Mining and Sustainable Development II - DTIE

UNEP
ISSN 0378-9993
Industry and Environment
Volume 23
Special Issue 2000
industry and
environment
A publication of the United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics
Une publication du Programme des Nations Unies pour l'environnement
Division Technologie, Industrie et Economie
Una publicación del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente
División de Tecnología, Industria y Economía
Mining and sustainable
development II
Challenges and perspectives
◆ Environmental stewardship
◆ Voluntary codes
◆ Risk communication
◆ Emergency preparedness

C o n t e n t s
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Contents
Mining and sustainable development
4 Mining – facts, figures and environment
8 Who’s who in mining / environment
10 The global mining industry – by Chris Hinde
14 Financing and sustainability
15 Fundamental Principles for the Mining Sector
(Berlin Guidelines 1991, revised 1999)
16 Challenges to sustainable development in the
mining sector – by Deborah J. Shields and
Slavko V. Solar
Environmental management
and global reporting
20 The Global Reporting Initiative –
an opportunity for the mining industry – by
Robert K. Massie, Allen White and Nancy Bennet
24 Mineral Resources Forum – Environment
25 Mining Industry Report Comparison
26 Mining and sustainable development:
associations hold key to programme of
change – by Anita Roper
29 Some environmental management tools for
mining – a brief overview
Environmental issues
32 Sustainable development and the evolving
agenda for environmental protection in the
mining industry – by Barry Carbon
36 Abandoned mine sites: problems, issues
and options
38 Training small scale miners:
the video project – by Grant Mitchell
39 Rehabilitation measures: water management
Rehabilitation measures: tailings impoundment
Environmental and toxicity issues
40 Biodégradation/persistance et
bioaccumulation/biomagnification des
et des composés métalliques
41 Future challenges facing the mining industry:
an environmental health perspective – by
Michael R. Moore and Barry N. Noller
Economic issues
44 Mining and the environment: the economic
agenda – by Olle Östensson
47 Environmental impacts of trade liberalization
and policies for the sustainable management
of natural resources: A case study on Chile’s
mining sector
49 Small-scale and artisinal mining
50 Small-scale mining legislation and regulatory
frameworks – by Edmund Bugnosen,
John Twigg and Andrew Scott
54 Financial provisioning for mine closure:
developing a policy and regulatory
framework in the transition economies –
by Mehrdad M. Nazari
Social issues
57 Mining and the Social Imperative –
by Nola-Kate Seymoar
60 The dialogue between environmental and
community groups and the mining industry
in South Africa – by Julie Courtnage,
John Kilani, Andrew Parsons and
Doctor Mthethwa
62 If you give you must always expect twice in
return – a South African’s experience in
Canada– by Grant Mitchell
63 Mining and Indigenous Peoples –
by P. Jerry Asp
Tailings and waste
64 Dissection of an accident: lessons learned
and follow-up actions from Baia Mare
65 Summary of major mining-related
environmental incidents since 1975
66 Tailings accidents and lessons learned
68 Emergency Preparedness and Response:
APELL for Mining
71 The case for auditing and certification of tailings
management facilities – by Stewart Cale and
Mike Cambridge
73 Prevention of hazards in mining tailings dams
and waste heaps – by Kazunori Kano
76 Designer waste – by Hugh Jones
78 Environnement minier : résidus de l’industrie
minière et alternatives de valorisation –
by G. Morizot, H. Lesueur et H. Zeegers
Voluntary non-regulatory
and regulatory initiatives
83 Voluntary initiatives: improving environmental
performance
84 International Conventions and Guidelines
Affecting Mining
86 Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development
(MMSD) Project – by Luke Danielson
86 Accident prevention and environmental sefety in
mining: the role of governments
Viewpoints on future challenges
87 Environment, multi-culturalism and human
rights: challenges for the mining industry and
governments – by Cristina Echavarría
88 Mining and World Heritage considerations –
by Mechtild Rössler
90 Mining and protected areas:
an IUCN viewpoint – by Adrian Phillips
92 La minería en la encrucijada de la sustentabilidad
– by Adam Rankin and Hildebrando Velez
93 Future challenges for the large-scale mining
industry – by Amy Rosenfeld Sweeting
94 Mining and metals processing:
The commitment to sustainable
development – by Gary Nash
2 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

E d i t o r i a l
Editorial
Mining and sustainable development: challenges for the
next decade
Activities related to mining and sustainable development have
been an important part of UNEP’s work for a number of years.
This is, in fact, the second issue of Industry and Environment
devoted to the subject. The environmental effects of the mining
industry include destruction of natural habitats, changes in river
regimes and water tables, and other serious ecological impacts.
Although the industry has succeeded in making improvements,
serious problems remain, beginning with the need to reduce the
number and severity of accidents.
The January 30 mine tailings accident in Baia Mare, Romania,
resulted in a cyanide plume that crossed four countries entering
the Danube. UNEP and the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led an assessment mission to the
region and their final report has helped focus several of UNEP’s
mining related initiatives this year. In China, too, 23 mining
related accidents have been reported this year including five
tailings dam failures.
As part of its work on improving environmental performance,
UNEP has undertaken several critically important initiatives with
various partners. Due to problems associated with cyanide use, it
initiated the development of an industry cyanide code for its use
in gold mining with the International Council on Metals and the
Environment. This code should be adopted in 2001. An APELL for
Mining handbook, aimed at reducing the risk of accidents and
developing local emergency preparedness should an accident
occur, will be available in early 2001. With the International
Commission on Large Dams, UNEP has stressed the importance of
introducing contingency measures to ameliorate the impact of
tailings dam incidents at the design stage. With the government
of Australia, UNEP recently hosted an international workshop (in
which some 20 countries participated) to promote more effective
regulation of mining’s potentially hazardous aspects. Moreover,
since mining companies are heavily capitalized, UNEP is
encouraging financial institutions including the World Bank Group
to play a greater role in fostering sustainable mineral
development. As one important tool for making information freely
available, UNEP uses the Environment section of the Mineral
Resources Forum website initiated by the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Availability of water is likely to be one of the 21st century’s most
pressing resource issues. All but a handful of countries in which
mining takes place (e.g. Canada, Norway and Sweden) are
vulnerable to water scarcity. Growing populations, and other
industries, compete with the mining industry for a share of this
resource. UNEP has been working with the International Council
on Metals and the Environment on a best practice case study
book concerning water management at mining sites.
UNEP is also addressing other mining related issues, including
energy demand, abandoned sites, biodiversity and protected
areas and the use of hazardous chemicals. Under the rubric of
cleaner production, UNEP’s broad objective is to phase out the
production and use of persistent and bioaccumulative substances,
including heavy metals, which affect human health and the
environment.
UNEP is dedicated to helping the mining industry achieve its
ambitious environmental and social targets. To succeed, we
believe a policy mix including regulatory measures, economic
incentives and voluntary initiatives will be necessary. The Malmö
Declaration of the first Global Ministerial Environment Forum,
convened by UNEP in May 2000, stated that: “The private sector
has emerged as a global actor that has a significant impact on
environmental trends through its investment and technology
decisions. In this regard, Governments have a crucial role in
creating an enabling environment. The institutional and
regulatory capacities of Governments to interact with the private
sector should be pursued to engender a new culture of
environmental accountability through the application of the
polluter-pays principle, environmental performance indicators
and reporting, and the establishment of a precautionary approach
in investment and technology decisions.”
Early in 2000, the Global Mining Initiative (GMI) was launched
by over 25 CEOs of the world’s largest mining companies to
examine the range of current issues and ensure that the industry
and other stakeholders will work together to contribute to
sustainable economic development patterns. GMI initiated the
Mining Minerals Sustainable Development (MMSD) project as an
independent process of multi-stakeholder engagement and
analysis, with the objective of “identifying how mining and
minerals can best contribute to the global transition to sustainable
development.” As Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, has said:
“Transnational companies have been the first to benefit from
globalization. They must take their share of the responsibility for
coping with its effects.”
That such accountability and transparency go together with
environmental reporting has been consistently advocated by
UNEP. It is one of the co-convenors of the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI), along with the Coalition for Environmental
Responsible Economies (CERES) and with the support of the
United Nations Foundation. GRI is a long-term, multi-stakeholder
international undertaking to develop globally applicable
sustainability reporting. Its objective is to raise sustainability
reporting to the same level of acceptance and consistency as
financial reporting.
In the lead-up to Rio+10 in 2002, UNEP is reviewing the mining
industry’s environmental performance and management systems,
as well as the use of voluntary agreements to complement
government regulatory initiatives.
The mining industry faces many challenges in the coming years.
This issue of Industry and Environment presents the viewpoints of
different stakeholders, thus helping to define both challenges and
possible solutions. The mining industry’s commitment to
sustainable mineral development needs to continue to evolve, in
order to meet these challenges effectively.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 3

Mining
Mining – facts, figures and environment
Introduction
The forward-looking articles in this millennium
issue of Industry and Environment do not describe
the mining industry or its environmental impacts
in great detail. Since many readers are probably
not well acquainted with this industry, however,
the “Facts, Figures and Environment” section will
provide some background. A number of technical
terms used in the articles that follow are also
explained.
Part I: Mining – what,
where and how?
What is mining?
A working definition of mining could simply be
“the extraction of minerals from the earth”. The
word “minerals” in this case would cover a wide
variety of naturally occurring substances extracted
for human use. Although this definition is adequate
for our purposes, mining can also be seen as
a process that begins with the exploration for and
the discovery of mineral deposits and continues
through ore extraction and processing to the closure
and remediation of worked-out sites (Figure
1). Environmental impacts occur at all of these
stages. Although the articles in this issue are mainly
concerned with the extraction and processing
stages, there are serious environmental issues surrounding
mine closure, post closure monitoring
and abandoned mine sites.
Minerals are usually classified in four main
groups: metals; industrial minerals (such as lime or
soda ash, valued for certain special properties),
construction materials and energy minerals (i.e. coal,
natural gas, oil, etc.). Over 4.6 billion tonnes of
coal were mined in 1998. Table 1 gives production
figures for selected mineral commodities in
1998 –1999. The minerals extracted in the greatest
quantities (but not shown in this table) are
those used in construction. It is estimated that
some 13 billion tonnes of stone, 10 billion tonnes
of sand and gravel, and 500 million tonnes of clay
are used annually. With the rapidly growing world
population and increasing construction these figures
are expected to increase.
Where are minerals mined?
While minerals are mined throughout the world,
the London Mining Journal 1999 Annual Review
detailed 158 countries for whom mining is a significant
contributor to the national economy.
Major metal production areas are shown in Figure
2. As has been the situation for many years, a high
proportion of minerals are mined in poorer countries
but consumed in richer ones. The world’s
largest mining companies are listed in Table 2.
How are minerals obtained?
Once a commercially viable mineral deposit has
been identified, the immediate problem is how to
get it out of the ground. There are essentially two
ways of doing this: by open pit mining and underground
mining. An open pit is a surface excavation,
usually conical in shape, dug for the purpose of
extracting near-surface ore bodies. The rock overlying
the ore body, called the overburden, is drilled
and/ or blasted and loaded into trucks that carry it
away from the pit. The ore body is then removed
for initial processing. Most mines today are surface
excavations.
Underground mining, which takes place when
minerals lie deep beneath the surface, is only economical
for high grade ore bodies (see below). To
get to the ore body, a vertical shaft, horizontal
entrance or passage (adit), or inclined passageway
(winze) must be drilled for ore and waste removal,
Figure 1
Mining: from discovery of deposits to closure and remediation
1 Finding
2 Follow-up
3 Proving of reserves
4 Planning
5 Construction
6 Extraction
7 Processing
8 Closure
Source: UNRFNRE environment protection guidelines
Remote sensing
Airborne surveys
Regional mapping
Geochemistry, geophysics
Geological mapping
Geochemistry, geophysics
Limited drilling
Grab sampling
Close drilling
Bulk sampling
Limited metallurgical testing
Drilling
Pilot plant
Choice of mining method
Processing of ore
Facility requirements
Designing and engineering, evaluation
Access
Infrastructure
Stripping
Shaft sinking/tunnelling
Underground/surface construction
Ore production
Waste dumping
Water pumping
Ventilation
Crushing and grinding
Separation
Enrichment
Tailings deposition
Water treatment
Clean-up
Reclamation
Sealing off works, dumps, etc.
Revegetation
4 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Figure 2
Major metal production areas
Canada
Ag Au Co
Cu Mo Ni
Pb Pt Zn
CIS (formerly USSR)
Ag Al Au Co
Cr Mn Mo Ni
Pb Pt Ti V
W Zn
Ag = silver
Al = aluminium
Au = gold
Co = cobalt
Cr = chromium
Cu = copper
Fe = iron
Mn = manganese
Mo = molybdenum
Ni = nickel
Pb = lead
Pt = platinum
Sn = tin
Ti = titanium
V = vanadium
W = tungsten
Zn = zinc
USA
Ag Au Cu
Mo Pb Ti
Mexico
Ag Mo
South America
Ag Al Co
Cu Mn Mo
Sn Zn
Caribbean
Al Cr
West Africa
Al Mn
South Africa
Au Cr Mn
Pt V
Turkey
Cr
Central Africa
Co Cr Cu
India
Al Cr
China
Fe Mn Pb
Sn V W
Zn
Australia
Al Au Fe
Ni Pb Zn
SE Asia/Pacific
Cu Ni Sn
as well as to provide ventilation. Figure 3 illustrates
these different types of underground mining,
along with some technical terms.
Placer mining is a widely used technique for
extracting precious metals from sand or gravel
deposits at or near the surface. The sand or gravel
is mixed with water which is then agitated so that
the metals sink. The lighter unwanted material is
then washed away. Panning for gold is a simple,
small-scale example of placer mining.
Processing
For some minerals, such as those used in construction,
processing is usually limited to washing
and separation. For others, especially metallic
ores, processing may involve a number of chemical
and physical separation steps that can have serious
implications for the environment. The most
widely used of these processes are described below.
The sought-after ores (known as the values)
must be separated from the less valuable or valueless
material in which they are found, known as
the gangue. The amount of mineral contained in
the removed material, expressed either as a percentage
or by weight, is known as the grade of an
ore. A productive economic ore body can range
from a few pounds per million (gold) to a few percentage
points (lead, zinc) or higher (e.g. 17 per
cent for potash; 30 per cent for manganese; 40 per
cent for iron). The remainder is waste. To clarify
what this means: 1000 tonnes of ore at an average
grade of 0.91 per cent will result in 9 tonnes of
metal and 990 tonnes of waste.
The first step in processing most often consists
of crushing or grinding. The combined wastes
generated by extraction and milling are known as
tailings. The entire process of crushing, grinding,
sizing, and separation of ore into waste and value
Hanging
wall
Vein
Stope
Overburden
Drift
Underground mining
Outcrop
Crosscut
Level
Footwall
Surface mining
Winze
Sump
is often called beneficiation. After the mineral
grains have been liberated in this way, they can be
physically separated using one of several methods:
magnetic separation, gravity methods or chemical
methods. The magnetic and gravimetric methods
do not generally present environmental
hazards, but the chemical methods do. The most
common chemical methods are flotation, cyanidation,
amalgamation and heap leaching. These
methods use large amounts of organic compounds,
cyanide, mercury and acids (frequently
Figure 3
Mining methods
Shaft
Adit
Tailings
Quarrying
The mining method
chosen depends on the
type and grade of
mineral and rock being
excavated and the
distance of the ore body
from the surface
sulphuric), all of which need to be properly handled
and are frequently found in the tailings.
Part II: Environmental
impacts of mining
Given the scale of mining activities, it is not surprising
that they have a wide range of environmental
impacts at every stage of operations.
Potential environmental problems associated with
mining projects are listed in Table 3. Some can be
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 5

Mining
Table 1
World production of selected mineral commodities in 1998 and 1999
Mineral 1998 1999 (estimates)
Metals
Chromite* 12,700 thousand tonnes 12,800 thousand tonnes
Cobalt* 26,300 tonnes 28,300 tonnes
Copper 12,200 thousand tonnes 12,600 thousand tonnes
Gold 2,460 tonnes 2,330 tonnes
Indium 230 tonnes 240 tonnes
Iron ore 1,020 million tonnes 992 million tonnes
Lead 3,100 thousand tonnes 3,040 thousand tonnes
Manganese 3,090 thousand tonnes 2,910 thousand tonnes
Mercury* 2,320 tonnes 2,300 tonnes
Molybdenum 135,000 tonnes 129,000 tonnes
Nickel 1,140,000 tonnes 1,140,000 tonnes
Platinum group metals (PGM) 269.000 tonnes 275,000 tonnes
Rare Earths (REO content) 76,600 tonnes 76,500 tonnes
Silver* 16,400 tonnes 15,900 tonnes
Tin 206,000 tonnes 210,000 tonnes
Tungsten 32,200 tonnes 31,300 tonnes
Vanadium 41,800 tonnes 40,000 tonnes
Zinc 7,550 thousand tonnes 7,640 thousand tonnes
Industrial Minerals
Asbestos 1,840 thousand tonnes 1,790 thousand tonnes
Cement 1,520,000 thousand tonnes 1,560,000 thousand tonnes
Fluorspar 4,4670 thousand tonnes 4,220 thousand tonnes
Gypsum 107,000 thousand tonnes 108,000 thousand tonnes
Potash (K2O equivalent) 25,100 thousand tonnes 25,200 thousand tonnes
Salt 186,000 thousand tonnes 200,000 thousand tonnes
Sulphur (all forms) 57,800 thousand tonnes 55,900 thousand tonnes
Energy Minerals
Coal (all types) 4,655,234 thousand tonnes data not available
* World total does not include estimates from output from China
Tonnes = metric tonnes
PGM includes platinum and palladium only
Principal source: United States Geological Survey
prevented if there is an appropriate management
system; others, such as habitat destruction at the
mine site, can generally be dealt with after closure
through site rehabilitation.
Air pollution
The main air quality issue is the dust produced by
the working of open pits and by crushing and
grinding operations. Dust can also be given off by
tailings dams. Workers and nearby communities
can be affected by dust in the atmosphere. In addition,
particle fall-out around mine sites can contaminate
soils and water and damage vegetation.
Mines are also sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
CO 2 is produced by energy use and methane
is sometimes released from underground operations,
especially in coal mines. In the past, some
deep mines used ozone-depleting CFCs in refrigeration
systems. This practice has now largely ceased.
Smelting (the process in which ore is heated for
the purpose of separating it from the gangue) produces
very large amounts of air pollutants. Worldwide,
the smelting of copper and other non-ferrous
metals releases an estimated 6 million tonnes of
sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) into the atmosphere each
year – 8 per cent of total worldwide emissions.
Non-ferrous smelters also emit large quantities of
arsenic, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals
except where highly efficient pollution control
equipment is used. Smelters may also be regional
pollution “hot spots”, whose emissions cause severe
local environmental damage as well as contributing
to more distant or global phenomena such as
acid rain and climate change.
Water pollution
Potential sources of water pollution from mining
include drainage from surface and underground
mines, wastewater from beneficiation, and surface
run-off. A particular problem is acid mine
drainage. Many mining operations, especially
those extracting ores that contain sulphides, such
as nickel, copper, iron, zinc, cadmium, lead and
coal (if pyrites are present), may produce acidic
and metal-bearing solutions resulting from the
natural oxidation of the sulphides through exposure
to air and water. The combination of acids
and metals can have severe effects on the ecology
of local watercourses, and the metals can enter and
bioaccumulate 1 up the food chain. Acid mine
water can be a problem for drainage from both
underground and surface workings, as well as
drainage from waste rock stock piles and concentrator
tailings deposits. It can occur while the
mine is operating and even long after its closure,
unless specific measures are taken.
Mineral separation processes that make use of
dangerous and toxic chemicals such as sulphuric
acid or cyanide (e.g. leaching) or organic reagents
(e.g. flotation) can be serious sources of contamination
if appropriate control systems are not in
place. Furthermore, much mine wastewater contains
large amounts of suspended solids (ranging
from colloidal to settleable materials) originating
from the ore itself, from waste material, or from
surface installations. These solids can affect aquatic
flora and fauna and physically choke local
waterways and lakes.
In addition to causing water pollution, excavations
can also influence the hydrology around the
excavated area. Excavations may lead to more
rapid seepage into the groundwater, causing nearby
streams or wells to become dry. Underground
works may cut across aquifers and bring otherwise
separate bodies of water into communication.
Solid waste
Open pit operations produce far more waste per
tonne of ore than underground operations, where
there is no overburden and where some of the
removed material can be used to backfill excavations
as work progresses. Heaps of mine waste
occupy large amounts of land and disfigure the
landscape. They are also a source of dust and water
pollution. Inert material carried away in run-off
water can clog rivers and streams. If the wastes
contain sulphides, acid drainage can occur –
sometimes for many years – due to reaction with
rainwater,.
Tailings
The tailings that remain after extraction and processing
are mostly muds and slurries containing a
very high proportion of extremely finely ground
material. Due to their vast quantities, liquid
nature and very high content of fines (finely
crushed coal or ore), their containment and control
are an ongoing management concern at virtually
all mine sites (see related articles in this
publication).
The separation processes used for most metals
do not extract all of the minerals present. Tailings
therefore contain quantities of metals and other
minerals, as well as residues of the chemicals used
to extract them. The finely ground material from
processing makes contaminants formerly bound
up in solid rock (such as arsenic, cadmium, copper,
lead and zinc) accessible to water. Acid
drainage, which exacerbates contamination by
heavy metals, is often a problem when tailings are
exposed to the atmosphere. It arises from the sulphide
minerals that are often associated with the
commonly mined ores of many metals including
copper, gold, lead, nickel and zinc.
Tailings are therefore more usually dumped in
heaps, released into ponds, or retained by tailings
dams. In some cases, submarine disposal or release
6 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Table 2
The world’s 50 largest mining companies
Rank Name Country Approx. Share Rank Name Country Approx. Share
of total value
of total value
(1998, %) (1998, %)
1 Anglo American Corp of South Africa Ltd. South Africa 6.68 26 MIM Holdings Ltd. Australia 0.75
2 Rio Tinto plc UK 5.02 27 Mistui & Co Ltd. Japan 0.74
3 Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd. Australia 3.69 28 Homestake Mining Co. USA 0.72
4 Cia Vale do Rio Doce Ltd. Brazil 3.53 29 IMC Global Inc. USA 0.72
5 State of Chile (Coldeco and Enami) Chile 2.21 30 Billiton plc UK 0.70
6 Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. USA 1.90 31 Cia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineracao Brazil 0.65
7 State of India (various) India 1.77 32 Arbed SA Luxemb. 0.65
8 Noranda Inc. Canada 1.27 33 State of Sweden (LKAB) Sweden 0.62
9 Phelps Dodge Corp. USA 1.25 34 State of Venezuela Venez. 0.62
10 Newmont Mining Corp. USA 1.16 35 Lonmin plc UK 0.60
11 Placer Dome Inc. Canada 1.15 36 Normandy Mining Ltd. Australia 0.59
12 North ltd. Australia 1.06 37 Hanson PLC UK 0.58
13 Gold Fields Ltd. South Africa 1.05 38 BASF AG Germany 0.55
14 WMC Ltd. Australia 1.02 39 Thyssen Stahl AG Germany 0.54
15 Teck Corporation Canada 0.98 40 Trans-World Metals SA Switzerl. 0.51
16 Barrick Gold Corp. Canada 0.96 41 Glencore International AG Switzerl. 0.48
17 Inco Ltd. Canada 0.95 42 State of Zambia (Zimco, ZCCM) Zambia 0.48
18 Asarco Inc. USA 0.92 43 Alcoa Zambia 0.48
19 Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc. Canada 0.90 44 Boliden Ltd. Canada 0.43
20 State of Botswana (Debswana and BCL) Botswana 0.85 45 USX Corp. USA 0.42
21 Iscor Ltd. South Africa 0.83 46 State of Iran Iran 0.42
22 State of Morocco (OCP and BRPM) Morocco 0.82 47 State of Indonesia (mainly PT Timah) Indonesia 0.42
23 Cyprus Arnax Minerals Co. USA 0.80 48 Cia Siderurgica Nacional Brazil 0.42
24 Grupo Industrial Minera Mexico SA de CV Mexico 0.76 49 Israel Chemicals Ltd. Israel 0.41
25 Gencor Ltd. South Africa 0.75 50 Industrias Penoles SA de CV Mexico 0.40
Source: Who owns Who in Mining 2000
directly into rivers occurs. This avoids acid generation
but introduces large amounts of suspended
solids and contaminants directly into aquatic
habitats. Tailings dams, the most common form
of disposal, can be large engineering works. The
“World Register of Mine and Industrial Tailings
Dams” lists eight higher than 150 metres, 22
higher than 100 metres and 115 higher than 50
metres. Six impoundments are known to have a
surface area greater than 100 km 2 and a storage
volume over 50,000,000 m 3 . Experience has
shown that tailings dams represent a potentially
serious safety and environmental hazard. Table 4
gives details of some recent mining related accidents
including tailings dam failures.
Abandoned Mine Sites
In countries with a long mining history, the magnitude
of the impacts from past mining activity is
often considerable as environmental concerns and
environmental regulation of mining activities has,
in most cases, only recently been introduced.
While precise definitions may vary, abandoned
and orphan mines refer to mine sites and mineral
operations that are: no longer operational; not
actively managed; not rehabilitated; causing significant
environmental or social problems; and,
Environmental Impacts
◆ Destruction of natural habitat at the mining
site and at waste disposal sites
◆ Destruction of adjacent habitats as a result of
emissions and discharges
◆ Destruction of adjacent habitats arising from
influx of settlers
◆ Changes in river regime and ecology due to
siltation and flow modification
◆ Alteration in water-tables
◆ Change in landform
◆ Land degradation due to inadequate
rehabilitation after closure
◆ Land instability
◆ Danger from failure of structures and dams
◆ Abandoned equipment, plant and buildings
Table 3
Some Potential Environmental Impacts of Mining
Pollution Impacts
◆ Drainage from mining sites, incl. Acid mine
drainage and pumped mine water
◆ Sediment run-off from mining sites
◆ Pollution from mining operations in
riverbeds
◆ Effluent from minerals processing operations
◆ Sewage effluent from the site
◆ Oil and fuel spills
◆ Soil contamination from treatment residues
and spillage of chemicals
◆ Leaching of pollutants from tailings and
disposal areas and contaminated soils
◆ Air emissions from minerals processing
operations
◆ Dust emissions from sites close to living areas
or habitats
◆ Release of methane from mines
Occupational Health Impacts
◆ Handling of chemicals, residues and products
◆ Dust inhalation
◆ Fugitive emissions within the plant
◆ Air emissions in confined spaces from
transport, blasting, combustion
◆ Exposure to asbestos, cyanide, mercury or
other toxic materials used on-site
◆ Exposure to heat, noise, vibration
◆ Physical risks at the plant or at the site
◆ Unsanitary living conditions
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 7

Mining
Table 4
Accidents: are we making progress on sustainable mineral development? You judge.
The following are some mining-related accidents reported in the media from January to November 2000. Many others may go unreported.
Date
Location
Type of Incident
Chemical
Deaths and other consequences
30 Jan. 2000
Baia Mare, Romania
Tailings dam crest failure after overflow during the
time of heavy rain and melting snow
Cyanide
No deaths
10 Mar. 2000
Borsa, Romania
Tailings dam failure after heavy rain
Heavy metals
No deaths
21 March 2000
Tolukuma, Papua New Guinea
Transportation Accident (Helicopter)
Cyanide
No deaths
02 Jun. 2000
Cajamarca, Peru
Transportation Accident (Truck)
Mercury
0 (1?) death
24 Jul. 2000
Romania
Pipe line failure
Zinc and lead
No deaths
9 Sep. 2000
Gällivare, Sweden
Tailings dam failure from failure of filter drain
Copper
No deaths
14 Sep. 2000
Tolukuma, Papua New Guinea
Transportation Accident (Helicopter)
Diesel
No deaths
29 Sep. 2000
Shanxi, China
5.2 tones of sodium cyanide spilled into Shuangjiang
river from a truck
Cyanide
No deaths
11 Oct. 2000
Inez, Kentucky, USA
Tailings dam failure from collapse of an underground
mine beneath the slurry impoundment
coal waste slurry
No deaths
11 Oct. 2000
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Phosphate mine rock slide
N/A
More than 20 deaths
18 Oct. 2000
Nandan county, Guangxi, China
Tailings dam at copper mine collapsed and buried
over 100 households
N/A
At least 29 deaths, 100 missing; more than 100
houses destroyed
1 Nov. 2000
Nanchang (Jiangxi province), China
Fire broke out in a mine
N/A
13 deaths
Note: Conventional mining accidents like gas explosions and tunnel collapses have been reported but are not listed here. These accidents have accounted for some 200 deaths.
for which no one is currently accountable for site
remediation or rehabilitation.
Although neither the problems of abandoned
mine sites nor the solutions are simple, UNEP as
well as some jurisdictions have started to address
this issue which has been ignored for too long.
Conclusion
A word of caution seems needed. It should not be
assumed that the problems described exist at every
mine site in the world. The environmental
impacts caused by mining a particular mineral are
determined by the characteristics of the site, the
amount of material moved, the depth of the
deposit, the chemical composition of the ore and
surrounding rocks, the nature of the process used
to extract the mineral from the ore and the degree
of stewardship practised. Furthermore, many
modern mines are equipped with the technology
to prevent or attenuate their impacts. The “takehome
message” here is therefore that mining operations
have the potential to seriously impact the
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
environment at every stage of the process, and that
there is a corresponding need for appropriate
forms of control at every stage.
Notes
1 Bioaccumulation is the net accumulation of a substance,
including heavy metals, by an organism
(fish to carnivores to humans) as a result of uptake
from all routes of exposure (ingestion, adsorption,
inhalation).
◆
Who’s who in
mining / environment
Many international, regional and national
entities now include environmental considerations
in activities related to mining.
Within the UN system, UNEP (www.uneptie.org)
has a particular role to play in providing
guidance, information and policy advice on sustainability
issues in mining and minerals development.
UNEP works together with international
and national partners to define “good practice”
procedures and “responsible enterpreneurship” by
mining companies. UNEP generally works in
partnership with international and national bodies,
industry, and community organizations to
define a broader consensus approach to environmental
management.
Development-oriented agencies concerned with
mining also pursue environmental initiatives. The
World Bank (www. worldbank.org) has sponsored
a series of workshops aimed at defining environmental
and social policies and procedures relevant
to mining development. During 1998 and 1999
conferences on small scale and artisanal mining
were held in Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and
Papua New Guinea. The United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD –
www.unctad.org) has sponsored meetings and
information of use to national agencies. In addition,
UNCTAD, with financial assistance from the
Government of the Netherlands, established the
Mineral Resources Forum website (MRF). The
UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics
(DTIE) is a principal partner in the Environment
Section of MRF (www.natural-resources.
org/ environment).
The United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO – www.unido.org) included
small-scale mining and mercury pollution
among its high-priority programmes to the year
2000, as well as providing expertise in minerals
processing technologies.
The World Health Organization (WHO –
www.who.int), which is concerned about health
and safety impacts of mine waste, has worked with
UNEP to develop information and training materials.
Ongoing activities including the Sectoral
8 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Activities Programme in the Industrial Activities
Branch of the International Labour Organization
(ILO, www.ilo.org) are aimed at ensuring safe
working conditions at mine sites. While the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
has no mining programme as such, its national
offices frequently sponsor training, information
and environmental assessment activities related to
mining development.
The Baia Mare tailings accident (30 January
2000) resulted in a number of commissions being
formed to consider follow up actions. These
include the European Union (EU) Baia Mare Task
Force, Romanian Government, UNEP and the
Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) Assessment Mission, and the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The
objective of these investigations is to establish the
cause of the accident, assess the damage, propose
actions to remedy the negative impacts, propose
actions to keep the general public fully informed,
and to propose actions to prevent future accidents.
In addition, UNIDO has begun a project in Hungary
on Emergency Preparedness and Responses
in Mining and Metallurgical industries. This initiative,
which involves UNEP and the Government
of Hungary, will look at application of the
UNEP APELL (Awareness and Preparedness for
Emergencies at Local Level) process in Hungary,
especially along the Tisza River.
Since implementing new policies and approaches
requires new skills based on up-to-date information,
building such capacity in government and
industry partners around the world has been an
important activity for UNEP. In October 1999,
the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western
Australia and UNEP jointly organized an international
conference on environmental education in
the minerals and energy industries in Australia.
Academics, industry and government officials discussed
how environmental issues can be better
incorporated into current and future teaching curricula
without detracting from the extensive technical
education that is required.
The United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and UNEP jointly
held a second Berlin Roundtable on Mining and
the Environment in 1999, in collaboration with
the Deutsche Stiftung für internationale Entwicklung
(DSE – German Foundation for International
Development). (The Berlin II Guidelines
are reproduced in other parts of this publication).
The Australian Government and UNEP cohosted
an international regulators workshop in
Environmental Safety in Mining in Perth in October
2000, to discuss how to refine their legislative
tools (discussion papers are posted on the MRF
website).
At the regional level, the North American
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
(CEC – www.cec.org) was created in 1993 by
Canada, Mexico and the United States under the
North American Agreement in Environmental
Cooperation to address regional environmental
concerns, prevent potential trade and environmental
conflicts, and to promote the effective
enforcement of environmental law. Related to
minerals and metals are its initiatives on sound
management of chemicals and the North American
Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.
In the late 1990’s, the Mining Policy Research
Initiative (MPRI – www.idrc.ca/mpri) was
launched to address some of the concerns raised
from the rapid expansion of mineral exploration
and development throughout Latin America and
the Caribbean (LAC). Based in Montevideo,
Uruguay, MPRI focuses on the impact of mining
on ecosystems and human health and the regulation
of mining for environmental purposes.
Appropriate research is underway to ensure that
mining is supportive of sustainable development
in LAC.
Industry groups are mostly organized around
national mining associations and international
commodity organizations primarily concerned
with trade issues. One group focusing on environmental
issues is the International Council on Metals
and the Environment (ICME – www.icme.
com) based in Ottawa, Canada. ICME has worked
with many of the above organizations, especially
UNEP, to review policy issues and define practical
procedures for improving the industry’s general
environmental performance. In May 2000, ICME
and UNEP jointly organized an international
meeting to start the process of identifying the
issues and considerations related to the management
of cyanide in gold mining. ICME and
UNEP also held an international workshop on
emergency preparedness and response in the mining
industry to discuss the application of APELL
(Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at
Local Level) to installations and hazardous materials
transport in the mining sector. In addition,
UNEP is drafting an APELL for the mining industry
handbook. A best practice case study book on
water management at mine sites, a joint
UNEP/ICME publication, is also in process.
Although not primarily focused on mining, the
World Business Council on Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) has been promoting more systematic
and integrated environmental management
(eco-efficiency) by companies. One specific
initiative is the MMSD (Mining, Minerals and
Sustainable Development – www.iied.org/mmsd)
as one of a number of projects being supported by
the Global Mining Initiative (GMI – www.globalmining.com).
GMI is a bold initiative of more
than 25 CEO’s of major mining companies to
“ensure that the mining, minerals and metals
industry is responsive to global needs and challenges.”
Another organization making a strong contribution
to the mining and environmental discussion
is the International Commission on Large
Dams (ICOLD), which has sponsored numerous
technical publications and conferences concerning
tailings dams. ICOLD and UNEP jointly
published a 1996 survey of tailings incidents. A
second publication entitled “Tailings Dams: Risk
of Dangerous Occurrences – Lessons learnt from
practical experiences” is expected to be published
in early 2001. Finally, and based on recommendations
in the UNEP/OCHA Baia Mare Assessment
Mission Report, a study of contingency
options including structures for tailings dams
incorporating fail-safe features, secondary security
measures, and revised siting criteria, especially
when hazardous materials like cyanide are
involved, is under consideration.
A number of national mining associations are
increasingly addressing the environmental agenda
in a pro-active way. As well as organizing regular
workshops and seminars on environmental
matters, several associations have developed firm
policies on environmental responsibility that
members are expected to abide by. A number of
institutions of mining and metallurgy hold regular
conferences and publish information on environmental
issues, generally with a technical
orientation.
Academic and research institutes mainly have a
national focus. One exception is MERN – Mining
and Energy Research Network (formally the
Mining Environmental Research Network) which
is located within the Corporate Citizenship Unit
at the University of Warwick Business School
(UK). Its research and training activities relate to
the social, economic and environmental dimensions
of sustainable development across the minerals
and energy sectors. The Southern African
Development Community (SADC) Mining Unit
in Lusaka, Zambia, has a small environmental
unit which undertakes studies and seminars in
Southern Africa. A Southern Africa Workshop on
Sustainable Development and the Mining and
Metal Industries was held in November 2000 in
Pretoria, South Africa co-hosted by SADC, the
Namibian Geological Survey, the South African
Department of Minerals and Energy, the Chamber
of Mines of South Africa, ICME and the
World Bank.
In addition, a number of national institutions
are strongly focused on international work. CEN-
TEK in Sweden, and Queens University in Canada,
have programmes for international training.
Many national institutes also undertake consultancy
and advisory work in other countries. The
Colorado School of Mines co-published a book
entitled the “Sustainable Development and the
Future of Mineral Investment” as a collaborative
effort of the Institute for Global Resources Policy
and Management at Colorado School of Mines
(USA), the Metal Mining Agency of Japan and
UNEP.
A few community groups are active in regard to
mining and environment, often publishing information
on recent problems and upcoming issues.
These groups include World Wide Fund For
Nature (WWF), The World Conservation
Union-IUCN, Friends of the Earth, Conservation
International, Mineral Policy Centre as well as a
number of more nationally focused bodies in specific
countries (eg. MiningWatch Canada). Key
issues relate to indigenous issues, biodiversity,
small-scale and artisanal mining.
Finally, many regional development banks and
bilateral aid agencies in Europe, North America,
Japan and Australia have sponsored environmental
programmes in developing countries. These
programmes typically involve a range of training,
technical and assessment projects. ◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 9

