Brief Case Study: Environment and
Sustainable Development in Mining
and Minerals Sector in the Republic Of
Korea (ROK)
Lee Ji-Hyun
September.22nd 2010 Beijing, PRC
Contents
Introduction
Policies and legislation
Planning
Practice
Case
Conclusion
Page  2
Introduction
characteristics of the mining industry in S.Korea
Weakness
 Minerals development encouraged from 1960 to 1980.
 However, limited reserves of mineral resources
 And the depletion of natural resources and decreasing price have caused the voluntary
closure of non-economical mines and a reduction in mine production since 1990.
 Most are ‘medium–scale mining operators’ -> difficult to implement environmental best
practice
Opportunity
 Relatively recently economical importance of minerals and mining recognized again
: the price of minerals in international market has been increased .
 Changes in awareness and policy on environment : GDP increased, Regulations and laws
related to environment
Page  3
Policies and legislation
Sustainable Development Policy in mining & mineral
sector
 The Mine Pollution Prevention and Reclamation Act was enacted on May 31st, 2005,
and the Mine reclamation corporation was established in June 2006 to actively
promote the mine reclamation project in closed mining areas.
 Purpose of enactment :
1. Most of mines in S.Korea were abandoned - severe environment and human health
impacts.
: As of 2005, inactive or abandoned mines accounts for 64% of whole mines. Companies no
longer operating.
: Harmful waste water containing such heavy metals as iron, aluminum, arsenic, and cadmium
are being discharged from abandoned pits and waste stone and tailing dumping sites
following the closure of mines.
-> Led to a push for national actions for mine-hazard prevention
Mines
inactive/abandoned mines
operational mines
36%
Page  4
17%
abandoned coal mines
47%
Source: Korea Institute for Geosciences and
Mineral Resources, 2005, Present Status of
Abandoned Mines
2. Related laws and regulations were scattered and there was overlap on
implementation by different departments -> need for unified mgt. system
Waste stone, waste
water, ground
subsidence,
abandoned equipment,
plant and buildings
Survey on
land
contamination
Ministry of
Knowledge &
Economy :
Ministry of Environment
Ministry of
Knowledge &
Economy
Waste stone, waste water,
ground subsidence,
abandoned equipment,
plant and buildings ,
Restoration of Forest and
Land
Ministry for food,
Agriculture,
Forestry , and
fisheries
[After]
Page  5
[Before]
Soil
Remediation
Regulations and Laws on Mining and Mine
Reclamation
Regulation and Laws
(From 1980 to 2005)
•
•
•
Since 2006
The Mine Safety Act
•
The Coal Industry Act
•
Other Environment Laws and Regul
ations:
The Soil Environment Conservation Act;
The noise and vibration control Act;
The wastes control Act ; The water
quality and ecosystem conservation Act
• The Agricultural Land Act
• The Forest Act
Page  6
The Mine Safety Act
The Prevention of Mine Pollution and
Reclamation Act
Overview of the Prevention of mine pollution and
reclamation Act 1
Legal obligation for government to put forward national action for
prevention of mine hazard
: legal obligation for mine operator is dismissed after three years from
when the ‘mining right’ is expired. Then the government has legal obligation
for abandoned mines in this case, and also in case of mine operator pass
away or losing financial ability etc. (Article3)
** ‘Mine hazard’(mine pollution) is defined in related laws; the mining act, the
mining safety act, the coal industry act, The Soil Environment Conservation Act,
The Prevention of Mine Pollution and Reclamation Act**
: According to the definition of laws, mining hazard is negative impacts on the
environment and on human health that mining operations can lead to; such as
land degradation, drainage from mining sites, including acid mine drainage and
pumped mine water, dust emissions from sites close to living areas or habitats
: Furthermore, The prevention of mine pollution and reclamation Act defines mining
hazard containing social environment impact such as creating unsightly views
or becoming a crime-ridden district since its abandonment.
Page  7
-
Overview of the Act 2
The share in expense for prevention of mine hazard
(Article 24)
: : Mine operator shall deposit a share for prevention of
mine hazard every year during mining operation. It will
be spent for rehabilitation after mine closure
**Obligor of prevention of mine hazard(article 2): mining
right holder and mining concession right holder .
