatory Division - Consulative Documents - Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) - A range of documents and proposals for new regulations in regard to the manufacture, transport, storage, handling, use and disposal of explosives are available for download in the Publications section.

• Quarry Code of Practice - Mineral Resources Tasmania, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. Tasmania State Government, Australia.

• Noise, Vibration and Airblast Control - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1998.

• Dust Control - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1998.

• Hazardous Materials Management, Storage and Disposal - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1997.

• Environmental Monitoring and Performance - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.

• Environmental Activities in Uranium Mining and Milling - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1999.
  

• Cleaner Production - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1995.

• Environmental Code of Practice for Integrated Steel Mills - Environment Canada.

• Environmental Code of Practice for Non-Integrated Steel Mills - Environment Canada.
  

• Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operating Standards for Tailings Storage - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia (Adobe PDF 209kB)

• Guidelines on the Development of an Operating Manual for Tailings Storage - Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Western Australia (Adobe PDF 172kB)

• A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities - The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) - A Guide released in September 1998 by the MAC to encourage mining companies to practise safe and environmentally responsible management of tailings facilities through the development of customized, site-specific management systems.

• International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) - ICOLD have prepared a range of technical publications related to the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of tailings dams. Many of these have been developed in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). These are available for sale from the ICOLD publications page, while some are available to download as PDF documents.
  • Bulletin N° 44 Bibliography- Mine and industrial tailings dams and dumps.
  • Bulletin N° 74 Recommendations - Tailings dams safety.
  • Bulletin N° 97 Tailings Dams - Design of drainage.
  • Bulletin N° 98 Tailings Dams and Seismicity - Review and Recommendations.
  • Bulletin N° 101 Tailings Dams. Transport. Placement. Decantation - Review and recommendations.
  • Bulletin N° 103 Tailings Dams and Environment - Review and Recommendations.
  • Bulletin N° 104 Monitoring of Tailings Dams - Review and Recommendations.
  • Bulletin N° 106 A guide to Tailings Dams and impoundments - Design, construction, use and rehabilitation. (UNEP/ICOLD), 1996.
  • Bulletin N° 121 - Tailings dams risk of dangerous occurrence - Lessons learnt from practical experiences. (UNEP/ICOLD), July 2001.

• Managing the Risks of Tailings Disposal - Proceedings of Workshop, UNEP / ICME / Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, May 1997.

• Risk Management and Contingency Planning in the Management of Mine Tailings - Proceedings of workshop, UNEP / ICME, December 1998.

• Environmental and Safety Incidents concerning Tailings Dams at Mines - UNEP/ DHA, 1996.

• Tailings Containment - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.

• Case Studies on Tailings Management - UNEP/ ICME, November 1998.

• Manado Declaration on Submarine Tailings Disposal - Project Underground, April 2001.

• Guideline for the compilation of a mandatory code of practice on mine residue deposits - Department of Minerals and Energy, Republic of South Africa.
  

• International Cyanide Management Code for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide in the Production of Gold - Draft - Draft No.:8, September 5, 2001. - The International Cyanide Management Code is being developed as a voluntary industry code for the gold mining industry at the direction of a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee formed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Council on Metals and the Environment (ICME). Further information on the development of the Code is available from both the Cyanide Code and the MRF Environment websites. (English/Francais/Espanol)

• South African Guideline of Cyanide Management for Gold Mining - Chamber of Mines of South Africa, June 2000.

• Cyanide Management - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1998.
  
  

• Managing Sulphidic Mine Wastes and Acid Drainage - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1997.

• Mine Decommissioning - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 2002.

• Guidelines for Mine Closure Planning - Queensland Mining Council (QMC), Australia, 2001. (PDF 274kB)

• Strategic Framework for Mine Closure - Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources (MCMPR) [Formerly the Australia and New Zealand Minerals and Energy Council (ANZMEC)], November 2000. (PDF 119kB)

• Rehabilitation and Revegetation - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.

• Landform Design for Rehabilitation - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1998.

