Care and maintenance is a term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed mine site where there is potential to recommence operations at a later date. During the care and maintenance phase, production is stopped but the site is managed to ensure it remains in a safe and stable condition.
The mine might be considered to be temporarily unviable, [1] due to current economic conditions or unfavourable resource prices, [2] [3] which are expected to improve at a later date. [4]
Declining ore grades at some mines can also be a reason for care and maintenance announcements. [5]
In some cases controlling interest companies decide not to provide further funding for subsidiary operations. [6]
While the mine is closed, a care and maintenance program will manage environmental risks associated with tailings dumps, hazardous materials and open and underground pits. [7] Care of idle plant and machinery will also be included in the program. Public health and safety considerations and emergency response plans continue during the care and maintenance phase.
Some countries have legislative frameworks to ensure care and maintenance programs are in place before granting mine "closure certificates". [8] [9]
A later decision to permanently close the mine may result in mine reclamation.
Mine closure planning involves planning effectively for the after-mining landscape – all activities required before, during, and after the operating life of a mine that are needed to produce an acceptable landscape economically. Closure performance refers to the activities near and after mine closure and how well activities listed in the closure plan are carried out.
The TauTona Mine, formerly Western Deep Levels No.3 Shaft, is a gold mine located in the West Wits gold field west of Johannesburg. The mine is near the town of Carletonville in South Africa. At approximately 3.9 kilometers (2.4 mi) deep, it is home to the world's second deepest mining operation, rivalled only by the Mponeng Gold Mine, formerly Western Deep Levels No.1 Shaft. TauTona was temporarily closed in 2018.
Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from deep shafts, typically sunk for mining projects.
The Hazelwood Power Station was a decommissioned brown coal-fuelled thermal power station located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia. Built between 1964 and 1971, the 1,600-megawatt-capacity power station was made up of eight 200MW units, and supplied up to 25% of Victoria's base load electricity and more than 5% of Australia's total electricity demand. It was a 'subcritical' pulverized coal-fired boiler. The station was listed as the least carbon efficient power station in the OECD in a 2005 report by WWF Australia, making it one of the most polluting power stations in the world. At 1.56 tonnes of CO2 for each megawatt hour of electricity, it was 50% more polluting than the average black coal power station in New South Wales or Queensland. Hazelwood emitted 14% of Victoria's annual greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
The Timbarra Gold Mine was a highly controversial gold mine located on the Timbarra Plateau, at the head waters of the Clarence River, near Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia. The gold ore body consisted of a greisen type granite. The protracted controversy attracted national and international attention, and catalysed an anti-cyanide extraction campaign in Australia.
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The Mining industry of Ghana accounts for 5% of the country's GDP and minerals make up 37% of total exports. Gold contributes over 90% of the total mineral exports. Thus, the main focus of Ghana's mining and minerals development industry remains focused on gold. Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer, producing 80.5 t in 2008. Ghana is also a major producer of bauxite, manganese and diamonds. Ghana has 20 large-scale mining companies producing gold, diamonds, bauxite and manganese; over 300 registered small scale mining groups; and 90 mine support service companies. Other mineral commodities produced in the country are natural gas, petroleum, salt, and silver.
Rosslyn Hill Mining Pty Ltd operates Paroo Station Mine at Wiluna in Western Australia.
The Ministry of Mines is the ministry in the Government of India. The ministry functions as the primary body for the formulation and administration of laws relating to mines in India. The head of the ministry is G. Kishan Reddy, who has been serving since June 2024.
The Paulsens Gold Mine is a gold mine located 105 km south of Pannawonica, Western Australia, within the pastoral lease of the Mount Stuart Station. It is fully owned by Black Cat Syndicate, having purchased the mine from Northern Star Resources in June 2022. Production at the mine was halted in December 2017 and is currently in care and maintenance.
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The Sandstone Gold Mine is a gold mine located 6 km south east of Sandstone, Western Australia.
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The Obuasi Gold Mine is an underground gold mine situated near Obuasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It was at one time one of the world's ten largest gold mines. The mine is in Obuasi Municipal District, 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of the regional capital Kumasi.
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The Canatuan mine was a gold/silver, copper/zinc open-pit mine located in the province of Zamboanga del Norte on the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines. The mine was operated from 2004 to January 2014 by TVI Resource Development (Phils) Inc., a former subsidiary of Canadian-based TVI Pacific Inc. The mine was operated within Mount Canatuan, a sacred mountain of the Subanen people, who protested against the mining company and its operations.
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