Mine closure is one of the biggest unsolved challenges in responsible mining, and Peter Harvey has spent the last seven years at the heart of it. His route was unusual: environmental science, then outdoor education for young people excluded from school (companies he still directs), a master’s in occupational psychology, and a decade enabling mineral exploration across West Africa, Asia and beyond, before seventeen years at Rio Tinto spanning exploration, operations and closure.
His argument cuts to the core of sustainable mining: the true cost of extraction has never been in the price of the metal. We pay to pull minerals from the ground, not to clean up what’s left, a closure liability the major mining companies alone value at over ninety billion dollars, and one few have any incentive to disclose. Design a mine with the end in mind, he argues, and you cut long-term liabilities and leave land genuinely fit for its next use.
This episode also covers mine rehabilitation and post-mining land use, the sector’s culture of poor transparency, who belongs at the table (governments, financiers, and Indigenous and First Nations communities), and a Navajo approach to planning seven generations ahead.
Produced by Critical Productions. Sponsored by Satarla.
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