• Contaminated Sites - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1999.

• Mine Rehabilitation for Environment and Health Protection - a trainers manual - UNEP / WHO, 1998.

• EnviroMine - Mine Closure - Section of the InfoMine website dedicated to information and resources on the mine closure process, including development of a mine closure plan, risk analysis and alternatives evaluations, closure criteria and custodial transfer.

• Water Management - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1999.

• Comparison of US EPA, World Bank and WHO guidelines for heavy metals in water - Project Underground.

• Assessment of the Aquatic Effects of Mining in Canada - Proposed Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) - Environment Canada.

• Guidance Document For Flow Measurement Of Metal Mining Effluents and Guidance Document For The Sampling And Analysis Of Metal Mining Effluents - The National Office of Pollution Prevention, Minerals and Metals Division, Environment Canada.

• Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 2002.

• APELL for Mining: Guidance for the Mining Industry in Raising Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies on a Local Level (APELL) programme.

• Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response - The Seveso II Directive - European Commission.

• Environmental Risk Management - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Australia, 1999.

• Environmental Guidelines for Mining Operations - United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 1998. (Adobe PDF 95kB)
  • Appendix 1 - Mining and Environment Guidelines Adopted at the International Round-Table on Mining and the Environment (Adobe PDF 10kB)
  • Appendix 2 - Environmental Policies for Mining Industry Operators (Adobe PDF 35kB)
  • Appendix 3 - Guidelines for Establishing an Environmental Management System (Adobe PDF 25kB)
  • Appendix 6 - The Whitehorse Mining Initiative Leadership Council Accord (Adobe PDF 82kB)
  • Appendix 14 - Supporting Reference Documents and Additional Bibliography (Adobe PDF 14kB)

• Mining and Environment Guidelines Adopted at the International Round-Table on Mining and the Environment - (The Berlin Guidelines), Berlin, 25-28 June 1991. (Adobe PDF 10kB)

• Case Studies Illustrating Environmental Practices in Mining and Metallurgical Processes - UNEP / ICME, 1996.

• Environmental Management of Nickel Production: A Technical Guide - UNEP Technical Report No.: 15, 1993.

• Environmental Aspects of Selected Non-Ferrous Metals (Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Au) Ore Mining - UNEP / ILO, Technical Report No.: 5, 1992.
  
  

• Development and Indigenous Land: A Human Rights Approach - Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), Australian Federal Government, May 2002.
  A set of Principles to provide guidance to indigenous communities on their relationship with resource developers. They address issues such as recognition and respect, indigenous involvement in environmental management, cultural heritage protection, and the need for developers to respect the integrity of Indigenous decision making processes. A central requirement is that developers obtain the prior informed consent of indigenous communities affected by any development proposal.

• Community Consultation and Involvement - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.

• Basic Human Rights and the Impact of Mining Companies - Jeff Atkinson, National Policy Coordinator, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, May 1999.
  • Part 1 - What Should be Done
  • Part 2 - Ensuring Proper Standards
    

• Social Policy - Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)

Social aspects are also covered by some of the universal guidelines listed below.

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights - United Nations, December 1948.

• ILO Declaration of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work - International Labour Organization (ILO).

• Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR).

• Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR).

• United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions - UN, December 1996.

• Berlin II Guidelines for Mining and Sustainable Development (Adobe PDF 185kB) - United Nations, 2002. - An update of the Berlin Environmental Guidelines for Mining released in 1994 incorporating new developments.
  • Appendix (Adobe PDF 345kB)

• Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Program - Environment Australia. - The series of Best Practice Environment Management in Mining (BPEM) booklets aim to assist all sectors of the minerals industry - minerals, coal, oil and gas - to protect the environment and to reduce the impacts of minerals production by following principles of ecologically sustainable development.

• Australian Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management (Adobe PDF) - Australian mineral industry voluntary self-regulatory code of conduct to improve environmental performance.

• Sustainable Development Charter - International Council on Metals and Mining (ICMM) [(formerly the International Council on Metals and the Environment (ICME)].
  The charter contains principles for environmental stewardship, product stewardship and community responsibility that ICMM member companies subscribe to.