Mining
The global mining industry
Chris Hinde, Editorial Director, The Mining Journal Ltd, 60 Worship Street, London EC2A 2HD
Abstract
It is estimated that there are over 10,000 mining and metals companies in the world, and
some 20,000 mines, processing plants and smelters. In addition, there are a host of associated
organizations, including learned societies, educational establishments, service companies
and manufacturers. All are driven, directly or indirectly, by the orientation and success of the
extractive companies, and this paper focuses on the changes being experienced by that sector
of the industry.
Résumé
On estime qu’il y a dans le monde plus de 10 000 entreprises d’exploitation minière et de production
de métaux et quelque 20 000 mines, usines de transformation et fonderies. Il existe
en outre une multitude d’organisations associées, notamment des sociétés savantes, des établissements
d’enseignement, des sociétés de services et des fabricants. Tous sont tributaires,
directement ou indirectement, des orientations et de la prospérité des entreprises d’exploitation
minière. Cet article se penche sur les mutations qui bouleversent actuellement ce secteur de
l’industrie.
Resumen
Se estima que existen más de 10.000 compañías mineras y metalíferas en el mundo y más de
20.000 sitios mineros, plantas procesadoras y fundidoras. Además, existe una cantidad de
organizaciones asociadas, incluyendo sociedades, establecimientos educativos y compañías de
servicios y fabricantes. Todas se hallan directa o indirectamente impulsadas por la orientación
y el éxito de las compañías extractoras y este papel se concentra en los cambios experimentados
por el sector de la industria.
1. Influences on mining
From the outset it is important to be reminded
that mining is different from any other industry.
Unlike manufacturing industries, for example, we
can not choose to mine near our market places
and, unlike other primary industries, which can
fertilize or restock, we cannot influence the prime
sites for extraction. Moreover, because minerals
are formed at a rather slower rate than maize, our
operating units are always wasting concerns.
Environmental demands
In addition, the mining industry has borne the
brunt of the increased public awareness of the
need to protect the environment. The industry, as
a whole, has been unable to alter the perception
of it as a despoiler and polluter. In the developed
countries in particular, this has manifested itself
as greater difficulty in obtaining planning permission
for new mine developments and more onerous
operating constraints.
With these restrictions, and given the period
over which we have been extracting minerals, it is
inevitable that the search has extended to more
hostile geographical environments (in terms of
both location and ore grades). This combination
has obliged mining companies to take on a civil
engineering role as they find themselves having
increasingly to construct the necessary infrastructure
before mining can commence.
An excellent example of this was reported in
Mining Journal in September 2000. The Batu
Hijau mine on the remote Indonesian Island of
Sumbawa marks Newmont Mining’s return to the
copper business after a ten year hiatus. The
US$1.83 billion development is believed to be the
largest greenfield mining project ever constructed.
Mine production should average 600,000
tonnes per day over a life of 15 years to extract the
10,000 million pounds of copper and almost 12
million ounces of gold. It is not, however, these
extraction facts that are noteworthy in the context
of this paper.
Newmont, and its army of advisers (led by
Fluor Daniel), have had to construct roads, port
facilities, housing, a health clinic, police station,
childcare centres, new water system and a 120
megawatt coal-fired power plant. The indigenous
population numbered less than 9,000 but, during
the construction phase, 14,000 people had to be
fed and accommodated. Moreover, 600 apprentices
were trained in prime crafts, 3,000 people
were trained in basic construction and 7,000
craftsmen were certified.
1.1 External forces
Historical environment
In one word – “Baggage”.
Few industries come with as much historical baggage
as mining, and most of it is an adverse influence
on politicians and investors. The image,
strong still in Europe, of cloth-capped coal miners
toiling away underground does precious little for
the modern mining executive trying to eke out
funds for new developments. Worse still, in terms
of public sentiment, are the reoccurring pictures
of derelict mines, ravaged landscapes and leaking
dumps.
Growth in Green influence
These images resulted in the mining industry
becoming one of the main targets of the burgeoning
environmental movement of the 1990s.
Although individual companies have striven, at the
local level, to respond to these concerns, little has
been done to alter public perceptions.
Whilst miners themselves still enjoy considerable
public sympathy, mining (with very few
exceptions) does not enjoy widespread support –
and where public opinion wanders, politicians
will be close behind.
Political environment
In one word “Inertia”.
Because of this historical baggage and, more
recently, the increased awareness of the environment,
mining is unpopular. The industry does
have an important role, of course, particularly in
the ongoing debate about sustainable development,
but (at both the corporate and industry levels)
it is failing to guide the agenda.
Industry response
More concerted efforts are now being made to
improve the mining industry’s response to these
environmental issues. For example, in October
2000, 27 companies established the ‘Global
Mining Initiative’ (GMI) in an attempt to
change the climate of antagonism. GMI will seek
to respond more positively to the various issues
facing the industry. Along with GMI, a major
analytical study of mining has been initiated –
‘Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development’.
MMSD will be an independent analysis of
the key issues, and identify those things which
merit action and set out the paths towards
achieving them. The industry’s chief executives
also have relatively little political influence.
Although our trucks and shovels are large, the
leading companies are not. Standard & Poor’s
weighting for metals mining in its 500 index is
under 0.6 per cent, which is less than that of the
Walt Disney group alone.
In its annual ‘Who Owns Who’ survey (published
by Roskill of London), Sweden’s Raw Materials
Group (RMG), lists the top ten mining
companies as:
10 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Mined Output
(% of total value)
Anglo American 7.1
Rio Tinto 4.9
CVRD 3.2
BHP 3.2
Norilsk 2.2
Codelco 2.0
Freeport McMoran 1.8
Phelps Dodge 1.7
Noranda 1.6
Grupo Mexico 1.5
The combined market capitalization of these
ten companies is currently under US$80 billion.
Indeed, even if we include companies which
derive much of their value from processed metal
and fabrication (such as the aluminium producers),
the combined market capitalization of the
twenty largest ‘mining’ companies is only about
US$166 billion. By comparison, BPAmoco and
Exxon Mobil have a combined market capitalization
of US$520 billion.
As a result, mergers and acquisitions in the mining
industry (see later) are also dwarfed by the
deals in other sectors. The largest deals in the mining
industry during the past five years were Alcan’s
US$4.7 billion takeover of algroup, Alcoa’s
US$4.6 billion offer for Reynolds and Rio Tinto’s
US$4.0 billion takeover of CRA. In contrast, this
year’s America Online merger with Time Warner
was valued at US$182 billion, Glaxo Wellcome
and SmithKline Beecham are merging to create a
US$78 billion deal, and France Telecom bought
Orange for US$46 billion. According to RMG,
the total volume of global mergers and acquisitions
last year amounted to US$304 trillion, with
the mining industry reaching barely US$19 billion
(0.6 per cent).
In terms of metal sales, the two largest companies
in North America are Alcoa and Alcan, with
revenue in 1999 of US$12.6 billion and US$6.7
billion, respectively. Leading ‘mining’ companies
in North America include Inco (in 16th place last
year with metal sales of US$2.1 billion), Freeport-
McMoRan Copper & Gold (20th; US$1.9 billion),
Phelps Dodge (22nd; US$1.8 billion), and
Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining (26th and
27th on about US$1.4 billion each). In contrast,
BPAmoco alone had revenue of US$100 billion
in 1999.
Taken globally, the sales of coal (whose annual
mined production has averaged a value of some
US$110 billion in recent years), gold, bauxite and
copper (an average of around US$20 billion each
for run-of-mine output), and iron ore (US$15 billion)
dominate, followed by zinc and diamonds
(US$6 billion each). The total value of annual
mined output is probably less than US$300 billion
(with operating costs accounting for some
two-thirds of this amount, the construction of
new mines over US$50 billion each year and
US$3-5 billion being spent on annual exploration).
For comparison, the annual value of oil
output is currently US$800 billion (73 million
barrels per day at US$30 /barrel).
Not surprising, taken from a global perspective,
mining has relatively little influence on politicians,
particularly those in developed countries.
Business environment
In one word – “Capitalism”.
From a European perspective, if the second half of
the 18th century was characterized by the Industrial
Revolution and the 19th century by the Age
of Empire, then that of the second half of the 20th
century was the rise, and ultimate dominance, of
capitalism. Notwithstanding a recent retreat from
the trenchant views of Reagan and Thatcher, we
enter the 21st century with private enterprise
firmly established as the modus operandi of business.
(Businesses now have considerably more
empathy with social and environmental issues).
In the last 50 years of the 20th century, the
annual growth rate for developed countries (representing
20 per cent of the world’s population)
has grown by an annual average of 2.7 per cent
(compared with a disappointing 2.5 per cent
annual average for the developing countries),
and real GDP per capita has risen by 3.1 per
cent.
Governments in most developed countries have
accepted the long-term benefits of restricting
themselves to ensuring that there is a suitable environment
for business, rather than hands-on
involvement. Accordingly, most of the huge public
corporations of the mid-20th century have
been dismantled, and private companies have
moved in and bought the profitable portions.
Whilst causing considerable distress at the local
level because of the inevitable redundancies, this
has at least ensured that market forces can be
brought to bear. (This has been particularly
sharply felt in the UK, where the coal industry has
declined from over 1,000 underground mines in
1947, employing one million people to produce
186 million tonnes per year, to 17 mines employing
12,000 people to produce less than 37 Mt last
year).
More recently, developing country governments
have taken up the initiative, and the privatization
of state-owned companies in South
America and Asia during the past few years has
provided opportunities for diversification
amongst mining companies. A good recent example
came in September 2000 from India, when the
government announced that it was seeking a private-sector
partner to run the ailing Hindustan
Copper. The proposed disinvestment will give an
opportunity for foreigners to get a foothold in
India, where demand for copper is expected to
continue rising at over 10 per cent annually
thanks to the rapid growth of the local telecommunications
and electronics industries (the timing
is also auspicious because of the rising copper
price).
Following the widespread collapse of communist
ideology in the late 1980s, mining companies
have also been presented with a much wider
choice of countries in which they can invest.
Many of these countries host highly prospective
geological environments; attractive, in part,
because hitherto unacceptable investment conditions
have prevented intensive exploration and
development. Moreover, environmental restrictions
are generally less onerous in these developing
countries.
There are mighty forces driving globalization
but they are not impervious to public opinion. For
example, this opinion has shaped the response to
concern over the environment and, as The Economist
noted in September, governments and their
international agencies have been rocked by the
anti-capitalist protests held in Seattle in 1999, and
in other financial centres sporadically since.
Meanwhile, any barriers to international free
trade will serve to strengthen the trading blocs. It
is not difficult to envisage the emergence of five
strong trading blocs: the European Union, North
American Free Trade Agreement, Southern Common
Market (Mercosur), Southern African
Development Community and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
1.2 Internal forces
Market place
In two words – “Supply and Demand”.
The supply and demand of metals and minerals
clearly has elements of both cause and effect.
Changes (actual or perceived) in this market balance
will alter prices, which will have an impact
on the decision-making of mining companies.
Such decisions will, in turn, effect the
supply/demand balance.
Looking at overall demand, the general outlook
for consumption of many metals, and thus their
ores and concentrates, is widely held to be excellent
because of the robust growth in most
economies. Demand for aluminium, copper,
magnesium and nickel, for example, is expected
to grow for the foreseeable future.
The booming economy of the US has driven
much of this expectation. A useful measure of
anticipated US demand for metals is provided by
the US Geological Survey (USGS). In its Primary
Metals Industry index, which was developed in
the mid-1930s, the USGS tracks the effects of the
business cycle on 26 different metal processing
sectors (including the steel, aluminium and copper
sectors, for which the USGS also produces
separate indexes).
The USGS produces two Primary Metals
Industry indexes – ‘coincident’ and ‘leading’. The
‘coincident’ index combines cyclical indicators of
diverse economic activity (including production,
shipments and employee hours worked) into one
index, giving decision makers a measure of how
changes in the business cycle are affecting the economic
health of the industry. The ‘leading’ index,
according to the USGS, historically gives signals
“several months in advance of major changes in
the ‘coincident’ index”. The indicators used in this
index are, for the most part, measures of new commitments
to, or anticipation of, economic activity
that can affect the metal industry in the months
ahead.
The ‘leading’ index for the Primary Metals
Industry (1977 = 100) improved slightly to 126
in July 2000, after slipping from 131 in January.
Reflecting the long economic boom in the US, the
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 11

Mining
index has steadily risen from 100 at the end of
1990.
However, whilst facing an apparently healthy
future, the experience of the past twenty years is
not encouraging. In his series of Minerals Handbooks
(published by The Mining Journal Ltd),
Phillip Crowson has tracked the weighted price
index for 50 commodities (coal is not included),
and the real price index (1992 = 100) fell from
over 200 in the late 1970s to 100 in the mid-
1980s before recovering to 140 in 1988. Thereafter
the index slumped to the nadir of 90 in 1993
before the gradual recovery of recent years.
Similarly, the Economist’s Metals Index (1984
= 100; and adjusted to real terms by the US GDP
deflator) reached 160 in the late 1980s before
drifting to below 90 in 1993, recovering to 110 in
the mid-1990s and drifting back below 80 before
the end of last year. For example, although the
price of copper has improved recently to
US$2,000/t, in real terms (US GDP deflator
again) it is still worth less than 40 per cent of what
it was in 1970.
Research and development
Advances in technology have various influences
on the mining industry. From the consumption
perspective, the technological advances of the past
few decades are altering the demand for many
metals. For example, the burgeoning computer
and high-tec industries are benefiting some exotic
metals, such as indium and tantalum (lap-top
computers and mobile telephones), and cadmium
(batteries). Superimposed onto this changing
demand balance is the effect of substitution and
reduced unit consumption as fabrication processes
become more efficient.
From the perspective of supplying metals and
minerals, mining companies are benefiting from
more efficient exploration procedures and extraction
equipment. Both developments tend to drive
down the number of jobs in the industry, while
increasing the skill levels required.
Investment climate
This influence centres on the ‘Professional’
investor.
In the second half of the 18th century, the Industrial
Revolution in England was led by coal and
iron ore mining. In the subsequent 150 years,
whole industries and countries were influenced
and conquered by the business acumen and imagination
of handfuls of entrepreneurs and adventurers.
The early pages of Mining Journal, barely
150 years ago, were filled with scarcely believable
tales of private financing and risk-taking endeavours.
Notwithstanding a few gold-mining enthusiasts,
this is hardly the picture of the mining
industry as we enter the 21st century.
With ageing populations and tighter markets,
pension and investment funds have assumed
increased importance during the past few decades,
leading to a concentration of company ownership
in fewer hands. In the past 40 years in the UK, for
example, shareholding by individuals has fallen
from over 50 per cent to under 20 per cent, with
pension and insurance companies now holding a
combined 50 per cent of UK shares.
To make matters even worse, consolidation in
the finance sector (for example the proposed
merger of JP Morgan and Chase Manhattan) is
expected to lead to more banks severing their ties
with metal trading as commodities become more
marginal to businesses dominated by investment
banking.
Partly because of these influences, the share
prices of mining companies have not tracked the
price of metals that they produce as closely as hitherto.
Thus far, the 21st century has been generally
kind to metal prices. For example, the US dollar
price of copper has risen by almost 12 per cent,
nickel by over 7 per cent and aluminium by 3 per
cent (admittedly the gold price is currently some
US$10/oz, 3 per cent, below where it started the
millennium). However, HSBC’s Global Mining
share price index (100 at end 1988) is currently
only 111, having been 140 at the end of 1999.
Individual disappointments include Rio Tinto
(whose market capitalization, in sterling, is down
33 per cent this year), Aloca, Alcan and Anglo
American (all of whose market values are down by
over 20 per cent) and BHP (down 8 per cent in
the weak Australian dollar). Although takeover
activity has affected all of these shares, the trend is
axiomatic.
Communication
Superimposed onto all of the influences mentioned
above is the invigorating presence of the
Internet (and, in particular, the World-Wide
Web). By allowing for a dramatic improvement in
all levels of communication, the Internet will
redraw business and trade boundaries.
The Internet was ‘born’ less than 20 years ago,
and e-commerce is only credited with having
started challenging the ‘traditional’ ways of doing
business four years ago. However, the world-wide
e-commerce trade is now estimated at over US$50
billion, and growing fast.
From a business perspective, we can already see
improvements in the dissemination of news, the
procurement of equipment and services, and in
the trading of commodities. Even at this early
stage in Internet development, the ubiquitous e-
mail dominates personal communication (and,
because of its very immediacy, is the bane of many
an editor).
With ever faster communication, instant news
and price tracking will become mundane. Corporate
intranets will ensure that relevant external
developments are circulated immediately to members
of staff. With the low barriers to entry, websites,
like the mining companies of the 19th and
20th centuries, will proliferate. Eventually, only
those sites which offer added value to the user
(such as rationalization and valuable analysis) will
survive.
This improved communication can be expected
to benefit developing countries by providing
inexpensive links to the industrialized countries of
the world. Better communication should lead to
improved corporate control and understanding of
regional issues. With time, country risk profiles
can be expected to flatten.
2. Corporate response
Although each mining company is unique, chief
executives everywhere are seeking to remain (or,
perhaps, to become) competitive on a sustainable
basis. As business analyst Mark Payne noted in his
‘Strategies of International Mining Companies’
report (published by Mining Journal Books Ltd),
“The conjuring trick to be performed is, essentially,
to generate sustainable and acceptable longterm
profits in a business where margins per tonne
of ore mined and processed can be notoriously
slender”.
Mining companies the world over are engaged
in a number of strategic initiatives intended to fulfill
a variety of corporate objectives – chief
amongst which are (Mark Payne again) “to
increase shareholder value, to minimize the breakeven
point at which company operations are profitable,
and to maintain corporate viability for the
foreseeable future”.
Efficiency drive
Seemingly as never before, mining companies are
concerned to bear down on overheads, to take cost
out of the production process. The implication of
this imperative is a requirement for bigger and
better facilities. This, in turn, creates an imperative
for rationalization, integration and capital
investment. There is also a focus on the introduction
of new, or improved, technologies, the drive
for which comes from environmental considerations,
from the need to reduce operating costs, or
to enable the production of metals and/or alloys
which offer customers enhanced physical properties.
A good example of these changes is the iron ore
industry in Australia which, faced with annual
average price reductions of some 3 per cent since
1990, has been forced to ensure cost reductions
through productivity improvements. The erosion
of profitability has now driven a spate of consolidation,
led by Rio Tinto’s move in August 2000
(contested originally by Anglo American) on
North Ltd. This followed the acquisition in June
by the world’s largest iron ore producer, Brazil’s
CVRD, of five mines from Samitri.
Geographical diversification
Unlike other industries, mining companies are
restricted as to where they can operate by the availability
of economic deposits. In this regard, mining
companies are caught between the proverbial
‘rock and a hard place’. The apparently investorfriendly
developed countries are increasingly
antagonistic towards mining companies, with
politicians being swayed by public support for the
environment. Until the mining industry can
reverse the tide of unreasonable demands, it has
become increasingly attractive to look to developing
countries for the next generation of mines.
Fortunately, at about the same time as the rising
tide of environmental restrictions, the end of
the cold war and collapse of communism led to a
wave of deregulation in hitherto centrally-planned
economies, and the introduction of workable
investment codes. While in the early 1980s, much
of the world’s mining activity was concentrated in
12 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
the Western economies (primarily the US, Canada,
South Africa and Australia), within fifteen
years the focus of interest had moved to South
America then south-east Asia.
A survey of mining company chief executives
by Mining Journal in last year’s Emerging Markets
Supplement, confirmed the interest in Latin
America (with five countries in the top ten). Africa
(with four top-ten candidates) did well at the
expense of Asia (although Indonesia remained in
ninth position despite the economic and political
turmoil in that country). Not surprisingly, exploration
expenditure has reflected these opinions,
with 29 per cent of worldwide exploration budgets
having been spent in Latin America during
the second half of the 1990s.
Unfortunately, the governments of all too many
developing countries still see mining operations as
an opportunity for quick returns rather than a
chance to secure long-term benefits for the local
economy. Moreover, even countries which are
sympathetic to the long-term aspirations of mining
companies can suffer from serious deficiencies
in infrastructure. This will deter all but a combination
of the largest mining company and a highly
attractive ore deposit.
The Chinese, as in most things, have a succinct
way of expressing the choices open to mining
companies when faced with problems in developing
countries. The Chinese for ‘crisis’ is made up
of two symbols – which can be translated as ‘danger’
and ‘opportunity’. However, Mining Journal’s
Emerging Markets survey noted that most chief
executives remain reluctant to invest in countries
with unstable political regimes or difficult business
environments. In a list of 50 ‘emerging’ countries,
Russia, Tajikistan, Angola and Albania were
the least popular.
The mining of gold has always mitigated country
risk because of the relatively short mine lives
and the ease of transporting the finished product.
In its Strategic Report publication, Metals Economics
Group notes that gold was the target for
over half of the total exploration expenditure of
some US$2.2 billion in 1999, with the next
largest target, copper, attracting only half as much
expenditure (US$460 million).
Expansion
The extra bureaucracy and costs associated with
the trends outlined above will tend to favour larger
corporations, which can better cope with the
additional burdens imposed. The benefits
brought about by size fall into three parts; the ability
to provide central support for specialized tasks,
the financial ability to make long-term commitments
and the opportunity to reduce costs by
undertaking tasks on a larger scale.
With regard to the first type of benefit, every
mine is having to pay increased attention to environmental
matters, and only the larger companies
are likely to be able to afford the central support
that will be required to fulfill local design and
monitoring requirements. As far as the environment
is concerned, such companies must seek to
convince the local population that they (and the
whole industry) are poachers turned gamekeepers.
Similarly, with the exception of some gold and
diamond operations, most mines are long-life
ventures involving the construction of considerable
infrastructure (as at Batu Hijau). This
inevitably requires detailed planning and careful
negotiations with the local government. Neither
is something to be undertaken lightly by small
companies without the necessary experience.
Indeed, governments of developing countries
would be well advised to talk only with the larger
companies. Smaller concerns are simply unable to
guarantee long-term commitment and security.
There are also the classical economic advantages
of scale. Cost savings can be secured by sharing job
functions between a larger number of operations.
However, faced with the difficulties of expanding
their operations through deposit exploration and
mine development, many chief executives have
sought to grow their corporations by using the
cheque book.
According to Metals Economics Group
(MEG), nonferrous acquisition activity (of over
US$25 million each) reached US$8 billion in
1999, bringing the amount spent over a ten-year
period to US$56 billion – roughly half for 146
gold projects /companies and half for 135 base
metals projects/companies (of which just over half
were related to copper). Although the value of
deals recorded by MEG in 1999 was 76 per cent
above that of 1998, it was still well short of the
record US$12.4 billion spent on acquisitions in
1996 (when gold prices peaked).
Sweden’s Raw Materials Group (RMG) has
somewhat different numbers. Quoting Ernst &
Young figures, RMG puts the total volume of
mining mergers and acquisitions last year at
US$19.1 billion, compared with US$25.7 billion
in 1998 and US$18.7 billion in 1997. This brings
the total expenditure to US$110 billion since
1995. Of this amount, 30 per cent was spent on
gold (US$33 billion), followed by aluminium
(US$21 billion), diversified metals (US$17 billion)
and copper (US$14 billion).
The top ten mining industry deals during the
past five years have been:
Buyer Target Amount Year
(US$ billion)
Alcan Algroup 4.7 2000
Alcoa Reynolds 4.6 1999
RTZ CRA 4.0 1995
Alcoa Alumax 3.8 1998
Anglo American Minorco 3.7 1998
Inco Voisey’s Bay 3.3 1995
Consortium CVRD 3.2 1997
Anglo American AngloGold 3.1 1998
Newmont Santa Fe 2.5 1997
BHP Magma 2.4 1995
As RMG notes, it is not surprising that the aluminium
sector is at the top of the merger and
acquisition league because its smelters offer direct
advantages of scale and the sites can be moved,
unlike mines, around the world.
Because every new mining alliance prompts
others to follow (if a company is not aggressively
growing it might become a target itself), corporate
consolidation tends to come in waves. These
waves are likely to be amplified when metal prices
are moving higher – as has been the case for the
past year. Certainly the equilibrium of several
mining sectors was disturbed by a series of mergers
and restructuring during 1999.
For example, the new leadership of Australia’s
largest mining company, BHP, has been implementing
a series of divestments (30 deals totalling
A$6.9 billion since 1998). The Melbourne-based
group has withdrawn from the troubled Hartley
platinum operation in Zimbabwe, which was
forced to close, and in the US it closed down its
loss-making copper operations. In Australia, the
Beenup mineral sands operation was closed, but
talks with Rio Tinto with a view to merging the
two companies’ Pilbara iron-ore operations fell
through.
In North America, the withdrawal of BHP
spurred efforts to merge and consolidate amongst
the big three remaining US copper producers –
Phelps Dodge, Asarco and Cyprus Amax. Not all
parties saw eye to eye, though, and in September
1999 a major takeover battle ensued. Matters were
further complicated when Grupo Mexico entered
the fray, and the result was that the Mexican company
captured Asarco for US$1.2 billion, and
Phelps Dodge had to be satisfied with Cyprus
Amax for US$1.8 billion. Elsewhere in the copper
sector, Nippon Mining and LG Metals of
South Korea joined forces to become the largest
copper refiner in Asia. In other sectors, Alcoa
acquired Reynolds and Cordant in the US for
US$4.5 billion and US$2.9 billion, respectively,
and Franco-Nevada acquired Euro-Nevada for
US$1.3 billion.
In Africa, Gold Fields secured control of South
African gold producer Driefontein from Anglo-
Gold and minority shareholders early in 1999.
Elsewhere in Africa, the protracted efforts by the
Zambian Government to privatize Zambia Consolidated
Copper Mines neared completion (it
was finalized in April 2000) when it was
announced in October that Anglo American was
to acquire an 80 per cent interest in ZCCM’s
Konkola and Nchanga Divisions.
Also in October last year, Anglo American
Corp., newly moved to London, took its first steps
to establish a foothold in Australia when its AngloGold
subsidiary launched a US$550 million
friendly takeover of Acacia Resources, and shortly
afterwards Anglo American secured a significant
interest in Anaconda Nickel. Meanwhile,
another partner in Anaconda, the Swiss commodities
trader Glencore International, is rapidly
emerging as a major participant in mining and
metal projects, not only in Australia (where its
acquisitions have included Cyprus Amax’s coal
mines) but also throughout the world, and it now
rivals many major mining companies in terms of
the breadth of its asset base.
Mergers and acquisitions were rife in the coal
sector last year and there were also divestments.
Particularly significant was the announcement by
Shell in September 1999 that it was offering its
coal assets for sale. The decision was in line with
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 13

Mining
similar moves already made by other major oil
producers such as BP Amoco, Exxon and Atlantic
Richfield to divest their coal interests and focus on
their core business. Shell remains involved in the
mining sector, however, and its Canadian subsidiary
announced at the end of 1999 that it was
going ahead with a C$3.5 billion oil sands project
in Alberta.
This year’s merger and acquisition activity in
the mining industry (to end-September) has
totalled US$17.5 billion, and has accelerated after
a slow start (only US$6.0 billion was spent during
the first six months, and much of that was
attributed to the now cancelled merger between
Goldfields and Franco-Nevada). The figures
would, of course, have been significantly higher if
the European Commission had not blocked the
three-way merger between Alcan, Pechney and
algroup. In the event, Alcan was left to acquire
Switzerland’s algroup.
Australia has led acquisition activity in 2000. In
June, Amcoal won the auction for Shell’s Australian
coal interests with a bid of over US$500
million. This was followed in August by Peabody
Resources putting its Australian coal mines up for
sale, De Beers’ bidding A$522 million for Ashton
Mining, and Rio Tinto’s A$3.5 billion acquisition
of North Ltd (after a tussle with Anglo American).
At the end of August, BHP and Mitsubishi
launched a A$830 million hostile bid for Australian
coal producer, QCT Resources. Other
Australian companies expected to come under the
acquisition spotlight are MIM Holdings for its
coal assets, and Melbourne-based WMC for its
nickel, copper and aluminium assets.
In September 2000, the chairman of Billiton,
Brian Gilbertson, commented that the mining
industry is “in an era of unparalleled consolidation”.
This followed the London-based company’s
US$1.5 billion acquisition of Alcoa’s 56 per cent
stake in the Worsley alumina plant in Australia,
and the US$1.2 billion ‘white knight’ bid for copper
producer Rio Algom (the latter bid now looks
likely to go through following the withdrawal in
early October of Noranda).
This wave of activity is not restricted to the
mining industry, and the global total of all mergers
and acquisitions in 1999 was US$3,400 billion,
after only US$2,400 billion in 1998. The
automobile industry is undergoing aa series of farreaching
amalgamations, for example General
Motors has forged a partnership with Fiat,
Renault has cemented its ties with Nissan, and
DaimlerChrysler has agreed alliances with Mitsubishi
Motors and Hyundai. Similarly, the aviation
industry has been experiencing a series of
amalgamations, albeit the latest venture, involving
a merger between British Airways and KLM,
was recently abandoned after the two groups were
unable to agree a joint structure.
3. SummaryThere have been 11 deals worth
over US$1 billion during the past 12 months but,
despite this wave of activity, RMG notes that there
is still a lower degree of production concentration
in the mining industry than in other industries.
There is, however, considerable variation in con-
Financing
and sustainability
Since its creation in 1972, the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) has encouraged economic growth that is compatible with protection
of the environment. This mandate was strengthened by world
leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. One of the results of this was the
creation of a new partnership between UNEP and the banking sector.
From 1992 to 2000, this partnership has grown to include more than
260 signatories in 57 nations.
However, pressure remains on the environment, and all sectors need
to become more proactive in ensuring environmental issues are included
in decision-making. For example, in May, 2000 the Malmö Declaration
from the first Global Ministerial Environment Forum called for
greater commitment by the private sector.
“ 11. The private sector has emerged as a global actor that has a significant
impact on environmental trends through its investment and technology decisions.
In this regard, Governments have a crucial role in creating an enabling
environment. The institutional and regulatory capacities of Governments
to interact with the private sector should be pursued to engender a new culture
of environmental accountability through the application of the polluterpays
principle, environmental performance indicators and reporting, and
the establishment of a precautionary approach in investment and technology
decisions. This approach must be linked to the development of cleaner
and more resource-efficient technologies for a life cycle economy and efforts to
facilitate the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. ”
Mineral exploration and production are financed in disparate ways
by a variety of institutions. Financing may be private or public, debt,
equity, or insurance. Whatever the form, those who put their funds at
risk in exploration or mining ventures have an increasing number of reasons
to involve themselves in the discussion about the mining industry’s
performance on environmental, social, and economic issues as mining
initiatives offer both opportunities and risks to physical and social environments.
Financial performance of mining companies has in recent years been
affected by a plethora of mining related accidents and community related
problems. Governments, multilateral agencies, and civil society at
large, including labour, indigenous groups, and local and international
NGOs are demanding higher standards regarding environmental, social,
and economic performance. Because of a few high profile incidents,
some mining companies are experiencing delays in project implementation
and are having difficulties recovering invested funds. Current discussions
with the financial sector indicate that these issues are
increasingly being noted in portfolio and reputational risk assessments 1 .
Higher profile risks are influencing access to capital and shareholder
value. Evidence also indicates that environmental risks at mine sites tend
to be underinsured, uninsurable or self-insured.
To date, banks and insurance companies have not been sending adequate
signals to poor performers on environmental and social issues. A
number of questions remain to be addressed. How is a bank’s environmental/sustainable
development policy being translated into transactional
criteria? How do banks report on environmental performance?
UNEP, the World Bank and the Mining Minerals and Sustainable
Development Project are examining the role of financial institutions in
sustainability in the minerals sector. International financial institutions
have a greater role to play in improving the environmental performance
of the mining industry. It is increasingly important to recognize that:
pollution control is a cost; pollution clean-up is a monumental cost
while pollution abatement, cleaner production, and accident avoidance
is actually an investment.
Note
1 In the UK, pension fund trustees must now state the extent to which
environmental, ethical and social matters are considered in their investment
decisions (is is affecting more than £800 billion).
14 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
centration levels between metal sectors. The highest
level of concentration is in tin production,
where (1998 figures) four companies control 74
per cent of western world production. The second
highest level of concentration is in the nickel
industry, where the largest ten companies control
81 per cent of western world production. Other
levels of concentration for the largest ten companies
in each sector are calculated by RMG as
chromite production (80 per cent in 1998), bauxite
(72 per cent), copper (70 per cent), lead (61
per cent), zinc (51 per cent) and gold (50 per
cent). Every three months, Mining Journal Ltd’s
World Gold Analyst publication examines the
operating and financial results from 70 of the
world’s leading gold producers. According to these
figures, the largest 50 producers currently account
for around two-thirds of the world’s gold output.
Restructuring of the iron ore sector during the
past two years will have affected the concentration
statistics. RMG gives iron ore concentration as 63
per cent for the leading ten companies in 1998
but recent analysis suggests that just three groups
(Rio Tinto, BHP and CVRD) may now account
for 80 per cent of iron ore production
Notwithstanding the current level of activity,
RMG believes that a trend towards increased concentration
which was observed in the mid-1990s
has been reversed in recent years. At the end of
1999, the three largest companies only controlled
15.2 per cent of the total value of all non-fuel mineral
production, compared with 17.8 per cent at
the end of 1997 and 21 per cent in 1984. According
to RMG figures, the ten largest mining companies
accounted for 27.1 per cent of total
production, compared with 34 per cent in 1984,
and the share of mined production enjoyed by the
largest 50 companies fell below 60 per cent last
year. RMG attributes most of this decline to a fall
in the relative value of copper and gold, which
make up a large proportion of the controlled-production
of the largest companies. It may also, of
course, be related to a move towards commodity
specialization, so that the leading companies are
focussing on relatively few metals.
RMG concludes that this fall in production
concentration in the mining industry is because
of the limited synergies available to mining companies
compared with other markets (where
brands, market access and proprietary technologies
may justify the payment of acquisition premiums).
However, the Swedish consultancy
believes that the trends prevailing in other industries
will also reach mining, and that we can
expected more and bigger mergers, and, finally,
increasing concentration. Accordingly, the total
number of major participants in the mining
industry will decline, with sector consolidation
continuing apace as the winners build critical
mass, adopt ‘best practice’ philosophies and
become ‘global’ corporations. The remaining
companies in the sector will be providing these
huge corporations with a service, whether it be the
supply of new deposits to exploit, mining/processing
equipment or the provision of specialist
advice.
◆
Governments, mining companies and the minerals industries should as a
minimum:
1. Recognise environmental management as a high priority, notably during
the licensing process and through the development and implementation
of environmental management systems. These should
include early and comprehensive environmental impact assessments,
pollution control and other preventive and mitigative measures, monitoring
and auditing activities, and emergency response procedures.
2. Recognise the importance of socio-economic impact assessments and
social planning in mining operations. Social-economic impacts should
be taken into account at the earliest stages of project development.
Gender issues should also be considered at a policy and project level.
(New principle)
3. Establish environmental accountability in industry and government at
the highest management and policy-making levels.
4. Encourage employees at all levels to recognise their responsibility for
environmental management and ensure that adequate resources, staff
and requisite training are available to implement environmental plans.
5. Ensure the participation of and dialogue with the affected community
and other directly interested parties on the environmental and social
aspects of all phases of mining activities and include the full participation
of women and other marginalised groups. (Revised)
6. Adopt best practices to minimise environmental degradation, notably
in the absence of specific environmental regulations.
Fundamental Principles for the Mining Sector
(Berlin Guidelines 1991, revised 1999)
7. Adopt environmentally sound technologies in all phases of mining
activities and increase the emphasis on the transfer of appropriate technologies
which mitigate environmental impacts including those from
small-scale mining operations.
8. Seek to provide additional funds and innovative financial arrangements
to improve environmental performance of existing mining operations.
9. Adopt risk analysis and risk management in the development of regulation
and in the design, operation, and decommissioning of mining
activities, including the handling and disposal of hazardous mining and
other wastes.
10.Reinforce the infrastructure, information systems service, training and
skills in environmental management in relation to mining activities.
11.Avoid the use of such environmental regulations that act as unnecessary
barriers to trade and investment.
12.Recognise the linkages between ecology, socio-cultural conditions and
human health and safety, the local community and the natural environment.
(Revised)
13.Evaluate and adopt, wherever appropriate, economic and administrative
instruments such as tax incentive policies to encourage the reduction
of pollutant emissions and the introduction of innovative
technology.
14.Explore the feasibility of reciprocal agreements to reduce transboundary
pollution.
15.Encourage long term mining investment by having clear environmental
standards with stable and predictable environmental criteria and
procedures.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 15

