Operating Mines and their Closure Risks 2021-2023

South Africa has 230 operating mines located in diverse natural and social settings. Over 6 million people live in urban and rural mining host communities who will be significantly affected by mine closure. The national, provincial and local governments need guidance in identifying high-risk areas and relevant policy and programmatic interventions. This dataset includes data collected on mines in South Africa for the development of a quantitative mine closure risk rating system that assesses the likelihood of mine closure, the risk of social impact and the risk of environmental impact of mine closure for every operating mine in the country. The rating system was tested with 10 mines and 19 mining experts. The shape files for maps resulting from the research are also included in the dataset.The data is also available for viewing on the
South African Mine Closure Risk and Opportunity Atlas https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f8bbd7f733674b9d99cd320b4f5b98f5/
Data projection: GCS_WGS_1984
The data provides evidence for the research publication Cole, M.J. A Mine Closure Risk Rating System for South Africa. Mining 2024, 4, 58-78. https://doi.org/10.3390/mining4010005