Environmental Impact Assessment - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 83

tailings storage facilities and mine access roads. As shown in Figure 2.1 the EIA evolves
concurrently with and is integrated into mine planning. Environmental issues are i rst
considered at the concept stage. During the mine design stage the EIA identii es envi-
ronmental design standards and impact mitigation measures that should be built into the
mine design ( Case 2.2 ). The central idea is that environmental assessment and mine plan-
ning are iterative processes, with the i nal outcome being an optimal mine plan.

FIGURE 2.3
Environmental Impact Assessment -
Temporal Boundary

TEMPORAL
BOUNDARY

With
Project
Without
Project

The baseline (or benchmark) descrip-
tion should not be that of a static
entity, accurately refl ecting the 'no
action' scenario providing insight into
environmental changes that would
occur in the absence of the project.

Start of Mine
Operation

Mine
Closure

Time

EXAMPLE

Population in Sopokomi Village,
Dairi Lead/Zinc Mine, Sumatra, Indonesia

Year Without Project With Project

1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005

763

801

882

913

1,004

1,153

Project Start

2010
2011

?

?
?

?

CASE 2.2
Mitsubishi's Gresik Copper Smelter

To process copper ore from the nearby Grasberg
mine, and to help develop downstream metal
industries in Indonesia, Mitsubishi, in cooperation
with PT. Freeport Indonesia, developed a 200,000
ton per year copper smelter at Gresik, Java. The
smelter, based on Mitsubishi's continuous smelting
and converting technology, is widely praised as
the smelting technology for the 21st century (Prof.
Emeritus Herbert H. Kellog 2000: 'I have no hesita-
tion in describing the Gresik plant as the fi nest

copper plant I have ever seen'). All internal solid
waste streams are recycled, and fi nal output of
trace metals is in the form of inert granulated cop-
per slag. In the original design, slag granulation was
based on a once-through sea water cooling system
applied at similar smelter operations in Japan. The
EIA team successfully proposed the use of a closed
water cycle, eliminating potential contamination of
sea water in the nearby Madura Strait.