Mining
Challenges to sustainable development
in the mining sector
Deborah J. Shields 2 , USDA Forest Service – Research and Development, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 2150A Centre Avenue, Fort Collins,
CO 80526, USA. E-mail: dshields@fs.fed.gov
Slavko V. Solar, Geological Survey of Slovenia, Dimiceva 14, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: slavko.solar@geo-zs.si
Abstract
The basic principles that underpin virtually all of the definitions of sustainability are now being
applied to the mineral sector; however, there are both obvious and subtle obstacles to their
application. These include the principles themselves and the fact that they are in some cases
at odds with the way social and economic systems currently operate. We conclude that,
because there are many ways to define and implement sustainable development, applying its
principles can lead to a diversity of possibilities. This does not decrease the likelihood of resolving
open issues, but rather presents opportunities for balanced solutions that fit the specific
conditions of each particular mineral operation or activity, as well as the unique situation in
each country.
Résumé
Les principes de base qui consistent à informer tout le monde des définitions du développement
durable commencent à être appliqués au secteur minier. Mais ce processus se heurte à
des obstacles à la fois évidents et subtils. Notamment la nature proprement dite de ces
principes et le fait qu’ils soient parfois en contradiction avec la façon dont les systèmes sociaux
et économiques fonctionnent actuellement. Nous en concluons qu’en raison des multiples
façons de définir et de mettre en oeuvre le développement durable, l’application de ces
principes peut générer une grande diversité de possibilités. Cela ne réduira pas les chances de
résoudre les questions encore en suspens, mais donnera au contraire l’occasion de trouver des
solutions équilibrées, adaptées à la situation générale et spécifique de chaque site minier et à
ses activités.
Resumen
Actualmente, en el sector minero se están aplicando los principios básicos que informan al
público en general sobre la definición de sustentabilidad. Pero existen obstáculos tanto obvios
como sutiles. Entre ellos se encuentran los principios mismos y el hecho de que los principios a
veces se contraponen a la manera en que funcionan los sistemas sociales y económicos. Concluimos
que como existen numerosas maneras de definir e implementar el desarrollo sustentable,
aplicar sus principios puede llevar a una serie de posibilidades. Esto no reducirá la
probabilidad de resolver temas pendientes, sino que presentará oportunidades para soluciones
equilibradas que se adecuen a las condiciones generales y específicas de cada mina en especial
y de las actividades relacionadas con ésta.
Introduction
The purpose of mining is the extraction and processing
of energy and mineral resources. Use of
these resources is fundamental to human wellbeing
as they are essential to virtually every sector
of the economy, are the basis for the human-built
environment, and provide desired services. Not
surprisingly, demand for energy and minerals
increases as economies expand and global population
grows (hereafter the term minerals will serve
as a proxy for nonrenewable resources in general).
However, these resources have intrinsic characteristics
that make them not only useful, but also
problematic. First, they, or their constituent elements
or compounds, may be durable. Because of
this tendency to persist and in some cases bioaccumulate,
the costs, as well as the benefits of energy
and mineral use can extend across generations.
Second, mineral deposits are frequently unique
(in their occurrence and nature) or are of lower or
higher quality in terms of grade or volume. As a
result, the siting of mineral operations depends
upon the location and character of deposits. They
may be in an area where mining is not a preferred
land use, e.g., adjacent to or beneath an existing
community or in an environmentally sensitive
area. Moreover, only those extraction and beneficiation
methods appropriate to the characteristics
of the deposit can be employed, and in some cases
those methods may entail relatively greater shortor
long-term environmental risk.
Awareness of global interdependence, especially
with regard to resource scarcity and anthropogenic
impacts on earth’s carrying capacity, has
led to a more complex and comprehensive view of
human activity. Thus, we have a dynamic tension
between demand for minerals and demand for
control or mitigation of the negative impacts of
energy and mineral development, use and disposal.
There is a recognized need for development
with its attendant mineral resource use counterbalanced
by a general consensus that such use, in
terms of both types and amounts, cannot continue
in present fashion.
In reality this is not an either-or situation, but
rather one of fulfilling the competing objectives,
of optimizing contributions to economic development
and societal well-being while minimizing
social and environmental degradation. Sustainable
development (SD), which has emerged as the
prevailing paradigm for balancing society’s environmental,
social, and economic goals, offers a
framework within which the appropriate combination
of consumption and preservation can be
sought.
Sustainable development is: a concept of needs,
an idea of limitations, a future oriented paradigm,
and a dynamic process of change. There are many
alternative definitions of SD, each reflecting a different
political or philosophical perspective. The
mainstream definition from the Brundtland
Commission report proposes “development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” The IUCN, WWF, and UNEP
describe SD as “improving the quality of human
life while living within the carrying capacity of
supporting ecosystems.” This lack of agreement
notwithstanding, a set of basic principles underpins
virtually all definitions of SD (see Table 1).
In the past decade there have been many conferences,
projects, reports, actions, etc. at which
the various aspects of first defining and then
implementing SD principles in the mineral sector
have been addressed (see Table 2). There are, however,
both obvious and subtle obstacles to doing
so. One is the set of principles themselves. Some
are inherently in conflict with each other because
they reflect different perspectives on the meaning
or goals of sustainability. A second is the effectiveness
of the various alternative approaches to
implementing SD principles. Finally, there is the
fact that the principles of SD, and the goals they
espouse, are in some cases at odds with the way
social and economic systems currently operate.
SD concepts and their application in
mining
SD is often described in terms of capital, or the
related terms endowments and wealth. The types
of capital are: natural capital (traditional natural
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Mining
resources), human-made capital (physical, produced
assets and the built environment), human
capital (the health and well being of individuals),
and social capital (the complex of social relations,
norms and institutions). The capital theory
approach is particularly appropriate for minerals
because nonrenewable natural resources are part
of natural capital. They also represent a form of
endowed wealth for societies. The transition from
natural capital to human-made, and further to
human and social capital, can be described as
moving from primary means to ultimate ends, i.e.
well-being.
Weak sustainability is distinguished from
strong in terms of capital maintenance and augmentation,
i.e. by the degree to which alternative
types of capital are deemed substitutable for one
another. Weak sustainability preserves the net
amount of capital, but not necessarily each of the
four kinds of capital, so different types of capital
are viewed as substitutable. Strong sustainability
requires that each type of capital be preserved
independently; different types of capital can be
complements to, but not substitutes for, one
another.
Pure strong sustainability would ban all extraction
because doing so would reduce the fund of
natural capital available for future generations
(who would in turn be precluded from extraction).
Pure weak sustainability is equally untenable.
There are life-support, aesthetic, and
spiritual services provided by nature for which
there are no substitutes. Sensible sustainability
falls somewhere between these two extremes and
offers an intermediate path to “more” sustainable
patterns of behaviour.
From the capital theory perspective, SD can be
thought of as the process by which societies transform
economic, environmental, and social capital
in ways that yield constant or increasing
opportunities for satisfying human needs and
wants, generation after generation (weak SD).
Alternatively, SD can be viewed as development
that leaves at least the same amount of capital
(natural, man-made, human, and social) to future
generations as that to which current generations
have access (strong SD). As will be noted in later
sections of this article, obstacles to applying SD to
minerals activities often stem from differences of
opinion about the relative validity of weak versus
strong sustainability.
Table 1
Sustainable development principles
relevant to mineral resources
and mining
Basic SD Principles
◆ Human Needs Paramount / Satisfaction of basic
human needs
◆ Integration of Environment and Development
◆ Inter-generational Equity / and Justice
◆ Intra-generational Equity / and Justice
Environmental SD Principles
◆ Keep within the Earth’s Carrying Capacity
◆ Non-exhaustion of Natural Resources
◆ Minimize the Depletion of Non-renewable Resources
◆ The Precautionary Principle
◆ The Polluter-Pays Principle
◆ Eco-efficiency
◆ Full-costing
◆ Environmental Impact Assessment and Management
Socio-political SD Principles
◆ Public Participation in Governance / Cooperation
◆ Multi-stakeholder Approach / Partnership
◆ Communication and Education
◆ Consensus Building Process
◆ Increased Regulation
◆ Institutional Capacity
◆ Democratic Self-determination
◆ Sovereignty over Resources
Examples of conflicting principles
Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Conference
declared that States have a sovereign right to
exploit their own resources pursuant to their own
environmental policies. Rio Declaration Principle
2 repeated that Principle, adding a responsibility
to prevent trans-boundary environmental damage.
Rio also calls for the drafting and implementation
of international and national law to
promote SD. Beyond some point it will be impossible
to fulfill both principles because, by joining
international treaties and other agreements, States
automatically surrender a portion of their sovereignty.
While it is unclear which Principle will or
should dominate, it is not hard to imagine circumstances
under which individual countries
refuse to sign or abide by international treaties for
reasons of national pride or self-interest. They
may then behave in ways that make the attainment
of a sustainable future that much more challenging
for other nations. Conversely, countries
may find that, having joined free trade agreements,
they are no longer able to ban the importation
of mineral commodities produced under
less stringent environmental regulation than their
own national laws mandate. Domestic firms that
incur costs by complying with regulations and by
producing in an environmentally-sound manner
could be put at a competitive disadvantage.
Another example of conflicting goals involves
the Principle that calls for minimizing the depletion
of nonrenewable resources. One way to fulfill
this goal is to increase the recycling, reuse, and
remanufacture of minerals. Emphasis to date has
been on metals, but increasingly there are efforts
to recycle construction materials as well. The ability
to reuse, recycle, and remanufacture represents
one of the beneficial aspects of durability. Recycling
rates for lead batteries are approaching 95
per cent in some countries; recycling rates for glass
and aluminium containers are also high. Trade in
metals waste, scrap, and materials for recovery is
thriving as countries with the facilities for and a
competitive advantage in materials reprocessing
purchase those materials from other parts of the
world. However, an increasing number of international
treaties aimed at protecting the environment
and preventing the dumping of hazardous
wastes (e.g., Basel Convention) have the potential
to limit or even eliminate this trade. While the
reduction of environmental and health risks is a
worthy goal, these agreements may have unintended
negative consequences. For example, if
materials with metal content cannot be exported,
they will have to be disposed of in-country. This
outcome is not without its own set of risks. In
countries where environmental controls are weak
or where appropriate reprocessing facilities are not
present, materials may be discarded without
regard to the potential for negative environmental
or human-health impacts.
The foregoing is an example of the type of
unintended complications that might follow the
premature or ill-considered application of the precautionary
principle. Such situations could arise
if policy makers or Intergovernmental Organizations
(IGO’s) were to utilize the strong definition
of sustainability as opposed to the more moderate
definition of sensible sustainability. Uncertainty,
unknowability and unpredictability are inherent
aspects of SD, given that our scientific understanding
of the environment is incomplete. Making
decisions while ignoring uncertainty will
inevitably lead to a continual series of surprises,
failures, and environmental disasters. But good
public policy is the product of a prudent combination
of open debate (scientific and political),
caution, and a regulatory system that is capable of
self-correction. The world is not lacking in debate,
and the precautionary principle was adopted in
response to concerns that necessary regulation had
too often been delayed in the face of uncertainty.
The open question is whether the resulting body
of international and national law and policy will
be revised as we gain more understanding of natural
systems. Scientific inquiry is self-correcting
over time; for SD to be successful, policy and law
will need to be correctable and adaptable as well.
Difficulties in operationalizing SD
One of the major trends in recent years has been
the institutionalization of SD principles through:
1) reorganization and restructuring of IGO’s to
address SD issues, 2) development of international
and national policies and laws that reflect SD
principles, and 3) voluntary or compulsory adoption
of SD-oriented standards of corporate behaviour.
Hence, three paths for operationalizing the
SD paradigm have emerged: the admonitory, the
legal, and the business practices approaches. We
will focus here on the second, which is essential to
the implementation of SD, but which can never
be totally effective in the absence of coordination
with the other two approaches and cooperation
among stakeholders.
The legal path may derive from international
treaties, or may be initiated through national legislation.
As noted above, treaties reduce the sovereign
power of nations. Increased nationalism may
lead to the rejection of international treaties on
environmental protection or trade that are perceived
to unduly restrict a country’s freedom of
action.
At the national level, reform of national mining
policies and laws is one way to institutionalize SD
principles; however, this activity is not in and of
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Mining
Table 2
Selected recent examples of activities addressing sustainable development issues
in the mining sector
Examples of International Organization Activities:
Berlin Roundtable (I and II) on Mining and the
Environment, 1991 and 1999
Organizers: UNEP and UNDESA
Purpose: To develop environmental guidelines for mining
operations
International Copper, and Lead/Zinc Study Groups,
Workshop on Sustainable Development, 1999-ongoing
Organizers: governments of mining producing nations
Purpose: To discuss cross-sectoral social, economic and environmental
issues related to the sustainable development of
non-ferrous metals and determine how non-ferrous metals
foster sustainable development.
Sustainable Mineral Resource Management in Karst
Areas – NATO workshop, 2000
Organizers: U.S. Forest Service & Geological Survey of Slovenia
Purpose: To review the state of science with respect to the
social, economic, environmental and geophysical aspect of
extraction in karst and to determine whether the existing science
is adequate to support sustainable resource management.
Examples of National Activities:
Sustainable Minerals Roundtable, 1999-ongoing
Organizers: U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey
Purpose: To develop national-scale, consensus set of indicators
of sustainability for energy and mineral material systems
Indicators of Sustainable Develop of Minerals and
Metals, 1999-ongoing
Organizer: Natural Resources Canada
Purpose: To develop consensus set of indicators of sustainability
for minerals
itself synonymous with SD. The purpose of mining
law reform is typically to make the country in
question a more attractive target for mineral
exploration and development. Such development
occurs at the intersection of policies on property
rights, security of tenure, taxation, water, direct
foreign investment, labour, safety, community
impacts, and the environment, etc. Because of this
interconnectedness among mining policy and
other policies, which is the essence of SD, consistency
across sectors is essential. A lack of harmonization
of the legal framework will make the
realization of national SD goals difficult. Unfortunately,
progress on reform is sometimes slowed
because of the difficulty in reaching agreement
between multiple ministries and departments
about what to sustain or how to do so. For example,
environmental ministries tend to propose
polices and promulgate regulations that reflect the
precepts of strong sustainability, a stance consistent
with their charge to protect the environment.
On the other hand, the goals of mining policy
reform, which focus more (or perhaps even exclusively)
on economic development, are by their
very nature consistent with a weak sustainability.
A legal structure supportive of SD goals is only
meaningful if those laws are enforced. Typically,
this involves the promulgation of regulations, the
development of a monitoring system to determine
compliance with regulations, and the imposition
of consequences should laws and regulations not
be followed. Not all countries have functioning
institutions to carry out these tasks. In some cases,
regulations are never written, in others they are
Examples of NGO and Industry Association
Activities:
Lima Workshop on Mining and Sustainable
Development in the Americas, 1998
Organizers: International Institute for Sustainable Development
and International Development Research Centre,
Canada
Purpose: To improve mining policies and practices to ensure
that mining activity contributes to the achievement of sustainable
development in the hemisphere.
Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development Project
(MMSD), 1999-ongoing
Organizer: International Institute of Environment and Development,
with funding from Industry
Purpose: To identify how mining and minerals can best contribute
to the global transition to sustainable development.
Sustainable Development: What does it mean to the
Mining Industry, 2000
Organizer: National Mining Association, USA
Purpose: To introduce mining industry representatives and
others attending the MINExpo to the concept of minerals in
sustainable development and to discuss related activities
ongoing domestically and internationally.
Environmental & Social Performance Indicators and
Sustainability Markers in Minerals Development, 1998-
ongoing
Organizer: Mining and Energy Research Network – MERN,
Warwick University, UK
Purpose: To manage the environmental and social effects of
mineral development for the better
not enforced, due to a lack of either the capacity or
the will to do so. Moreover, the intra-generational
equity principle of SD implies redistribution, but
powerful vested interests may resist the implementation
or enforcement of laws that would
reduce their access to the profits generated by
mineral production. The flow of foreign and
domestic investment may be curtailed in response
to such problems of governance, which could in
turn limit a country’s opportunities for economic
growth and the reduction of social inequities.
Agenda 21 clearly states that environmental
regulations should be appropriate to national culture,
priorities, capacities, etc. There are, however,
potential downsides to this sensitivity to national
circumstance regardless of how appropriate or
necessary it may be. One relates to the level of
environmental protection that different developing
nations choose to adopt. In the absence of
assistance from developed nations, poor nations
cannot afford to implement and enforce stringent
environmental laws. However, if environmental
protections in numerous developing nations are
of limited scope, the cumulative impacts could
make SD unattainable globally in the long run.
Alternatively, a country might attempt to court
mineral investment by limiting its environmental
regulations, ostensibly due to either a lack of
capacity or cultural norms, a situation which
could be tempting to less responsible mining
firms.
Another difficulty associated with using a legal
approach to institutionalize SD is that national
policies are not necessarily consistent with local
goals, objectives and policies. Policies contributing
to a desirable outcome at one level may result
in undesirable, and perhaps unsustainable, outcomes
at another. This phenomenon occurs in
both directions. For example, a policy that
enhances environmental sustainability at the landscape
scale may make the economy of a rural community
within that landscape unsustainable.
Additionally, when the costs of resource development
are borne locally, but the benefits are distributed
nationally, local opposition to mining
can be strong. Imposition of mineral developments
offering national benefits without regard to
local preferences is inconsistent with the principle
of public participation in governance. Conversely,
a development decision that enables a single community
to be sustainable may have negative
cumulative effects at a broader scale if made simultaneously
by many communities in the same area.
As has been demonstrated repeatedly, multiple
locally appropriate and viable decisions do not
automatically translate into sustainable national
or global outcomes. Finding a balance between
policies and laws that fulfill national versus local
desires will be challenging.
Finally, it should be noted that mining firms
obtain the necessary permits and work collaboratively
with community representatives in the
expectation that, having fulfilled all the legal
requirements and having reached agreement with
major stakeholders, they will be allowed to mine.
Given the climate of opposition to mining, this is
no longer the inevitable outcome. Having been
unsuccessful in stopping a mineral development
through legal means or negotiation, some groups
opposed to mining are turning instead to the
political arena. Appealing to elected officials, or
turning to the court of world opinion, can be a
successful strategy for halting mineral operations
that have already fulfilled all the regulatory
requirements. There are several potential downsides
to this course of action. First, repeated incidents
will inevitably decrease the willingness of
firms to work collaboratively with stakeholders,
thus undermining the principles of cooperation
and partnership. Second, mineral operations provide
jobs, income, tax revenues, and often indirect
rent transfer in the form of school, road or hospital
construction. Blocking the development of
mines on principle may leave some remote rural
areas with few other options for the alleviation of
poverty.
Realities
One of the most important features of SD is that
it represents not so much an end point as a process
of change from relatively less to relatively more
sustainable patterns of behaviour. Change will be
necessary because some features of existing institutions,
law and cultures are inconsistent with SD.
Changing these features may well prove to be the
most difficult challenge of all.
The first of these features is the manner in
which markets and economies function. Neoclassical
economics is based upon the principle of
consumer sovereignty, with well-being defined by
the satisfaction of personal preferences. This view
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Mining
does not easily incorporate social vision. Moreover,
there is no reason to believe that unfettered
market decisions will steer society in a sustainable
direction. Without clear rules of responsibility
and reciprocity, maintenance and production of
environmental quality and social capital can be
jeopardized because it is within self interest to
“free ride.” The implications of this reality for the
ultimate success of SD are numerous. We will
consider only one.
As was noted earlier, there is general agreement
that current resource consumption levels are
unsustainable. There have been various proposals
for lowering resource use, such as increasing
resource productivity and decreasing material
inputs per service. It has also been suggested that
developed nations dematerialize, i.e., decrease
their material use by a factor of between 4 and 10
over the next 50 years, so that developing nations
can increase their consumption somewhat. The
open question is how to convince people to consume
less. Market mechanisms alone are unlikely
to be totally effective. Policies that create disincentives
will help, but the most straightforward of
those, taxation, is unpopular, so many politicians
will be reluctant to use that tool. The reality is that
the marginal effect of one consumer’s use of
resources is negligible, which is an incentive to free
ride, to depend upon others to reduce their consumption
rather than changing one’s own behaviour.
There are other market issues as well. Development,
including mineral development, is a fundamental
tenet of SD. Unless it is to be financed and
perhaps subsidized by governments, mineral
development and production must respond to the
dictates of global financial, equity and commodity
markets. International Financial Organizations
and many private banking institutions insist that
mining operations follow codes of best practice
and other standards to receive loans, loan guarantees,
or liability insurance. Equity markets have no
such overarching policies or ethical imperatives.
While there has been an increase in “green” investing,
mining firms must compete for investment
dollars with businesses in other sectors of the
economy. The value of their share price is in part
dependent upon earnings. The more costs a firm
incurs as a result of environmental and other
forms of legal compliance, voluntary adherence to
codes of practice, and efforts at continuous performance
improvement (as with ISO 14000 standards)
the lower the firm’s earnings, especially
short term. Markets are seldom kind to firms with
low earnings.
Mining firms have criteria against which they
judge alternative investment opportunities. The
list typically includes security of tenure, fixed environmental
requirements and tax terms, and management
control. The latter of these can be at odds
with the concept of public participation in governance
and management. There is wide agreement
that interested stakeholders should participate in
discussions about the nature and extent of mining
operations. There is less agreement over who is a
legitimate stakeholder, who is actually affected,
and who should be engaged. Moreover, it is one
thing to give stakeholders a voice in the debate, a
seat at the negotiating table, and to seriously consider
their opinions and point of view. It is something
else entirely to give stakeholders an actual
say in the decision, which ultimately means giving
up some degree of control and power to
another party. There is great ambivalence in both
industry and governments about how far public
participation should go.
There is also the potential for a disconnect of
expectations between the mining company and
the community or developing country. The reality
is that – various forms of rent transfer and corporate
socially responsible behaviour notwithstanding
– no single mining, firm, or industry can
solve all the social and economic problems of a
developing country, region, or community. One
challenge in extending SD to the minerals sector
will be to identify those social, economic, and
environmental issues that are both within the
capacity of the firm (financially and logistically)
to affect, and which it is within reason to expect
them tackle.
The achievement of a sustainable future is predicated
upon both people’s right to express their
opinion and their willingness to accept the
responsibility for consequences of their position
and their personal choices. Stakeholders have
objectives for resource management and opinions
about the goals of SD. They should have the right
to ask mining firms how they intend to work with
local communities and ameliorate the negative
impacts of mineral development. Unfortunately,
there is not currently an effective mechanism for
communicating to stakeholders the relationship
between their expressed objectives and the consequences
of fulfilling those objectives. The actual
outcome may be as they desire, but cause other
undesirable and/or unintended environmental or
social impacts. Alternatively, the outcome may be
the one desired, but may have associated high
costs that would be passed on to others. Or, the
expected outcome might actually conflict with the
stakeholder’s broader fundamental or strategic
objectives.
Consider for example the often significant
opposition to the development of large new mineral
operations in remote, pristine areas. That
opposition is frequently predicated upon the
assumption that in the absence of exploration and
development permits, the area would remain in
an undeveloped, natural state. However, this
assumption is inaccurate for those areas already
under pressure from illegal poachers and loggers,
slash and burn agriculture, or extraction by artisanal
miners. The reality is that in such cases
development of the mine might actually increase
the likelihood that the area could be preserved in
a natural state. First, legal mining can be more easily
and effectively monitored and controlled than
can illegal mining. Second, the firm could help
pay for guards and other protections that would
act to minimize unwanted activities. And third,
the jobs, income, and tax revenues generated by
the mine would help to alleviate the poverty that
is a source of much illegal and environmentally
damaging activity. Thus, banning mineral development
may have its own set of economic, social,
and environmental opportunity costs for which
those opposed to all mining on principle should
accept some degree of responsibility.
Conclusions
The problems described above are not insurmountable,
but they do present challenges to
those attempting to implement sustainable development
policies with respect to mining. These
challenges, and others not discussed here, have
many sources: a lack of understanding of the need
for balance across the social, economic, and environmental
dimensions; lack of capacity to implement
SD; unwillingness on the part of some
segments of the industry to embrace SD;
entrenched opposition to mining; unrealistic
requirements that lead to deadlocks over development
or reclamation; endemic poverty; excessive
consumption; political and civil unrest; and others
too numerous to mention. Each of these is a
human issue with an environmental consequence,
which is another way of stating the truism that
environmental problems are social problems.
They are the aggregate effects of humans making
choices and living their everyday lives. Playing
economic development goals against environmental
goals is inappropriate and ineffective
because the two are interconnected and mutually
dependent.
If SD is to be successful, humans will need to
act cooperatively to develop solutions that can
control environmental degradation associated
with mining while maximizing the benefits to be
derived from mineral resource use. The social
dimensions of SD, i.e. openness, effective communication,
and broad participation, hold great
potential for facilitating such consensus based
development and preservation. As we noted at the
beginning of this article, there are many ways to
define SD. This could be viewed as a serious
obstacle to the implementation of sustainable
practices. We suggest the opposite, that the many
different perspectives on how to combine and
weight the principles of SD provide numerous
opportunities for crafting balanced solutions to
the complex problems associated with mineral
resources. Sustainable solutions must fall within
the limits of environmental systems while simultaneously
being appropriate to specific mineral
activities and to the social, economic and cultural
characteristics of individual countries. This will
be the ultimate challenge in applying SD principles
to minerals resources.
Note: Complete references for this article are
available from the authors at the e-mail addresses
shown at the beginning of the article.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 19

Mining
Environmental
management
and global reporting
The Global Reporting Initiative – an
opportunity for the mining industry
Robert K Massie, Chair, GRI Steering Committee; and Executive Director of CERES
Allen White, Transition Director, GRI; and Vice President, Tellus Institute
Nancy Bennet, UNEP consultant to the Global Reporting Initiative, The Netherlands
Abstract
Business managers, investors, consumers, governments, and others are all asking versions of
the same question: how do we obtain a clear picture of the human and ecological impact of
business, so that we can make informed decisions about our investments, purchases, and partnerships?
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a long-term, multi-stakeholder, international
undertaking to develop globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines for voluntary
use by organizations reporting on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of their
activities, products and services. The GRI raises sustainability reporting to the same level of
acceptance and consistency as financial reporting.
Résumé
Les chefs d’entreprises, les investisseurs, les consommateurs, les gouvernements et bien
d’autres groupes posent tous la même question sous des formes différentes : comment obtenir
un tableau clair de l’impact humain et écologique des activités économiques, afin de prendre
des décisions éclairées en matière d’investissements, d’achats et de partenariats ? La Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) est une entreprise internationale multipartite à long terme, qui se
propose d’élaborer des lignes directrices universelles que les entreprises utiliseraient à titre
volontaire pour produire des rapports sur les dimensions économiques, environnementales et
sociales de leurs activités, produits et services. La GRI a pour ambition d’amener les rapports
sur le développement durable au même niveau d’approbation et de cohérence que les bilans
financiers.
Resumen
Los administradores de empresas, los inversores, los consumidores y los gobiernos están formulando
versiones de la misma pregunta: ¿cómo obtener una visión clara del impacto humano
y ecológico del comercio, de manera de tomar decisiones contando con información sobre
nuestras inversiones, adquisiciones y asociaciones? La Iniciativa de Información Globalizada
(GRI) es un emprendimiento internacional a largo plazo, de participación múltiple, para el
desarrollo de pautas de información sobre sustentabilidad aplicables globalmente para ser
usadas voluntariamente por las organizaciones que reportan sobre los aspectos económicos,
ambientales y sociales de sus actividades, productos y servicios. La GRI eleva el informe de sustentabilidad
al mismo nivel de aceptación y coherencia que los informes financieros
“It has often been said that the resource companies
missed the wave of the environmental movement in
the 1970s, and have played catch-up ever since. The
avalanche of non-financial reporting that is being
produced is testament to the fact that the minerals
industry is determined to stay ahead of the next
wave.”
Hugh Morgan, CEO of WMC
Accountability, responsibility, transparency
and reporting are no longer just ‘buzz
words’ in the boardrooms of many transnational
corporations. These trends are spreading to
attract a broad range of companies including
those that are transnational, medium sized, from
a wide range of industry sectors, and from all over
the globe. The reasons for this are complex. They
include increasing social tensions resulting from
globalization, the rising public expectations of
corporate behaviour, the desire to meet the needs
of the world’s poor, the communications revolution
and the ‘CNN’ effect, the imperative to
respect human rights, escalating environmental
problems at both a global level and in our own
neighbourhoods, and increasing, pressures from
investors – to name but a few.
Many civil society groups and commentators,
including the United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan, point to the increasing economic
power and influence exercised by large multinational
companies and suggest that companies
increasingly have the resources and capacity to
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Mining
address these issues where governments do not.
Disagreements over how to mobilize this capacity
have intensified in the press, in the halls of government,
in the business community, and in a
variety of international forums. Representatives
from business, government, and civil society are
searching for new approaches to better align corporate
governance with the economic, social, and
environmental realities of the 21st century.
“We need help from the private sector. Transnational
companies have been the first to benefit from globalization.
They must take their share of the
responsibility for coping with its effects.”
Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations
The mining industry is not immune to these
pressures. While a mining company’s products are
not easily associated with the companies that produce
them, the public perception of the mining
industry is generally negative. In both the developed
and developing worlds, many people have
the perception that the mining industry is concerned
only with short term profits, collaborating
with unjust regimes, raping virgin territory of its
natural resources, destroying native customs and
biological diversity, abandoning social and physical
infrastructure in remote areas once an operation
is finished and leaving permanent scars in
once pristine landscapes . These perceptions cannot
be ignored if the mining industry is to thrive
in the 21 st century. These issues cause concern for
many mining companies. Hugh Morgan, the
CEO of WMC, referred to many of these issues
in an article entitled “Sustainable development is
an emerging part of our business strategy” available
at http://www.wmc.com:
“The worldwide minerals and metals sector is experiencing
momentous changes: commodity prices tumbling;
rapid currency movements; social and economic
upheavals in the developing world; and a vigorous
drive for greater public accountability and voluntary
public reporting. The first three issues have been
analysed extensively. The fourth has occurred virtually
undetected by financial markets – until a few
weeks ago. One of Australia’s most prestigious stockbrokers,
J B Were & Son, recently (9 June 1998)
issued a four-page mining research report on WMC,
of which 75 per cent was about our environmental
performance, specifically about our third annual
Environment Progress Report. The following is an
extract from the J B Were report; “The process of continuous
monitoring and reporting of environmental
progress is seen by J B Were as positive and necessary ...
In the future, resource companies that do not respond
to community standards and attitudes on environmental
issues will have their growth potential severely
limited.” The commentary from J B Were may not
be all that surprising to some, but coming from a
leading stockbroker, the J B Were report is, to the best
of my knowledge, a first. If there was ever any doubt
that financial markets viewed environmentalism as
a mainstream issue – by which I mean an issue that
has the capacity to directly affect shareholder value –
then J B Were has dispelled that doubt”
Collectively, the industry is working toward
improving its image as well as its operations on the
ground. The International Council on Metals and
the Environment (ICME), an association of metals
mining and smelting companies, has published
a report on the changing attitudes and practices of
member companies regarding community
responsibilities and ethical behaviour. In addition,
ICME has also recently added “community
responsibility principles” to its environmental
charter. 3
From words to action:
From this maze of pressures and often-conflicting
messages it is a formidable challenge for companies
to address serious social and environmental
issues on a day-to-day basis. Fortunately, one issue
does resonate loudly and clearly. Business managers,
investors, consumers, governments, and
others are all asking versions of the same question:
how do we obtain a clear picture of the human
and ecological impact of business, so that we can
make informed decisions about our investments,
purchases, and partnerships? Achieving such clarity
in measurement and reporting holds the
promise of delivering value both to business— by
providing a critical management tool—and to
external stakeholders—by providing timely, relevant,
and reliable information on the reporting
organization. 4
In increasing numbers, businesses around the
world are choosing to voluntarily publish environmental
reports – already numbering at least
2000 – detailing their management systems and
environmental performance. A recent study by
the Institute for Environmental Management and
KPMG found that over 35 of the world’s 250
largest companies are voluntarily publishing environmental
reports. Of these reports, a higher level
of reporting was noted in sectors with a perceived
large environmental impact such as mining, pharmaceuticals,
pulp and paper, chemicals & synthetics,
and transport (airlines, rail, shipping) 5 .
Recently, some leading companies have begun to
enlarge the purview of their reporting to encompass
social issues, indicating an incipient trend
toward broader, environmental–social–economic
sustainability reporting.
For example, an excerpt in the ‘Message to
Stakeholders’ of the 1999 Noranda Sustainability
Report reads as follows:
“In 1990, environment, safety and health were primarily
about regulatory compliance, pollution and
industrial hygiene. Increasingly, however, we are
being called to account not only for what we do but
also how we do it. Accordingly, we need to measure
the extent to which our operations enhance economic
development, ensure environmental protection
and promote social equity”.
A quick scan of the Internet demonstrates that
some of the leading mining companies have issued
some kind of environment report: BHP, Placer
Dome, Rio Tinto, RGC, Noranda, North, and
WMC have all published public environment
reports, and some have also published community
reports, safety reports and sustainable development
reports.
“Our 1999 Environment and Community Report
is part of our commitment to being open and
straightforward about our successes and failures. It
shows that, in a year of tough decisions and dramatic
change, we continued to pursue our commitment
to managing our activities in ways that integrate
environmental, social and economic objectives.”
Paul Anderson, Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer, BHP
While these trends are encouraging, major
obstacles remain before such reporting can reach
its potential as a vehicle for higher standards of
corporate accountability and before such reports
can effectively be used to benchmark the performance
of companies and monitor their compliance
with external commitments.
One key obstacle is the absence of a generally
accepted reporting framework, which would
greatly enhance the credibility, comparability and
comprehensiveness of corporate sustainability
reports. In the same way that financial reporting
standards provide users with reliable and comparable
financial information a common framework
for sustainability reporting is essential to elevate
the practice to this level. Without such a framework,
stakeholders, and companies will have limited
ability to compare, benchmark, rate, and
utilize performance information.
To meet this need for a common reporting
framework, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) has joined forces with a
number of leading international organizations in
the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Since its
inception in 1997, the GRI has worked to design
and build acceptance of a common framework for
reporting on the linked aspects of sustainability—
the economic, the environmental, and the social.
Although in the long term the GRI Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines are intended for all types of
organizations, the GRI’s initial work has focused
on reporting by business organizations. The GRI
recognizes that reporting on the economic, environmental,
and social dimensions of organizationlevel
activity – let alone a fully integrated
sustainability assessment – is at the earliest stages
of a journey that will continue for many years. 6
The UNEP Division of Technology, Industry
and Economics has for many years worked to
stimulate individual companies – and industry
associations through their membership – to report
on their environmental performance and the
implementation of their voluntary commitments
in the form of codes of conduct and charters.
Since 1994, UNEP and the London-based SustainAbility
Ltd have produced ten reports on corporate
sustainability reporting through its joint
Engaging Stakeholders Programme. This programme
has developed a strong reputation among
a variety of stakeholders as a credible authority on
corporate reporting. This programme helps meet
the ever-increasing demand for corporate sustainability
report benchmarking, and the further
analysis of sustainability reporting at the sector-
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 21

Mining
level. UNEP’s key role in GRI since its inception
is a logical extension of these reporting activities.
The Global Reporting Initiative:
The GRI is a long-term, multi-stakeholder, international
undertaking whose mission is to develop
and disseminate globally applicable sustainability
reporting guidelines for voluntary use by organizations
reporting on the economic, environmental,
and social dimensions of their activities,
products and services. The GRI is a bold initiative
that aims to elevate sustainability reporting to the
same level of acceptance and consistency as financial
reporting.
The GRI is convened by CERES (Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies), and
UNEP. It also incorporates the active participation
of companies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), consultants, accountancy
organizations, business associations, universities,
and other stakeholders from around the world.
The GRI aims to help organizations report
information in a way that: 7
◆ presents a clear picture of the human and ecological
impact of business, to facilitate informed
decisions about investments, purchases, and partnerships;
◆ provides stakeholders with reliable information
that is relevant to their needs and interests and
that invites further stakeholder dialogue and
enquiry;
◆ provides a management tool to help the reporting
organization evaluate and continually improve
its performance and progress;
◆ complements, not replaces, other reporting
standards, including financial; and,
◆ illuminates the relationship among the three
linked elements of sustainability – economic,
environmental, and social.
The GRI also aims to assist organizations
report:
◆ in accordance with well-established, widely
accepted external reporting principles, applied
consistently from one reporting period to the
next, to promote transparency and credibility;
◆ in a format that is easy to understand and that
facilitates comparison with reports by other organizations.
In March 1999, the GRI released the Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines as an exposure draft
for public comment and testing through the
spring of 2000. Twenty-one companies from
around the world pilot-tested these guidelines and
a number of companies, such as Eastern Group,
General Motors and Procter and Gamble, chose
to publish their 1999 corporate sustainability
reports following the exposure draft Guidelines.
Unfortunately, the mining industry was not active
in this initial pilot-testing phase. 8
In addition, a wide range of other stakeholders
were asked to submit their critical review of the
exposure draft Guidelines. This testing period was
essential in gathering crucial feedback from both
report users and report maker alike. It was also
instrumental in increasing the relevance and
applicability of the Guidelines and in helping to
build consensus among a wide range of views and
UNEP/Sustainability Ltd Engaging
Stakeholders Programme
Current Reports:
1. Company Environmental Reporting, 1993
2. Engaging Stakeholders – Volume 1 the 1996
Benchmark Survey
3. Engaging Stakeholders – Volume 2 the Case Studies
4. 1997 Benchmark Survey
5. The CEO Agenda
6. The Non-Reporting Report
7. The Social reporting Report
8. The Internet Reporting Report
9. The Oil Sector Report
10. The Life and Science Report
Future Reports:
1. 2000 Benchmark Survey
2. The Automotive Sector
For further information please see www.sustainability.co.uk
cultures. After much consultation and revision,
the June 2000 GRI Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines were released.
The June 2000 GRI Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines:
The June 2000 GRI Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines provide a framework for reporting that
promotes comparability between reporting organizations
while recognizing the practical considerations
of collecting and presenting information
across diverse reporting organizations. 9
The Guidelines do not:
◆ provide guidance for implementing data collection,
information and reporting systems, or organizational
procedures for preparing reports;
◆ contain guidance on monitoring performance
or on verification practices;
Organizations Represented on the
GRI Steering Committee
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(United Kingdom)
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
CECODES (Colombian Business Council for Sustainable
Development)
Centre for Science and Environment (India)
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies
(United States)
Council on Economic Priorities (United States)
Environmental Auditing Research Group (Japan)
General Motors Corporation (United States)
Green Reporting Forum (Japan)
Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability
(United Kingdom)
Investor Responsibility Research Center (United States)
ITT Flygt (Sweden)
New Economics Foundation (United Kingdom)
SustainAbility, Ltd. (United Kingdom)
United Nations Environment Programme
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
World Resources Institute
Many other stakeholders are actively involved in GRI through
their participation in technical working groups, seminars etc.
Please see www.globalreporting.org for further information.
◆ present standards for performance.
The June 2000 GRI Guidelines include a
strong focus on three linked elements of sustainability.
Environmental indicators were prominent
in the March 1999 exposure draft of the GRI
Guidelines and were therefore reviewed and
assessed in the pilot-testing phase. The social and
economic indicators in the June 2000 GRI Sustainable
Reporting Guidelines are more experimental
and require a thorough testing and
assessment period during 2000-2002. In addition,
it should be noted that the three elements of sustainability
are outlined in the Guidelines as separate
reporting elements. However, over time, the
GRI will move towards a more integrated reporting
framework. This has begun with the ‘integrated
indicators’ described in the Guidelines.
Linked elements of sustainability
Economic: including, for example, wages and
benefits, labour productivity, job creation, expenditures
on outsourcing, expenditures on research
and development, and investments in training
and other forms of human capital. The economic
element includes, but is not limited to, financial
information.
Environmental: including, for example, impacts
of processes, products, and services on air, water,
land, biodiversity, and human health.
Social: including, for example, workplace health
and safety, employee retention, labour rights,
human rights, and wages and working conditions
at outsourced operations.
The June 2000 GRI Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines include the following:
Part A: Introduction and General Guidance
Background on the need for and nature of the GRI,
plus general guidance on the design and applicability
of the Guidelines.
1. What Is the Global Reporting Initiative?
2. Why Is there a Need for the GRI?
3. What Is the History and Evolution of the GRI?
4. What Do the Guidelines Provide?
5. What Is the Value of Using the Guidelines?
6. Who Should Use the Guidelines?
7. Using the Guidelines – Specific Issues
8. Verification of GRI Reports
9. Relationship of the Guidelines to Other Initiatives
Part B: Reporting Principles and Practices
Fundamental underpinnings, concepts, and practices
that promote rigour, comparability, and reliability
in reporting.
1. Underlying Principles of GRI Reporting
2. Qualitative Characteristics for GRI Reporting
3. Classification of Performance-Reporting Elements
4. Ratio Indicators
5. Disclosure of Reporting Policies
Part C: Report Content
The framework for structuring a GRI report, specific
content, and guidance for compiling the various
parts of the report.
1. CEO Statement
22 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
2. Profile of Reporting Organization
3. Executive Summary and Key Indicators
4. Vision and Strategy
5. Policies, Organization, and Management Systems
6. Performance
Part D: Annexes
Additional guidance and resources for using the
Guidelines
1. Resources for Selecting and Applying Indicators
2. Guidance on Incremental Application of the
Guidelines
3. Guidance on Verification
4. Guidance on Ratio Indicators
While much attention is paid to Part C –
Report Content, Part B of the GRI Guidelines:
Reporting Principles and Practices is also worth
highlighting. This section outlines some key principles
and practises that are crucial to ensuring
that GRI Reports are easy to use, compare, and
verify. Many of these principles are drawn from
best practice in financial reporting. They include
for example, the reporting entity principle which
requests reporters to clearly define the boundary
of the organization adopted for the report.
As of publication of this article, the June 2000
GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines have
been translated into Dutch English, French, German,
and Japanese and can be downloaded from
http:///www.globalreporting.org. It is expected
that the Guidelines will be updated in 2002 taking
into account feedback received.
An Opportunity for the Mining Industry:
Getting started
For those mining companies embarking on the
reporting process, the GRI Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines provide an excellent starting point.
The Guidelines will assist companies in engaging
their stakeholders and reporting in a manner
which meets their stakeholders needs. In addition,
the GRI Guidelines are a tool for decision making
at three levels. 10
1. At the level of the governing body (e.g. board
of directors) and for senior management, the
Guidelines provide an internal vehicle for evaluating
the consistency between the organization’s
economic, environmental, and social policy and
its actual performance. The increased uniformity
in reporting facilitated by the Guidelines will help
reporting organizations to compare themselves
with others and to recognize improved performance.
2. At the operational level, the Guidelines provide
a logical structure for applying sustainability concepts
to the organization’s operations, services and
products. They also help guide the development
of data and information systems for setting and
tracking progress towards economic, environmental,
and social goals. 11
3. From a communications standpoint, the Guidelines
provide a framework for effectively sharing
and promoting dialogue with internal and external
stakeholders regarding the organizations accomplishments
and challenges in achieving its goals.
While the GRI Guidelines provide a solid
framework for companies to report on the economic,
environmental and social aspects of their
performance, the Guidelines can also be used
incrementally. For those companies preparing
their first report it may be difficult to report on all
of their operations or on all of the three linked
aspects of sustainability. The GRI Guidelines recognize
these difficulties, while at the same time
stressing that it is essential for a reporting organization
to state precisely in the profile section of its
report what is included and what is excluded, and
to indicate how it intends to expand coverage in
the future. 12
Sector specific indicators
The future will see increasing demand from governments
and inter-governmental organizations
for sector-wide reporting. This will enable greater
detail and comparability for companies in the
same line of business. It will require the development
of sectoral indicators to supplement the
core, generic reporting framework.
Many mining companies have embarked on
this process already. Noranda for example, reports
on what it calls ‘eight indicators of sustainable
development: sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions in
our copper business, metal emissions to air, energy
consumption (which implies to a large extent
greenhouse gas emissions), minimizing our footprint,
community dialogue, safety, profitable
growth and environmental capital expenditures.’
The GRI Guidelines include indicators that are
relevant for all organizations – generally applicable
indicators – while also recognizing the need to be
flexible to allow for organization-specific indicators
reflecting, for example, the industry sector, geographic
location, and the concerns of stakeholders.
GRI does intend to develop, in a multi-stakeholder
fashion, sector-specific indicators to supplement
the indicators in the June 2000
Guidelines. The mining industry has been one of
the first industry sectors to approach GRI in a
proactive manner. Joint work is expected to begin
in early 2001. It will help in designing and testing
a process for future sector-specific “supplements”
to complement the core guidelines.
Innovation
The GRI guidelines can also assist leading
reporters in the mining industry to address their
environmental, social and economic performance
in an integrated fashion. The Guidelines currently
propose two main types of integrated indicators:
systemic and cross-cutting indicators.
Systemic indicators reflect a movement towards
linkage and harmonization between organizationlevel
information and sectoral, national, regional,
and global scale information. They link performance
at the micro-level with economic, environmental,
or social conditions at the macro-level.
This will become increasingly important as companies
work with national governments to implement
the targets set out in international
agreements and conventions.
The following are generic examples of systemic
indicators:
◆ wages and benefits, or investments in research
and development, at the organizational level
expressed in relation to sectoral or national totals;
◆ workplace accident or discrimination cases at
the organizational level expressed in relation to
regional or sectoral totals;
◆ an organization’s emissions expressed relative to
globally sustainable levels based on biophysical
limits defined by governments or international
agreements.
Cross-cutting indicators bridge information
across two or more of the three elements of sustainability
– economic, environmental, or social
– of an organization’s performance. The following
are examples of this type of indicator:
◆ a composite measure of diversity (economic–
social–environmental);
◆ eco-efficiency (economic–environmental); and,
◆ externalized costs of emissions (economic–social
or economic–environmental).
In some instances, integrated indicators combine
systemic and cross-cutting approaches. For
example, expressing an organization’s air emissions
in relation to regional totals as well as estimates
of human health effects of such emissions
combines the systemic (micro–macro) with the
cross-cutting (environmental–social) dimensions
of integrated indicators.
For those companies in the mining industry
that wish to remain at the cutting edge of corporate
transparency, developing and reporting on
performance in a systemic and integrated fashion
is certainly a challenge.
Supporting the GRI
Most companies strongly advocate that reporting
remain voluntary. At the same time, some are quietly
calling for a common framework to achieve
greater efficiency and utility of reported information.
These leading companies have gained considerable
experience and perhaps some
competitive advantage through years of reporting
and would now like to see a ‘level playing field’.
“I believe that … voluntary public reporting promotes
greater transparency for … companies, and
improves community confidence in our sector as a
whole. It follows, therefore, that institutions in our
society that rely on community confidence – such as
government departments, media outlets, and community
based organizations – might well consider
embracing the highest standards of public reporting
on matters such as environment, safety, and community
relations. Regrettably, this has not yet been the
case. I am left to ponder why.”
Hugh Morgan, CEO of WMC
The GRI has consistently remained agnostic
about any kind of mandatory reporting. At the
same time, government initiatives in Japan, the
European Union, United States and other countries
are showing increasing interest and uptake of
the Guidelines. In any case, the GRI is seeking to
ensure that the GRI Guidelines become the generally
accepted sustainability reporting framework.
In order for this to happen, many companies –
including those in the mining industry – need to
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 23

