Mining for closure: Policies and guidelines for sustainable mining practice and closure of mines

“Mining for Closure – Policies and guidelines for sustainable mining practice and closure of mines”. It is intended as a checklist and guidebook on “best practices” related to mining, useful for an audience far beyond the mining industry, including government, NGOs, international organizations and the general public. “Mining for Closure” was first presented to a broader group of experts and politicians in a sub-regional Ministerial Conference, in Cluj Napoca, Romania in May 2005. The participants welcomed and endorsed the report as “a guide and checklist for reducing and mitigating the environmental, health and security risks from mining practices” in the ‘Cluj Declaration’ issued at the conference. We see in “Mining for Closure” something like a recipe for stimulating debate and public accountability of mining legacies and operations. Through applying the basic principles and guidelines, not only mining will become environmentally and socially more sustainable, it may also result in more democracy, increased wellbeing and security of those directly and indirectly affected.