Sustainable mining as it is addressed today should probably need to be re-defined or renamed since mining cannot be sustainable itself because the minerals that are extracted are finite and will be exhausted at some point in time.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the strategies, programs, and projects that the mining industry takes in regards to communities, ecosystems, and some mining processes can be called \u201csustainable\u201d and lead to \u201csustainability\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sustainable development is a broad topic used not only in mining but in other public and private sectors.\u00a0 The concept of sustainability covers how human activities impact the economic development of an area or region, also covers the environmental activities and social well-being of the people and ecosystem affected by production projects.\u00a0 This concept can be the differentiating point between the success or failure of a project.\u00a0 The basic but very important requirements for sustainable development can be summarized in the 4M concept:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minimize energy Waste<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minimize materials utilization<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minimize environmental impact<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maximize Social satisfaction and engagement.<\/p>\n
During some of my readings, I came across a set of handbooks developed by the Australian government through the department of Industry and Science. These handbooks are widely known as the \u201cLeading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry\u201d and are another aid for companies and regulatory agencies to learn and put in action sustainable practices.\u00a0 Each handbook provides case studies of both positive and negative consequences and actions taken by different companies and how those actions have benefited or in some cases affected the performance and reputation of a mine project.<\/p>\n
Sharing the knowledge found on those handbooks, I believe, is very important not only for developed countries but especially for those societies where mining is a new industry.\u00a0 Using this information will allow national agencies, communities and companies develop their own strategies based on others experiences.<\/p>\n
I leave you the link below to find more about this amazing treasure of knowledge:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.industry.gov.au\/ resource\/Programs\/LPSD\/Pages\/ LPSDhandbooks.aspx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mario Ramirez,\u00a0MASc Mining Engineering \/\/ April 26, 2015 Sustainable mining as it is addressed today should probably need to be re-defined or renamed since mining cannot be sustainable itself because the minerals that are extracted are finite and will be exhausted at some point in time.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the strategies, programs, and projects that the mining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29441,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[326282,129760,322977,2247],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eiti-mongolia","category-localization","category-student-reflections","category-weekly-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1158,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/maapps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}