Mining
use the GRI Guidelines and become involved in
the multi-stakeholder GRI process. We hope this
article has inspired you to do just that.
Notes
1 3 June 2000 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
2 Fritz Balkau and Andrew Parsons, UNEP DTIE,
1999 article ‘Emerging Environmental Issues for
Mining in the PECC Region’. Available at
http://www.uneptie.org
3 ibid
4 June 2000 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
5 KPMG International Survey of Environmental
Reporting 1999
6 June 2000 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
7 June 2000 GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
on Economic, Environmental and Social
Performance
8 Pilot test companies include: Baxter International,
USA; The Body Shop International, UK; Bristol-
Myers Squibb, USA; British Airways, UK; Electrolux,
Sweden; Excel Industries, Ltd., India; Ford
Motor Company, USA; General Motors, USA;
Henkel Chemicals, Germany; ITT/Flygt, Sweden;
KST Hokkaido, Japan; NEC Corporation, Japan;
Novo Nordisk, Denmark; Procter & Gamble, USA;
Riverwood International, USA; SASOL, South
Africa; Shell Petroleum, UK/The Netherlands;
Sunoco, USA; TXU Europe (Eastern Group), UK;
VanCity Savings Credit Union, Canada.
9 June 2000 GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
on Economic, Environmental and Social
Performance
10 ibid
11 ibid
12 ibid ◆
Mineral Resources Forum - Environment
(www.natural-resources.org/environment)
Do you sometimes have problems finding current, factual, easily accessible
information about issues relating to mining and the environment? Consult the
Environment section of the Mineral Resources Forum (MRF) website.
Intended for decision makers and policy development, information on the
MRF is regularly updated to provide information on the full range of
environmental issues related to the mitigation of environmental damage,
planning for mine closure, disposal of hazardous wastes and abandoned mines.
The site hot links to governments, industry associations, international
commodity study groups, professional associations, NGOs and other
representatives of civil society. Full reports on UNEP assessment missions (e.g.
Baia Mare and Baia Borsa accidents), technical information on chemicals of
concern (eg. cyanide and mercury), technical and socio-economic issues that
arise during the life cycle of mineral resources including production, use,
recycling, reuse, and return to the natural environment as well as reports from ongoing
UNEP initiatives are available to keep policy makers and interested
stakeholders approsed of developments. Individuals are also encouraged to
participate in on-line discussions on current issues and events. The increase in
hits per month from under 4,000 in April 1999 to some 18,000 in November
2000 from all regions of the world testifies to the increasing usefulness of the
MRF.
UNEP s goals are to encourage the incorporation of environmental
criteria into industrial development plans; to facilitate the implementation of
procedures and principles for protection of the environment; to promote
preventive environmental protection through cleaner production and other proactive
approaches; and to stimulate the exchange of information and experiences
of policy makers, NGOs and interested stakeholders around the world. The
MRF covers a range of mining, mineral processing and metals impacts on the
natural environment and allows for direct input of events from users.
MRF was established as an initiative of the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) with financial assistance from the
Government of the Netherlands. The United Nations Environment Programme,
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) is a principal
partner in the Environment section of MRF.
UNEP DTIE is looking for partners who are willing to manage
thematic aspects of environmental issues associated with minerals, metals and
sustainable development. Partners may be governments, industries, NGOs,
associations, academia and research institutes able to assist by providing
feedback and by contributing information of their own.
If you have questions or suggestions, please send them to tozawa@unep.fr or
minerals. forum@unep.fr
24 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Mining Industry Report Comparison
Key:
✔ Topic described in text of article
in Mining Environment Magazine,
March 2000
* Site report only
BHP Company Ltd.
Cambior Inc.
Falconbridge Ltd.
Homestake Mining Co.
Noranda Inc.
North Ltd.
Pasminco Ltd.
Placer Dome Asia Pacific *
Placer Dome Inc.
Placer Pacific Ltd.
Rio Tinto plc
Sasol Ltd.
Shell Coal Pty Ltd.
WMC Ltd.
Environmental Management
Environmental management structure & responsibility
Environmental policy
Audits & review
Compliance
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Clean-up operations
✔
✔
Compensation payments
Sustainable development
Environmental training & internal communication
Environmental expenditure/investment
Biodiversity/conservation issues
International Activities Programmes
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Community & Social
Community relations/programmes
Stakeholder consultation
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Product stewardship
Health & Safety
✔
✔
Health & safety issues
Lost-time/injuries/fatalities
Exposure to hazards
Emergency planning & response
Contaminated Land
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔
Company Operations
Resource use
Energy consumption
Raw materials use
Water Consumption
Land Use (surface area)
Site-specific data
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Site-specific targets
✔
✔
Outputs
Air Emissions
Water/effluents
Hazardous waste
Solid waste
Land disturbance/rehabilitation/decommissioning
Site-specific data
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Site-specific targets
Report Information
✔
✔
3rd party statement
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Source: London Mining Journal/MEM, March 2000
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 25

Mining
Mining and sustainable development:
associations hold key to programme
of change
Anita Roper, WMC, on secondment to the Global Mining Initiative, London, UK.
Abstract
Industry associations and leading mining, minerals and metals companies are working hard
to advance elements of the industry’s sustainable development agenda. There has been
tremendous progress in awareness and implementation of sustainable development principles
in the last three years. Furthermore, in 2000 a number of companies within the industry started
a new, comprehensive programme called the Global Mining Initiative (GMI). This programme
brings together many of the largest mining minerals and metals companies in a
leadership exercise, to help ensure that in the new century the industry and others work together
to contribute to sustainable patterns of economic development. The industry’s associations
form a key part of the GMI. Producing a more effective global network for external representation
of the industry is one of the strategic challenges. The associations are the industry’s natural
vehicles to deliver the most effective follow-through and leverage for the outcomes of an
independent analysis of how the industry should contribute to sustainable development.
Résumé
Les associations professionnelles et les grandes entreprises d’exploitation minière, de traitement
des minéraux et de transformation des métaux déploient de gros efforts pour faire progresser
certains aspects du programme de ce secteur pour un développement durable. Et, de
fait, la sensibilisation aux principes du développement durable et leur mise en oeuvre a fait
d’énormes progrès ces trois dernières années. Plusieurs entreprises du secteur ont en outre
lancé en 2000 un nouveau programme de grande envergure, baptisé Global Mining Initiative
(GMI), qui associe la plupart des grandes entreprises d’exploitation minière et de métallurgie
aux entreprises d’autres secteurs pour qu’en ce nouveau siècle des modes de développement
économique durables soient adoptés. Les associations de ce secteur sont un des acteurs clé de
la GMI. Etablir un réseau mondial plus efficace pour représenter le secteur à l’extérieur est l’un
des défis stratégiques de cet engagement. Les associations professionnelles sont un véhicule
naturel pour donner suite à l'analyse des moyens à mettre en oeuvre pour contribuer à un
développement durable et en exploiter les conclusions de façon indépendante.
Resumen
Las asociaciones industriales y las principales industrias mineras y metalíferas están trabajando
sin descanso para presentar los elementos de la agenda de desarrollo sustentable de la
industria. En los últimos tres años se logró un progreso enorme en cuanto a conscientización
e implementación de principios sobre desarrollo sustentable. Además, en el año 2000 una
cantidad de empresas dentro de la industria comenzaron un nuevo programa intensivo
denominado “Global Mining Initiative” (Iniciativa Minera Global) que reúne a un importante
número de las principales empresas mineras y metalíferas en un trabajo para colaborar con los
patrones sustentables del desarrollo económico. Las asociaciones de la industria forman una
parte esencial de este programa. Uno de los desafíos estratégicos es crear una red global más
efectiva que represente externamente a la industria. Las asociaciones son las vías naturales
de la industria para el seguimiento efectivo y la adecuación de los resultados de los análisis
independientes respecto a la manera en que la industria debería contribuir al desarrollo sustentable.
Introduction
The mining industry world-wide is challenged
by its past practices, and more recently, by the
need to be better prepared for a different future.
Society’s expectations of the mining, minerals
and metals industry are that it should continue
to provide a vast range of essential economic
resources, reliably, at an affordable cost, and in a
manner that is careful of the environment and
produces benefit for communities.
The sector must respond to these changing
expectations and meet the challenge. Living successfully
with these higher expectations means
delivering a high level of performance consistently,
and being seen to be doing so. To achieve this,
sustainable development provides the best framework
within which to address issues such as environmental
performance, the fair distribution of
economic benefits, human rights and community
consultation, as well as product stewardship during
the metals life-cycle.
Three years ago, in the first thematic publication
on Mining and Sustainable Development,
George Miller, then President of the Mining Association
of Canada, described associations’ policies
and programmes regarding management
approaches to the improvement of environmental
performance. These included corporate
responsibility and codes of practice, voluntary targets
for emissions, public reporting on corporate
environmental performance, topical environmental
issues such as greenhouse gases and energy
use, as well as discharges to the marine environment,
transfrontier issues such as international
trade in wastes and other aspects of environmental
and social performance.
During the last three years there have been
many developments within the mining, minerals
and metals industry. There has been:
◆ greater concentration of companies within the
industry;
◆ a move to integrate environmental, social and
economic considerations into the way the industry
does business under the rubric of sustainable
development;
◆ the demand for and provision of increased
transparency of companies’ operations;
◆ greater involvement of those stakeholders who
have an interest in the industry; and
◆ the establishment of the Global Mining Initiative
(GMI) – a programme started by mining,
minerals and metals companies to respond positively
to society’s changing expectations.
This article discusses policies and programmes
by industry associations, in particular national
associations that have been put in place over the
last three years to respond to developments. There
has been much progress but it must be recognized
that the tasks are challenging and no one group
has all the answers. The article also touches on the
way associations are being called upon to help
move forward the sustainable development agenda
arising from the independent analytical work
of the Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development
(MMSD) project initiated by the GMI.
Specifically, the article describes:
◆ The integration by the associations of the three
pillars of sustainable development (economic,
environmental, social).
◆ The tools associations use to:
26 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
• assist members in meeting the goals of sustainable
development;
• ensure greater transparency of operations; and
• involve stakeholders.
◆ Future challenges facing the industry as seen by
the associations.
Integration of environmental, social
and economic factors
Many of the associations surveyed incorporate the
three pillars of sustainable development in their
work programme, some in a more integrated
manner than others. In particular, the Minerals
Council of Australia (MCA) has reviewed and
expanded the Australian Minerals Industry Code
for Environmental Management; the Mining
Association of Canada (MAC) has commenced a
sustainable mining initiative; Euromines has
developed guidelines on sustainable development
and actively participates in the EU project on
‘Voluntary Initiatives & Sustainable Development
in the Non-Energy Extractive Industry; the Consejo
Minero of Chile is developing a policy on sustainable
development; and the International
Council on Metals and the Environment has
incorporated sustainable development into its
mandate.
The most comprehensive national mining
industry code of practice to date has been developed
by the MCA. This was launched in 1996
and has been reviewed recently. Signatories to the
code commit to a number of values including:
◆ the integration of environmental, social and
economic considerations into decision making
and management, consistent with the objectives
of sustainable development;
◆ openness, transparency and improved accountability
through public environmental reporting
and engagement with the community;
◆ compliance with all statutory requirements as a
minimum;
◆ a continually-improving standard of environmental
performance; and
◆ through leadership, the pursuit of environmental
excellence throughout the Australian minerals
industry.
Commitment to the code brings with it a number
of obligations: progressive implementation of
the code; production of an annual public environment
report within two years of registration;
completion of an annual code-implementation
survey to assess progress against code principles;
and verification of the survey results by an accredited
auditor at least once every three years.
Any company can become a signatory to the
code, including ones that are not members of the
MCA. Other associations are encouraged to
endorse the Australian Minerals Industry Code.
For example, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy
of Western Australia has endorsed the code and
actively encourages its members to adopt it.
The Mining Association of Canada established
a task force to launch a “sustainable mining initiative”.
The goal is “to continue to earn the
opportunity to thrive and contribute by demonstrating
the social relevance and value of our
industry through a stewardship process that aligns
our actions with the evolving priorities of our
stakeholders.” During 2000, research with internal
and external stakeholders will help provide
focus on the critical areas where changed performance
is required by the industry in order to
achieve the goal. It is expected that the initiative
will move into a more active phase in 2001. The
process of change and consultation with stakeholders
is envisaged as an on-going process.
Sustainable development thinking is integrated
into many of the activities of the South African
Chamber of Mines. For example, in May 1999,
the Chamber and its members committed themselves
to “environmentally responsible mining”
where environmental impacts of all mining activity
are built into mining plans. Compatibility is
sought between wealth and job creation on the
one hand and environmental conservation on the
other.
One of the newer national industry associations,
Consejo Minero, represents Chile’s largescale
mining companies. It is in the process of
developing its policy on sustainable development.
The final document will reflect the policies of
both its member companies and those of other
industry organizations.
The International Council on Metals and the
Environment (ICME) has changed its mandate
from the promotion of environmental policies
and practices to the promotion of sustainable
development policies and practices related to the
mining and production of primary metals. This is
incorporated into the mandate of ICME and is
intended to ensure the safe production, use, recycling
and disposal of metals.
◆ An example of an association at the local level
active in applying sustainable development principles
is the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of
Western Australia which operates an integrated
programme covering all of the major issues faced
by the minerals and energy industries. The Chamber’s
vision is for a vigorous and profitable industry
operating in tune with the aspirations of the
community and industry employees, and in harmony
with the environment.
Tools to assist members in meeting
the goals of sustainable development
The associations employ a variety of tools to assist
their members in meeting the goals of sustainable
development. Among these are:
◆ Guidelines
◆ Training
◆ Workshops
◆ Seminars and publications
Guidelines are a common tool used to encourage
and assist members. Euromines has developed
guidelines on sustainable development for the
European mining sector. Members of Euromines
shall conduct their activities according to the principles
of sustainable development, under the
headings of “economic, environment and social”.
The Chamber of Mines of South Africa has
published a number of environmental guidelines
including The Rehabilitation of Land Disturbed by
Surface Coal Mining in South Africa and Pollution
Problems and Hydrological Disturbances Resulting
from Increased Underground Extraction of Coal.
Work is currently underway on guidelines on
public participation and on management of
cyanide use in gold extraction.
In 1998, the MAC published a guide to the
management of tailings facilities. This was developed
as an extension of MAC’s Environmental
Policy and Environmental Management Framework.
It incorporates a management system
approach rather than a purely technical one. Since
its publication, MAC has held a number of workshops
with its members to ensure the effective use
and application of the guide.
MAC has also adopted and released a policy on
climate change and set a target for further reductions
in direct and indirect industry emissions of
greenhouse gases. It has published a manual:
Strategic Planning and Action on Climate Change
– A Guide for Canadian Mining Companies.
As part of the Greenhouse Challenge in Australia,
both the MCA and the Western Australia
Chamber of Minerals and Energy have facilitative
agreements with the Government under the
Greenhouse Challenge programme. The agreements
commit the associations to encouraging
and facilitating greenhouse gas emission abatement
by member companies and to report annually
on their activities and achievements.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western
Australia has co-published two sets guidelines
on relationships with farmers and pastoralists: a
Code of Conduct for Mineral Exploration on Pastoral
Leases and a Code of Practice for Exploration
in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. In addition, in
2000, they released a set of principles to guide
consultation on aboriginal heritage issues between
member companies and indigenous groups.
The Japan Mining Industry Association has
developed a Voluntary Action Plan for Environmental
Preservation by the Non-ferrous Metal Mining
Industry. It contains global warming control
measures to encourage more energy conservation
and to increase efforts towards prevention of global
warming. It promotes active recycling to reduce
industrial waste release as well as development of
an environmental management system demonstrating
the latest technology and promotion of
technology transfer. Targets have been included
where appropriate.
The Cámara Minera de México has agreements
with the Mexican Government to promote good
environmental practice and is working on the
development of guidelines and technical standards
for the management of all phases of mining
operations.
Small companies often rely more on their associations
at both the national and state/provincial
level for support. For example, at the national
level, the Chilean Association, SONAMI has represented
small mining companies in Chile for over
100 years. SONAMI has an environmental policy
through which members are encouraged to comply
with various communications and training
activities.
While SONAMI does not have a formal code
of practice, they have published a manual on Best
Environmental Practices in Mining Exploration
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 27

Mining
Activities. They are following up with a manual on
Best Environmental Practices in Small Mining
Operations. SONAMI uses international expertise
particularly from Canada and the United States
working within the Chilean-Canadian Environment
Memorandum of Understanding and implementing
environmental management systems
training in medium to small mining companies.
Key roles of associations are training, education
and dissemination of information, fields in which
all associations have programmes.
State industry associations also play an important
role as often many of their members are
smaller size companies. The Chamber of Minerals
and Energy of Western Australia holds regular
workshops and seminars and produces guidelines
to assist member companies in improving their
practices. Recent examples include workshops on
salt lake ecology, and occupational health and
safety in the minerals industry, and seminars on
greenhouse gas emissions and on native title. The
Chamber also holds regular meetings of environment,
safety and health forums in regional areas
to enable site-based practitioners to exchange
information and to interact with regulators. The
work of this state industry association is typical of
that of other regional associations.
Associations also publish case studies on good
performance as a means of transferring learning
between members. ICME has published a number
of case studies on tailings management, on
environmental practices in mining and metallurgical
processes, on the management of cyanide in
gold extraction and on mining and indigenous
peoples.
The MCA participates in joint industry and
government production of the Best Practice Environmental
Management modules for various
aspects of mining, including issues such as tailings
containment, acid mine drainage, rehabilitation,
etc.
The Western Australia Chamber has published
three editions of Mining and Community: A Growing
Relationship, to highlight examples of best
practice in environmental and community relationship
management in the industry.
Many of the examples above relate to the “environmental”
pillar of sustainable development.
However, the tools described – guidelines, training,
workshops and seminars, and publications –
can also be used to assist members in meeting the
goals of the other two pillars of sustainable development.
Programmes to ensure greater
transparency of operations
The level of transparency of mining, minerals and
metals operations has increased in the last three
years.
Reporting takes different forms. Many companies
produce environmental reports on their performance
and a growing number of them also
cover a range of social and community issues.
Under the Australian Minerals Industry Code,
signatories are required to produce an annual public
environment report within two years of signing
up to the code.
Some industry associations publish reports on a
sector-wide basis. MAC publishes an Environmental
Progress Report every year detailing emissions
and members’ initiatives on a sector-wide
basis. The programme complements MAC’s
Environmental Policy and Environmental Management
Framework. Both are conditions of
membership of MAC. MAC’s 1999 report, the
fifth such document, included reporting on recycling
for the first time, and also highlighted the
ongoing improvement MAC members are making
in reducing releases of major ARET-listed substances
(Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of
Toxic substances), such as arsenic, mercury, and
hydrogen sulphide.
Under the Greenhouse Challenge Agreement
with the Australian Greenhouse Office, both the
MCA and the WA Chamber of Minerals and
Energy produce reports on member company participation
in the program.
The work of associations has brought about
increasing interaction with stakeholders who have
an interest in the activities of the mining industry.
The MCA has established an External Environmental
Advisory Group to provide independent
advice to its Environment Committee. The advisory
group provides a forum through which the
minerals industry can – with a view to continually
improving its performance – constructively address
industry, environmental and related social issues by
taking into account community expectations.
The advisory group will identify issues of interest
and concern to the community relating to the
environmental and related social performance of
the minerals industry; provide an annual report on
its findings which may include recommendations
for improvement of the industry’s environmental
performance; and provide advice on the industrywide
assessment of progress in implementing the
Australian Minerals Industry Code for Environmental
Management mentioned earlier.
MAC has engaged in a number of multi-stakeholder
processes over the years and is now a members
of a “Species at Risk Working Group”, along
with the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, the
Canadian Nature Federation, the Canadian Wildlife
Federation and the Sierra Club of Canada.
The South African Chamber of Mines, like
many other national associations has formal ongoing
dialogue with NGOs and community groups
and meets regularly with labour unions, government
departments, academics, consultants and
suppliers to the industry. It has also established a
joint website 17 to assist communication between
mines and local communities. The Chamber’s
gold mining members recently set aside about
US$1.4 million for a rural development strategy.
The money will provide seed funding for job creation
projects in rural areas of South Africa and
neighbouring countries hardest hit by job losses
from gold mine retrenchments.
At the state level, one association, the Chamber
of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, has
opened up associated membership to a nonindustry
body. The Yamatji Land and Sea Council
which represents the mid-west and Pilbara
regions of Western Australia recently became an
Associate Member of the Chamber in order to
move closer to the industry which underpins the
economies of the regions it represents.
Future challenges
The associations recognize that the continuous
improvement of sustainable development initiatives
made so far is essential and that there are
more gains to be made.
In the area of social responsibility, there is much
to be done at the community level and particularly
with indigenous communities close to mining
operations. Social issues have not received the
degree of focus by government and industry that
environmental issues have had over the last 15
years. There appears to be a steep learning curve
facing the industry while, on the positive side,
there are leaders in the industry that are good role
models for others to learn from and who can provide
a body of “best practices” to draw from.
Looking ahead, the associations have identified
the following key challenges in promoting understanding
of, and contributing to, sustainable
development:
◆ Developing and implementing viable compliance
mechanisms for signatories to codes of conduct.
◆ Addressing social issues within codes and guidelines.
◆ Raising the level of the environmental and social
performance of all companies involved in the
industry.
◆ Ensuring that governments implement all three
pillars of sustainable development in an integrated
way, rather than concentrating on the obvious
ones, environment and social.
◆ Communicating the essential inter-relationship
between the three pillars of sustainable development
and in particular the essential role that economic
performance plays in being able to deliver
on environment and social goals.
◆ Reflecting the industry on a global basis, as distinct
from local and regional issues. The performance
of companies offshore and the regulatory
capacity of governments in developing nations
remain an issue.
◆ Ensuring that objective information is presented
to the community in an easily understood form
to enable and encourage informed action.
◆ Ensuring that communication links between all
stakeholders are maintained and enhanced.
In Chile, the smaller miners’ organization
SONAMI faces acute challenges as many of its
members fight for economic survival in a climate
of low capital investment and market prices. The
organization also recognizes that much work still
needs to be done on improving member companies’
relations with their local communities.
In South Africa, where the most far-reaching
restructuring in the history of the mining industry
is underway, in response to the demands of the
new social and economic order, the challenges
include:
◆ Finding the right balance between the need to
promote economic development and employment
while protecting the environment and safeguarding
the community, bearing in mind the ongoing
28 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
time-scales required to judge sustainability.
◆ Interacting with organizations whose balance
lies elsewhere, such as wealthier countries that can
afford better environmental protection, and those
in poorer countries for whom economic growth is
the greater priority.
◆ Understanding the scope, roles and linkages of
mining vis-à-vis social and community issues such
as the AIDS epidemic.
◆ The extent of the role of the association vis-àvis
the role of members.
For the Consejo Minero in Chile, the challenges
over the next three years include:
◆ Balancing the demands of economic development
and social progress with the need to minimize
the immediate and longer-term impact upon
the environment.
◆ Establishing a mechanism of communication
amongst the various stakeholders in a manner that
can address the disparity of understanding about
the roles and responsibilities of the industry, the
government and the community.
◆Promoting an appropriate level of commitment
by all members in order to secure an improved
level of performance and acceptability for the
industry.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Associations and the Global Mining
Initiative (GMI)
The GMI, as noted earlier, goes directly to the
heart of the issue of mining, minerals, metals and
sustainable development. One of the challenges
facing the GMI is the need to capture and mobilize
more effectively the expertise and influence of
industry associations through a more effective network
of external representative bodies, especially
on the international stage, to maximize the industry’s
contribution to sustainable development.
For the past 20 years industry associations have
represented the interests of mining and metals
regionally, nationally and internationally with
advocacy, scientific research and marketing support.
They have functioned as the organizational
structure for developing consensus among members,
providing input to government agencies,
communicating with end users and developing
links with the industry’s stakeholders. As this article
shows, they have become major players in the
sustainable development issue.
However, fragmentation of the industry and
overlap of memberships and agendas between the
associations often mean that stakeholders do not
know who to ask in the industry for a strategic
viewpoint. The GMI seeks to stimulate a more
cost-effective, authoritative and focused model to
provide a vehicle for effective follow-up of the outcomes
of a study into the “how to” aspects of sustainable
development in mining. The model
needs to have increased capacity to contribute to
rather than react to agendas. Instead of only transmitting
industry messages to the world, representative
bodies should be able to convey concerns
and expectations back to the industry.
Key features of this model are a greater level of
mining company senior executive leadership and
involvement in associations; a more effective network
of national, regional and commodity bodies;
and separation of business and market-development
roles from policy-oriented science and
advocacy functions.
Conclusion
Mining, minerals and metals industry associations
have made proactive strides in providing guidance
to their industry membership on matters that further
the sustainable development agenda.
The GMI programme recognizes that industry
associations at all levels, international, regional,
national and commodity, are essential to the
ongoing dialogue between the mining industry
and the wider world.
This review of the progress made by the national
associations during the last three years makes it
evident that there is a strong platform to build on
to further the desired sustainable development
practices in the mining industry. Associations will
support the industry so that it can continue to
provide mineral and metal products to the world
while respecting the right of future generations to
provide for themselves.
Note:
The information for this article was obtained
through a questionnaire sent to a small sample of
national associations and the International Council
on Metals and the Environment (ICME). The
Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia
was included to give a state association perspective.
◆
Some environmental management tools
for mining – a brief overview
The environmental agenda has now become
too complex for ad hoc approaches. The
realization that only a “prevention”
approach can truly deliver the performance we
want has led to the development of a number of
specific environment tools that let key stakeholders
– principally companies and governments –
take more effective (and more cost-effective)
approaches.
For governments, regulatory tools have sharpened
considerably, with more emphasis on
upstream application during the planning phase
(use of Environmental Impact Assessment, occasionally
Life Cycle Assessment, siting restrictions),
the design phase (design standards, safe location)
and operational phase (pollution standards, waste
disposal, emergency response procedures, monitoring).
The compilation by UNEP/ DESA of
current regulatory approaches gives more details
of national practice. 1 A new challenge for the regulatory
process generally is now proper interfacing
with voluntary industry codes and guidelines.
So far the permitting and approval process has
either (the most common approach) ignored such
voluntary initiatives entirely, or has incorporated
entire codes as legal requirement (as occurs in
South Africa). In this respect the development of
voluntary codes by industry without a clear vision
of how the regulator should react to them has perpetuated
this parallel approach creating little synergy
or collective benefit.
Industry for its part has developed extensive
“in-house” procedures such as audits, reviews, monitoring
and (internal) reporting, guided by company-specific
policies, standards, protocols and
procedures. The functioning of this is often invisible
to outside stakeholders, giving the erroneous
impression that nothing is being done.
Collective industry action through sector-wide
codes has occurred in only a few countries and has
proven difficult to impose on non-members of
associations (and sometimes even slow to implement
by members). Nevertheless, the new determination
by a few associations to make voluntary
codes work can be expected to lead to other countries
eventually following this path, improving the
effectiveness of such instruments. The determination
that such codes should remain voluntary
has meant that governments have not been ready
to amend legislation to give companies greater
flexibility in meeting legal standards. 2
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 29

Mining
In parallel with this evolution of “control systems”
has been the development and use of a number
of practical environmental management
systems and tools. Some of these have been
described in a previous issue of Industry and Environment.
3
Environmental management systems (EMS) have
now been adopted by many leading mining companies,
although very few have formally certified
these under the ISO 14001 standard. An EMS
results in a much more systematic and cost-effective
approach to an environmental programme
than simply taking ad hoc actions on high-profile
problems. An EMS is virtually a necessity if a truly
preventive approach is to be adopted as it formalizes
the actions and contribution from non-environmental
“mainstream business” activities of a
company. An EMS is also becoming a popular
tool for ensuring environmental management
along the supply chain as it provides a convenient
environmental performance label on other businesses
with which a mining company may wish to
deal. 4 While this practice is becoming more common
in business, industry has nevertheless
opposed the use of ISO 14000 as a
regulatory requirement by government.
Main Elements of ISO 14001
The six key elements of an environmental
management system (EMS) are:
◆ An environmental policy in which the
organization states its intentions and
commitment to environmental performance;
◆ Planning in which the organization
analysis the environmental impact of its
operations;
◆ Implementation and operation: the
development and putting into practice
of processes that will bring about environmental
goals and objectives;
◆ Checking and corrective action: monitoring
and measurement of environmental
indicators to ensure that goals and
objectives are being met;
◆ Management review: review of the EMS by the
organization’s top management to ensure its continuing
suitability, adequacy and effectiveness;
and
◆ Continuous improvement. 5
Compiling and synthesizing reliable information
for decision making has also become more
formalized.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the
best known and most widely applied assessment
tool, and is particularly applicable to large mining
projects in the planning stage. There is a large
community of EIA consultants and advisers to
assist in compiling the reports. However, company
managers often lack experience in effectively
managing the integration of such reports into the
entire project cycle of a mine. EIA has too often
come to be regarded only as a regulatory hurdle –
necessary to obtain government approval – rather
than as a project optimization tool, despite its
obvious benefits to this end (the more so considering
the cost and timing of an EIA). Companies
30 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
Goal and scope
definition
(ISO 14041)
Inventory
analysis
(ISO 14041)
Impact
assessment
(ISO 14042)
Figure 1
Steps of LCA according to ISO
Interpretation
(ISO 14043)
Application
would benefit by keeping the EIA report as a living
document to guide environmental decisionmaking
during the operational and closure phases
of a mine.
EIA still needs to be interfaced with other dayto-day
environmental management tools such as
EMS, auditing environmental, reporting and so on.
Finally, it can be observed that while much
teaching and training is taking place to improve
EMS skills of experts, the average mining professional
is rarely taught how to manage the EIA
process within his company. 6
Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is another tool which
is becoming more important for companies that
are examining the implications of their products
at the end-use in society. There is a large body of
knowledge of LCA procedure and practice. 7
However, practical applications can be complex
and subject to numerous assumptions. UNEP
and SETAC 8 have recently launched an initiative
to improve transportability of data. Even in the
absence of quantitative results, the LCA process
can lead to valuable insights into the environmental
performance of mineral and metal products
thus helping companies and governments in
making strategic long-term decisions about the
direction of future investments and operations
(Figure 1).
A further assessment tool that has yet to realize
its full potential is Environmental technology assessment
(EnTA). This is a systematic way of evaluating
the environmental implication of a technology
option, before it is put in place (Figure 2).
EnTA follows a similar logic to EIA and LCA in
its methodology, but being non-site or productspecific,
it can easily deal with an entire technology
concept (for example, heap leaching or submarine
tailings disposal) as well as specific plant items.
A simplified EnTA procedure is shown above.
While the procedure is relatively straightforward, a
guidance manual for EnTA application has recently
been developed by UNEP. In February 2000 this
manual was pilot tested by UNEP and its partners
on cyanide and battery recycling technologies
respectively and is now available for trialling on a
more widespread basis.
Depending on the initial scoping exercise,
EnTA can be applied at a variety of levels, by a
range of interested stakeholders, including technology
purchasers, assessment bodies and regulatory
agencies, and even by the general public
when sufficient information is available.
While the assessment procedures above compile
information for decision-making in advance
of development of a mine, auditing and public
reporting track the progress that an operating mine
is making on its environmental objectives.
Environmental audits may cover a range of
issues and situations including discharges and
emissions, land degradation, hazardous installations,
impact on biodiversity and land use, chemical
risks and so on. A full environmental audit is
also a prerequisite for the establishment of an
EMS. Procedures for environmental audits are
available from many sources, including ISO
14011. 9
While audits may be performed completely inhouse,
some companies prefer to include outside
experts on their audit team to bring a fresh look
at various aspects of their operation.
Public environmental reporting has
become a more common practice
among major mining companies and
some recent reports have achieved a high
degree of sophistication. However, there
has not been time to develop a standard
approach, common indicators, and a
uniform format to such reports. It is
therefore difficult to compare the performance
of different companies, or to
obtain an overview of progress in the
mining sector overall. With the evolution
of the environmental agenda to
include other new elements, some companies
are starting to produce “sustainable
development” reports where social
and ethical issues are included.
The Global Reporting Initiative
(GRI) 10 was recently launched by
UNEP and a consortium of partners to
standardize the reporting format across the entire
sustainability agenda, including environmental,
social and economic indicators into a single public
report. It should be noted that GRI, and indeed
environmental reporting itself, is seen by most
stakeholders as a voluntary public statement of a
company’s position. It does not replace mandatory
reporting to Government authorities under the
conditions of its operating permit or license.
An additional tool that major mines are now
starting to use is a systematic approach to emergency
prevention and preparedness. There is
increasing interest in using the APELL process
(Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at
Local Level) which was developed by UNEP with
other selected partners in the early 1990s, in particular
the chemicals industry. APELL is especially
focussed on securing neighbouring communities
around a mine against potential hazards from
tailings structures, accidental cyanide release,
chemical spills, ground subsidence and so on.
The APELL process consists of ten steps:
1. Identify the emergency response participants
and establish their roles, resources, and concerns.

Mining
2. Evaluate the hazards and risks that may result
in emergency situations in the community.
3. Have participants review their own emergency
response plans to ensure a coordinated response.
4. Identify the required response tasks not covered
by existing plans.
5. Match these tasks to the resources of the identified
participants.
6. Make the changes necessary to improve existing
plans, integrate them into an overall community
plan, and gain agreement.
7. Commit the integrated community plan to
writing and obtain approval from local governments.
8. Educate participating groups about the integrated
plan and ensure that all emergency responders
are trained.
9. Establish procedures for periodic testing,
review, and updating of the plan.
10. Educate the community about the integrated
plan.
The APELL process has two major outcomes:
awareness and preparedness against risks of neighboring
communities; and more effective, coordinated
emergency response procedures put in place
ahead of possible accidents. It is based on a multistakeholder
dialogue and negotiations to identify
hazards, prepare a response plan and communicate
the results.
Achieving these outcomes naturally also results
in an actual reduction of risk at mining facilities
to the benefit of both workers and the public.
UNEP has published extensive guidelines on the
APELL process, and the publication of an APELL
Handbook for the mining sector is expected during
2001. 11
Notes:
1 Mineral Resources Forum-Environment, www.
natural-resources.org/environment
Figure 2
Environmental Technology
Assessment (EnTA)
1
Describe the
Technology
2
Describe the Associated
Support Technologies
and Infrastructure
3
Identify Environmental
Impacts of the Technology,
Support Technology
and Infrastructure
4
Regulatory Requirements,
Compliance and Assessment
5
Compare Alternative
Technologies
6
Identify Systems
Alternatives
7
Identify Economic and
Social Impacts
8
Prepare
Summary Report
2 UNEP Technical Report 40: Voluntary Industry
Codes of Conduct for the Environment;
Industry and Environment Vol 21, No. 1-2, Jan-
June 1998
3 UNEP Industry and Environment, Environmental
Management Tools, Vol. 18, No. 2-3,
April-September 1995
4 References on EMS, incl. UNEP references and
publications BPEM
5 References on EMS, incl. UNEP EMS Training
Kit and other documents and publication on
EMS in BPEM and EMS article in previous
Industry & Environment
6 UNEP Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
Training Manual, www.environment.gov.au/epg/
eianet/manual.html; International Association for
Impact Assessment (IAIA, www. iaia.org), Best
Practice in Environmental Management (BPEM)
in Mining Program, www.environment.gov.au/
ssg/bpem.html.
7 Towards the Global Use of Life Cycle Assessment,
1999 UNEP; Life Cycle Assessment:
What is it and How to do it? 1996 UNEP
8 Society of Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry, SETAC Office, 1010 North 12 th Ave,
Pensacola, FL 32501-3367, USA, email:setac@
setac.org
9 From I&E, Vol II, No.4, 1988, Figure 1, page
16, Best Practice Environmental Management in
Mining (www.environment.gov.au/net/bpem.
html)
10 www.globalreporting.org
11 see related article in this publication. Also relevant
use the Proceedings of the Workshop on Risk
Management and Contingency Planning in the
Management of Mine Tailings, Buenos Aires,
Nov.5-6, 1998, published by ICME and UNEP
and BPEM Guidelines on Risk Management. ◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 31

Mining
Environmental issues
Sustainable development and the evolving
agenda for environmental protection in the
mining industry
Barry Carbon, Head of Queensland Environment Protection Agency, 160 Ann Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Australia
Abstract
Appropriate governmental and industry structures are needed to implement even the most
widely accepted principles of environmental protection. Examples relevant to the mining industry
are given. The mining industry needs to continue to take further steps to fully embrace the
concepts of sustainable development and the triple bottom line despite improved performance
and new initiatives. The commitment by the mining industry to “do the right thing”, which has
often been a motivating factor in the past is most important to environmental protection.
Doing the right thing now incorporates a triple goal for the mining industry, to achieve environmental
protection, social acceptance and economic benefits from its operations.
Résumé
Des structures gouvernementales et industrielles appropriées sont nécessaires pour que soient
appliqués les principes de protection de l’environnement, même quand ils sont largement
acceptés. L’article qui suit donne des exemples pris dans l’industrie minière. Bien que ce secteur
ait amélioré ses performances et pris de nouvelles initiatives, il doit continuer à prendre des
mesures pour mettre en application les concepts de développement durable et du gain sur trois
plans (financier, environmental et social). L’engagement de l’industrie minière de “faire ce
qu’il faut”, qui a souvent été un facteur de motivation dans le passé, est très important pour
la protection de l’environnement. Faire ce qu’il faut maintenant, cela signifie pour l’industrie
minière atteindre un triple objectif : protéger l’environnement, obtenir l’approbation sociale
et tirer profit de ses activités.
Resumen
Se requieren estructuras gubernamentales e industriales adecuadas para implementar incluso
los principios más ampliamente aceptados sobre protección ambiental. Se aportan ejemplos
relacionados con la industria minera. La industria minera necesita continuar avanzando
para abarcar por completo el concepto de desarrollo sustentable y el triple objetivo final a pesar
de los mejores resultados y las nuevas iniciativas. El compromiso de la industria de hacer lo
correcto, que muchas veces ha sido factor motivante en el pasado, es más importante para la
protección ambiental. Hacer lo correcto ahora incorpora el triple objetivo para la industria
minera de lograr protección ambiental, aceptación social y beneficios económicos de sus operaciones.
32 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
The mining industry has been a focus of criticism
in the past. It has been associated with
environmental impacts which are visible
and intense, and too often the people most
impacted by mining have received few tangible
benefits. In fact, in the event of environmental disasters,
such as the 30 January 2000 incident in
Baia Mare, Romania, the local community has
suffered environmental, economic and social disadvantages
as a result of a mining mishap.
There are many examples of the mining industry
not providing adequate benefits to those most
impacted throughout the world. However, the
recent development of new attitudes within the
industry – encompassing environmental protection,
sustainable development and community
obligations – means there is now room for optimism.
A continually increasing commitment to
minimizing the adverse environmental impacts of
mining is being reinforced by technological
advances. Of course major challenges still exist,
but they are being met with more open-minded
approaches and greater confidence. An example
of one such challenge and the responses to it is
given in Box 1.
Value systems: the basis of sustainable
development
For everyone involved in the environmental
debate, there have been milestone events which
have marked the evolution of sustainable development.
Among the most significant are: the first
Environmental Protection Act in the United

Mining
States 1 ; the World Conservation Strategy of
1980 2 ; and the Rio Earth Summit and Declaration
of 1992.
The World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD) has commissioned the
International Institute for Sustainable Development
(IIED) to manage the Mining Metals and
Sustainable Development (MMSD) project as an
independent process of multi-stakeholder engagement
and analysis with the objective of “identifying
how mining and minerals can best contribute
to the global transition to sustainable development”.
MMSD was initiated by the WBCSD as
one of a number of projects being supported by the
Global Mining Initiative (GMI). In the future, the
MMSD project, and its proposed conference on
mining and sustainable development in 2002, may
be seen as important steps towards sustainable
development taken by the global mining industry.
Two important lessons can be drawn from these
milestones of sustainable development and other
significant past events. Firstly, environmental protection
and sustainable development are based on
a system of values. While such values have common
elements, they do not apply in exactly the
same way in every social, cultural or economic situation.
It is often helpful, therefore, to formulate
values appropriate to a particular situation in
order to determine appropriate specific actions.
Secondly, sustainable development requires action
going beyond the requirements of regulatory control.
There is more to be gained from partnerships
between business and environmental interests
than from confrontation.
A synthesis of the values which emerged from
the World Conservation Strategy, and which were
given more detailed expression by the UNCED
Declaration of 1992, could read as follows: “The
world should be good to live in, and to make a living
in, for all of us, for our children, and for
theirs.”
Secondary principles for action can be derived
from this primary value statement. The following
four are widely accepted: some parts of the environment
should be kept natural; animals and
plants should be protected from extinction; productive
capacity should be protected; and people
should be able to live in a clean and healthy environment.
These four principles are a prerequisite
Woman getting water at Baia Mare
for sustainable development and apply globally.
Since putting these principles into effect
requires actions on the part of industry and governments,
both must be equipped with the structures
needed for implementation. The rest of this
article examines some actions and structures relevant
to mining. The examples given demonstrate
the importance of a commitment to “doing the
right thing”. Exactly what constitutes “the right
thing” depends, of course, on what is appropriate
for a particular form of development in a particular
context, including consideration of the social
and environmental impacts as well as the economics
of the development.
What governmental structures are
suitable?
There have been ongoing debates about the roles
various parts of government should play in environmental
protection. Much of the necessary
expertise is found in mining agencies, whose primary
function is the promotion of mining and
minerals exploration. Government environmental
agencies have the objectivity which comes from
being separate from industry, but they frequently
lack the resources to implement the policies they
produce.
Box 1
Weipa Summit – Regional commitment by all parties to improve
social and economic benefits to the indigenous community
In a move to encourage sustainable social,
environmental and economic development
the Queensland State Government in northern
Australia recently hosted a summit meeting
in Weipa, a remote area in the north of the
state. It was attended by government, business
representatives (including mining operations
and other significant industries in the region),
social organization representatives and indigenous
community leaders. The summit
brought the groups together to generate ideas
and identify opportunities to drive the region’s
economic development, promote indigenous
business skills and facilitate strategic alliances
between the different parties.
A major aim of the summit was to develop
projects that would improve the quality of life
and break the cycle of welfare dependency for
the region’s indigenous communities. There
was a commitment at the summit that each
development proposed for the region would
be assessed to ensure it is both environmentally
sustainable and acceptable to the indigenous
community.
There are three possible structural models:
1. all environmental activities are allocated to a
central environmental agency;
2. all mining-related environmental activities are
allocated to the mining agency; or
3. there is a division of responsibilities between
agencies.
The third model appears to be the most successful
and is not only appropriate for environmental
protection, but also for finance, occupational
health and safety, and many other areas where the
issues addressed by government cut across a number
of topics.
This model is based around a central agency (in
this case dealing with environment) which oversees
policy issues affecting the environment and
provides external audits and advice on environmental
activities. The agency is responsible for
environmental policy, advice to government on
yes-no issues such as major new development proposals,
and, where applicable, environmental
auditing. With regard to operations, specific environmental
issues are addressed by the relevant
resource agency(ies)– in this case, the mining
agency.
What actions should governments
take?
In the three-stage approach to environmental protection
described below industry is encouraged by
government to go beyond regulatory standards
and work towards sustainable development.
Stage 1: Prevent obvious problems
Previously, investment and development decisions
have left us with acute problems such as industrial
air pollution, polluted waterways, and even the
after-effects of catastrophes. Such problems affect
the environment in a way perceived by reasonable
people as unacceptable. Governments attempt to
manage these problems by using their powers of
intervention and regulation. An example of the
acute effects that may occur when environmental
disasters occur is the cyanide spill from the tailings
pond of a gold smelter at Baia Mare in Romania in
January 2000. See Box 2.
The first stage in the process concerns credibility
and values as much as it does meeting scientifically
defined limits. Governments can lend
support to the greater part of industry which is not
producing unacceptable environmental impacts
by using their powers against those who cause
such impacts. One of the greatest difficulties
encountered at this stage is that it is not always
possible to improve environmental quality without
curtailing productivity. This often requires
governments to make hard decisions such as
whether to apply coercive measures.
Stage 2: Adopt acceptable standards
Once acute problems are being managed, it is possible
to move towards setting and enforcing standards
for environmental performance in normal
operations. The early part of this stage is characterized
by command and control approaches,
which are subsequently augmented by other
instruments.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 33

