ABSTRACT
Mining is a centuries-old economic activity but closing a mine successfully is an industry practice involving technological innovations that are being adopted only recently. The current body of knowledge on mine closure emphasises the need to start mine closure planning even before opening a mine, and the plan must be reviewed throughout the entire life of the mine to ensure a positive post-mining legacy. However, the focus of the current discourse on mine closure has been on new and future mines which neatly fit the ‘planning-before-commencing’ approach that assumes a blank-slate as a starting point for the mine closure process. There are decades-old operating mines which did not apply ‘planning-for-closure-before-commencing’ because they began at an era when mine closure planning was not a requirement. Such is the case of the mines that the book presents, but the current mining policy of the Philippines mandates operators to implement today’s mine closure standards. These mines have remained hardly examined yet they are part of mine closure realities that offer focal insights and tangible closure scenarios. This is where the book can make a modest contribution.
