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From visionary intent to innovative action: Implementing the Africa Mining Vision

Published in February 2009, The Africa Mining Vision (AMV) could hardly have appeared at a more challenging time, in the immediate aftermath of the global banking crisis and following one of the most severe market corrections the mining and minerals sector has ever experienced. At the heart of the Vision is a clear understanding of the urgent need in the African region for "transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development". To be sustainable, such growth and development would need to be built not on a traditional mining model of investor return but on equitable triple bottom line principles-financial success, contribution to social and economic development, and environmental stewardship-in which shareholders and stakeholders both benefit.

Africa is top ranked in the world in regard to its holdings of high-value and critical resources such as gold, diamonds and phosphates, with a rapidly growing base of identified energy resources, such as oil, gas, coal and uranium. But despite the cogency of the argument set out for the AMV, the region has so far not achieved its goal of turning these resources into sustainable growth.  

The way forward lies in addressing three critical dependencies which the AMV identifies, each requiring significant investment: first, systematic development of human resources (capacity-building); secondly, focus on value-added activities such as processing and product development, rather than the export of raw materials; thirdly, enhanced infrastructure for mining and processing, energy, transportation and communications.

The investments are necessary, but are they sufficient?

To answer that question and to consider the best way forward for the AMV in practice, some 40 experts from 20 IAEA Member States across the region met in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania to evaluate the progress to date and to identify how to foster the Vision's objective in the coming years. The framework for the meeting was the regional project, RAF2011 "Supporting Sustainable Development of Uranium Resources". It did not take long to reach consensus that a dependency, perhaps the most critical of all, was left unaddressed-which innovative, but practical methodologies, suited to both the needs and the values of the African region should be applied to the sustainable management of mineral resources in order to turn the AMV vision into a reality?

 

Two methodologies stood out: "Comprehensive extraction" (CX) and "zero waste". The need to follow a comprehensive extraction path is emerges from the simple geological observation that uranium resources rarely come on their own. They are commonly to be found as co- or by-products of, for example, copper or phosphate deposits. This was particularly evident in the case of Minjingu phosphate mine near Arusha, which contributes to the food security of the region by providing valuable soil nutrients, but can also potentially contribute to energy security, if the abundant uranium present in rocks can be extracted and utilized. 

On the environmental side, the reputations of the mining and extractive industries have been damaged as a result of past failures to respect and protect the environment by developing end-of-life plans for mining facilities, or by setting aside financial assets to implement such plans. Legacy wastes are the outcome of these decisions, and often appear when mining sites are closed without any plans to remediate the affected lands. The African region has been looking for innovative ways to implement the African Mining Vision, ways in which the region can take a global leadership role. From the quick and positive response given by the meeting's participants, it was made clear that the new approach provides a way forward, and way forward that plays to the region strengths precisely because the minerals sector is not yet fully developed. By combining both strategies, CX and zero waste, as part of the future development strategy, a higher value-added be achieved for any mineral-extraction project, including uranium-mining. Moreover, rather than accepting that waste-production is an unavoidable consequence, the mining and extraction process itself is designed to minimise or eliminate waste rather than be content to generate it.

The IAEA Project Co-ordination Meeting and Workshop on "NORM residue management through recovery, reuse and recycling of uranium and associated valuable mineral products" was held in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, 6 - 10 July, 2015, kindly hosted by the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission.

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