Mining
Box 2
Cyanide spill from the tailings dam at Baia Mare in early 2000
In January 2000 a tailings pond from a gold
recovery plant in Baia Mare released tonnes of
wastewater containing cyanide from the
process used to recover gold. The spill affected
rivers in Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia
and resulted in the death of virtually all aquatic
life in the affected rivers.
The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) and the United Nations
Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) carried out an investigation of
the incident and produced a joint report. The
report indicates that deficiencies in the design
of the process used, inadequate operating conditions
and bad weather contributed to the
release of cyanide from the tailings pond.
The plant was operating within the government
permits issued to it as a “regular risk”. A
“regular risk” plant is described as a “closed
loop” that would not leak any cyanide during
the recovery of the gold. The UNEP report says
that the facility was in fact open at two points,
allowing cyanide to leak even before the dam
was breached.
Some affected towns disconnected water
supplies from the contaminated rivers to prevent
residents from drinking water containing
cyanide. In other areas the sale of most freshwater
fish was banned. The social affects of the
spill are significant as many of the villages along
the affected rivers are dependent on them for
their incomes, from the local fishing industry
It is at this second stage that actions based on
the four secondary principles mentioned above
are formalized. Pollution prevention laws are
directed at controlling emissions and/or establishing
standards (e.g. for air or water quality). In
some but not all cases, plans and policies are introduced
to encourage the wise use of natural
resources. National parks and nature conservation
areas ensure that some parts of the environment
are kept natural. Laws are passed to protect rare or
endangered animals and plants.
At this stage both coercion and encouragement
may be used, depending on the circumstances.
For example, some compulsion may be associated
with overseeing the design and operation of
tailings containment facilities. It is at this stage
that proposals for expansion may result in industry
being directed to rehabilitate old sites, or the
reworking of old tailings may be proposed as a
better “walk away” solution.
Some governments are using a mix of encouragement
and coercion in their dealings with the
mining industry by setting required limits or
expected performance standards for a site and
allowing the operator to determine how it will
meet these requirements. This enables companies
to perform their operations with the technology
of their choice and to achieve their economic
objectives through their own strategies rather than
being limited by the conditions and processes set
down by the government. More responsibility for
or agriculture. As a result of requests from residents
and governments of these areas, a mobile
UNEP laboratory has been made available for
sampling in the region and a Baia Mare Task
Force has been set up by the European Union.
A large number of mines and other recovery
plants operate in the area and a number of
other spill incidents have occurred in the region
and elsewhere since Baia Mare. This has led to
actions such as a review of the mining industry’s
design and operational codes by UNEP, to
ensure that the industry makes a positive contribution
to sustainable development, while
minimizing risks to the local populations and
the environment.
UNEP is now working with stakeholders to
address questions regarding the mining industry,
including:
◆ Emergency preparedness and response at
mine sites;
◆ Revised design and operating codes for
cyanide processes;
◆ Developing new international standards for
fail-safe concepts in tailings dams;
◆ Reviews of permit and inspection procedures
of hazardous mining installations;
◆ Training workshops for national inspectorates
in risk assessments and enforcement;
and
◆ The publication of a guide to best practice
water management at mines.
the management of infrequent risks with high
impacts is taken on by the company. Governments
must have mechanisms to punish operators
when their risk management strategies fail and
incidents occur, to ensure this situation is effective
in protecting the environment. Governments
need to have mechanisms for compensation when
environmental damage occurs, including the use
of financial punishments.
Stage 3: Encourage better performance
Once significant progress has been made at Stages
1 and 2, it is feasible to encourage industry to go
beyond required standards. At Stage 3, governments
should focus on working with industry
rather than on command. Most of the industry is
already aiming at continuous improvement and
this can be expected to achieve more than the coercive
standards of a government, since industry has
the necessary technical skills, management capacity
and business incentive to improve its operations.
Added to this, the mining industry operates
worldwide in many different circumstances and
with different levels of government standards. The
initiatives of industry leaders, or the industry as a
whole, towards sustainable development and continuous
improvement is not bound or limited to
the standards or legislation of any government, but
rather by the industry’s own expectations, and by
how its members want their operations, reputation
and performance to be perceived.
Governments can provide encouragement
through a variety of economic instruments, such
as load-based licenses or differential taxes on environmentally
sound products. They can also promote
concepts such as cleaner production,
environmental management systems, or the use of
mine improvement plans to encourage industry
to continually improve beyond the required standards
of a country.
If the use of authority, which was appropriate
at the previous stages, is extended to this partnership
stage then the system will fail. It is not appropriate
to use coercive approaches to require
industry to do better than regulations require, or
for government to prescribe the means of achieving
further improvements in performance. The
role of government at this stage is to encourage
better performance and to assist industry’s
improved performance by removing obstacles,
encouraging innovation and improvement, and
providing a more amenable atmosphere in which
industry can function.
How should the mining industry
respond?
While some parts of the mining industry have
been slow to respond to the challenge, the best
performers are showing the way to sustainable
development. Three examples of actions by industry,
some in conjunction with governments, are
given in Box 3.
The most cost-effective environmental protection
is obtained when the environment is considered
at the start of a project. It is therefore somewhat
surprising that, in the case of many mines,
consideration, planning and management of mine
rehabilitation, etc. still take place after the mine
has already begun to operate. There are already
too many mined-out sites in the world where
insufficient planning, an unsatisfactory initial
choice of equipment and inadequate rehabilitation
provisions have left a legacy of environmental
costs.
The industry response with regard to new and
existing mines is nevertheless improving. Alcoa of
Australia has been one of the leaders, with its rehabilitation
of open-cut bauxite mines in the forest
areas of Western Australia. Rehabilitation was
planned for each 30-hectare pod before mining
began. Mining equipment was chosen according
to its suitability for use in rehabilitation work;
mines were constructed so as to allow management
of run-off water; mine floors were decompacted;
topsoil and overburden were transferred
from new pods to the previous ones for rehabilitation;
and seed banks, nutrient reserves, seedling
selection and plant disease were studied so that a
juvenile forest compatible with the surroundings
could be planted. Today a number of other mining
operations have had similar successes.
There is now a significant body of “how to” literature,
both national and international, on environmental
protection in the mining industry.
Among the most useful publications are: UNEP’s
Mine Rehabilitation for Environment and Health
Protection: A Training Manual; the Australian
Mineral and Energy Environment Foundation’s
34 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
(AMEEF) Environmental Management in the
Australian Minerals and Energy Industries: Principles
and Practices; and the Australian Environmental
Protection Agency’s Best Practice in
Environmental Management in Mining series.
The latter is an expanding series that now includes
more than 20 booklets written by the best industry
practitioners in the Australian mining industry.
The AMEEF is now responsible for the
distribution of the booklets. Nine booklets have
also been translated into other languages so far.
The most difficult environmental issue at mine
sites is, perhaps, tailings disposal. This has been
much debated since the dam failures near Rustenburg
and Virginia in South Africa, the incidents
at Marcopper in the Philippines and Omai in
Guyana, the washout in heavy rainfall of the tailings
dam at Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea and,
in January 2000, at Baia Mare in Romania.
UNEP and the International Council on Metals
and the Environment (ICME) have prepared a
joint publication, “Case Studies on Tailings Management”,
which discusses the safe design, operation
and rehabilitation of mines and tailings
disposal operations and includes a number of case
studies from around the world.
What standard is possible for a
modern mine?
A modern mine can be a very good performer
from the environmental point of view. Examples
are regularly found in the national award schemes
now prevalent in mining countries. In Australia,
the Henty Gold Mine in Tasmania is leaving a
very gentle footprint on the earth. There is much
backfilling with cemented tailings, visual intrusion
is insignificant, cyanide in wastewaters is well
below 1ppm, and all mine process water is treated
to drinking water standards with artificial wetland
filters before discharge to streams. The environmental
management plan, which included water
quality monitoring and the collection of invertebrate
data, was implemented before mining began
on the site.
Many mines now have effective waste reduction
and waste re-use programmes. Programmes to
reduce emissions, energy and water use and the
production of carbon dioxide are beginning to be
initiated and are documented in company annual
environmental reports.
Adequate information and experience are now
available to allow operators to meet any reasonable
expectation for mine site environmental performance.
This is not to brush over the problems
which may occur, but rather to indicate that if
industry seeks it, the technology and management
capacity does exist and is available to resolve most
potential problems.
There has been a change in the balance of the
relationship between industry and governments
in terms of their interactions with the community
in recent years. The structures of governments
have been altering, they are now required to fulfill
more commitments with less money and
resources. Developers are now becoming more
involved in managing the social and political
acceptance of their own projects as a result of the
Box 3
Actions involving industry: some examples
Mine Environment Neutral Drainage
(MEND) programme – Canada
Canadian mining companies are working with
the Canadian government to “MEND” acidic
drainage from mines. Industry and government
jointly finance, sponsor and administer
the Mine Environment Neutral Drainage
(MEND) programme which develops and
applies new technologies to prevent and control
acidic drainage and to reduce the potential
environmental liability due to it. It is estimated
that the $17.5 million investment in the program
over eight years has resulted in at least a $
400 million reduction in liability due to acidic
drainage from mines.
MEND has been described as an excellent
model of how industry and government can
work cooperatively to develop technologies
that will advance environmental management
in the mining industry. MEND 2000 is continuing
work on projects and case studies, as
well as developing links with the governments
of other nations to co-ordinate research projects
and information.
Mandate of ISO 14001 for all Ford
Motor Company plants and
suppliers around the globe
In 1998 Ford became the first automobile
maker to have all its existing plants certified to
ISO 14001. It is now requiring all of its suppliers
with manufacturing facilities to be ISO
14001 certified by July 2003.
ISO 14001 is an environmental standard
under which independent auditors evaluate the
environmental processes and systems of a company.
As part of Ford’s implementation of ISO
changes to government structures worldwide. The
situation where governments tax companies to
provide the community with benefits as a result of
the industry is being replaced. Today, in line with
the theory of the triple bottom line, companies are
providing direct benefits to those most affected by
their operations. The environmental, economic
and social impacts of the industry’s operations on
the community are being balanced by companies
distributing social and economic benefits and
ensuring environmental management in the areas
where those who are most affected pay the economic
and social costs for the existence and operation
of their industry.
The mining industry can fairly claim to have
made innovations in recent years that contribute
to environmental protection but it needs to continue,
taking further steps in order to fully
embrace the concept of sustainable development
and the triple bottom line. It can look to other
industries and mining industry leaders, a few
examples are given below:
u Environmental reports are already a component
of formal environmental management systems
such as ISO 14001. Company environmental
14001 certification it has improved its global
environmental management and performance.
Within a year of its implementation of ISO
14001 Ford’s Lima Plant:
u Reduced water consumption by nearly
200,000 gallons per day
u Eliminated production of boiler ash
u Increased the use of returnable packaging
from 60 percent to 99 percent on its newest
engine product.
Ford is requiring its suppliers to certify at least
one manufacturing site to ISO 14001 by the
end of 2001 and the remainder of manufacturing
sites shipping products to Ford by July
2003. One quarter of Ford’s top 150 suppliers
already have ISO 14001 certification. In
Europe, Ford is offering its suppliers ISO
14001 training to help them meet the company’s
goals.
Community and industry action –
Western Australia
In Australia, action by the community and
industry is helping protect the wedge-tailed
eagle. The 50 metre road trains used at the
Mount Keith Nickel Operations in Western
Australia travel along the Kalgoorlie-
Meekatharra Highway in areas where kangaroos
abound. There can be as many as 100
kangaroo road kills a month. As the large
wedge-tailed eagles feed on the dead animals
and are slow to take flight when traffic
approaches, several of them are killed each
month. Through a combined communitycompany
project, kangaroo carcasses are moved
at least 20 metres from the road, allowing the
eagles to feed in peace and safety.
reporting is being taken up by mining companies,
following the lead of other industries. Company
environmental reports cover policy, practice and
performance. They disclose internal targets,
which usually go beyond compliance, and discuss
shortfalls as well as achievements. This type of
report can be a powerful management tool if managed
well, and especially if propaganda or “greenwash”
is avoided. It can challenge and reinforce
good performance, offer benchmarks across
industry, and contribute to establishing trust
within the community. This trust is a prerequisite
for company-community interaction of sufficient
quality to promote sustainable development.
u There are increasingly comprehensive codes of
practice, drawn up by both companies and industry
associations. Many of these codes of practice have
evolved beyond dealing with compliance issues and
may include audits and public disclosure. Codes of
practice are evolving in the mining industry. The
Australian Mineral Industry Code for Environmental
Management was launched in 1996 by the
Minerals Council of Australia. It was the industry’s
way of demonstrating that it would be publicly
accountable for its environmental performance.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 35

Mining
The obligations of the Code include annual public
reporting within two years of registration, the
completion of an annual survey to assess progress
in implementing the principles of the Code and
auditing of survey results by an accredited auditor
at least every three years. The industry itself made
a commitment to review the Code every three
years. A review was undertaken in 1999 and in
February 2000 the new Code was released.
u The Responsible Care movement began in
Canada and the United States, created by the
chemical industry, it now exists worldwide. Its
openness, and the involvement of the community
and other stakeholders, are two particularly
valuable features. UNEP’s APELL programme,
which has been adopted in many countries, draws
on the experience of Responsible Care. Mining
companies worldwide have benefited from adopting
features such as those of Responsible Care into
their own codes of practice.
u The importance of cleaner production is well
understood in other industries and offers great
opportunities to the mining industry. Cleaner
production is a sustainable development approach
which places the emphasis on not producing
waste or pollution in the first place, rather than
cleaning it up afterwards. Resources are used more
efficiently through cleaner production and environmental
benefits are often accompanied by
health and safety benefits, cost reduction, and
improved product marketability. Cleaner production
can also reduce waste and waste disposal, as
well as water, energy and raw material inputs, and
provide a cost-effective approach to lowering air
emissions, including greenhouse gases.
Conclusion
Society is better informed (and more concerned)
than ever before about the unacceptable impacts
of particular mines. Governments and mining
companies alike are aware of these concerns and
have produced mechanisms such as legislation,
regulation, coercion, codes of practice and industry
initiatives to provide the impetus for better
environmental performance. Though far short of
being universally available, the technical and management
skills needed to protect the environment
from the unacceptable impacts of mining do exist.
Within the framework of effective regulatory and
enforcement procedures, and augmented by the
application of community relations skills learned
from other industries in recent years, this expertise
can be a foundation for the improved management
of the social and environmental areas
associated with the operation of the mining industry.
Mining will make its proper contribution to
sustainable development as this foundation is in
put in place globally.
Notes
1 The NEPA (National Environmental Protection
Act), the enabling legislation for US EPA’s formulation,
was passed in 1969. It is often considered
the first such act in the United States. In earlier
public health and environmental protection laws,
authority was given to various federal and state
agencies.
2 “It is unclear who coined the term (sustainable
development), but by 1980 it was enshrined in the
title of a key document for the eighties – World
Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation
for Sustainable Development, published by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources, the World Wildlife Fund,
and the United Nations Environment Programme.
That Strategy’s definition has stood the
test of time well: “For development to be sustainable
it must take account of social and ecological
factors, as well as economic ones; of the living and
non-living resource base; and of the long term as
well as the short term advantages and disadvantages
of alternative actions.” Linda Starke, Signs of
Hope: Working Towards Our Common Future,
Oxford, 1990, p.9.
◆
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Abandoned mine sites:
problems, issues and options
Introduction
One of the major outstanding environmental
problems related to mining is that of abandoned
mine sites, a legacy of centuries old practices, of
inadequate, insufficient or non-existent mine closure.
The potential costs of rehabilitation, the lack
of clearly assigned (or assumed responsibility, the
absence of criteria and standards of rehabilitation
as well as other factors have delayed action by all
parties – industry, governments and communities.
Yet, land degradation from old mine operations is
well known in almost all countries.
While many have seen these derelict sites, and
there are many references in the literature, there
have been few systematic surveys to quantify how
many sites need attention. There has been even
less work to quantify the nature of associated
problems so as to priorize remediation efforts.
As a starting point for an international dialogue
on this subject, UNEP has begun to collect information
using national or regional inventories in
addition to a global survey.
Abandoned mines sites
A review of work done to date indicates that there
is no single definition of “abandoned mines”. This
raises several questions. First, what constitutes an
abandoned site – is it a single shaft or an entire
mining area? The second problem is that of ownership
– some sites are ‘owned’ by someone other
than the state but the state may be responsible for
any clean-up because of the financial state of the
company or individual. The third problem is what
constitutes an environmental concern – many
adits discharge a trickle of acid rock drainage but
it is not worth doing anything about it?
The number of ‘abandoned mines’ world-wide,
including every shaft, adit and alluvial working,
will obviously run into millions. However, the
fundamental question is how many sites actually
constitute an environmental problem as an exaggerated
figure may dissuade authorities from even
seriously examining the problem.
Impacts from abandoned sites
In countries with a long mining history the magnitude
of the impacts from past mining is often
considerable, as environmental regulation of mining
activities has in most cases only been introduced
relatively recently. In the absence of a
systematic international survey, some anecdotal
evidence illustrates the situation.
◆ Large areas of dryland forest in Australia that
were dug over in the goldrush in the 1860s have
still not recovered. There is virtually no topsoil,
and the land is covered by only sparse vegetation
and stunted trees. It is estimated that more than
150 tonnes of mercury were lost from the diggings
to the environment due to inefficient gold recovery
processes . On the coast, fish still carry high
36 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
mercury levels from the contaminated sediments,
and health authorities have counselled a limitation
on consumption of fish caught locally.
◆ Acid drainage from the abandoned Wheal Jane
and other mines in the UK has severely contaminated
local streams. There is a considerable cost of
water treatment of the ongoing drainage discharges
and only a few treatment plants are operating.
◆ In Aberfan, the collapse of an abandoned dumpsite
swept away a local school with the children
and schoolteacher.
◆A number of major minesites the US are listed as
Superfund sites due to the extensive contamination
from materials and exposed orebodies left
behind.
◆ Abandoned pits and shafts over a large area of
uncontrolled past alluvial mining in West African
countries poses a serious public safety risk to local
people and animals.
Abandoned tailings dams around the world are
additional to abandoned mine sites and many of
these could eventually pose environmental and
safety problems (complete inventory of tailings
dams exists and their number is certainly in the
tens of thousands).
The impact of abandoned sites is significant
including: altered landscape; unused pits and
shafts; land no longer useable due to loss of soil,
pH, or slope of land; abandoned tailings dumps;
changes in groundwater regime; contaminated
soils and aquatic sediments; subsidence; and
changes in vegetation.
Results of such impacts include: loss of productive
land; 1 loss or degradation of groundwater;
pollution of surface water by sediment or salts;
fish affected by contaminated sediments; changes
in river regimes; air pollution from dust or toxic
gases; risks of falls into shafts and pits; and landslides.
In addition to the obvious problems for the
community, most of these situations present a
considerable cost to the public authorities who are
often expected to make the sites secure and prevent
ongoing pollution. The public is increasingly
demanding action and this visible legacy of the
past is producing a growing community opposition
to mining activities generally. Accordingly,
the orphan sites problem continues to cast a shadow
over all mining at a time when major operators
are trying to improve the image of their sites
and their company.
This can be compared with the situation at current
operational mine sites where the need for
rehabilitation is now taken for granted, and for
which companies and governments have established
legal, financial and technical procedures to
ensure that mine sites are rehabilitated for another
economic use after the operation ceases.
In fact, the case for rehabilitation of abandoned
sites is the same as that for active mines. The difference
is that the assignment of responsibilities is
different. For abandoned sites it often lies with
unidentifiable owners, and has thus led to nonaction.
However, the problems must be dealt with.
Accordingly, there is now a good case for starting
a consideration of how to respond to the
orphan sites issue at the international level:
◆ resource degradation is everybody’s problem;
◆ it has a similar public rationale to rehabilitation
of existing operational sites;
◆ it is inevitably a part of the wider debate on sustainable
mineral development; and
◆ it is a part of the image problem for the entire
industry, with consequences for the future ‘licence
to operate’ syndrome.
Comparison with contaminated sites
The abandoned mine sites problem has the possibility
to learn from governments’ initiatives on
chemically contaminated sites (some mine sites
may actually fall into this category at the same
time). The origins and history of these has a similar
genesis in a past historical moment when consciousness
of these problems were low,
government regulation minimal or absent, and
industry’s consciousness of preventive action less
than it is today. The result has been a large inventory
of abandoned industrial sites, sometimes
heavily contaminated.
The public pressure on chemicals risks has led
many governments to take action, and contaminated
sites programmes now have a well-documented
history. There are perhaps, lessons to learn
from these programmes, applying some of the
methodologies that have evolved in a new context
to orphan mine sites.
Contaminated sites programmes have led to the
development of national approaches to assessment,
preparation of inventories, prioritization,
objective setting and developing action plans.
These programmes could provide useful models
for the mining industry.
Some governments have experimented with
legal regimes to assign responsibility, or where
none can be assigned, to impose a fiscal mechanism
that levies the entire industry to pay for the
clean-up. This so-called “superfund” mechanism
has raised passions as well as money, and there is a
view that resolution of problems through legal
action results in a diversion of substantial amounts
of capital away from remedial works. Conversely,
alternative ways of raising the money have not
been identified. However, it is time to address the
issue in a creative and bold way.
Rehabilitation
Apart from any socio-economic aspects, the physical
reclamation of an abandoned mine will
include some or all of the following measures:
◆ permanent sealing of underground workings
and all mine openings, prevention of water and
gas leakage that could cause adverse impacts to
neighbouring mines or to the environment;
◆ ensuring that any open pit or open cut features
are stable and do not pose a risk to humans, animals
or the environment;
◆ removal of all material and equipment lying at
the surface;
◆ demolition of surface buildings and structures
unless there is a productive use for them;
◆ all steps necessary to ensure the safety of tailings
and slurry ponds, spoil heaps, waste dumps, stock
piles and any other surface features that might
pose an environmental or human hazard; and
◆ clearing areas formerly used for the mine surface
facilities.
In general, the physical rehabilitation of a mine
site will include:
◆ restoration of surface land including clean up of
the premises, levelling the ground and revegetation;
◆ establish the nature of any water remaining in
the open pit and treat if necessary;
◆ ensure that there is easy access to the water in the
open pit to allow humans and people who might
fall in a way out; or
◆ backfill the open pit;
◆ rehabilitation of waste dumps including surface
drainage, redesign of slopes to an acceptable angle
and revegetation;
◆ restoration of land affected by mining subsidence
including refilling/levelling of the affected
ground, wherever feasible and revegetation;
◆ rehabilitation of natural water courses directly
affected by mining operations;
◆ collection and treatment of polluted mine water;
◆ treatment of surface soil wherever affected by
mining activities; and
◆ monitoring the results for a specified period
after the completion of remediation.
Some issues and trends currently
affecting options in rehabilitation
We know that knowledge in the techniques of
rehabilitating both operational and abandoned
sites is extensive. So what is delaying remediation
of this situation? It is rather the lack of clear legal
and financing mechanisms that have retarded
action.
More fundamentally, there is a lack of systematic
inventories meaning that the problem is not
sufficiently described for it to become politically
important.
The experience with contaminated sites has also
shown that a systematic approach on this issue is
protracted, expensive to manage, and dependent
on considerable technical expertise within the
administration. Nevertheless, some initiatives,
mostly in developed countries, is now occurring
and there is enough momentum to start sharing
of experience.
Governments have reacted more effectively in
preventing current mines in turn from becoming
“abandoned sites”. For example, in Japan where a
national survey found 5,500 abandoned mines,
the government has taken a two-pronged
approach to address the problem. Where the original
owner exists, they remain responsible for the
safety of the mine and the prevention of all pollution.
Where the original owner cannot be found,
or in the case of bankruptcy, the local and national
governments tackle the problem jointly. 2 In
other countries, some governments apply rehabilitation
regulations and fiscal mechanisms to current
operators. Some of these experiences,
including the setting of performance targets, will
be useful in addressing the orphan sites issue.
At the same time, the environmental approach
by industry has become more comprehensive and
mature, and presents some new options for cooperative
approaches. Refinement of formal envi-
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 37

Mining
ronmental management systems and tools such as
ISO 14000, EIA and environmental accounting
have made environmental programmes a part of
mainstream corporate management. There has
also been a move towards more life-cycle approaches,
with supply-chain management and extended
producer responsibility now being taken more seriously
by larger companies.
The recent acceptance by industry of the need
for some voluntary measures and codes on environment
to complement (or even to forestall) government
regulation has resulted in action on a
range of matters that have not so far been regulated.
Consideration of these and other approaches
needs to be applied to abandoned sites.
Industry is also becoming more involved in the
global and national policy debates on sustainable
development. Through various environmental
codes, business charters and other commitments,
companies are now more conscious of the need to
address social issues, to adopt ethical positions,
and to acknowledge that sustainable development
is about values as much as about economics. Their
commitment to sustainable mineral development
now needs to be practically applied.
Conclusion
Although there have been few attempts at quantification,
it is generally understood that the issue
of abandoned or ‘orphan’ mine sites is a major
unresolved environmental and social problem for
the industry. Potential impacts include a range of
health and safety problems, and extensive economic
impacts due to resource degradation and
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
water pollution. So far there are only a small number
of systematic programmes to deal with the
issue. However, experience with similar problems
in contaminated industrial sites and with rehabilitation
of operational mines has provided sufficient
elements to allow for a serious start on the
orphan sites problem.
Notes
1 In China, mining waste is stockpiled on 2 million
hectares of desperately needed land.
2 Information from 2 papers presented by Metal
Mining Agency of Japan at the 3 rd Asia Pacific
Training Workshop on Hazardous Waste Management
on Mining, Beijing, China, September
2000.
◆
Training small scale miners:
the video project
Grant Mitchell, Senior Policy Analyst, Minerals and Energy Policy Centre, P.O. Box 395,
Wits, 2050, South Africa
Introduction
Following on from the recommendations of a
White Paper on a new mineral policy, South
Africa’s National Steering Committee of Service
Providers to the Small Scale Mining Sector
(NSC), was tasked with developing the sector.
The Capacity Building Sub Committee in particular
was to be responsible for production of a
training course for small scale miners.
Developing a policy proposal is one thing, but
it is quite another matter to translate such proposals
into tangible results. The acid test for the
NSC is when its dozen pilot projects become
fully-fledged self-sustaining mining operations.
Developing the capacity of the small scale miners
manning these operations is of critical importance
in this process.
The mining hierarchy in South Africa is well
documented. A few large and powerful companies
have for the past one hundred years held a
monopoly on mineral rights, access to finance and
technological expertise. Small scale miners, in
contrast, generally come from the most economically
marginalized sectors of society – the “poorest
of the poor”. Educational levels are extremely
low. In fact most small scale or artisinal miners are
illiterate and have a poor understanding of the
new legislative framework despite the efforts of
KWAGGA to disseminate the contents of the
White Paper to communities affected by mining.
There is also a poorly developed understanding of
technology deployed and of business planning
and marketing.
Training for empowerment
Clearly training is a vital component in assisting
small scale miners in advancing from subsistence
levels to profitable operations. The challenge is to
develop a tailor-made course that can propel small
scale miners from pick and shovel operations
towards mechanized ones. This also means that
what was previously an unregulated activity may
become legitimate. The task facing the Capacity
Building Sub Committee is to package the information
in such a way that core competencies can
be acquired and skills transferred.
In the light of the above, it was decided that the
most cost-effective form of training would be to
develop a video production explaining in simple
terms the key requirements of the legislative and
regulatory environment, as well as other basic
skills required for mining, such as business planning.
Without such an understanding small scale
mining will be an environmental disaster area in
South Africa, and will also act as a conduit for
unscrupulous operators who will use small scale
operators for their own, often illegal, ends.
Language and literacy is a huge issue confronting
any training effort. For this reason it was
decided to use the medium of video as the principal
teaching method, supplemented by facilitators
who will negotiate content and direct the discussions.
It is also proposed to translate the videos
into all the languages spoken in South Africa.
Course content and training strategy
The course content will cover all the key pieces of
legislation relevant to any existing or prospective
miner. For example, health and safety legislation,
mineral rights and permitting, labour legislation
and environmental standards will be presented.
There will also be a specific course on how to
develop a small business venture and all that this
entails: budgeting, planning, taxation, etc.
In terms of training strategy, it is proposed that
the course, which comes complete with a trainers
guide, should be presented initially to the 12 small
scale mining projects which are currently being
driven by the NSC. Trainers will be identified
from each of these projects and given a “train the
trainers” course. It is also hoped that the videos
can be distributed to a wider group and even used
as source material, i.e. in schools and Technikons.
Conclusions
The video-training project is a first step in using
education as a tool to both empower and regulate
the sector. This is an important starting point but
must be viewed as just that – a starting point.
Running a mining operation, even a small one, is
a complex business and one that requires on-site
training as well as, most importantly, mentorship.
What is critical for the success of this sector is to
identify suitably qualified and experienced people
to provide the project management expertise.
◆
38 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Rehabilitation measures: water management
Rehabilitation Objectives
Control Technologies
Physical Stability Issues
◆ Water dams ◆ Ensure long-term stability ◆ Maintain embankment indefinitely
- Stability ◆ Protect erodible slopes ◆ Breach dam
- Erosion ◆ Ensure no overtopping ◆ Maintain operating spillway in durable rock
- Overtopping ◆ Seal pipes ◆ Plug intakes with concrete, plug decants and remove towers
- Intakes/ decant ◆ Monitor
- Towers
◆ Ditches ◆ Adequate flood capacity ◆ Design for extreme events
- Overtopping ◆ Prevent blockage ◆ Construct from materials suitable for long-term stability
- Erosion ◆ Prevent erosion ◆ Riprap protection
◆ Provide for long-term maintenance
◆ Monitor
◆ Storage tanks ◆ Remove ◆ Drain, remove or knock down, fill, & cover
- Stability ◆ Monitor
◆ Pipelines ◆ Remove surface and large shallow pipes ◆ Remove all surface and large shallow pipes
- Collapse ◆ Plug those pipes at depth
- Obstruction ◆ Monitor
◆ Culverts ◆ Ensure maintenance free passage of water under ◆ Remove and breach if not required
- Blockage design flood conditions ◆ Upgrade to pass design flood
- Collapse ◆ Provide for long-term maintenance
◆ Monitor
Chemical Stability Issues
◆ Contaminated reservoirs ◆ Meet water quality objectives by: ◆ Drain, treat and discharge
1. Control reactions ◆ Strip and dispose of contaminated soils in tailings dam or approved location
2. Control migration ◆ Breach dam
3. Collect and treat ◆ Establish vegetation
◆ Treat indefinitely, if necessary
◆ Monitor
Land Use Issues
◆ Dams ◆ Restore drainage patterns ◆ Breach and restore to erosion resistant drainage
- Interruption of drainage ◆ Determine if alternative use exists ◆ Stabilise to maintain dam
◆ Reservoirs ◆ Return to appropriate alternative use ◆ Maintain dam
- Productivity of land ◆ Drain and establish vegetation
- Potential water supply
◆ Ditches ◆ Restore drainage patterns ◆ Grade to restore natural drainage
◆ Establish vegetation
Rehabilitation measures: tailings impoundment
Rehabilitation Objectives
Control Technologies
Physical Stability Issues
◆ Tailings ◆ Control dust migration ◆ Establish erosion resistant covers of vegetation soil, riprap or water
- Dust ◆ Control tailings erosion ◆ Monitor
- Water erosion
◆ Dams ◆ Factor of safety >1.5 for static conditions ◆ Appropriate site selection and dam design (P)
- Deep seated or overall ◆ Erosion resistant overtopping protection ◆ Where necessary, stabilise embankments by constructing toe berm
- Slope failure ◆ Restrict access to flatten overall slope
- Surface slump ◆ Riprap or vegetation cover to control erosion
- Erosion ◆ Increase freeboard and/or upgrade spillway to prevent overtopping
◆ Ditch/ berm/ fence to prevent erosion by motorised vehicles
◆ Weathering ◆ Remove or establish long-term stability ◆ Remove or plug/ backfill structures
◆ Destruction of permanent ◆ Integrate with local drainage ◆ Diversions and spillways designed for long-term stability
- Structures ◆ Plug/ seal decant lines through embankments
- Spillways ◆ Define and provide for long-term monitoring and maintenance
- Decant towers & pipes ◆ Avoid ongoing operation where possible
◆ Drainage disruption
Chemical Stability Issues
◆ Tailings and pore water ◆ Meet water quality objectives by: ◆ Implement permanent control measures
- Acid drainage 1. Control reactions ◆ Flood to control reactions
- Leaching 2. Control migration ◆ Pre-treatment-removal of deleterious material for controlled disposal elsewhere
- Mill reagents 3. Collect and treat or blending with alkali material to mitigate acid drainage (P)
◆ Cover to control acid reactions and/or migration using inert material or bog
◆ Ditch to divert run-off
◆ Collect and treat – active treatment to be avoided where possible
◆ Dams, structures ◆ Meet water quality objectives by: ◆ Do not construct with materials which are potential acid producers
1. Control reactions or are leachable
2. Control migration ◆ Decontaminate and/or remove acid generating or leaching materials
3. Collect and treat
Land Use Issues
◆ Productivity of land ◆ Return to appropriate land use ◆ Rehabilitate by one or more of the following means:
◆ Visual impacts
- Flood, contour, cover, establish vegetation, wetland
(P) option to be implemented at approved pre-mine stage
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 39

