Among the significant shifts in mining practice over recent decades has been the legislation, policy and initiatives related to rehabilitating mine—impacted areas in an effort to return them to their previous state of health. This has laid the basis for an industry approach that is now evolving toward a focus that aims higher.
The ambition for many leading mining operations close, enhancing sustainability and creating more opportunities than before. This means adopting more than a "neutral" aim, which would traditionally have ended with restoring mining land to something similar to its initial condition. Guided by international mining good practice, and inspired by frameworks like the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, there is growing interest in finding ways to make mining land better and more productive than it was prior to the development of the mine.
The focus on regeneration aligns well with evolving principles of mine closure, which requires the post-closure land use is considered upfront as part of mines' feasibility planning. It also supports a growing trend towards considering - and managing - mining's impact on a regional or catchment scale.
