The IGF delivered a week-long training workshop on mine closure and abandoned mines in Namibia in partnership with the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The workshop covered key mine closure principles and plans, the technical and social aspects of closure, and approaches for cost estimation and funding closure. Participants also explored challenges and opportunities related to abandoned mines and discussed local and international case studies.
The initiative provided an opportunity for participants to use a recently developed mine closure cost estimation checklist for governments as well as pilot a new abandoned mines inventory and risk assessment tool. “Namibia has good experience with assessing abandoned mines, so their feedback on the new tool was really valuable,” said Rob Stevens, IGF Senior Associate. Both the checklist and abandoned mines tool are part of an IGF project with funding from Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).
The group also participated in a 1-day field trip where they could see and hear about closure plans and progressive rehabilitation activities at the Navachab gold mine and visit abandoned mine sites to learn about the challenges and risk assessment approaches.
A total of 29 participants completed the workshop, including officials from ministries responsible for mining, the environment, the Bank of Namibia, and local universities.