Mining
Environmental and
toxicity issues
Biodégradation/persistance et
bioaccumulation/ biomagnification des
métaux et des composés métalliques
Résumé
L’atelier technique Canada/Union Européenne sur la biodégradation/persistance et la bioaccumulation/biomagnification
des métaux et des composés métalliques a pris en considération
les aspects scientifiques de deux des critères – biodégradation/persistance et bioaccumulation/biomagnification
– pour déterminer les dangers et évaluer les risques. Les concepts sont
en général acceptés à l’échelle internationale quand ils s’appliquent aux composés organiques
synthétiques. Toutefois, l’applicabilité des concepts à des composés métalliques inorganiques
(c’est-à-dire à l’exclusion des composés organométalliques) a soulevé des problèmes et c’est sur
cet aspect que se sont penchés les participants à l’atelier.
Abstract
The Canada/ European Union Technical Workshop on Biodegradation/ Persistence and Bioaccumulation/
Biomagnification of Metals and Metal Compounds considered the scientific
aspects of two of the criteria – biodegradation/ persistence and bioaccumulation/ biomagnification
– for hazard identification and risk assessments. The concepts have broad international
acceptance when applied to synthetic organic compounds. However, problems have
arisen with their applicability to inorganic metal compounds (e.g. excluding organometallic
compounds), and this was the main focus of the workshop.
Resumen
El Taller Técnico de la Unión Europea/Canadá sobre Persistencia y Bioacumulación/ Biomagnificación
de Metales y Metales Compuestos consideró los aspectos científicos de dos de los
criterios, biodegradación/persistencia y bioacumulación/biomagnificación, para identificación
de peligros y evaluación de riesgos. Los conceptos tienen amplia aceptación internacional
cuando se aplican a compuestos orgánicos sintéticos. Sin embargo, han surgido problemas
con su aplicabilidad a compuestos metálicos inorgánicos (por ejemplo a la exclusión de compuestos
organometálicos) y este fue el tema principal del taller.
L
’une des préoccupations principale que soulève
l’identification des risques environnementaux
potentiels que pose un produit
chimique est l’estimation de l’exposition à court
et à long terme des espèces toxiques biodisponibles.
Comme il a été convenu que les métaux
élémentaires et composés métalliques inorganiques
en phase solide ne sont pas assimilés par des
organismes, on s’est intéressé à la libération dans
l’environnement d’espèces métalliques biodisponibles
provenant de tels composés inorganiques.
Il a été convenu que la biodégradation ne peut
constituer un critère approprié pour l’évaluation
des risques environnementaux que comportent les
substances inorganiques et que les lignes directrices
pour les essais de biodégradabilité immédiate de
l’Organisation de coopération et de développement
économiques (OCDE) ne devraient pas être
utilisées pour le contrôle de telles substances. La
“dégradation” et la “transformation” (incluant la
dissolution) des composés inorganiques ont été
proposées en tant que critères plus appropriés.
La détermination des caractéristiques de solubilité
ou de transformation, y compris la cinétique
de dissolution ou la vitesse de transformation d’un
métal ou d’un composé métallique inorganique a
été recommandée comme première étape pour
évaluer l’exposition environnementale potentielle
à court et à long terme des ions métalliques biodisponibles.
Les membres de l’atelier ont recommandé,
comme point prioritaire, qu’une méthode normalisée
soit élaborée pour déterminer les caractéristiques
de solubilité des métaux et composés
inorganiques modérément solubles, dans le but
d’identifier le dangers qu’ils posent.
La deuxième étape dans l’estimation de la
concentration des ions métalliques biodisponibles
concerne les transformations qui peuvent se produire
quand ils sont retirés du milieu aquatique
(par example par précipitation, oxydation, réduction,
absorption et enfouissement). Des modèles
pour prédire la concentration d’ions métalliques
dans des conditions environnementales (aquatiques)
connues ou présumées sont disponibles
mais il a été convenu que d’autres travaux devront
être effectués pour les valider. Les participants ont
également convenu que dans la plupart des cas,
dans des conditions environnementales naturelles,
les transformations des espèces solubles tendaient à
diminuer leur concentration (c’est-à-dire effectivement
éliminer les ions métalliques résultant de
la transformation du métal de base ou composé
inorganique).
La persistance des substances organiques synthétiques
signifie qu’elles peuvent exister dans
l’environnement au moins partiellement sous
forme biodisponible pour de longues périodes,
influençant ainsi la durée de l’exposition potentielle.
D’autre part, de nombreux composés inorganiques
ont tendance à être indéfiniment
persistants au regard des échelles de temps des substances
organiques. De plus, ce sont les ions métalliques
biodisponibles solubles résultant de la
transformation qui sont actifs biologiquement
comparativement aux substances organiques où
c’est la substance persistante qui a habituellement
une importance toxicologique. Par conséquent,
quand le terme “ persistance ” est appliqué aux substances
inorganiques, sa connotation est bien différente
de celle qu’il a quand il est utilisé comme
critère de risque pour les substances organiques.
Bioaccumulation et biomagnification
Les métaux élémentaires et composés métal-
40 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
liques inorganiques en phase solide ne sont pas, en
général, biodisponibles comme tels, et, par conséquent,
la bioaccumulation de composés métalliques
ne constitue pas un paramètre utile pour
l’identification des risques qu’ils comportent. Toutefois,
ce sont les ions métalliques solubles constituants
qui sont bioabsorbés par voie de divers
mécanismes et processus qui, effectivement,
contrôlent la bioaccumulation des ions métalliques
par les organismes. D’autre part, la bioaccumulation
des composés organiques se produit par diffusion
passive et liposolubilité et un essai pour
mesurer le coefficient de partage octanol/eau est
souvent le moyen utilisé pour prédire la bioaccumulation
potentielle d’un composé organique. En
raison des mécanismes complexes qui contrôlent
la bioaccumulation des ions métallique, il n’existe
actuellement aucun essai pour prévoir la bioaccumulation
potentielle d’ions métalliques solubles.
La bioaccumulation d’un ion métallique par un
organisme ne peut être mesurée que par une analyse
directe des tissus et par la comparaison des
concentrations avec celles de l’eau ou d’un autre
milieu d’exposition. Les facteurs de bioconcentration
et de bioaccumulation résultants dépendent
du métal et de l’organisme considérés et sont,
par conséquent, utiles pour évaluer les risques spécifiques
mais non pour prédire, en général, les
risques environnementaux. Dans l’interprétation
de ces données, reconnaître que divers organismes
exigent de petites quantités de certains métaux
essentiels constitue un facteur de complication.
De plus, un des mécanismes de contrôle susmentionné
permet à certains organismes de contrôler
l’absorption et l’expulsion des métaux essentiels
par homéostasie qui résulte dans la dépendance
des facteurs de bioconcentration sur les concentrations
relatives, internes et externes, de métaux.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Un organisme peut absorber des quantités de
métaux essentiels et non essentiels qui peuvent
s’avérer toxiques pour lui-même ou pour un prédateur,
c’est-à-dire un autre organisme qui l’absorbe.
On devrait tenir compte de cette
bioaccumulation spécifique de métaux et de “
l’empoisonnement secondaire ” possible dans
l’évaluation des risques.
En raison des facteurs complexes de contrôle et
du fait que la bioaccumulation des ions métalliques
dépend des organismes considérés, les
membres de l’atelier sont d’avis que la biomagnification
des ions métalliques à des niveaux plus
élevés du réseau alimentaire écologique ne constitue
pas un critère général utile pour l’identification
des risques que posent les composés
métalliques inorganiques ou les ions métalliques
composants.
◆
Future challenges facing the mining industry:
an environmental health perspective
Michael R. Moore and Barry N. Noller, NHMRC National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road,
Coopers Plains, Qld 4108, Australia
Abstract
Mining and mineral processing must become “greener” and be more aware of community
needs and expectations. Environmental health considerations must be taken into account to
ensure that a proper balance exists in total exposure where both human health and the environment
are concerned. This means that risk-based evaluations will become a common platform
for measurement of health impacts. Better measures of exposures and doses are needed,
taking account of factors such as bioavailability. Risk assessment and communication must
be less dependent on modelling strategies and must be made to better reflect reality, by means
of on-site testing challenging the assumptions behind models.
Résumé
L’exploitation minière et le traitement des minéraux doivent devenir plus “écologiques” et
prendre davantage conscience des besoins et des attentes de la population. La prise en considération
de la salubrité de l’environnement est nécessaire pour assurer un juste équilibre entre
les risques globaux pour la santé de l’homme et pour l’environnement. Cela signifie que les évaluations
basées sur les risques sont appelées à devenir une plate-forme commune pour mesurer
les impacts sur la santé. De meilleures mesures de l’exposition et des dosages sont nécessaires
et doivent tenir compte de facteurs tels que la biodisponibilité. L’évaluation et l’information sur
les risques doivent s’affranchir des stratégies de modélisation et devenir plus conscientes de la
réalité par des tests sur le terrain destinés à remettre en question les hypothèses sur lesquelles
reposent les modèles.
Resumen
La minería y el procesamiento de minerales deben ser más cuidadosos del medio ambiente y
más conscientes de las necesidades y expectativas de la comunidad. Es necesario tener en
cuenta la salud ambiental para asegurar que exista un equilibrio adecuado entre exposición
total y salud humana y ambiental. Esto significa que las evaluaciones basadas en los riesgos
constituirán una plataforma común para medir los impactos sobre la salud. Se requieren mejores
medidas de exposición y dosis que tomen en cuenta factores tales como la biodisponibilidad.
La evaluación de riesgos y la comunicación deben depender menos de las estrategias de
modelado y tener mayor conciencia de la realidad mediante testeos en campo para desafiar las
hipótesis de los modelos.
Introduction
The future of mining depends on the industry’s
capacity to maintain the balance between profitability
and preservation of the environment. In
particular the minimization of future liabilities
associated with mining wastes needs to be better
addressed at the project design stage and during
the course of mining prior to rehabilitation.
Human capital also needs to be conserved, both
on-site and as a consequence of potential environmental
health impacts of mining operations.
This requires assessment of risk at all stages to
ensure that impacts on the environment and on
humans are always understood. Appropriate monitoring
techniques are required to assess the adequacy
of rehabilitation.
This article considers key issues associated with
such future sustainable mining practices and the
significance of key aspects of the polluting process.
Current mining issues
As ore bodies at the surface of the earth become
depleted so the search goes on for deeper and
more remote locations for future mineral
resources. In the context of modern mining practice,
sustainability of mining equates with zero or
limited environmental impact after mining. Minimization
of impacts will carry with it the probability
of minimal environmental health impacts as
well as diminished occupational health consequences.
No significant liability should be carried
forward as a result of legacies of improper mine
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 41

Mining
use and close-out. As a consequence, there is now
great pressure to improve the whole of mining
profitability whilst meeting the goals of sustainability.
Mine tailings and other wastes have another key
role: last years garbage may, and often does,
become this year’s resource. The availability of
improved extraction techniques is making the
economic viability of re-extraction of elements
such as gold and cobalt from old tailings acceptable.
Evidence of this is seen in the manner in
which many mining operations have funded their
gold extraction operations through processing of
old tailings following the development of the “carbon
in leach” process.
Current mineral extraction processes
The key step following mining of a resource is
mineral extraction. This step separates and purifies
valuable items in ore and usually involves the
use of reagents and/or physical separation steps.
Ingenious separation steps have been devised and,
in many cases (such as cyanide for gold extraction),
have been used for a hundred years or more.
Following extraction, the ground rock mass and
reagents in tailings become one of mining’s significant
wastes. Proper containment is needed to
retain tailings and prevent dispersion, particularly
above ground. Dewatering of tailings is necessary
to make tailings into a rock-like mass. Dry
tailings management, coupled with stabilization
techniques such as cementization, is the preferred
method. Engineering of tailing dam walls is the
key step in preventing dispersion of above ground
tailings. There is also a need for appropriate longterm
management of such wastes through revegetation
and landscaping.
It is, however, the failures in management of
tailings dams that have given mining a bad name,
most recently at Baia Mare, in Romania. This
incident was handled poorly and resulted in considerable
bad press and bad community perception
of the project in question and of mining as a
whole, especially the Australian sector. In contrast,
the loss of cyanide during a flight to Tolokuma
gold mine in Papua New Guinea was handled
extremely well by the mining company which
paid great attention to immediate cleanup and the
sensitivity of community relations. However, both
incidents point to the need for much better risk
management by the industry. They also show that
those involved in management of ethical issues
need to apply the same precautions in developing
communities as they would be required to in the
developed world. (For more information on this
subject, readers may like to consult the following
website: http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/2000/June/06-02-06.htm).
Although ground rock is generally innocuous,
the presence of reagents and other constituents of
mineral origin, such as sulphides which become
acidic following exposure to air and water oxidation,
becomes an enhanced hazard through the
leaching of other metals from the rock matrix with
a potential to cause off-site ecological impacts.
Soluble reagents can also be dispersed. It is the collective
property of tailings, together with their fine
size enabling dispersion in flowing water courses,
which has given rise to ecological and human disasters.
Waste rock management is also a key issue, particularly
when associated with sulphidic mineralization.
Acid mine drainage from oxidation of
sulphides can give rise to significant off-site
impacts in aquatic ecosystems when associated
with the release of toxic heavy metals and metalloids
which may be present in the waste rock.
Site water management
All mining projects in high rainfall areas, and particularly
those in the tropics where rainfall intensities
are higher, need a robust water management
plan. Whilst site planning can minimize catchment
collection and can reduce the volumes of
water to be discharged, it is becoming obvious
that future mining projects will need to find other
innovative ways of reducing stored water volumes.
Such techniques will need to involve water purification
using energy minimisation techniques such
as solar assisted evaporation, and will need to
incorporate water recycling.
The goal of “nil-release” will be difficult to
achieve as a stand-alone procedure. It will need to
accompany the application of techniques which
keep the contaminants out of water, such as those
described below. Thus a focus on integrated site
management (including impacted areas off-site)
is an important consideration. Mined areas may
need to be “covered” to prevent contact of water
with exposed minerals and waste rocks, and the
build up of waste water which generally occurs
following storms.
Precise mineral resource extraction
There is also a need for greater sophistication in
resource recovery. There will be an increasing need
to better define resource material from waste. This
relates specifically to the accuracy of measuring of
the resource grade in relation to the appropriate
cut off grade. For example, gold in sulphide rock
is delineated on the basis of grade. When sulphur
concentration is high in waste rock the reject
material has to be handled carefully to minimize
future environmental liability arising from acid
generation. The current approach is to map both
gold grade and sulphur grades in both ore bodies
and haloes. The acid-generating waste rock is then
placed in repositories constructed ahead of material
removal and not closed off until completely
removed from the mining activity. Such procedures
need to be streamlined so that the impact of
waste is minimized. The utilization of back-filling
techniques, including open pits with cementized
material, should be encouraged.
Selective handling of mineral
extraction reagents
A range of specific chemical reagents is used in
mineral extraction processes, with a spectrum
extending from full reagent recovery (e.g. solvent
extraction of nickel or uranium) to transfer to tailings
storage (e.g. cyanide for gold and sodium
hydroxide for bauxite/aluminium) and even complete
destruction before storage or discharge (e.g.
cyanide). Complete destruction removes the
potential for reuse of a valuable commodity and
is usually applied to minimize effects on stock,
aquatic life and human health. It is therefore
appropriate to consider the incorporation of stand
alone plant technology which will enable reagents
such as cyanide, sodium hydroxide, acids and surface
active agents to be recovered and reused. It is
desirable that such processing strategies, together
with water recycling, be undertaken in “closed
loop” systems which recover reagents and only
transfer minimum quantities to tailings.
Application of “green” chemistry to
mineral extraction
Green chemistry builds on the concepts of cleaner
production and seeks to develop chemicallybased
extraction and reaction procedures which
use environmentally friendly reagents and solvents.
For example the shift from solvent-based
reagents to water-based ones leads to wastes which
can be handled in the aqueous phase and therefore
elimination of organic solvent waste. The
principle is that the reagents in question lead to a
waste which becomes more environmentally
acceptable. This strategy fits squarely with the
proposal to recycle reagents. In the context of
green chemistry, it means the design and selection
of mineral extraction procedures that are more
environmentally friendly and lend themselves to
recycling.
Role of bioavailability
The bioavailability of chemical species is at the
heart of risk assessment for the impacts of mining
wastes. Bioavailability is defined as the fraction of
chemical forms, called the biologically-available
(or bioavailable) fraction, which can be taken in
by organisms (plants, animals and humans) and
is thus potentially capable of harming those
organisms. Dissolved free metal ions are probably
the most bioavailable form of metals and are usually
only a very small fraction of the metals in the
environment. Total metal concentrations are
therefore not an indicator of potential effects
unless the concentration of biologically available
metal is known.
Total element concentrations are rarely sufficient
to describe environmental processes. The
determination of chemical species which may be
toxic is a more complex task than the determination
of total elemental concentrations. Currently,
analysis of chemical species that may be bioavailable
is directed towards the identification and
quantification of species in isolated samples. Solubility
is not bioavailability, as more subtle factors
are involved including the complex chemistry of
interaction between the diverse elemental composition
of minerals and the total consequences of
exposure to specific elements like mercury and
lead.
Understanding the role chemical species play in
bioavailability is necessary to understand:
◆ Abundance and distribution
◆ Accumulation by organisms
◆ Toxicity to terrestrial and aquatic organisms
The need for information about bioavailability
42 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
in the context of mining as a sustainable practice
requires generating of data that indicate when
exposure following dispersion or transport is no
longer safe. Clearly, this need applies to tailings and
other mining wastes that have been rehabilitated.
Modelling is not going to give all the answers.
The need is for real-time experiments that deal
with the challenge of bioavailability in humans
and animals. This should accord with the reality
test: do exposed humans show evidence of dose?
In the future, it will be more important to
design monitoring which takes account of the
assessment of bioavailability as a basis for assessment
for closeout of a mining project. Hence the
need to take on board this concept at the outset of
a project and to make assessments as the project
develops. Realistic and experimentally based criteria
need to be developed on a site-specific basis,
taking into account final future land use. For
example, the risk associated with future land use
involving cattle and pastoral activity can be
assessed by designing experiments and monitoring
techniques that show the bioavailability of
mining waste to cattle, via feeding trials and on
site experiments.
Environmental health expectations
A key issue in dealing adequately with the perception
of risk of environmental health impacts lies
in a greater degree of involvement in risk communication
by industry. In many cases the perceptions
of ill-health associated with modern
mining practice are unjustified and are largely
founded on a poor appreciation of the relationships
between hazard, exposure and dose. A key
issue here is the role of bioavailability, as described.
The mere presence of toxic elements in mineralogical
material does not, of necessity, mean that
there will be exposure of humans. Even when
exposure occurs the consequences are determined
by the dose, which is usually wholly dependent on
bioavailability. Since this is a perceptual process,
factors such as aesthetics and noise abatement
which have previously been given scant attention
by the industry can have a disproportionate influence
or the perception of risk by the public. In
these circumstances the rehabilitation of mine
sites becomes extremely important, not only
because it diminishes the inevitable environmental
damage associated with ore extraction, but also
because it engenders a perception of care for the
environment and, by association, care for other
factors such as environmental health and occupational
health.
In a risk based process, it is also important to
note that the models used to assess environmental
health risk are subject to considerable levels of
change at the present time. A key issue at present is
the level of conservatism that can be applied in carrying
out risk assessment. Although an appropriate
level of conservatism is important for public policy,
models that apply excessive conservatism in risk
assessment may cause major distortions in the
results of the analysis. This is particularly true
when there are multiple layers of conservative
assumptions and where the compounding effect
may lead to over-caution. Independent of the obvious
economic consequences of an excess of caution,
there are also the perceptual consequences of
this, associated with excessive levels of anxiety
within a community in which the perceived risk is
in fact much greater than the actual one. The key
issue in such circumstances is provision of accurate
data to drive the risk assessment and, in particular,
accurate data for both dose-response assessment
and exposure assessment which will better inform
the risk management process.
Community role and expectations
The community has a clear role in indicating
whether or not the activities of a mining project
are acceptable in its eyes. The incidence of community
outrage from indigenous peoples is
increasing, but it can be overcome by involving
them at a sufficiently early stage in project development.
It is important to identify community
views on future land use and to have members of
the community understand that their views are
met by careful, responsible management. The role
of risk assessment is clearly important in demonstrating
to local communities that the proposed
environmental management procedures for mining
project will actually work.
An important component of risk assessment
with respect to the community is risk communication,
which requires presentation in clear and
plain language. This is an important point where
community outrage can be diffused by the mining
industry.
For the mining industry, it is important to recognize
that the general public perceives risk as
multi-dimensional and inadequately described by
numerical values. The public will therefore judge
risk according to characteristics and context, and
not by numbers. A major issue here is that one has
to employ the best forms of risk communication.
Good risk communication results in a high level
of agreement between the affected parties. It
requires that those involved carry out a genuine
process, conducted with the communities’ interests
in mind. The traditional mining industry has
been poor at doing this and has therefore suffered
from the forms of public outrage associated with
inadequate communication. Accordingly, there is
a sequence of key principles in environmental
health risk assessment associated with mining
which reflects the necessity to adequately protect
public health and to protect the environment and,
in seeking this endpoint, to do so by putting
responsibilities of this nature before other considerations.
The way in which risk assessment is carried
out should be transparent. There should be
no hidden default values or assumptions so that
the conclusions drawn on the basis of available
evidence are readily understood. Finally, in the
process of protection of public health and of protection
of the environment, appropriate degrees
of conservatism must be adopted to guard against
uncertainties which are invariably present as a
consequence of data limitation.
Notes:
The response of one part of the international mining
sector in Australia is informative. It is suggested
that readers look at the status of mining and
environmental control in Australia by consulting
the proceedings of the recent 4 th International &
25 th National Mineral Council of Australian Environmental
Workshop entitled “Environment
Everyone’s Business: Learning through a Business
Perspective”, held in Perth, Western Australia on
29 October-2 November 2000. The proceedings
are published by the Minerals Council of Australia
which can be contacted at the following website:
www.minerals.org.au or by e-mail at nedra.burns
@minerals.org.au. Further details regarding the
Australian mining industry can be found on the
web page of the Australian Minerals &Energy
Environment Foundation (AMEEF): www.
ameef.com.au.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 43

Mining
Economic issues
Mining and the environment:
the economic agenda
Olle Östensson, International Trade and Commodities Division, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 1,
Place des Nations, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
Abstract
Increasing minerals production implies increasing environmental impacts. However, environmental
management can offset the trend and reduce the demands made on the natural environment.
However, the possibilities for opening new mines may be decreasing due to public
perception that mining is damaging to the environment. The problem of how economic and
environmental responsibilities can be shared equitably needs to be addressed.
Résumé
Si accroître la production de minéraux signifie augmenter les impacts de cette activité sur l’environnement,
la gestion de l’environnement peut inverser cette tendance et réduire les atteintes
au milieu naturel. Mais le fait que le public perçoive l’exploitation minière comme une atteinte
à l’environnement peut limiter les possibilités d’exploitation de mines nouvelles. Il faut donc se
pencher sur la question de savoir comment partager équitablement les responsabilités
économiques et environnementales.
Resumen
Aumentar la producción de minerales implica aumentar los impactos ambientales. Sin embargo,
la gestión del medio ambiente puede revertir esta tendencia y reducir las demandas ejercidas
sobre el medio ambiente natural. No obstante, la reducción de posibilidades de apertura
de nuevas minas podría atribuirse a la percepción pública de que la minería es perjudicial para
el medio ambiente. Se debe plantear el problema de cómo compartir equitativamente las
responsabilidades ambientales y económicas.
The environmental impacts of mining
are also an economic issue...
Mining often has a dramatic and highly visual
impact on the environment. Perhaps this is why it
is one of the economic activities that generates the
most environmental controversy. However, its
impact is local and is insignificant in terms of the
total land area affected 2 . Many other activities
have much more serious and wide-ranging effects
on human health and ecosystems. Nevertheless,
the effects on the landscape are impossible to miss,
and they give rise to powerful sentiments.
An important feature of mining is that it can
not be relocated. Mining has to take place where
the mineral deposits are. If a deposit happens to
be in an area that all concerned agree should be
protected, it will not be mined. However, such a
decision carries a cost. Another deposit, probably
with slightly lower ore grades, will be mined
instead. As a result, the goods produced from
44 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
the mineral mined will be slightly more expensive
to the consumer. The mining of the slightly
lower grade deposit will also result in a larger
amount of waste and some negative environmental
impact (hopefully, however, smaller than
in the case of the first deposit). Less mineral raw
materials may also be consumed, and production
of substituting materials may entail environmental
damage. It is important to be aware
that all decisions concerning mining and the
environment carry costs, in terms of both environmental
impact and material living standards.
The objective should be to keep the sum of all
these costs as low as possible.
and the economic trends are broadly
encouraging...
The past decade has seen stable economic growth
at a relatively high level and a very rapid expansion
of world trade. This has set the scene for a
period of solidly expanding demand for mineral
raw materials, particularly in the fast-developing
countries of Asia. This ensures ready and growing
markets for the products of new mineral producers.
The Asian economic crisis resulted in a break
in the trend, which, however, now appears to have
been temporary. The much-discussed decline in
the rate of growth in intensity of use of raw materials,
which even led to the coining of the term
“dematerialization”, has revealed itself to be a force
of minor magnitude. If the increase in recycling
rates is taken into account, the rate of growth in
minerals and metals use continues to be about
equal to or slightly higher than that of global
GDP, and there is no sign of it slowing down.
In the last few years there has been renewed
interest in exploration and investment, particularly
in developing countries. Although the statistics
are incomplete, all observers agree that foreign
direct investment (FDI) in mining is growing at a
respectable rate, although possibly somewhat
slower than overall FDI. Latin America has
become the most important target for both exploration
and development while some countries,
including Australia, Canada and, in particular, the
United States, which dominated the investment
scene until recently, have seen exploration spending
stagnate or decline. From the point of view of
economic development, the new interest in Central
Asia and the renewed interest in Africa are particularly
encouraging. While the Asian crisis also
affected total expenditure on exploration and
investment, the shift in geographical focus appears
to be persisting. This development has been stimulated,
inter alia, by changes in legislation concerning
mining and foreign investment in many
countries, and by the mobilization of risk capital
made possible by liberalized capital markets.
In the early 1980s, exploration by foreign companies
in developing countries was usually permitted,
but security of tenure linking exploration
to mining was weak: exploration companies were
not assured of the right to exploit deposits discovered.
Foreign direct investment was permitted in

Mining
most countries, but often only with participation
by domestic companies, either state or privately
owned. The security of a right to explore has generally
been strengthened in recent years, with most
mining codes now recognizing that right as exclusive
within the exploration area. The link between
the exploration right and the right to mine has
also been strengthened in most countries. In addition,
the mechanisms for settling disputes have
been made more acceptable to foreign investors,
with many recent investment agreements providing
for international arbitration of specified disputes,
and with many countries entering into
bilateral and multilateral investment treaties that
accord investors some form of protection against
unilateral actions by host country governments.
Increasing minerals production implies increasing
environmental impacts from the mining and
processing of minerals. However, environmental
impacts do not have to grow at the same rate as
minerals production. Improved environmental
management can offset the trend and reduce the
demands made on the natural environment. Over
the past two decades, environmental legislation
has been strengthened in almost all countries and
this has contributed to reducing the negative environmental
impacts of mining. However, ambitious
legislation needs to be complemented by
effective monitoring and enforcement, which
require skills and financial resources. It takes time
for information about new methods and technologies
aimed at reducing environmental
impacts to be disseminated and for the methods
to be put into practice widely.
One important aspect of the exploration and
development “boom” is the growing interest in
medium-size deposits, both of gold and base metals,
with a relatively short mine life. These mines
have a relatively short start-up period meaning
that government agencies are often under considerable
pressure to speed up the environmental
review and approval process. This could be a
source of concern, particularly since the expansion
and broadening of interest in developing countries
– to some extent a consequence of the general
trends towards globalization and liberalization –
mean that a large part of new investment is likely
to take place in countries which at present have
little experience of mine development and limited
capabilities as far as monitoring and enforcement
are concerned (for instance, in Africa or Central
Asia). The governments of these countries are of
course anxious to acquire an independent capability
to evaluate projects and negotiate with
developers as soon as possible. It will be an important
task for the international community to
extend all possible assistance to them in this
respect. Developments will be followed carefully,
particularly by the environmental NGO’s who
will be sure to alert the international public to any
cases of environmental damage or indications that
environmental management standards are not
being observed.
While the trends in developing countries are
encouraging from the point of view of world mineral
supply and growing incomes, the scope for
opening new mines in developed countries is
decreasing due to public perceptions of mining as
an inherently and unavoidably damaging activity
for the natural environment. Several well-publicized
incidents of spills from tailings dams in
recent years have reinforced these perceptions. As
a result, increasingly large areas are being closed to
new mineral development. This manifestation of
the “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome
may lead exasperated planners and mining companies
to ask: Well, if not in your back yard, in
whose back yard then? More seriously, the restrictions
raise the problem of how economic and
environmental responsibilities, including both the
responsibility for environmental damage from
mining and for providing the world with the raw
materials it needs, can be shared equitably.
...as are the trends for environmental
management and its costs...
With few exceptions, the costs of environmental
protection measures have not had any major
effects on the economics of mineral production.
Estimates of the costs as a proportion of total production
costs vary from negligible to crippling.
Those who are trying to demonstrate that the
costs are low point to examples of mines where
investments made for environmental reasons have
led to higher productivity and lower costs, while
those who aim to show that the costs threaten the
industry’s existence quote the full cost of investments,
including elements that have little if anything
to do with environmental requirements. It is
easy to find examples supporting either version of
the facts, partly because it is very difficult to identify
the exact portion of the investment that is due
to environmental objectives and partly because
circumstances differ from one operation to another
depending on geology, climate and other factors,
including, most importantly, whether the
investment is made as an addition to an existing
facility or in a new one. It appears reasonable to
assume that the costs of environmental protection
are indeed positive and significant. However, if it
were true that environmental measures are a high
portion of production costs we would expect to
see some clearly identifiable effects, such as higher
metals prices, reduced profits of mining companies
or unwillingness to explore for new
deposits or invest in the development of new
mines. In 1992, a reputable consulting firm predicted
that “environmental upgrading” would
cost the mining and mineral processing industry
some US$ 6,000 million and that this would have
“an enormous effect on exploration and new
smelters as industry cuts back due to the environmental
downside”. 20 There are no signs of any of
this happening, which seems to indicate that the
industry has adapted quite well to the introduction
of new regulations.
It should be noted that compared to other factors
which influence profit levels and for which
mining companies have to make provisions, such
as fluctuations in metals prices and exchange rates,
environmental costs have the important advantage
of being (usually) known in advance. In principle,
it is therefore easier to take them into
account. The industry has demonstrated an
impressive capacity to adjust to regulatory changes
(usually after first having complained bitterly
about the costs), and has achieved results when it
comes to reducing environmental impacts that
would hardly have been believed a couple of
decades ago. This is due partly to the development
of new technologies, but above all to the introduction
of management and planning methods
that integrate environmental impacts in the project
planning process from the outset and that do
not see environmental mitigation as something to
be added as an afterthought once the project
design has been decided. Clearly, the industry has
realized that the costs of project delays and possible
closures due to the need for mitigating measures
that were not foreseen but which impose
themselves as a result, for instance, of public opinion
pressure are likely to be higher than the cost
of doing it right from the outset. Thus, the need
for costly “end-of-pipe” solutions is diminishing
as the industry catches up with and meets regulatory
requirements, often at little additional cost.
This does not mean that all is well and that the
environmental problems associated with mining
can be considered as having been solved. We still
have a long way to go to reach the situation where
a mine can be closed down and forgotten with no
need for monitoring or precautionary measures.
Moreover, new and more ambitious targets will
continue to be set for the reduction and mitigation
of environmental impacts. Mining companies
will have to be alert to new developments and
prepared to take action to deal with new requirements.
The policy instruments used by governments
to ensure that mining is carried out under conditions
that minimize the risk to the environment
are evolving rapidly, and environmental agencies
are acquiring increasing experience and sophistication
in the practical application of environmental
policies. The popularization of the
Polluter Pays Principle has had the effect of making
the need to internalize environmental costs
more widely accepted (although the principle is
often misinterpreted as referring to compensation
for environmental damage) 21 and has influenced
the way that even traditional “command and control”
policies are applied. “Classical” economic
instruments to reduce environmental impacts,
such as pollution taxes, have yet to find a wide
application in mining, for reasons having to do
both with public acceptability (the idea that you
can “buy the right to pollute” is difficult for many
to accept) and practicality, not least the problems
of quantification of impacts. At the same time,
however, “hybrid” economic instruments aiming
at defining liability and ensuring that funds are
available for cleanup, such as performance bonds
and rehabilitation assurance, have been rapidly
accepted and have become part of the mining and
environmental legislation in several countries.
This type of instrument is likely to form an
increasingly important part of the regulatory landscape
in the future. It deserves to be emphasized
again, however, that governments’ capabilities
vary, and that many developing country governments
with overwhelming demands being made
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 45

Mining
on their budgets find it difficult to locate the funds
necessary to upgrade skills and acquire the analytical
and monitoring facilities necessary to apply
such instruments effectively.
...but problems remain and scarce
resources for environmental
protection have to be applied where
they are most effective
The concept of using trade measures to influence
environmental policies or achieve at least some
internalization of environmental costs is attractive
to many but has proved difficult to translate into
practice. The debate about trade and the environment
reflects legitimate concerns about the environmental
consequences of the ongoing
globalization process. However, trade measures
are blunt instruments and their application with a
view to promoting better environmental management
may give rise to new and worse problems
than the ones initially targeted. Moreover, it
should be realized that developing countries could
suffer unintended and unnecessary negative
impacts on their trade if such measures were to be
applied. Since international treaties are cumbersome
to negotiate and difficult to enforce, it may
be easier to counter unwanted consequences of
globalization through public opinion pressure,
directed at those governments and enterprises that
appear to disregard environmental impacts of
their policies and actions.
As far as minerals and metals are concerned, the
main item on the environmental trade agenda
now appears to be efforts to restrict the transport
or processing of certain materials that are deemed
to be hazardous. The Basel Convention is the best
known example of this trend, but proposals in the
same vein have been made in a number of international
fora. Proposals for such restrictions have
caused considerable concern in industry circles
since they appear to disregard the costs of restrictions,
which would have to be borne by industry.
Other serious concerns include the extent to
which the proposed restrictions are based on adequate
risk assessments and the limitations to international
trade that would be imposed as a result,
with the attendant economic inefficiencies. Most
importantly, it can be questioned whether those
types of restrictions, given their cost in terms both
of the creation of artificial scarcities and the need
for institutional frameworks charged with monitoring
and enforcement, constitute a cost-effective
way of reducing environmental damage.
One of the largest, if not the largest environmental
challenge facing the international mining
community today is posed by the many closed
mine sites in developing countries and countries
in transition which constitute major hazards for
the environment and where it is not possible to use
proceeds from production to finance a clean-up.
Many of the sites may result in considerable environmental
damage if left unattended. While the
need to rehabilitate these “orphan sites” is widely
recognized, it is also clear that the governments of
the countries concerned – unlike governments in
developed countries where this problem is being
dealt with – lack the financial means to do so and
that no other realistic solutions to the financing
problem have been found. In fact, the dimensions
of the financing problem are not even well known,
possibly because it is feared that any effort to arrive
at a cost estimate might lead to resignation rather
than action. So far, progress with clean-up has been
piecemeal and improvised, and there is no assurance
that the most serious situations in terms of
human health, ecological impact or economic
importance have been addressed on a priority
basis. The problem clearly has to be addressed in
the context of abandoned hazardous sites in general,
and it is to be hoped that institutional and
financial solutions can be found that permit an
elimination of these continuing dangers to the lives
and health of local populations. It is difficult to see
that any concrete results could be achieved
through international legislation. The only example
of a legal approach being used to deal with the
problem of “orphan sites”, the “Super Fund” in the
United States, has, according to all observers,
entailed very time consuming negotiations.
Doubts have also been voiced with regard to its
effectiveness and the equity of the outcomes. Thus,
governments and industry have to work together
to determine the size of the problem and identify
realistic rehabilitation methods, financing solutions
and a time schedule for rehabilitation. The
time schedule can be long, what is important is to
begin to approach the problem in a serious manner.
While the industry cannot be held collectively
responsible for the actions of some individual
companies, it does have the knowledge about the
methods that could be used to deal with the
“orphan sites” and it should be concerned about
the public impact of the problem. Therefore, the
industry may consider it to be in its own interest
to be a part of the solution to the problem of
orphan sites, rather than fostering the impression
that it is only a part of the problem.
A major change – the full implications of which
are difficult to sort out however – would be the
internalization of the environmental and resource
costs of energy production. While complete “full
cost pricing” of energy is neither likely to be introduced
rapidly, nor in the very near future, it
appears certain that steps in this direction will be
taken as the unsustainability of evident or hidden
subsidies to energy production and consumption
in the long term becomes more evident. The mining
and metals industry would be expected to be
one of the industries most affected by such a
change, given its intensive use of energy in all
forms. Even partial steps in this direction could
raise the price of metals and reduce their competitiveness
vis-à-vis other materials which might use
less energy. However, several of the substitutes are
also energy-intensive and this might serve to
diminish the impact. In addition, recycled metals
would be likely to become more competitive,
since their production tends to be less energyintensive
than the production of primary metals.
Increased recycling rates would therefore be a
probable outcome, which would be modified,
however, by limits to the economic availability of
scrap. For metals that have exhibited a fast growth
in consumption in recent years and/or are used in
long-lived products, the possible increase in recycling
rates may also be quite modest due to limited
physical availability of scrap. While the full
effects of changes to energy prices are difficult to
assess and are likely to vary significantly from one
mineral raw material to another, it is clear that
they will have effects on the way that minerals and
metals are produced and used and, by implication,
on environmental management in mining.
In conclusion, there are reasons to be optimistic
about the prospects of reducing the negative environmental
impacts of mining. However, in a
world characterized by increasingly tight government
budgets, it is important that all those who
take an interest in good environmental management
of mining help ensure that the scarce
resources available for this purpose are used in as
cost-effective a manner as possible and that the
main part of the resources are devoted to the problems
that have the largest potential or actual
impact on the health and safety of people.
Notes
1 The views expressed are those of the author and
do not necessarily represent the views of the UNC-
TAD secretariat
2 Over the period 1930-1980, only 0.25 per cent
of the total land area of the United States was used
for surface mining, disposal of wastes from surface
and underground mines, and disposal of wastes
from mineral beneficiation and further processing.
Some 47 per cent of the land affected by mining
and waste disposal had been reclaimed by the end
of that period (Johnson, J. and Paone, J. ‘Land
Utilisation and Reclamation in the Mining Industry,
1930-1980’, Bureau of Mines Circular 8862,
Washington, D.C., 1982)
3 “Base metal victims of environment assault”,
Metal Bulletin, London, 5 November 1992. While
the figure may appear enormous and is likely to be
overstated, it is worth pointing out that it corresponds
to less than 5 per cent of the value of world
non-fuel mineral production at about the same
time, in 1990 (UNCTAD: Handbook of world
Mineral Trade statistics 1990-1995 (UNC-
TAD/ITCD/ COM/2), New York and Geneva,
1997)
4 The Polluter Pays Principle, as adopted by
OECD countries, states that “the polluter should
bear the expenses of carrying out pollution prevention
and control measures decided by public
authorities to ensure that the environment is in an
acceptable state. In other words, the cost of these
measures should be reflected in the cost of goods
and services which cause pollution in production
and/or consumption.” (Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development: The Polluter
Pays Principle: Definition, Analysis,
Implementation, Paris, 1975)
◆
46 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Environmental impacts of trade
liberalization and policies for the sustainable
management of natural resources:
a case study on Chile’s mining sector
Abstract
As interactions between countries increase and the world faces globalization of the economy,
there is widespread concern about the effects the ongoing process of trade liberalization will
have on the environment. But the question is, how to assess the environmental effects of trade
liberalization. UNEP undertook a case study on Chile’s mining sector reviewing the most important
factors influencing both thinking and assessment of the impacts of trade on the environment
and assessing the implications of the findings and proposed recommendations for action.
Résumé
L’objet de cet article est de décrire le raisonnement à suivre pour mettre en oeuvre un projet
pour financer la fermeture de mines dans des économies en transition, pendant que ces mines
sont encore en activité et font des profits, afin de réduire leurs attentes et dépendences vis-àvis
des gouvernements et donateurs pour résoudre ce problème. Cet article souligne aussi la
nécessité d’un programme d’assistance technique s’addressant aux pays qui y participe, pour
les aider à développer les principes et structures réglementaires appropriés.
Resumen
A medida que aumenta la interacción entre los países y el mundo se enfrenta a la globalización
de la economía, existe una preocupación generalizada acerca de los efectos del actual proceso
de liberalización del comercio sobre el medio ambiente. La pregunta es cómo evaluar los
impactos ambientales de la liberalización del comercio. La UNEP tomó un caso de estudio del
sector minero chileno y revisó los principales factores que determinan tanto el pensamiento
como la evaluación de los impactos del comercio sobre el medio ambiente y evaluó las implicancias
de las conclusiones y las recomendaciones propuestas.
The context of the debate
As interactions between countries increase and the
world faces globalization of the economy, there is
widespread concern about the effects the ongoing
process of trade liberalization will have on sustainable
development and, in particular, on the
environment. After years of perceived contradictions
between free trade and environmental protection,
a common perspective was agreed upon
at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED or the Rio
Conference). There governments endorsed the
call to address the issue and “make international
trade and environmental policy mutually supportive”.
This was strengthened at the Rio+5 discussions
in 1997 when governments stressed once
again that “decisions on further liberalization
should take into account effects on sustainable
development”.
Various international and national bodies have
undertaken specific initiatives to address the interaction
between trade and environment. In fact,
environmental review and assessment has been
identified as a key mechanism for achieving integration
between trade and environment policies.
In practical terms however, co-ordination and
action to enhance policy integration has been fairly
limited. The question is then, how to assess the
environmental effects of trade liberalization and
at the same time, devise appropriate policies to
correct negative impacts. But beyond that, the
question is how governments can contribute to
integrating concerns for the environment in policies
related to economic development and trade
and correct market failures to assign adequate values
to environmental resources.
UNEP study
UNEP undertook a case study on Chile’s mining
sector utilizing local experts in Chile. The 1999
Report reviewed the most important factors influencing
both thinking and assessment of the
impacts of trade on the environment; reviewed the
overall economic and environmental impacts
resulting from trade liberalization in the mining
sector in Chile; and, assessed the implications of
the findings and proposed recommendations for
action. Some of the key findings follow.
Lessons from the Mining Sector
in Chile
The Chilean experience
The introduction of neo-liberal policies in Chile
in the early 1970s was accompanied by deliberate
moves to lessen the role of the state, create a favorable
climate for private investment, open up the
economy and increase trade exchanges. This
process coincided, internationally, with an overall
expansion of the world economy and increasing
globalization.
This conjunction led to a remarkable growth in
the Chilean economy, fuelled to a great extent by
exploitation of natural resources at an ever increasing
rate. This has affected the quality of the environment
and even raises questions as to the
long-term sustainability of this pattern of economic
development.
Following this process through the case of the
Chilean mining sector, it is possible to establish a
chain of casual events that have led to the current
impacts on the environment:
◆ The process of economic liberalization in Chile
resulted in the opening up to world markets and a
freeing of trade and economic exchanges; this in
turn resulted in a marked growth in exports in the
mining sector;
◆ Increased trade, in turn, resulted in structural
changes in the mining sector as well as in a shift in
production patterns and changes in the type of
products exported;
◆ Scale effects resulting in great part from trade,
contributed to increasing environmental pressure
which, in terms of waste disposal, site abandonment,
social and economic sustainability of mining
communities and water scarcity is a significant
concern;
◆External factors – e.g., the lobbying of the United
States copper producers not to allow Chilean
copper in the market, in terms of environmental
dumping, or the pressure by multinational com-
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 47