**Government subsidy regulated in the Special Account for Energy and
Resouce Act, Article 5, in the Coal Industry Act (Article 27), in the Nature
Protection Act (Article 49)
Page  8
Overview of the Act 3
Planning for implementation of policy :
.
General planning for prevention of mine hazards
(2007~2011)
-According to the article 7 of the Prevention of Mine
Pollution and Reclamation Act, the ROK government
designs general planning every five years
Page  9
Practices
 Initial Phase : Location of mining activites
- Mining operations required to undertake an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
according to the Act on EIA
 Operational phase
-
Coal
Mine
Metal
Mine
Non
Metal
mine
Subtotal
Total
349
988
669
1,657
2,006
Operational 9
Mine
52
669
721
730
Abandoned 340
Mine
936
0
936
1,276
Total
Page  10
Tot
al
Page  11
Compensation for
mine damage
Post –closure mgt.
forest
Clean-up of
Abandoned
equipment and plan
ts
Restoration of
Prevention of
noise and vibration
Remediation of
soil
Remediation of
water quality
Prevention of
ground subsidence
Prevention of
tailing sweeping
Prevention of
waste stone
 Status of prevention of mine hazard for recent years
2006
16
6
3
11
-
2007
40
14
27
25
33
54
26
25
15
3
2008
27
19
35
29
54
26
9
37
19
-
2009
8
19
35
20
74
11
9
28
15
-
75
52
113
80
161
91
47
101
49
3
Recent case of mining hazard in ROK
 Jang-hang Refinery (copper)
- Impact on residents around the refinery
: Among residents, began to claim their cancer is caused by cadmium leaked by the
refinery (1998)
- JH refinery closed its smelting furnace in 1989 because of environment impacts
such as cadmium emissions and increasing environmental expenses .
-For about ten years, local government did not recognise claims of local
communities.
But, after Seo-cheon News newspaper, reported severe public health impacts from
the refinery, it became a nationwide issue.
Central government started to implement a precise survey on residents health
status. After its results came out in 2009, the government put forward measures
for residents health and remediation of soil around the refinery.
The town of Jang-hang is located in Seo-cheon
County in South Chung-chung Province.
Page  12
Detailed Measure
 Purchase polluted lots
ㆍBased on the soil precision survey, purchase soil centering around the section
that was polluted by heavy metals and also polluted by multi materials.
 Purify polluted lots
ㆍDivide into the section not to be purchased and the section to be purchased,
purify them but the section not to be purchased shall be purified first.
ㆍPurification expenses shall be shared according to the pollution causing rate of
the institutions that manage the Janghang refinery.
 Designate a soil preservation measure region
ㆍDesignate a pollution source section with the radius of around 1.5 km such as a
section where tolerance standards on heavy metal residues in agricultural
products(rice) are exceeded. (excluding factory regions).
 Enforce the migration of residents
ㆍEnforce the migration of residents who reside within the section to be purchased.
- Enforce compensation for prohibition on farming.
ㆍEnforce rewards for a pollution source section with the radius of around 1 km
where farming is prohibited since the heavy metal residues in agricultural products
exceed the tolerance standard.
Page  13
Conclusion
 The mechanism for environmentally sustainable development in mining and
mineral sector in South Korea is government-oriented.
 Even mining operators have a responsibility to incorporate environment
sustainabliltiy into their operation according to the laws, many of them are smaller
scale mining and have less capability to afford shared expenses and low
technology and skill.
 Also, many of mines in South Korea are inactive or abandoned , but it is rarely
possible to find the previous mine operators and owners.
 Therefore, government, particularly the Ministry of Knowledge and Economcy and
the Korea Mines Reclamation Corporation take on responsibilty.
 However, its budget is not sufficient to inspect mine hazards on a national scale
and conduct the projects for prevention and reclamation management.
 The agena for the future is for the development and improvement of technology to
manage and mitigate mine hazards during operations and address the
rehabilitation of contaminated sites. Also to use systems such as GIS for
completing an inventory of abandoned mines and damages.
Page  14