Mining companies must rethink the economic value of land and infrastructure left behind after extraction, with greater attention to how these assets can be repurposed to support new industries and economic activities, Dr. Kgomotso Tshaka has said.
Speaking at a webinar followed by The High Street Journal and organised by the African Centre for Energy Transition (ACCET) on Friday, November 6, 2026, under the theme “Rethinking Africa’s Mining Legacy: From Mine Closure to Community Regeneration,” Dr. Tshaka argued that former mining assets should be considered potential foundations for economic activity beyond the extractive industry.
Dr. Tshaka, a mining and sustainability executive, researcher and author whose work spans critical minerals, mine closure, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and resource governance, identified solar farms, pumped-storage facilities, industrial parks, agroforestry, tourism, wetlands and agriculture as possible uses for former mining sites and infrastructure.
Her argument challenges the tendency to approach mine closure primarily as a process of managing environmental obligations and disposing of assets. Instead, she wants mining companies to consider how the physical and economic resources developed during extraction can retain value when their original purpose comes to an end.
However, she cautioned that simply establishing projects in former mining communities would not necessarily create a sustainable economic foundation.
“A community project is not necessarily an economic ecosystem,” she said, arguing that diversification initiatives must be developed as interconnected economic activities rather than isolated interventions.
For Dr. Tshaka, this requires a regional approach that begins with identifying what already exists within a mining area, including available land, water resources and infrastructure, and determining how these can be connected to markets outside the mining industry.
She emphasised the importance of beginning this process while mines are still operating, rather than waiting until closure is imminent.
“It should be planned regionally and earlier, not when the mine is about to be closed,” she said.
This approach would allow companies and other stakeholders to assess the economic potential of former mining assets, identify suitable investors and technical partners, and develop the necessary arrangements for local ownership and accountability.
Water security, however, remains a critical consideration in determining which activities can realistically be established on former mining sites. Dr. Tshaka noted that future land uses would depend on safe water basins, the control of pollution sources, interception of seepage and appropriate water treatment, particularly where agriculture and ecological restoration are being considered.
She also highlighted the potential to generate revenue from repurposed mining infrastructure, suggesting that such assets could provide an additional source of funding for communities after mining operations end.
The broader economic proposition is that mine closure need not leave behind only rehabilitated land and infrastructure with no productive use. With early planning, appropriate investment and locally owned economic arrangements, some of the assets associated with extraction could become part of the foundation for new regional industries.