Mining
panies on the Chilean authorities to obtain clear
environmental regulations – have played a significant
role in environmental management in the
Chilean mining sector and have influenced the
manner in which these impacts were perceived
and dealt with, spurring the government to set in
place a regulatory framework to address environmental
impacts:
◆ At the same time, trade liberalization also
encouraged transfer of more environmentally
effective management practices and technologies
to deal with the emerging environmental impacts;
◆ Improved environmental regulation, management
and technologies are allowing, and in future
will continue to allow, reduction of the negative
environmental effects of mining activities per unit
of production, thereby offsetting at least part of
the effects of growth;
◆ Although the information available makes an
overall environmental balance difficult, the
increase in production and trade of mining products
is responsible for the following negative
impacts and concerns: waste disposal (especially
solid waste), social and economic sustainability of
mining communities, water scarcity, site abandonment;
environmental progress, on the other
hand, has been achieved with respect to air and
water quality; and,
◆ Ultimately, because the mining sector is based
on a non-renewable resource, its activities will be
greatly reduced and then cease; abandonment of
mining sites may leave a legacy of residual environmental
problems.
This step-by-step review of the findings of the
study shows clearly that trade liberalization has
indeed had an important and negative environmental
impact, but that countervailing forces –
also directly linked to the liberalization process –
are contributing to their mitigation.
Managing the environmental effects
of trade
Experience in Chile shows that, to date, the most
effective way of addressing the environmental
impacts of mining activities has been through regulation
and improved technology. Although both
factors are operating reasonably well, there is room
for further improvement and for specific actions
to support and extend the beneficial influences.
It is therefore suggested that additional measures
be undertaken, principally by the government,
although the private sector can also make a
significant contribution to their implementation.
Only the main categories of activities that should
be addressed will be suggested here.
Environmental policy framework: It would be
desirable to develop an explicit policy framework
to deal with environmental issues, that would give
purpose and direction to the various initiatives
and provisions that currently exist. Among the
main elements that should be considered is the
introduction of a long-term perspective to development
policy and the integration of economic,
social and environmental elements within it. This
framework should inform government activities,
including legally binding agreements connected
to trade – for example, when negotiating the proposed
accession of Chile to NAFTA.
Environmental planning and management:
Going beyond the current approach to environmental
protection that focuses principally on
point intervention and regulation, the introduction
of a broad system of regional planning and
management, covering entire ecosystems or river
basins, would allow to deal with the interactions
between different environmental pressures and
the competing demands of economic sectors more
effectively. This approach would also make systematic
collection of data on the environment and
monitoring changes over time feasible.
Environmental regulatory framework: It is desirable
to rationalize both the regulatory system as
well as the associated institutional structures. As
part of this move, a comprehensive set of norms
and standards for environmental quality should
be developed, including not only the present
thresholds on pollutants, but also indicators of
ecosystem integrity and status of biota and habitats.
Development and transfer of technology: These
two elements have been shown to be the most
effective means of integrating environmental protection
with economic activity. Setting in place
explicit provisions to encourage this to take place
at a larger scale, both within the mining sector as
well as throughout the economy, would contribute
to enhancing environmental protection.
Specific action programmes: The development of
a strategy to ensure the transition towards a more
sustainable pattern of development in mining
areas should be seen as a priority. This would
entail exploring development of other forms of
economic activity that do not rely solely on nonrenewable
resources. Other supportive actions
could be to undertake studies on how to address
the historically accumulated impacts of mining
and issues of similar strategic importance.
Financing of environmental protection: This
could be secured by the creation of a fund specifically
for this purpose. The mechanisms employed
to build up the fund will depend on many factors,
but possible options include reform of the tax
regime and direct contributions by the mining
sector.
Understanding the implications of
trade liberalization
Having examined the effects on the environment
of trade liberalization, it might be useful to reflect
on the broader implications. Is it possible to
extend the same kind of analysis to the overall
effects of trade liberalization in the mining sector
on Chilean society as a whole? What is the nature
of these effects? Are they, on balance, positive or
negative? It might appear a rhetorical question,
because trade liberalization is undoubtedly beneficial
– but in what circumstances, at what price?
Based on the experience in the mining sector,
we might frame some questions. Trade liberalization
has undeniably influenced the direction and
growth of the Chilean economy. But how has the
overall economy benefited? How much has trade
served to stimulate national internal growth and
employment? How much has it contributed to the
welfare of Chileans? What are the long-term
prospects for the country? What is the long-term
significance of the growing dependence on foreign
investment and foreign ownership of productive
resources?
These points apply to the case of the mining
sector in Chile. But it would seem that there is a
more general mechanism of cause and effect at
work, which applies not only to other economic
sectors, but to the overall economy of Chile, and
of other countries as well.
These questions need to be addressed primarily
as a means of pinpointing weaknesses and identifying
where effects might be negative in the long
term. Only then will it be possible to manage the
process of trade liberalization so that it can truly
benefit the country, and people, rather than the
global economy – that somewhat elusive entity of
ever moving investment and profit that feeds on
itself.
Looking to the Future: Towards an
Improved Policy Framework
Addressing effects of trade
It seems clear that trade liberalization has a series
of effects that need to be examined. It is useful to
understand what the specific effects are – on the
environment, on the economy, on the social fabric
of countries. But these factors also need to be
considered as a system.
To date, the tendency has been to focus on trade
principally from the economic point of view. This
is natural, in that trade is after all an economic
activity. But we know that this economic activity
has far reaching consequences that affect both
social and environmental factors. Thus, the practice
of giving primacy to the economic dimension
of trade, and, in the best of circumstances, dealing
with the other effects in side agreements, no
longer seems desirable.
If we consider the many cases when the economic
dimension of trade has been given primacy
over social considerations (as in the case of the
WTO ruling against the EU’s ban on hormonetreated
beef) or the environment (as in the GATT
ruling on tuna import restrictions), we see that
this approach is ultimately self-defeating.
If we accept that the economy is an instrument
to promote human welfare, not an end in itself,
then this imbalance between the weight accorded
to the different dimensions of trade needs to be
redressed.
Moving towards policy integration
It is becoming increasingly recognized that it is
necessary to integrate the various dimension of
development – including trade. Efforts towards
greater policy integration are already under way,
but need to be extended and applied more vigorously.
A deterrent to progress in this endeavor is the
complexity of integrating the disparate elements
in a world that is organized along sectoral lines.
All levels of human endeavor, and all stages of
decision-making are sectoral. The current
approach is to try and achieve integration at the
level of action by trying to reach a balance among
48 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
competing interests and needs, all of which are
legitimate within their own bounds. Often, none
is served adequately, or the strongest sector has
primacy. This is what is happening at present,
where economic factors are acquiring an ever
growing influence over all other aspects of society.
A way to address this dilemma may be to integrate
the various interests and needs at the initial
stage of policy formulation – that is, where goals
are defined. At this level, goals should refer to the
overall goals of society – not to the narrow, purely
sectoral ones. The problem is that these very
broad goals are seldom defined explicitly – they
constitute the unspoken direction of society. But
because they are not explicit, because they are not
defined in a stringent manner, they are often overlooked,
and indeed, society inadvertently moves
counter to them.
Recognizing this problem, it would seem possible
to state these broad goals explicitly, and from
there to devise a broad strategy – the focus of the
actions of society. From there, it is possible to devise
an integrated policy framework that gives a balanced
direction to sectoral policies. It is not the
place here to describe all the intricate steps towards
putting such a framework in place. Indeed, there is
abundant advice as to how this must be done. Just
to name one instance, Agenda 21, the internationally
recognized strategy for sustainable development,
outlines such a framework, most notably
when describing the means to integrate environment
and development in decision-making.
This framework should also inform trade policy,
and steps need to be taken to ensure, on a global
level, that trade agreements are truly balanced
and not favoring one need against another. The
steps towards this are perhaps complex, but certainly
clear. What is lacking, is the collective will
to reach balance. Recognizing this is the first step
to achieving this balance.
Notes
(adapted from 1999 UNEP report. For more
information, please contact: Hussein Abaza,
Chief, Economics and Trade Unit, DTIE, UNEP,
15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Chatelaine,
Geneva. Email: hussein.abaza@unep.ch)
◆
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Small-scale and artisinal mining
Children involved in small-scale mining: Africa.
Worldwide, extensive small-scale mining,
sometimes called artisinal mining
represents the livlihood of some
11 to 13 million people in 55 countries in
1999. This is a significant increase from the 6.0
million estimated in 1993. Of these, some 250
million are children between the ages of 5 and
14, half of them full time and tens of millions of
them in exploitive and harmful conditions
The term small-scale mining covers both
operations involving individual miners or families
and larger mechanized operations although
a precise definition in unavailable. Few smallscale
miners have any formal mining skills
although many unfortunately have a lot of
experience. They are generally not organized
although both training and organization into
small groups is occurring in places (see the story
on small scale miners video project in South
Africa). In addition, there are positive interactions
between small-scale and large mines taking
place in countries like : Bolivia; Namibia;
Zimbabwe; Ghana and Venezuela
With this global workforce of 11-13 million,
the International Labour Organization estimates
that, bearing in mind extended families
in many countries and a small multiplier effect,
this number could approximate 80-100 million,
about the same number of workers who depend
on large-scale mining. Small-scale mining is precarious
both to the environment and to the
health, safety and hygiene of the workers.
Gold is the main substance extracted. Gold
and gemstones worth $1 billion per year are
estimated to be produced from sub-Saharan
Africa. In China, gold production from smallscale
mining is worth about $200 million; in
Bolivia and Brazil about $180 million; $140
million in Indonesia; and, about $250 million
in Peru. In countries where sales are not transparent
and smuggling is rife, benefits are lost to
the government and, in most cases, the commodities
pass through several hands at discounted
prices before reaching the formal
market. This means that the artisinal miners
generally receive less than half the value of their
production.
Environmental Impacts
The environmental impacts of small scale mining
in-clude the destruction of vegetation, hydrological
disruption, noise and air pollution and
severe contamination of surface and underground
waters
Pressure on the environment as well as on
worker health is particularly great with respect
to gold mining because of the use of mercury.
A June 2000 mercury spill in a community near
the operations of the Yanacocha Mining Company,
Peru resulted in some 200-300 people
being hospitalized because they did not understand
that mercury is toxic. Mining is often carried
out in an archaic fashion with no concern
being shown for the areas invaded or for their
rehabilitation once they are mined out. This
leads to the destruction of ecosystems. Furthermore,
the types of mining most often used
(hydralic and placer mining, river dredging,
gold panning), combined with uncontrolled
use of mercury in the amalgamation process
causes problems which extend much further
than an immediate area.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 49

Mining
Small-scale mining legislation and
regulatory frameworks
Edmund Bugnosen, 73 Devonshire Rd, London E17 8QH, U.K.
John Twigg, Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre, Department of Geological Sciences, University of College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
Andrew Scott, Intermediate Technology, Bourton Hall, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire CV23 9QZ, U.K.
Abstract
Although a growing number of Third World countries are introducing laws and regulations for
their respective small-scale mining sectors, these have not necessarily helped to promote the
sector’s growth, nor to solve some of the social and environmental problems associated with
it. These are some of the main findings of a study carried out by the non-government organization
Intermediate Technology, with funding from the British Government’s Department for
International Development. It is a pilot study on small-scale mining legislations, and is
designed to provide governments and aid agencies with guidance on sustainable policy and
regulatory mechanisms.
Résumé
Bien qu'un nombre croissant de pays du Tiers monde mettent en place des lois et règlements
régissant les activités minières à petite échelle de leur pays, l'essor de ce secteur n'en a pas forcément
été favorisé, pas plus que la résolution de certains des problèmes sociaux et environnementaux
qui y sont associés. Telles sont les principales conclusions d’une étude effectuée par
l’ONG Intermediate Technology grâce à des aides financières du ministère britannique du
Développement international. Il s’agit d’une étude pilote des législations relatives à l’exploitation
minière à petite échelle, destinée à fournir aux gouvernements et aux agences d’aide des
conseils sur les politiques de développement durable et les mécanismes de réglementation.
Resumen
Si bien una cantidad creciente de países del Tercer Mundo está introduciendo leyes y
reglamentaciones para sus respectivos sectores mineros de pequeña escala, éstas no han ayudado
necesariamente a promover el crecimiento del sector ni a resolver algunos de los problemas
sociales y ambientales asociados. Estos son algunos de los hallazgos de un estudio
realizado por una organización no gubernamental denominada International Development.
Es un estudio piloto sobre la legislación minera en pequeña escala, diseñado para proveer la los
gobiernos y a las empresas de ayuda las políticas sustentables y mecanismos regulatorios.
hazardous working conditions with a disregard for
health, safety and environmental protection.
A number of international expert meetings in
recent years have concluded that the introduction
of appropriate laws and policies could enhance
small-scale mining’s positive contributions and
reduce its negative impact. These recommendations
have begun to influence the development of
new policies and laws or the modification of older
ones. As yet, though, there has been little analysis
or synthesis of the different legal and regulatory
frameworks, their effectiveness and constraints on
their design and implementation.
With funding from the Department for International
Development’s ESCOR scheme for economic
and social research, Intermediate
Technology’s Mining Programme has carried out
a preliminary research study to fill some of these
gaps in knowledge and understanding.
Project aims and objectives
The project addressed three main questions.
First, what are the constraints facing governments
in developing their policies for small-scale mining,
and how have they addressed these? Second,
what impact have different policies (and their
implementation) had on national and local
economies, job creation and income generation
among miners, their communities and the envi-
Introduction
Small-scale mining makes a substantial contribution
to the economic and social development of
the Third World. It provides a livelihood to at
least six million men and women worldwide,
often complementing agriculture and other seasonal
trades as well as offering a ‘safety net’ to people
made unemployed by economic contraction
or retrenchment and to subsistence farmers affected
by drought. It further provides mineral products
for export (including high-value minerals
such as gold and gemstones) and raw materials for
local use by other industries, particularly in construction
and agriculture.
However, in many countries the small-scale
mining sector is cut off from the mainstream of
economic and industrial development. A great
deal of small-scale mining activity is unregulated
and in effect illegal, leading to the growth of
black-market trading in minerals. Moreover, most
small-scale operations are developed haphazardly,
and are poorly equipped and under-resourced.
This results in wasteful productive practices and
Brazil: small-scale miners
50 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
ronment? Third, what lessons can be learnt from
past and current policies and regulations, and
what general conclusions can be drawn?
The research findings were intended to provide
practical benefits in a number of different ways.
They will help in facilitating the development of
more appropriate and effective policies, that is
policies that increase the social and economic benefits
of small-scale mining as well as ameliorating
its damaging environmental and social impacts.
The findings can also reduce the cost of developing
such policies by preventing duplication of
inappropriate approaches. Finally, improving the
understanding of key issues among governments,
donor agencies and development organizations,
and contributing towards setting basic policy standards
are important tasks. Also here this research
can provide a valuable contribution.
The research analysis was based on laws and
regulations for small-scale mining collected from
18 countries 1 . Eleven of these were in Africa, four
in Asia and three in South America. The research
report consists of the findings from this analysis,
supplemented by individual case studies of six
countries; Tanzania, Uganda, Philippines, Papua
New Guinea, Ethiopia and Guinea. This following
is a short summary of the main findings of the
April 1998 report.
Main features of the legislation
Experts have never been able to reach a generally
agreed definition of ‘small-scale’ mining and in
practice many different definitions are used. The
legislation reflects this variety and uncertainty but
there are some common features:
1.stakeholders are usually nationals of the country
concerned;
2.the use of sophisticated equipment is restricted;
and
3. there are limits set on the mine’s outputs and
capital investment.
For purposes of this report, ‘small-scale’ was
understood in its broadest sense: the ‘bottom end’
of the mineral industry sector, undertaken either
as a means of livelihood or as a business enterprise
and including both formal and informal operations,
as well as artisanal mining.
The laws studied, which were enacted over a
number of years, exhibit a great variety of forms
and approaches, of which the most important
ones are outlined below. 2
Regulating the development of smallscale
mining
Most of the legislation examined is designed to
assist nationals of that country, and in some countries
these receive preferential access to certain
areas. Nearly all the legislation recognizes the difference
between extraction of minerals for commercial
purposes and personal use: landowners,
for example, usually enjoy free access on their own
land to minerals used for building or as fertilizers.
However, there are conflicting policies where
small-scale mines are transformed into larger or
more formal operations. Some countries (for
instance, Zambia) require holders of small-scale
mining licenses to take out a different license at
this point but others attempt to stop artisanal
African children working as artisinal miners
mining when it reaches a stage where it requires
more advanced technologies. Elsewhere, areas
originally designated for small-scale mining may
be declassified and opened up to allow large-scale
mining companies in.
Most countries attempt to limit the technological
development of small-scale operations through
restrictions on the depth of workings and the use of
explosives or certain types of equipment.
Rationale
The stated reasons for enacting legislation are
diverse and wide-ranging. They include a desire
to stop the negative effects of mining such as black
market trading and environmental damage and
more positive influences such as the wish to create
jobs and generate foreign exchange earnings.
Tanzania: Crushing gold ore using vehicle half-shafts as pestles and wooden mortars near Buckreef,
Lake Victoria region. The siliceous dust produced is carcinogenic.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 51

Mining
Environmental regulation
Six of the countries studied in detail require those
who apply for small-scale mining rights to incorporate
environmental protection plans that must
be approved before a license is granted. Another
four have addressed specific environmental problems
associated with mining through specific
provisions in the legislation itself. Some countries
require bonds to be deposited in case of
environmental damage, while Ghana and the
Philippines levy a tax on small-scale mining output
that is used to rehabilitate areas affected by
the mines.
Health and safety
The Philippines is the only country studied that
has separate safety regulations for small-scale mining,
and this regulation was adopted only in 1997.
Elsewhere, this matter is mostly covered by general
health and safety legislation.
Marketing
There is no common approach to regulating the
marketing of mineral products. Whilst a few
countries have government controlled buying or
licensing of traders, others include permission to
market or export minerals as part of the individual
license or permit to mine.
Penalties and incentives
A variety of penalties are in place for infringements
of the laws. They range from cancellation of licenses
to fines and imprisonment. Incentives are less
common but include tax and royalty exemptions
and government grants for prospecting.
Decentralized regulation
In five countries, local government is involved in
regulation, either by issuing licenses or even managing
the mineral resource itself.
Licensing Systems
Individual countries may have several types of
licensing arrangement. The study identified six
main forms.
◆ Informal. The laws allow mining without the
need for separate applications. Landowners and
indigenous people are the main beneficiaries of
such provisions. Many countries’ arrangements
include some form of this.
◆ Strata. Rights are provided to a certain depth.
Five of the countries issue such licenses but the
permissible depths set vary greatly.
◆Group. This simplified system giving rights over
a specified area to cooperatives or other associations
is used in the Philippines and for alluvial
(riverbed) gold mining in Zimbabwe.
◆By type or name of mineral. This is the most common
kind of license, especially for gold, diamonds
and gemstones.
◆ Staggered and single. Most countries issue single
licenses to cover exploration, development, extraction,
processing and marketing. This is a simple
process and is the most appropriate for small-scale
mining. However, three countries issue separate
licenses for each stage in a process (known as staggered
licenses), a procedure that is normally
Miners hoisting ore near Toma, northeastern Burkina Faso:
There are few safety precautions with such operations.
adopted only for large-scale mining.
◆ National systems. In every case except one, there
is a single licensing system for the whole country,
although this can be managed at local level. The
exception is Brazil, where individual states can
issue their own regulations and licensing procedures.
In addition, there are three other key features of
mining licenses;
◆ Duration. Most countries provide only shortterm
licenses, for one to two years. Zambia and
Ethiopia are the most notable exceptions, offering
10-year licenses.
◆Area. Most countries provide licenses for an area
of 20 hectares or less; the area may vary according
to the type of mineral being mined and the legal
personality of the applicant.
◆Transfers of ownership. Small-scale mining licenses
are normally treated as transferable assets.
Impact of Regulations
There is very little information on the impact of
legislation. The accounts that are available are
inconclusive. In Ghana, it does appear that a combination
of new legislation (in 1986) and the subsequent
establishment of systematic support to
the sector did boost exports of some precious minerals
and may have created several thousand jobs.
In Brazil and Zimbabwe, however, it has been
claimed that recent legislation has not led to significant
improvements in the social and environmental
consequences of small-scale gold mining.
Difficulties in Legislating
The main problems in legislating for small-scale
mining operations occur in situations where large
companies already hold permits to prospect in the
areas concerned, or where permits for large-scale
mining are granted in places where small-scale
52 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
miners are already at work. Where governments
have addressed the problems, it has generally been
by encouraging the large companies to allow
small-scale miners to work parts of the claim. In
many countries it is mandatory for holders of large
mining concessions to gradually reduce the size of
their concessions as explorations progress: small
deposits of no interest to the license holders then
revert back to the government which can make
them available to small-scale miners.
There appear to exist conflicting provisions in
some countries’ mining laws. The research indicates
that external assistance is still needed to
strengthen local capacities in drafting such legislation.
South America: entire families are involved in small-scale mining
Concluding Remarks
Five main conclusions may be drawn from the
study:
◆All of the 18 countries investigated in detail recognize
the importance of the small-scale mining
sector and the need for an appropriate regulatory
framework.
◆ Most of the major issues to do with small-scale
mining – including illegal trading, health and
safety, environmental degradation, and taxation;
but not labour matters – are addressed by the legislation.
However, more research is needed to
determine how effective such measures have been.
◆The current trend in policy making is to encourage
integration into the formal mining industry.
In general, though, promotion of the mining sector
in developing countries remains biased
towards large-scale mining, with the aim of
attracting foreign investment.
◆ Large proportions of small-scale miners continue
to operate outside the regulatory framework.
This suggests that they do not see advantages from
the legislation, or that legal and regulatory provisions
are inappropriate, or that the institutional
capacity to implement such provisions is lacking.
◆ Small-scale mining is generally seen as a national
industry that should remain in the hands of
nationals of the country concerned. However, the
principal motive of some countries in legislating
for the sector is to regulate or control rather than
encourage it. This is reflected in restrictions on the
use of explosives and machinery, the short duration
of licenses and the limited depth allowed for
underground workings, as well as in the lack of
secure tenure for small-scale miners. Such provisions
constrain technological and operational
improvements, and discourage planning, enterprise
and protection of the environment.
The project has succeeded in its aim of making
a preliminary assessment of the subject but more
research will be needed before ‘good practice’ recommendations
for small-scale mining legislation
can be developed. This research should include
field observation and data gathering in-country
(to compensate for the paucity of documentary
evidence) and should incorporate the following
aspects in particular;
◆ Countries in Latin America, Francophone
Africa and North Africa and the Middle East.
◆ Understanding of the links between small-scale
mining legislation and other laws (for instance,
those on environmental protection).
◆ The institutional and administrative capacities
of government agencies required to implement
legislation.
◆ The effectiveness and respective advantages of
different licensing systems that have already been
adopted (including those in North America).
◆ The influence of different stakeholders on the
development of legislation.
◆ Regulatory frameworks’ effects on particular
groups of miners (including particularly gender
differences).
Notes
1 Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Ethiopia, Indonesia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Laos, Mozambique,
Malawi, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
2 There is very little information on the historical
development of policy although the documents
do indicate a growing consensus on the need to
legalize and formalize small-scale mining.
To obtain a copy of the full report (35 pp.), please
contact Edmund Bugnosen at 73 Devonshire
Road, London E17 8QH, U.K.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 53

Mining
Financial provisioning for mine closure:
developing a policy and regulatory
framework in the transition economies
Mehrdad M. Nazari, Principal Environmental Specialist, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, One Exchange Square,
London EC2A 2JN, U.K
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to describe the rationale for implementing a programme to secure
mine closure funding in transition economies during the operational and profitable phase of
mining projects and to reduce the expectation or reliance on governments and donors to
address this issue. The need for a technical assistance programme to be provided to participating
countries to assist them in developing the relevant policy and regulatory framework is
also outlined.
Résumé
Dans de nombreuses économies en transition où l’activité minière joue un rôle important,
l’absence de dispositions spéciales pour la fermeture des mines, généralement pour des questions
de contraintes financières, a été et continue d’être à l’origine d’effets pervers majeurs sur
l’environnement, la santé et la sécurité. Beaucoup de ces économies en transition n’ont pas
encore élaboré de système évolué de gestion des entreprises, de cadre réglementaire ou de
marchés de la finance et de l’assurance pour s’attaquer au problème de la fermeture des mines
et à son financement. Cela se traduit par (1) des retards dans le développement de projets et
les investissements dans ce secteur, (2) une répartition et une externalisation potentiellement
inéquitable des coûts de fermeture des mines, (3) des solutions au coup par coup onéreuses en
termes de temps et d’argent et (4) une différenciation, voire le sentiment de “pénaliser” les
investisseurs qui sollicitent des aides financières ou une assurance contre les risques politiques
auprès des organismes financiers internationaux.
Il faudrait lancer un programme axé sur l’élaboration d’une politique et d’un cadre réglementaire
pour financer les activités liées à la remise en état et à la fermeture des mines. Une politique
et un cadre réglementaire efficaces permettraient en effet de réduire la dépendance
financière, volontaire ou forcée, à l’égard des gouvernements et des donateurs, et de “sauver”
les régions les plus gravement touchées par les impacts à long terme de l’exploitation minière.
Resumen
En muchas Economías de Transición (EdT), donde la actividad minera es significativa, la falta
de implementación de actividades de cierre de sitios mineros, generalemente debido a restricciones
financieras, ha generado y continúa generando importantes impactos negativos sobre
el medio ambiente y la salud. Muchos de estas EdT todavía deben desarollar gobiernos corporativos
sofisticados, marcos regulatorios o mercados financieros y companías aseguradoras
que contemplen el cierre de sitios mineros y aseguren su financiación. Esto lleva a i)
demoras en el desarrollo de proyectos e inversiones en este sector, ii) potencial distribución no
equitativa y externalización de costos de cierre, iii) soluciones particulares para cada caso, costosas
y tiempo demandantes, y iv) a diferenciar, y probablemente crear la impresión de
“penalizar” a los inversores que intenten asegurar riesgos financieros o políticos por medio de
organismos internacionales de financiación.
Es necesario iniciar un programa para desarrollar un marco regulatorio y políticas de previsión
financiera para la rehabilitación y cierre de sitios mineros. La implementación de una exitosa
política o marco regulatorio reduciría la expectativa o la necesidad de depender de los gobiernos
y los donantes para la asistencia financiera, “rescatando financieramente” las áreas que
hayan sufrido mayores consecuencias por impactos mineros de largo plazo.
Context
In many Economies in Transition (EiT), where
there are significant mining activities, the lack of
implementation of mine closure activities, normally
due to financial constraints, has resulted and
continues to result in significant adverse environmental
and health and safety impacts. In contrast
to countries that have already implemented ‘good
54 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
international mining practices’, these EiT have yet
to develop a similarly sophisticated corporate governance,
regulatory framework or financial and
insurance markets to address mine closure and
secure its funding. This leads to (i) delays in developing
projects and investments in this sector, (ii)
potentially inequitable distribution and externalization
of closure costs, (iii) costly and time consuming
tailor-made solutions on a case-by-case
basis, and (iv) differentiating – and possibly creating
the impression of ‘penalizing’ – investors
seeking financing or political risk insurance
through International Financial Institutions (typically
requiring consideration of closure related
issues) from investors accessing alternative capital
markets (with more limited requirements relating
to closure funding).
A programme to develop a policy and regulatory
framework for financial provisioning related to
mine rehabilitation and closure should be initiated.
This programme would be able to assist participating
countries in developing the required
policy and regulatory framework to further promote
and implement long-term environmentally
sound and sustainable development in the mining
sector. It would also contribute to reducing the
uncertainties associated with post-operational
practices, and possible related adverse environmental
impacts and costs. It would also facilitate
the introduction of a standardized approach to
this issue, establishing a ‘level playing field with
fixed goal posts’ for regulators, investors, mining
companies, and operators. The implementation
of such a successful policy and regulatory framework
would reduce the expectation and need to
rely on governments and donors for financial
assistance, effectively ‘bailing out’ the most severely
impacted areas suffering from long term mining
impacts.
Background
The mining sector is a very important contributor
to local and national economies, including in
central and eastern Europe (CEE) and the former
Soviet Union (FSU), countries in which the European
Bank for Reconstruction & Development
(EBRD), a multilateral financial institution, operates.
However, in parts of CEE and the FSU, the
mining sector has often been characterized by
planning and operational and post-operational
practices that are inappropriate – including the
lack of an adequate regulatory framework – and
by inadequate implementation of mine rehabilitation
and closure activities. 1
Environmental and financial concerns
Profitable mining projects have a finite life-cycle,
ending when the operation becomes uneconomical
or otherwise undesirable. A conceptualized

Mining
funding life cycle of a mining operation is shown
in Figure 1. Gold mining, for example, may have
a relatively short life-cycle of some 10-20 years.
The geotechnical and geochemical nature of mining
projects may result in a continuation of significant,
long-term, and wide ranging
environmental and health and safety impacts even
after all operations are terminated. The adverse
post-operational impacts associated with gold
mining projects, for example, may typically
include release of acid mine drainage or other liquid
discharges into the environment. This, in
turn, can mobilize sediments, heavy metals and
reagents in nearby surface and groundwater, or
generate dust containing heavy metals. 2 Mining
activities, more generally, can result in a number
of other potentially significant adverse environmental
impacts which are not covered in this article.
Examples include subsidence, impacts on
biodiversity and on the lives of local and indigenous
populations. These impacts can normally be
controlled and mitigated by implementing a mine
rehabilitation and closure programme, which
should typically be outlined and costed as part of
the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and
the feasibility study of the mining project.
The objective of mine closure is to provide
long-term stabilization of the geochemical and
geotechnical conditions of the disturbed mining
areas to protect public health, and minimize and
prevent any additional or on-going environmental
degradation. Mine closure is, typically,
required at a time when the operation is no longer
economically viable, when cashflow is often
severely restricted or negative, and when the value
of assets is below the expenditures required to
achieve the environmental objective of mine closure.
The objective of securing mine closure funding
at an early project development and
implementation stage is to reduce the risk of an
enterprise being either unwilling or unable to
undertake mine closure due to lack of funding.
International practice
In the absence of other regulatory requirements,
accounting provision is preferred by the mining
industry to address mine closure liabilities. This
practice is an accounting transaction which allows
a company to make non-cash provisions for future
mine closure costs. However, this does not result
in any actual cashflow for the purpose of accumulating
closure funds or payment of related expenses.
Unless the company has chosen to set aside
actual funds for closure, when the project
approaches the closure date closure liabilities are
likely to exceed the project’s and the company’s
tangible book values, assuming the typical scenario
of a ring-fenced special purpose mining
company which is operating one mining project.
Any attempts to raise additional funds for closure
at this stage by selling the company’s assets would
be unlikely to raise sufficient funds to meet the
closure requirements. A ‘one-project-company’
may declare bankruptcy at this stage rather than
attempting to raise and invest additional funds for
the terminal stage of the project with no prospect
of a return on such an investment. Declaring
Relative value
Figure 1
A conceptualized funding life cycle of a mining operation
Development cost
Debt service
Time
Profits
Closure
bankruptcy would ‘externalize’ the costs associated
with mine closure and result in the financial
burden being passed on to the authorities. Government
funding may well be inadequate to mitigate
potential long-term environmental and
safety impacts.
‘Good mining industry practices’ in Australia,
Canada, and the USA, for example, are typically
guided by: industry stewardship, i.e. “self-policing”
as a result of good corporate governance;
following company policies and reflecting shareholder,
employee, and NGO pressure; relatively
recent regulatory frameworks; and sophisticated
financial and insurance markets to integrate and
address mine closure activities and their financing.
In these countries, accounting accruals alone
are typically no longer considered adequate to
mitigate the risk of non-performance of mine closure
activities. Instead, companies are required to
secure the necessary funding by providing guarantees
for mine closure funds prior to commencing
construction and operation, and prior to
generating any cashflow from the operation. The
available guarantee options include bonding, corporate
surety and guarantees, letters of credit,
deposits of cash or gold, insurance and other
methods. Key considerations during the selection
process by both industry and regulators include
the costs associated with each option, the creditworthiness,
and the track record of the owner/
operator.
Some environmental pressure groups or nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) consider the
relatively recent developments in the US, 3 – for
example, requiring financial guarantees (rather
than accounting accruals alone) – an invaluable
step towards risk reduction of non-performance
of mine closure. However, these NGOs also point
out that permitting agencies in the US have commonly
underestimated reclamation costs by failing
to account adequately for permit violations
and incidents, off-site pollution, administrative
costs, and inflation. This view is echoed, to some
extent, by industry consultants and mining companies
who believe that a number of issues, such as
the extent and period of aftercare required for
post-operational activities, and the related cost
estimates have often been underestimated in the
past. However, they also believe that these issues
are now much better understood, allowing for
much more reliable definition and costing of the
issues.
The Economies in Transition
In contrast to Australia, Canada and the USA, the
Economies in Transition comprising Central and
Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet
Union (FSU), have yet to develop a similarly
sophisticated corporate governance, regulatory
framework or financial and insurance markets to
address the funding of mine closure. This is further
complicated by
◆ environmental liabilities resulting from ongoing
operations;
◆ involvement of some ‘junior investors’ which
have, unlike many major mining companies, limited
resources to back-up the mining company’s
obligations and, sometimes, exhibit a more limited
appreciation of reputational risks;
◆ the involvement of state-controlled enterprises,
sometimes with very limited access to financial
resources and state-of-the-art know-how;
◆ some agreements explicitly or implicitly allocating
closure related liabilities to the local partner or
government towards the end of the economic life
of the project, by, for example, transferring all
assets;
◆ lack of enforcement of local environmental regulations;
◆ lack of awareness and influence on the part of
the potentially affected public; and
◆ lack of transparency, as contractual arrangements
addressing mine closure activities and related
costs are generally treated as confidential.
Risks which may preclude mine closure
Many international financial institutions and
investors as well as sponsors, borrowers, and regu-
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 55

Mining
latory authorities, seek to implement reasonable
measures in line with good international mining
industry practice, to mitigate the risk of non-performance
of mine closure. A transparent description
of objectives and outline of mine closure
activities, timing and costing, procedures for
securing funding, and updating and approval
mechanisms are deemed to be essential and
should normally be part of the EIA and information
to be disclosed to the interested and potentially
affected public. The specific risks which may
affect mine closure and suggested forms of mitigation
are listed below, in chronological order of
potential events.
◆ Premature termination during construction of
the project for technical or financial reasons can
be mitigated with adequate completion guarantees
which ensure that premature termination and
abandonment will trigger an obligation by the
guarantor to implement, or cause and fund a third
party to implement, a satisfactory closure programme.
◆ Material changes made to closure requirements
and objectives during the mine life can largely be
avoided by agreeing a clear, transparent, up-front,
realistic and approved definition of post-operational
land use, the environmental performance
standards to be met within a specified period of
time, and sign-off procedures to be followed.
◆ Material changes to the project and processes
may have implications with regard to mine closure
requirements and related costs. Mine closure
plans, the related costs implications and financial
guarantees should be subject to a periodic review
process, so that the implication of any material
change can be assessed and addressed. This would
also mitigate the risk of significant over- or undercapitalization
of the closure funds and related
guarantees which should reflect the life of the
mining project based on proven reserve estimates.
◆ The risk of financial failure of the mining company
and organizations involved in the financial
guarantee (holder of cash reserve, trust fund, etc.)
resulting in a failure to provide funding for mine
closure can be mitigated by establishing nonaccounting
provisions monitoring financial performance,
separating the financial structure for
the closure fund from that of the company, allowing
only investments of closure funds in financial
instruments providing ‘assured’ future payment,
and spreading the risk to a combination of financial
vehicles to jointly secure closure funds.
◆ The danger of closure funds being redirected
can be mitigated by using a non-fungible financial
structure and a certification process – involving
a trustee, for example – ensuring appropriate
use of proceeds, to safeguard against closure funds
being used to pay for measures unrelated to the
project, such as additional drilling, or repayment
of loans in a default situation. 4
◆ The government might continue operating an
‘inherited’ project without due consideration
given to profitability and environmental consideration
that would have otherwise required implementation
of mine closure activities. Experience
seems to suggest that funding limitations may ‘discourage’
the government from implementing
mine closure in the absence of availability of funds
earmarked for this propose.
The need for technical assistance
The assistance provided to CEE and the FSU to
facilitate privatization and international investments
in the mining sector has, so far, not specifically
targeted or incorporated issues related to
mine closure and its financing. Now, further
attention needs to be given to measures aimed at
reducing potential long term adverse impacts by
minimizing the risk of ‘externalizing’ mine closure
activities and costs. This ‘externalization’ is a legacy
experienced in many Economies in Transition
resulting in local and regional adverse long term
environmental and health impacts. A sector wide
approach to this issue would capture all future
mining projects, including those not funded by
IFIs, and avoid the need to develop project specific
and costly solutions to secure mine closure
funding on individual operations. A programme
should be developed and implemented to assist
participating countries in developing appropriate
policies and regulatory frameworks for mining
projects and to provide a reliable framework for
regulators, mining companies and operators, and
investors in support of environmentally sustainable
development in the mining sector.
The main objectives of this programme would
be to (a) review the current practices and deficiencies
of the relevant regulatory framework of
selected countries, (b) describe and illustrate ‘good
international practice’ and financial implications,
using selected case studies and jurisdictions, (c)
develop a model policy and regulatory framework
which could provide the basis of country-specific
implementation, (d) provide recommendations
on how this model framework could be adopted
in the context of participating countries, and (e)
define institutional requirements and funding
needs to assist participating government and its
agencies in implementing the recommendations.
The out-put of the programme should also
include recommended solutions for ‘typical
investment scenarios’, with consideration given to
project size as well as to the nature of the operation
and financial strength, track record and other
qualities of sponsors, investors, borrowers, and
operators.
Notes:
1 Closure and decommissioning issues are also relevant
to other sectors, such as nuclear power,
heavy industry, off-shore and on-shore petroleum
production, and landfills and may have a significant
impact on project economics and long term
liabilities.
2 Mining activities, more generally, can result in a
number of other potentially significant adverse
environmental impacts which are not covered in
this article. Examples include subsidence, impacts
on biodiversity and on the lives of local and
indigenous populations.
3 US Bureau of Land Management’s proposed
amendments regarding the Surface Management
Requirements for Mining Claims under the General
Mining Laws (Subpart 3809 – Surface Management).
4 Industry representatives appear reluctant to
accumulate closure funds in country-wide kept
‘Environmental Funds’ or relying solely on government
agencies for either certification of appropriate
use of proceeds or direct utilisation of these
funds.
◆
56 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Social issues
Mining and the social imperative
Nola-Kate Seymoar, President and CEO, The International Centre for Sustainable Cities (ICSC), Suite 901, 1090 West Georgia St.,
Vancouver BC V6E 3V7, Canada
Abstract
Most mining executives are geologists or engineers, male and over 50. They can relate on some
level to environmental scientists or technologists, but they are ill equipped to understand social
scientists, community workers and community activists whose focus is on cultural and relational
issues. Yet, increasingly it is the community groups and social activists that determine
whether or not the company obtains its permits and/or tax and other concessions from national
and local governments. And it is those same community groups, indigenous tribes and
NGOs that can affect a company’s image and stock prices worldwide. Uncomfortable though
it may be, mining executives, government officials, NGOs and community leaders are finding
themselves forced to work together.
Résumé
La plupart des cadres de l’industrie minière sont des géologues ou des ingénieurs de sexe masculin,
âgés de plus de 50 ans. S’ils peuvent s’entendre à un certain niveau avec des chercheurs
ou des techniciens de l’environnement, ils sont par contre mal équipés pour comprendre les
chercheurs en sociologie, les travailleurs sociaux et les militants sociaux, principalement préoccupés
par des questions culturelles et relationnelles. Pourtant, ce sont de plus en plus les
groupes et les militants sociaux qui déterminent si une entreprise obtiendra des autorités
nationales ou locales les autorisations nécessaires et/ou des dégrèvements fiscaux et autres. Et
ce sont ces mêmes groupes, tribus indigènes et ONG qui peuvent remettre en cause l’image de
marque d’une entreprise et avoir un effet sur le prix des actions dans le monde entier. Malgré
toutes les difficultés que cela peut poser, les cadres de l’industrie minière, les représentants des
gouvernements, les ONG et les animateurs de communauté sont bien obligés de travailler
ensemble.
Resumen
La mayoría de los ejecituvos mineros son geologos o ingenieros, de sexo masculino y mayores
de cincuenta años. Están capacitados para relacionarse hasta cierto punto con científicos o
técnicos ambientales, pero no están preparados para comprender a los científicos sociales,
trabajadores comunitarios y activistas comunitarios que se centran en aspectos culturales o
relacionales. Sin embargo, los grupos comunitarios y los activistas sociales son quienes determinan
cada vez más si la compañía obtiene o no sus licencias y/o excenciones impositivas u
otras concesiones por parte de los gobiernos nacionales o locales. Y son esos mismos grupos
comunitarios, tribus indígenas y ONG’s los que pueden modificar la imagen de la empresa y
los precios de las acciones alrededor del mundo. Por incómodo que resulte, los ejecutivos
mineros, funcionarios de gobierno, ONG’s y líderes comunitarios se ven obligados a trabajar
en conjunto.
At ICSC we define sustainable development
as development that enhances the economic,
social and ecological well-being of current
and future generations. John Robinson and
his colleagues at the Sustainable Development
Research Institute (SDRI) refer to it as an integration
of economic, social and ecological imperatives.
When it comes to mining issues, I am more
inclined to SDRI’s definition. What is emerging
in the field is a sense of imperative that goes
beyond a desire to enhance well-being. Companies
cannot afford to invest in a mine unless they
are assured of a secure economic return over many
years, and that in turn is more and more dependent
upon their ability to take environmental
impacts into account. This reality has been part of
the mining scene for the past decade. A review of
annual reports of the progressive and largest mining
companies shows that environmental impact
assessments have become a fact of life and considerable
effort is put into mitigating the negative
impacts of mining activities. Some mining executives
argue that environmental science and technology
has become mainstream in their
companies.
It is often these same executives who see the
emergence of social issues as by far the most difficult
part of the sustainability triangle. They point
with some trepidation to the complexity of relations
with communities, indigenous tribes and
with NGOs at both the local and international
level. Most mining executives are geologists or
engineers, male and over 50. They can relate on
some level to environmental scientists or technologists,
but they are ill equipped to understand
social scientists or community workers whose
focus is on cultural and relational issues (and
whom, they can’t help but notice, are often
women). Nor are they comfortable relating to
community activists whom they perceive as operating
from an emotional base without sufficient
access to the facts. Yet, increasingly it is the community
groups and social activists that determine
whether or not the company obtains its permits
and/or tax and other concessions from national
and local governments. And it is those same community
groups, indigenous tribes and NGOs that
can affect a company’s image and stock prices
worldwide. Uncomfortable though it may be,
mining executives, government officials, NGOs
and community leaders are finding themselves
forced to work together.
A survey conducted by Dr. Allen Clark, of the
East-West Centre in Honolulu, presented in the
World Bank Conference on Mining and the
Community in 1997, identified land access and
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 57

