Gestión de desechos mineros: Estudio de casos de Ghana y Canadá

The report examines how Ghana and British Columbia manage mine waste, focusing on tailings facilities and waste rock. It outlines a 'plan-do-check-act' model for governance, emphasizing risk-based standards, corporate accountability, and financial guarantees for closure. In Ghana, the focus is on integrating artisanal mining and strengthening corporate accountability. In British Columbia, the framework has evolved following the 2014 Mount Polley dam failure, leading to the creation of a dedicated Mine Audits and Effectiveness Unit and stricter requirements for independent reviews.

• Effective mine waste governance requires a comprehensive framework including clear management standards, specific technical requirements for tailings facilities, corporate accountability, pre-approval of management plans, financial mechanisms for long-term risk, and sufficient resources for enforcement.
• Ghana has established detailed legal requirements for environmental assessment and waste management, including the 2012 minerals and mining health, safety, and technical regulations, but lacks a codified 'polluter pays' principle and sufficient financial guarantees to cover all closure tasks.
• Ghana is addressing the high environmental risks of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) through the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP), which uses satellite imagery to locate and control ASM activities, noting an average conversion of -2600 ha/year in southwest Ghana between 2005 and 2019.
• The 2014 Mount Polley tailings dam failure in British Columbia, caused by an unidentified weak clay layer and organizational failures, led to significant regulatory reforms, including the requirement for an Independent Tailings Review Board and a Registered Engineer for all facilities.
• British Columbia has strengthened its regulatory oversight by separating compliance and enforcement from the permitting process and establishing the Mine Audits and Effectiveness Unit in September 2020, supported by a 2019 budget allocation of 20 million Canadian dollars.

APA

Hill, J., & Gillman, M. (2021). Gestión de desechos mineros: Estudio de casos de Ghana y Canadá. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/igf-case-study-mine-waste-management-canada-ghana-es.pdf

Chicago

Hill, Jenifer, and Matthew Gillman. Gestión de desechos mineros: Estudio de casos de Ghana y Canadá. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/igf-case-study-mine-waste-management-canada-ghana-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hill |first1=Jenifer |last2=Gillman |first2=Matthew |title=Gestión de desechos mineros: Estudio de casos de Ghana y Canadá |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/igf-case-study-mine-waste-management-canada-ghana-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hill2021gestin, author = {Hill, Jenifer and Gillman, Matthew}, title = {{Gestión de desechos mineros: Estudio de casos de Ghana y Canadá}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/igf-case-study-mine-waste-management-canada-ghana-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }