Sustainable development has become a driving force in how the mining industry approaches all existing and future activities. Progress has been made to advance environmental performance and stewardship and provide benefits to civil society. Technologies are now in place to plan for, open, operate and decommission a mine property in an environmentally acceptable manner, both in the short and long term. Moreover, mining companies, governments and consultants have acquired a great deal more capability to deal with environmental and societal issues such as water contamination from mine wastes, including acid generation. Acidic drainage is one of the most significant environmental issues facing the mining industry. The mine environment neutral drainage (MEND) program was the first international multi-stakeholder initiative to develop scientifically-based technologies to reduce the effect of acidic drainage. The original program and its subsequent initiatives have contributed enormously to the understanding of acidic drainage and how to prevent it. MEND focused the acidic drainage effort and developed a toolbox of technologies that is available to all stakeholders. The legacy of orphaned/abandoned mines, with their associated environmental liability, human health concerns and the financial costs of clean up, is a serious issue facing Canada. Canada's long history in mining has resulted in more than 10 000 orphaned or abandoned sites, requiring varying degrees of rehabilitation. The National Orphaned/Abandoned Mines Initiative (NOAMI) was established in 2002 and is a cooperative Canadian program that is guided by an advisory committee consisting of the mining industry, federal/provincial/territorial governments, environmental non-government organisations and Aboriginal Canadians. The advisory committee's role is to assess key issues and put forward recommendations concerning collaborative approaches and partnerships in the implementation of remediation programs across Canada.The successes of MEND and NOAMI have come through the collaborative efforts of the partners, the sharing of experiences, the thorough evaluation of technologies and practices. Through these efforts a significant advancement in environmental management is achieved and thus has contributed to the long-term sustainability of the mining industry and the environment._x000D_
*Abstract only. No paper was preapred for this abstract* CITATION:Tremblay, G and Hogan, C, 2012. Experience of Canadian partnership programs - Mine environment neutral drainage and national orphaned/abandoned mines initiative, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2012 , pp 11-12 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).