Engaging stakeholders in post-mining transition

Mining makes a major economic contribution to many regional communities, yet has major impacts on land use. At the close of mining operations, decisions have to be crystallised about the residual impacts of mining, standards of rehabilitation, choice of post-mining land use, and the processes to exit mining operations and achieve the successful transition to another land use or industry base. Leading practice impact assessment and mine closure guidelines in Queensland, Australia, both advocate for closure processes that understand the expectations of stakeholders throughout the mining life-cycle. However there is little guidance on how to achieve this. It is difficult to envisage how transition to alternative uses will be achieved, in the absence of incorporating the perceptions of potential future land users about the impacts that mining has had and the utility of ex-mining leases, including their socio-economic value and associated opportunities and risks. This paper analyses models for engagement of stakeholders in adaptive management in collaboration with regulators and mining companies, via a process of long-term engagement amongst a cross-section of predominantly local people. It outlines five examples of stakeholder panels suitable to assess mining impact management and explores the different opportunities these may provide in engaging stakeholders to manage the impacts of mine rehabilitation and plan post-mining futures. The five examples are: • Community consultative committee • Special issue group • Stakeholder reference panel • Expert advisory panel • Taskforce. The models of engagement are classified across a number of characteristics to help select and tailor their applications to different industry and closure planning needs. These incorporate many of the tools and competencies essential to impact assessment such as stakeholder analysis, risk assessment and monitoring and management measures.