• Sustainability Charter - International Zinc Association (IZA) - Members companies of the IZA adopted a Sustainability Charter (Adobe PDF 14KB) and a revised Mission Statement (Adobe PDF 104KB) in October 2001. A set of Guiding Principles is to be developed to assist member companies implement the Sustainability Charter. The IZA represents the global zinc industry with over 42 member companies producing around 70% of world zinc metal production.

• Environmental Management Framework - The Mining Association of Canada (MAC)
  Environmental policy and management guidelines developed by the MAC to help to ensure the consistent integration of environmental considerations into company's planning of projects and operations management. The Framework includes four aspects of environmental management: Leadership and Commitment; Planning; Implementation; and Monitoring, Assessment and Improvement.
  

• Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) Code of Ethics
  A professional code of ethics that applies to the mineral industry professionals (engineers, geologist, managers, accountants, etc.) represented by the AusIMM.

• Principles for Responsible Large Scale Mining - Conservation International, 2000.

• Principles for the Conduct of Company Operations within the Minerals Industry (MS Word) - Gideon Boas, Jeff Atkinson, Robert Stringer, Kate Gilmore, Malcolm Reid, Geoff Evans and Chris Harris in consultation with Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Council for Overseas Aid, Australian Red Cross, Amnesty International, Community Aid Abroad, Mineral Policy Institute, World Wide Fund for Nature, Uniting Church - Social Responsibility & Justice, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (Mining Division). Australian Asia-Pacific Mining Network - October 1998.
  A position paper prepared by Australian based NGOs, providing a basic set of principles for minerals companies regardless of where they are operating or under what circumstances. The principles are intended to have a general application for the operations of mining and oil and gas companies.

• The World Bank Group
  • Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines Underground Mining and Milling (Adobe PDF)
  • Environmental Assessment of Mining Projects - DRAFT - Environmental Assessment Sourcebook UPDATE, Environment Department, The World Bank, February 1997.
  • Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook (PPAH)
    The PPAH adopted in July 1998, applies to all Bank funded projects. The guidelines are designed to be used in the context of the World Bank Group’s environmental policies set out in Operational Policy (OP) 4.01, “Environmental Assessment,” and related documents. The environmental assessment process sets the requirements for environmental performance of projects. The handbook has a range of sectoral guidelines, some with relevance to mineral resources (Adobe PDF):
    • Base Metal and Iron Ore Mining
    • Coal Mining and Production
    • Copper Smelting
    • Iron and Steel Manufacturing
    • Lead and Zinc Smelting
    • Nickel Smelting and Refining
    • Oil and Gas Development (Onshore)
    • Phosphate Fertilizer Plants
    • General Environmental Guidelines

• Mining Best Practices - Office of Industrial Technologies - US Department of Energy - Focus on energy efficiency in the US mining industry.

• Screening and Surveillance of Workers Exposed to Mineral Dusts - World Health Organization (WHO), 1996.
  Presents an approach to the development of screening and surveillance programmes for workers exposed to mineral dusts. Focuses on asbestos, crystalline silica and coal mine dust.

• Environmental Health Criteria No. 203: Chrysotile asbestos - World Health Organization (WHO), 1998.
  Evaluates the risks to human health and the environment posed by exposure to chrysotile asbestos.

• Environmental Health Criteria No. 200: Copper - World Health Organization (WHO), 1998.
  Evaluates the risks to human health and the environment posed by exposure to copper through its various forms and uses.

• Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining: Training Kit - PPK Environment & Infrastructure, Environment Australia - Commonwealth Government - Department of the Environment and Heritage, July 2002. The training kit is based on nine of the BPEM booklets and provides presentation slides, notes, a selection of case studies and worksheets. Trainers are able to add information and case studies relevant to local conditions and operations.

• Planning a Workforce Environmental Awareness Training Program - Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining Booklet, Environment Protection Agency, Australia, 1995.