Mining
tenure and social cultural issues as first and second
in order of importance internationally. Clarke
concludes “The rapidly rising importance of social
and cultural issues – such issues were not ranked
in a corporate survey in 1990- and the need to
deal effectively with such issues both domestically
and internationally represents a clear and major
structural change within the mining industry.”
Clarke argues that these issues have come to the
fore for three reasons: the rapidity and shift of
mining expenditures to exploration activities in
developing countries; the trend for mining companies
to assume a broader range of responsibilities
for social and cultural issues previously left to
governments; and related to these two, an emerging
realization that companies need to be more
proactive at all stages of the mining process – from
exploration through to mine closure and reclamation.
So, what are some of the issues here? And within
the sustainability triangle of economic, environmental
and social well-being, what can mining
companies, community groups and public officials
do to address these issues?
1. Economic issues
In assessing the economic return on investments
and risks involved in a mining operation, social
factors are becoming important to the bottom
line. This comes into play at the first stages of
exploration and continues until after closure. Progressive
companies (juniors and majors), are
becoming aware of the need to manage the community’s
expectations from the earliest stages of
contact. If community relations are soured at the
beginning, or if the community’s expectations are
unrealistic, later stages of development and negotiations
will be difficult, protracted and costly.
In a market economy a company or sector can
lose its share of the market as the result of a consumer
boycott or bad reports in the media. This
may be the result of only one incident in the operation
of only one mine, yet when shareholder confidence
is affected, the value of the company’s
stock drops. Similarly, one or two bad actors or a
consumer revolt can affect the whole sector, such
as the case with asbestos, and as threatened with
copper. Consumer reactions are based on fear not
facts. When consumers believe that there is a
health issue involved they react by avoidance, not
by checking the scientific basis of allegations.
Anti-mining advocates appeal to consumers and
affect their behavior on the basis of health, environmental,
and human rights or social justice
issues.
Another social aspect of the economic imperative
is the question of equity – who benefits? This
goes well beyond the traditional return on investment
to shareholders and how it may be affected
by markets and commodity prices. As the result of
local and international pressure, most mining
activity now leads to an increase in wage employment
among those traditionally located in the
mining territory. It changes the dynamics of communities
from a subsistence economy to a cash
economy – a change that has profound implications
for traditional cultures. Increasingly communities
are questioning the overall distribution
of economic benefits and are no longer willing to
accept “a few paltry jobs for the locals” in return
for giving up what they perceive to be their patrimony.
A related issue is the disruption of artisanal
mining activity. From an environmental and
occupational health perspective, small-scale mining
is frequently problematic. To dislodge artisanal
miners is often deemed necessary by the
company gaining the mining concession. Placer
Dome in Las Cristinas in Venezuela has worked
out an arrangement with the local small scale miners
that demonstrates the possibilities of a positive
gain for both sides. According to Professor Jeffrey
Davidson’s presentation at the same World Bank
Conference mentioned earlier, a community
focused participatory ‘Assessment Process’ was
used to consider and develop a collaborative small
scale mining project that essentially involved:
training and capacity building; accumulation of
economic benefits on the part of the participating
miners; and good relations based on participatory
organizational structures between the company
and the Association of Miners. Among the ingredients
of success, Davidson includes “the use of
specific tools and mechanisms to promote a participatory
process from the outset: base-line socioeconomic
and other surveys, key informants,
group meetings (small and large), newsletter, photographs
and videos.”
At a national level, mining activity increases the
GNP of the country in which the activity is located
and contributes to a positive foreign exchange
balance. The question from a social standpoint is
not whether the mining results in increased
income – but rather to whom does the money go?
Critics point out the frequency of corruption and
bribery of public officials (politicians and administrators)
involved in obtaining licenses and permits.
The gain to the national economy through
taxes is real but is usually deposited in general revenues.
It does not necessarily go back to the traditional
residents of the land – who perceive the
land as “theirs” and resent the gains going to those
in far off urban capitals. Critics and activists point
to a change in focus from livelihoods – with a
shared sense of household and community
responsibility for the basics of life – to a focus on
the individual, money and consumer goods. To
some, the benefits of mining far outweigh the
negative outcomes of development, for others it is
the opposite. In some remote communities men
become migrant workers (flying in and out for
periods of time). While this has less impact on the
environment it disrupts family and community
life. In other situations women are paid directly
and in some cultures this undermines the tradition
role of the males. Regardless of one’s point of
view, there is no denying that the influx of a new
mining activity – especially if on a large commercial
scale, has a major economic impact and related
to that – has a significant social impact.
2. Environmental issues
Elsewhere in this issue others provide a cogent discussion
about the environmental issues associated
with mining. The social and cultural side of
these environmental issues is hard to ignore. For
most of us, the climate and the natural environment
within which we are raised has a profound
and a deep subconscious effect on our well-being.
It is not just indigenous tribes who share an affinity
with mother nature – each of us retains a certain
awe in the face of majestic beauty, of
mountains, forests and grasslands. Mines are typically
situated in remote and splendid scenic areas.
The activity of mining almost inevitably involves
altering that landscape and disturbing the flora
and fauna. While it is also true that most eco-systems
are more robust and resilient than one might
expect, there is a point in each eco-system, where
too much change can upset the ability of the ecosystem
to regenerate and adapt. The problem is
not so much a scientific one – of assessing and
mitigating or managing the risks – but also a social
one of assessing, managing and mediating the perceptions
of those risks. When scientists from the
Smithsonion said that the Camisea area in Peru
was able to accommodate much of the activity
proposed by Shell Peru in their bid for a pipeline,
international NGOs were dismayed and many
opposed the development anyway. When scientist
say that clear cutting is an appropriate way to
log some forests in some ecozones, many environmentalist
simply deny the data. It is never possible
to predict the environmental impacts with certainty.
Hence progressive companies and governments
adopt the precautionary principle. But even
so, they are faced with the problem of perceptions
and of cultural impacts, not so easily handled. It is
essential that companies complete environmental
impact assessments to the same standard as they
would in their own country whether or not this is
a requirement of the developing country in which
they wish to operate. To do less is to invite attack
by critics in the developed country that is home
to the company. As well a sound Environmental
Management System is also expected of international
mining companies these days.
3. Social Issues
The major social issues related to mining activity
have to do with cultural diversity and with decision-making
processes. Mining activity affects
health, culture and traditional roles within local
communities and the power relationship between
the local community and the national government.
The progressive companies offer training to
locals and frequently negotiate a variation of an
affirmative action programme to ensure that community
residents are used for as much of the
labour in the mining activity as is considered possible.
In addition to jobs and training, mining
companies frequently build schools and hospitals
or health facilities for workers and their families.
They can point to significant economic and social
benefits from their activity yet critics point out the
unintentional consequences of contact with the
exogenous mining personnel and a foreign culture:
the influx of diseases against which indigenous
groups do not have natural immunity
(sexually transmitted diseases being only a minor
component of the problem); the devaluing of
58 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
indigenous traditions and cultures; and increased
interaction with the global community; There is
no monetary value one can place upon respect for
ones elders and a belief that their burial place is
sacred. So how can it be negotiated in monetary
terms? Often what emerges in truly remote areas is
the meeting of a culture based on money and a
culture based on nature. When indigenous peoples
in Canada’s north were asked to rank five core
values their priorities were in sharp contrast to
those of their white neighbours. To indigenous
people the most important value was the Creator,
followed by the natural world, the community,
the family and then the individual, in that order.
To white southerners, the hierarchy of values was
the reverse, with the individual as the most important,
the family, the community, the natural world
and then God. When two such different world
views come into contact it is very difficult to
bridge the gap in understanding.
At the Prospectors and Developers Association
of Canada’s short course on Community Relations
in Developing Countries in 1998, Ian
Thompson spoke of another kind of cultural differences:
the difference in cultures between the
junior companies – exploring in secrecy and talking
up eventual finds so as to sell their stake or
gain investors – and the community’s need for
openness so as to have realistic expectations about
what gains they will receive from mining activity.
This is another gap in communication that needs
to be bridged.
What can those of us do who wish to affect
mining policies and practices do to ensure that it
contributes to the sustainability of livelihoods and
communities?
First, if one agrees that the public perception of
mining is important to obtaining and maintaining
the company’s right to operate, then the company
must gain the trust of the community and
the public. This can only be done by acting in a
socially responsible manner. People trust those
who do what they say they will do. That means
addressing health, environment and social justice
issues directly and immediately, from point of first
contact to long after closure. If a company does it
right often enough it is likely that this will be
noticed. Where there is a track record of good
practice and openness, even ardent critics are hard
pressed to gain support for their campaigns. Don’t
just talk about it, do it and talk about it. Most
importantly, keep printed or video documentation
in a moderate and informative style. Slick
glossy public-relations sales pieces simply reinforce
distrust and the community’s perception
that the mining company is rolling in money, and
that in turn leads to inflated expectations.
Perhaps the best example of which I am aware
where a resource company involved the community,
the indigenous people, the local and national
government, scientists and the national and
international NGO community in a transparent
process was the case of Shell Peru in the Camisea
Project. Forced to learn from the negative experience
of its sister company in Nigeria, the Shell
company in Peru invested itself in a time consuming
and expensive process to share decision
making, ensure that minimal disruption to the
environment occurred and that those affected by
the development would gain from it. It is sad and
ironic that those efforts were ultimately not
rewarded and the deal was not consummated.
Nonetheless, Shell deserves credit for changing
much of its corporate behavior at least in Latin
America, after the criticism of their practices in
Nigeria.
As well as community and public support, a
mining company needs political support from the
local and national governments. In many countries
bribery is an expected way of doing business.
Unfortunately, bribery and corruption are not
compatible with long term sustainable development
nor with public perceptions and the international
status of countries or companies in the
developed world. The three most effective strategies
of which I am aware to prevent corruption
are: to support the rule of law and good governance
in the country; to offer the whole community
an equity position in the mining operation;
and to use transparent multi-stakeholder processes
to discuss and make decisions and disseminate
results. When mining companies bring in their
own para military presence they change the
dynamic from one of cooperation for mutual benefit
to one of intimidation. When the community
as shareholder shares the benefits of economic
efficiency, it generally does not tolerate expenditures
on bribes to individuals. The perceived betterment
to the community as a whole reflects
positively on the politicians involved, even when it
does not add to their private finances. Finally,
open roundtable processes involving key stakeholders
or their representatives makes clear the
benefits of honesty and the costs of bribery. In one
developing country in Asia for example, it was
open dialogue about the costs of dust controls
with scientists in a round table on occupational
health, that led industry leaders to realize that they
were paying more in bribes to officials than it
would cost to just install the equipment.
Summary and Conclusions
For mining activity to contribute to sustainable
livelihoods and communities requires changes to
policies and practices. Economic issues are related
to the sharing of gains from the mines in a
more equitable manner and the broader sharing
of decision making with those affected. One of the
best examples of a successful partnership arrangement
between indigenous peoples and a company
is Comico’s Red Dog Mine, in Alaska.
Companies tread a fine line between the need
to relate and contribute directly to the local community
and the difficulty of becoming a substitute
for local or national government. The
establishment of a Foundation or Trust is a useful
mechanism to share the benefits over the long run.
If properly structured, it may also allow an armslength
decision-making process to occur that
empowers the community without detracting
from the role of government.
Mitigating health and environmental damage
is essential to any company that expects to operate
over a period of time in a developing country. Protecting
the ecosystem and the culture of the area is
often served by a fly-in fly-out option, as is
becoming increasingly common in remote areas.
Because so much of the relationship between a
company and the community is based on an
unequal power relationship, capacity building to
increase the local community’s negotiating skills
and – for both the community and the company
– to improve conflict resolution mechanisms is a
good investment on the part of the companies, the
governments and international financial institutions
and aid agencies. Disputes are healthy and
inevitable in the development game. To prevent
their becoming armed conflicts or violent is essential.
It is surprising that so few development projects
involve skill training in negotiations and
conflict resolution.
Finally, the essence of sustainability involves a
rather simple and profound respect – in UNEP’s
terms – “for life on earth”. Respect involves
accepting imperatives – whether that is the economic
imperative to raise the standard of living
and quality of life for the poor, and respect for economic
diversity; or the environmental imperative
to maintain our life support systems of water, air,
soil, shelter and energy, and respect bio-diversity;
or the social imperative to maintain harmonious
human relationships and respect cultural diversity.
The challenge is for mining to contribute positively
to these three imperatives.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 59

Mining
The dialogue between environmental
and community groups and the mining
industry in South Africa
Julie Courtnage, SHE Policy Unit, Anglo American plc, Johannesburg, South Africa
John Kilani and Andrew Parsons, Chamber of Mines of South Africa, Johannesburg, SA
Doctor Mthethwa, Group for Environmental Monitoring, Johannesburg, South Africa
As in most countries, the average South
African understands mining to be “dirty,
dark and dangerous”. However, the average
South African is also aware that mining contributes
a huge amount to the national economy.
Thus many people have a love-hate relationship
with mining. They tend to see it as a necessary evil.
As the epitome of big business, the mining industry
has not been known for listening to stakeholders.
Thus it comes as a surprise to most South
Africans to hear that there is a well-established dialogue
between environmental non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), community- based organisations
(CBOs) and the mining industry.
How it all began
Following the democratisation of South Africa in
the 1980s, civil society has had the opportunity to
influence public policy as never before. In fact,
participation in policy development and lawmaking
has become an entrenched way of life.
Environmental legislation has not been left out of
this process, and one of the most significant acts to
emerge has been the National Environmental
Management Act, promulgated in 1998, and
enacted early in 1999.
In the process of developing this act, stakeholders
had the opportunity in mid-1998 to make representations
to the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on the Environment and to present
their views on the draft act. Business and industry,
including the Chamber of Mines, and several
NGOs, including the Environmental Monitoring
Group (EMG), made presentations at the same
hearings. The representatives of both groups
realised that, remarkably, their presentations
hinged on the same concept, namely sustainable
development. There also appeared to be a significant
degree of commonality in the approaches
presented. In discussing this after the hearings, the
Chamber and EMG agreed to explore this common
ground, and perhaps to begin to address
some of the differences between the mining industry
and NGOs and CBOs.
NGOs, CBOs and industry representatives held
informal meetings to get to know one another better
and to identify areas of common interest. An
agreement was reached to work together on:
◆ development of guidelines on public participation
for the mining industry;
◆ identification and development of conflict resolution
mechanisms; and
◆ discussions on aspects of sustainable development.
Outcomes of the dialogue
While the meeting of minds that occurred in the
parliamentary corridors was an achievement in
itself, the ongoing dialogue has since resulted in
the forms of two workshops, a dialogue on the Far
West Rand goldfields and a website.
First exploratory workshop
It was agreed that the dialogue that was developing
was too important to limit to a few individuals
in the different groups. Thus a jointly hosted
workshop was arranged in February 1999 as a first
step in opening up the debate and in broadening
the contact between the different parties.
The workshop was attended by approximately
forty mining industry representatives and twenty
NGO and CBO representatives. The first part
was devoted to discussions on public participation.
The mining industry highlighted the fears
and problems it faces when dealing with the public,
while the NGO/CBO sector presented its
vision of the process which had been initiated. A
discussion on sustainable development generated
much debate. Though participants agreed to differ
at this early stage, it was acknowledged that, as
a balance was being sought between social equity,
ecological integrity and economic development,
trade-offs between the three would be inevitable.
The most immediate outcome of the workshop
was the initiation of contact between at least two
mining operations and relevant CBOs. Smaller
dialogue groups were set up in order to address
problems at these operations. Less tangible, but
very important and encouraging was the realisation
by all involved of the “reasonableness” of the
representatives of the other sectors. In order to
continue the dialogue, a task team comprising
representatives from each sector was constituted.
Certain common problems were identified,
including:
◆ The mutual lack of understanding of the terms
of reference of the other groups;
◆ The difficulty experienced by mines in identifying
genuine community representatives;
◆ CBOs said that they often do not fully understand
the implications that a mine will have on
their lives.
This workshop was the first time participants
from both groups interacted in a non-confrontational
situation and the organisers were pleased
with the results. Participants concluded that,
although high hopes were pinned on the dialogue,
there was no fixed vision of the outcome; the dialogue
was a process, not an end in itself.
Far West Rand goldfields dialogue
The Far West Rand is one of South Africa’s richest
goldfields and has contributed a significant proportion
of the country’s gold output since it was
opened in the 1950s. However, the gold mining
operations have had significant impacts on
ground and surface water in the area. In 1998,
some poor subsistence farmers approached Gold
Fields, one of the mining companies in the area,
with a request that they be provided with free,
good quality water. The company was initially
reluctant to do so, and was under no obligation to
provide the water. The situation was complicated
by some wealthy farmers who wished to obtain
water for themselves.
The task team referred to above met with community
members soon after the workshop. The
very fact that the Chamber (on behalf of industry)
and the NGOs/CBOs were working together
helped to defuse the situation. This joint approach
was, in itself, revolutionary, and provided a graphic
illustration that compromise was possible. Following
this, the task team met with Gold Fields
and explained the farmers’ position. Gold Fields
expressed a willingness to assist farmers in genuine
financial need. It organised a mining forum comprising
mines in the area (including those from
other mining groups as well) and community representatives.
The forum will soon meet for the second
time. Farmers and miners appear pleased with
the dialogue that is taking place. The task team’s
role has been catalytic. It will continue to facilitate
during the process of developing the relationship
and building trust.
Workshop on public participation
The first workshop had identified the need to discuss
public participation in decision making
regarding both mine authorisation and ongoing
operational matters. A questionnaire sent to par-
60 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
ticipants in that workshop revealed that there was
strong support from all sectors for an industry
guideline on the subject. Thus a second workshop
was held in May 1999 to consider a proposal for a
voluntary clearing house as a means of resolving
conflict, to reflect on the implications of a recent
legal judgment against a mining authorisation on
environmental grounds, and to initiate debate on
the format of the guideline.
The clearing house idea was refined to a recommendation
that a database of contacts in
industry, NGOs and CBOs be developed and
placed on a website. The reason for this was that
its purpose was to facilitate communication and
the resolution of conflicts, whereas posting news
of conflicts on the internet via a clearing house
had the potential to inflame conflict situations.
The website is discussed in greater detail in the
next section.
The legal judgement referred to above concerned
a proposed coal mine which was approved
by the regulatory authorities, although that decision
was overturned by the courts. The judgment
referred to the concept of sustainable development,
as enshrined in the new National Environmental
Management Act, for the first time. It
explicitly recognised a change in ideological climate
which required a holistic view to be taken
with respect to development decisions. It set an
important precedent in South African administrative
law in terms of which decisions made by
officials can now be re-evaluated by the courts. Of
even greater importance was that decision making
has now been devolved to the community. Government
officials can no longer make decisions,
but need to “extract the common will of the community”.
There was little agreement on the format of the
guideline because of differing expectations of the
breadth of issues it should include, and doubt as to
its enforceability. However, discussions have
advanced since then, and this subject is returned
to below.
The “Mines and Community Contacts”
website
As has been stated above, the purpose of the website
(www.cominfo.org.za/mcc/mcc.htm) is to
facilitate dialogue between mines and communities,
thus preventing disagreements from escalating
into conflict situations and to defuse conflicts.
It is a voluntary joint initiative by some members
of the Chamber of Mines and by some NGOs and
CBOs. It has no legal status. It is certainly innovative
in South Africa, and we know of no such
project elsewhere in the world.
The website was officially launched by the Minister
for Agriculture, Conservation and the Environment
of Gauteng province, Ms Mary Metcalf,
in February 2000. For NGOs and CBOs, it provides
contact information and a brief description
of the organisation’s activities and areas of operations.
Since many organisations are known primarily
by their acronym, a list of organisational
acronyms is also given. The information is provided
so that mines can know who they are talking
to or can talk to, and to help communities to find
organisations that can assist them.
Mines may be listed alphabetically or by managing
company. Their contact details are more
extensive, being structured in the order of on-site
environmental manager, followed by the mine
manager, then a head office contact, then a contact
at the Chamber of Mines. An explanatory
page on the website invites members of the public
to contact the on-site environmental manager if
there is an issue they wish to discuss with the
mine. If the matter is not resolved, then they are
asked to contact others on the list, in the order in
which they appear. The principle being followed is
that disputes should be resolved at the most
appropriate level, with higher-level people available
to intervene should people at the lower levels
be unwilling or unable to address them. As a last
resort, the Chamber is available to act as a relatively
neutral broker between the mine and the
community: it has no managerial authority over
its member mines.
Clearly, the website is not a definitive answer to
the issue of conflict resolution. Shortcomings
include:
◆ Limited internet and even telephone access in
poor communities. In order to address this, a hard
copy version is being distributed in such communities,
though of course this will be out of date as
soon as contact details change or new mines or
organisations are added.
◆ There is no obligation on mines or the Chamber
to resolve issues. However, since listing on the
website is voluntary, it is reasonable to assume that
the companies that have submitted their details
are committed to the process. Certainly, the
Chamber’s credibility is at stake, and it will do all
it can to ensure the website’s success.
◆ Only a limited number of companies and
organisations are listed on the website, but because
of the matter raised in the previous point, participation
must be voluntary. Pressurising reluctant
mines to contribute their details could compromise
the entire database. Additional NGOs and
CBOs are expected to be added shortly.
◆ Companies have expressed concern that the
website would be used by people looking for
work. However, this has not occurred to date.
From April to June 2000, the website was
accessed three to four times per day and by sixty
to ninety people each month. The figures for July,
the latest available, are many times higher, so there
is a question of accuracy. Considering the size of
the user group for the website, people are very
pleased with the level of access.
Because the website is still quite new, its success
in promoting communication between mines and
communities has not yet been assessed. By definition,
if it is successful, issues will be resolved before
they reach the Chamber, so no news might be
good news. However, the Chamber is in the
process of contacting mines, NGOs and CBOs for
feedback on their experiences with the website.
Work in progress
Industry guideline on public
participation
Stakeholder consultation as part of an environmental
impact assessment (EIA) is a requirement
for mining approvals in South Africa. The growing
world-wide trend to include stakeholders in
decision-making on operational matters is also
taking hold. The change has largely been driven
by the shift from the autocratic apartheid state to
an inclusive, consultative democracy. However,
there has been no guidance from government as
to what constitutes adequate consultation. Companies
find themselves under pressure to open up
but are naturally reluctant to divulge what they
understand to be confidential information. On
the other hand, communities encounter differing
degrees of information sharing from companies.
In order to address this gap between expectations
and output, or demands and perceived reasonableness,
the industry/NGO/CBO task team
is preparing an industry guideline on public participation.
It sets out the process and extent to
which companies should consult with stakeholders
in carrying out EIAs thus enabling both sides
to judge what is reasonable with some measure of
objectivity. It is expected that, at some point in the
future, the guideline will either be adopted by government,
or that it will form the basis of a government
guideline on public participation.
Mining and sustainable development
The realisation that sustainable development is a
paradigm common to industry, NGOs and CBOs
sparked the dialogue in South Africa. Not surprisingly
though, partners differ in their understanding
of what this means in practice. Thus,
part of the ongoing dialogue consists of a debate
on this matter. To a large extent, this debate has
been overtaken by the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable
Development project, which has an
important regional component in Southern
Africa. In a country with a significant proportion
of its population living in dire poverty, in a region
which is even poorer, this debate will continue for
many years to come.
Conclusions
We, as representatives of the South African mining
industry, NGOs and CBOs, are proud of what
we have achieved in setting up this multistakeholder
dialogue. We could not have done it alone.
The post-apartheid miracle has been evident in
the mining industry, once a symbol of conservatism
and oppression. However, to a large extent,
only the easy part – the dialogue has been completed.
The next part, changing behaviour, is
proving to be and will be more difficult. It will
never be a glorious march towards the sunset, but
will always involve steps backwards as well as forwards.
But we are confident of ultimate success
because we believe that a profound change has
already started to take place as a result of the dialogue
– attitudes are changing. Therefore we
believe that behaviour will slowly, but inexorably
change too.
Reference
Courtnage, J L, “Public Participation”, in Mining
Environmental Management, May 1999, p 13.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 61

Mining
If you give you must always expect
twice in return – a South African’s
experience in Canada
Grant Mitchell, Senior Policy Analyst, Minerals and Energy Policy Centre, P.O. Box 395, Wits 2050, South Africa
I
’m one of a party of about twenty-five people,
on a traditional Indian canoe paddling off the
Island of Vancouver in the Pacific ocean. It’s getting
dark and the temperature has dropped to
below zero at water level and it is only the rhythmic
paddling that keeps us from freezing up.
At the helm, just visible in the dark, is a native
North American – or First Nations as they prefer
to be called – who is slowly beating a drum and
singing in an ancient chant. The water rushes past
the gunwales and one feels the power and stability
of the canoe as it surges towards a dark shape
on the horizon, an island some kilometres off.
This is not some tourist Eco-tour or a scene
from a movie set but a collection of First Nations
people from the local village who, together with
us – researchers from the Minerals and Energy
Policy Centre in Johannesburg – make up this
strange modern day Indian raiding party. The
purpose of our visit is to study how the First
Nations people are dealing with issues such as land
restitution claims, mineral rights and the continual
shifting boundaries between what constitute
their traditional rights and the rights of the
provinces and the state.
The mythology of the North American Indians,
the First Nations, is deeply entrenched in the
psyche of North America. Whilst they have been
marginalised and their culture all but destroyed by
the North American settlers, the mythology
around them still exerts a powerful fascination
over American and Canadian whites. Off-road
vehicles are given traditional names such as
Cherokee whilst mainstream advertising has capitalised
on the myth of the pure native American
way of life before it was buried under centuries of
colonisation. The irony is that hardly any whites
have entered a First Nations reserve and knowledge
of their culture and traditions has only been
preserved by oral history. But they are attempting
to restore their identity and to tackle the enormous
problems of alcoholism, drug abuse and
family disintegration which have resulted from
the fragmentation of their traditional way of life.
The man paddling in front of me is called Dave
Cole. He is a Mohawk and a community activist.
He’s been brought in to tackle some of the social
issues confronting the Kwakiutl community in
Port Hardy, where we are being hosted. After we
reach shore many hours later he expounds on the
issues facing the community. “The fault lies in the
past policies,” he says in his North American
62 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
drawl. “Up until the sixties we were not allowed
to speak our own language, or practise our customs
or religion. To reconstruct our history is
going to be an enormous task.” All around the village
there is evidence of economic hardship. The
community has suffered the twin problems of
diminishing salmon runs and deforestation, both
central to maintaining the traditional First
Nations lifestyle. In addition, the closure of a copper
mine in the region has led to further unemployment
in the community.
But the First Nations have kept some aspects of
their culture. Whale watching for instance. On
the horizon to the West of the canoe the waters
suddenly part and a forty foot humpback whale
emerges from the depths as if in slow motion, its
entire mass completely exposed for a split second.
It then crashes down into the water, its enormous
tail slowly submerging like a fan. It’s no more than
fifty metres away and I am seized with panic. I
know from my sailing days that whales can sink
yachts. The villager in front of me assures me that
whales are peaceful creatures. “If you don’t interfere
with them they leave you alone,” she says
nonchalantly. I guess that centuries of intimate
knowledge of whale behaviour count. But I’m still
not relaxed.
***
We’re reaching the shore. It looms up a dark
mass and the heavy canoe, carved by hand out of
a massive cedar log, grinds to a halt on the beach
pebbles. We all climb out and haul it up to shore.
Some First Nations people are there to greet us
and they escort us up to a camp fire on the beach.
We all huddle around the fire. Then two men
burst into chant. It’s beautiful and lyrical and it
recalls ancient voices. When they have finished
they turn to us. “Do you sing? We want to hear
songs from Africa.”
We line up and attempt to sing the National
Anthem. Its not the best rendition but we get
applause anyway.
It’s getting colder and we all return to the canoe
and begin the four kilometre paddle back to the
village. I can’t tell you how beautiful it all is.
Back at the original point of departure we haul
the canoe on to the beach and make our way to
the reserve to Dave Cole’s house. We all end up in
his tiny lounge, where food has been prepared.
Many people from the village drop in to see the
South Africans. A First Nations MP tells us about
settlements and land claims. A sculptor talks
about Levi Strauss’s interpretation of North American
First Nations. They ask us about South
Africa. Many questions, much shared experience.
Then we exchange gifts.
We have been told to bring gifts by our Canadian
tour hosts as this is a First Nations custom.
We hand over Ndebele beadwork and our hosts
thank us in their polite, understated manner.
Then Dave Cole returns to the room holding a
pile of books and some feathers. In his slow measured
tones he tells us of the significance of gifts
to travellers. “Gifts,” he says, “in the old days were
a form of economic exchange. If you give a gift to
someone you expect twice in return.” He then
holds up the eagle feathers and talks of their significance.
“Birds have always been important to
us because they can go where they wish, they light
where they may, and they’re free. We take these
feathers from the birds. We use them in our ceremony
because the feathers remind us of the Creator.
The eagle flies highest in the sky of all the
birds and so he is the most sacred of all. He is the
highest of all the birds and so belongs to all the
tribes, all the people.”
We are then each handed a book and an eagle
feather. My book is a beautiful limited edition on
First Nation folklore. Dave Cole has taken it from
his personal collection. I feel quite emotional as
we shake hands and depart.
It’s dark and we drive past the humble houses
in the reserve. I let the images of the day run by
me. If you give you must always expect twice in
return. This sentence rings through me. I am soon
to return home to South Africa where communities
face the same issues of poverty and lack of
development. It really is a global challenge. How
can I give back twice as much of the knowledge
that I have acquired?
◆

Mining
Mining and indigenous
peoples
P. Jerry Asp, V.P. Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association, P.O.Box 154, Dease Lake, British
Columbia, Canada V0C 1L0
There have been significant changes to the
relationships between Indigenous People
and the mining companies. These mining
companies have just begun to take the first necessary
steps toward meaningful Indigenous Peoples
involvement. Indigenous Peoples and mining
companies can work together and achieve a winwin
situation for both communities.
It is a myth that, in North America, Indigenous
People only know how to do fancy beadwork and
carve totem poles. Mining companies have begun
to see Indigenous People in a new light, as potential
partners and a ready labour pool; not only as a
potential liability but also as a potential benefit to
their projects. This can only bring about a positive
result to all future relationships between these
mining companies and the Indigenous People
they encounter in their mining ventures.
Direct legislation, Indigenous control of their
traditional territories, and court decisions are now
a fact of life for the mining industry, and it must
be pointed out that these changes are taking place
worldwide not just in developed countries. Therefore,
any mining company that wants to mine or
explore for minerals is going to have to deal with
the Indigenous population in a significant manner.
Musselwhite, Raglan, Red Dog and the Tampakan
copper mine are a good starting points for
future projects.
However, in many instances, the Indigenous
view of “long-term” is still missing. To people who
have live in a region for 5 – 10 and even 20 thousand
years, a mining projects of 20 or 30 years
duration is not considered long-term. A 20 or 30
year mining project is just considered a disruption
in the flow of time, much like effects of an earthquake
or major flood but a mine has the potential
to be much more disrupting to their way of life.
The effects of an earthquake or major flood pass
very quickly and life will go on. But once a community
has moved from the “bush economy” to
the “wage economy” they can’t turn back . This
potentially devastating issue must be addressed.
Indigenous People were there before any mining
project started and will be there after a the
mining project has ceased. So it must be understood
that Indigenous people are talking in terms
of a “Sustainable Communities” not “Sustainable
Development”. In other words, what is going to
be left for the Indigenous People once the mining
project has closed. Will they be left with a diversified
community, improved infrastructure, better
schools, better medical facilities, and transferable
skills or will they be left, as in the past, with just
an environmental headache?
Many people assume that once a mine closes
and the operations have ceased the skills that the
Indigenous People learned will be transferred to
other projects. This is probably true in some cases
but definitely not in all cases. Most Indigenous
People do not like to leave their home area to seek
employment. Therefore, more planning must go
into new and existing projects as to the after effects
of the mine closure.
Future mining projects must address the following
issues:
◆ What can be done now to ensure that the community
will be sustainable after the mine closes?
◆ What industries can be started or existing enterprises
expanded to fill the role of the closed mine?
◆ What skills will the Indigenous People need to
meet the reality that the mine has closed?
◆ Who is going to be responsible for seeing that
these questions or issues are addressed?
The answer to these questions will be the challenge
of the future.
◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 63

Mining
Tailings and waste
Dissection of an accident: lessons learned
and follow-up actions from Baia Mare
Introduction
On January 30, 2000, a breach in the tailings dam
of the Aurul S.A. Baia Mare Company released an
estimated 50-100 tonnes of cyanide, as well as
heavy metals, particularly copper, into the Somes,
Tisza and finally into the Danube Rivers before
reaching the Black Sea. The impact of the dam
failure included contamination and interruption
of the drinking water in 24 locations affecting
some 2.5 million people, massive fish kill, destruction
of aquatic species in the river systems, and
severe negative impact on biodiversity, the rivers’
ecosystems, drinking water supply and socio-economic
conditions of the local population.
Following requests from the Governments of
Hungary, Romania and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, UNEP and the Co-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) convened a team
of experts to investigate the causes of this accident
and to make recommendations to prevent further
accidents. The main conclusions and recommendations
of the report are listed below 1 .
Main Conclusions from the Assessment
Report
◆ The breach in the retention dam was probably
caused by a combination of inherent design deficiencies
in the process, unforeseen operating conditions
and bad weather:
• Tailings dams at operating mines are under
continuous construction, as solid material and
effluent (plus natural inflow due to precipitation)
are added. Besides safe control of pond water volume
under storm runoff conditions, the safety of
the dam is mainly due to a sound balance between
dam height and pond water level.
• In the case of the new Aurul pond at Baia
Mare, the flows of solids and waters were out of
balance with the increase of the storage capacity
of the pond, as the process of dam construction
could not keep up with the rise in the
reservoir water level. The climatic conditions of
the winter season aggravated the situation and
led to an uncontrolled rise of pond level resulting
in an overflow of the dam.
• The company responded by repairing the
breach using borrow material from nearby, and
by adding sodium hypochlorite to the overflow
(and to the area flooded by the spill). A large
volume of heavily contaminated effluent nevertheless
escaped before the breach could be
closed.
• There were no provisions for coping with situations
of a rise of pond water level due to
uncontrollable input into the reservoir system.
◆ The company was operating in line with Government
permits. The plant was assessed as being
of “regular” risk.
◆ No special monitoring or contingency planning
at the premises of the company were required.
Formal emergency preparedness and response
procedures by the company and local authorities
were rudimentarily considering the large quantities
of hazardous materials (cyanide, hypochlorite)
being used close to human populations and the
river system. There appeared to be no monitoring
system to detect the onset of dangerous situations.
On and off site contingency plans existed but
proved insufficient.
◆ The company took reasonable steps to respond
to the emergency. It could not be determined how
often the plant had been inspected by the government
authorities before the spill occurred. However,
the early warning system established under the
Danube River Protection Convention responded
adequately to alert neighbouring countries.
◆ The acute transboundary pollution had the
potential of having a severe negative impact on
biodiversity, the rivers’ ecosystems, drinking water
supply and socio-economic conditions of the local
population.
◆ Timely information exchange and measures
taken by the Romanian, Hungarian and Yugoslavian
authorities, including a temporary closure of
the Tisza lake dam, mitigated and reduced the risk
and impact of the spill.
◆ Acute effects, typical for cyanide, occurred for
long stretches of the river system down to the confluence
of the Tisza with the Danube: phyto- and
zooplankton were down to zero when the cyanide
plume passed and fish were killed in the plume or
immediately after. The Hungarian authorities
provided estimates of the total amount of fish
killed in excess of one thousand tons, whereas the
Romanian authorities informed that the amount
of dead fish reported was very small.
◆ Chronic effects due to the heavy metals could
not be assessed during the UN mission and should
be subject to future assessments.
◆ Villages close to the accident site were provided
with alternative water sources, but were allegedly
not informed about the spill sufficiently early.
◆ The spill occurred in an area already contaminated
with heavy metals from a long history of
mining and metal processing. Upstream locations
unaffected by this particular spill also contained
high levels of some heavy metals.
◆ The recent accidents in Baia Mare and Baia
Borsa have dramatically increased public awareness
of the environmental and safety hazards of
the mining industry. The Baia Mare accident
showed that the level of public knowledge and
understanding of risks inherent in mining and
related industrial processes is very low.
64 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Key Recommendations from the
Assessment Report
◆ A re-assessment should be made of the relationship
between environmental “benefits and
risks” of the mining scheme of the Aurul S.A.
company. In particular, a risk assessment study
should be carried out of the entire system of remining
the old tailings.
◆ In this connection, special emphasis should be
given to the following aspects:
• whether and how hydromonitoring of the
material to be re-mined using cyanide – containing
effluent can be avoided and replaced by
an environmentally less risky process;
• whether processing of the materials in the
plant can be done with less toxic materials.
◆ An inventory and risk assessment study should
be made of all mining and related industries in the
Maramures region, including abandoned sites, as
a basis for better accident prevention and
improved emergency preparedness and response
measures.
◆ In order to ensure prompt early warning and
response, the existing on and off-site contingency
plans should be revised with the relevant partners.
The organisational roles and responsibilities offsite
for dealing with a dam breach and the ensuing
water pollution should be clarified. The plans
should be practical, targeted to the site and fully
accessible by workers and local stakeholders.
◆ The sampling and analyses work was limited in
time and scope. There is a need for:
• further analysis of the composition of the sediments
in the new pond at Aurul to determine
the amount and types of cyanide present;
• monitoring of water quality in the wells to
identify any delayed contamination;
• monitoring of the long term ecological effects
of the spill;
• agreement by all countries in the Tisza catchment
area on a set of common baseline indicators
for water and sediment quality monitoring,
and improvement and harmonization of their
monitoring systems.
◆ In the light of a number of earlier accidents
with tailing dams, it is advisable to review construction
concepts and operation procedures related
to enterprises using such dams, including concepts
of secondary security or retention of spills at
dams containing toxic effluents or other liquids.
Also, more attention should be paid to better integrating
the construction and operational aspects
of the design.
◆ With respect to enterprises using cyanide, special
attention is needed for emergency preparedness,
emergency response and public communication
measures (the APELL process), as well as
special monitoring and inspection by the authorities.
◆ Process water ponds should, wherever possible,
be reduced in quantity and to sizes which can be
handled in emergencies. They should have retention
systems for overflow or for accidents resulting
from a break of the dam.
◆ In the Maramures area, consideration should be
given to changing drinking water supply systems
for private households to public / collective systems.
Australia &
South Pacific
24%
Latin
America
15%
Base metals
42%
Summary of major mining-related environmental
incidents since 1975
By location
Europe
21%
Africa
6%
By mine type
Other 15%
Asia
6%
Precious
metals
43%
North
America
28%
◆ Both in the case of acute emergency and with
respect to longer term impact, much can and
should be done to raise awareness and inform the
local population along the Somes, Tisza, Danube
rivers and in the catchment area as a whole, concerning
the characteristics and potential risks
involved at the mining and other industrial activities
upstream. Unnecessary concerns and potential
economic losses can be avoided with well
informed local communities. Communications
channels between the respective central government,
the district and local authorities, should be
optimized and NGOs and other interest groups,
especially at the local level, should be mobilized
and assist in informing the population and in providing
replies to their concerns. The APELL
process (Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies
at Local Level) would be an appropriate
process on which to base such a programme.
◆ There is a strong need for a broad, longer term
environmental management plan and sustainable
development strategy for both the Maramures
region in Romania and the entire catchment area
of the Tisza river; a strategy which would address,
inter alia, the mining and related industries, other
economic activities (such as tourism and fishing),
biological diversity requirements, and social needs
and imperatives.
◆ UNEP and other relevant international organizations
should pay special attention to promoting:
• emergency preparedness and response
(APELL) in communities close to hazardous
installations and mine sites;
Cyanide
not present
64%
Tailings dam
mishaps
76%
By cause
Involving cyanide
Unknown 9%
Pipe failure
18%
Transport
accident
6%
Cyanide
present
27%
Source: T. Mudder
• revised design and operating codes for
cyanide processes at mines;
• development of new international standards
for fail-safe concepts in tailings dams;
• publication of a ‘best practices water management
at mines’ guide and case studies;
• a review of permitting and inspection procedures
of hazardous mining installations;
• training workshops for national inspectorates
in risk assessment and enforcement.
◆ UNEP and its partners should also continue
the dialogue with the mining industry to review
design and operation codes, and promote a review
and consultations on governmental approval permits
and inspection procedures related to mining
operations.
◆ The Disaster Response Branch of OCHA and
its Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit
should take appropriate steps to further develop
the application of the concept of the UN Disaster
Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) to various
environmental emergencies, including largescale
spills of mining tailings. The establishment
of a small team of associated environmental
experts should also be considered.
Accident prevention and emergency
preparedness in mining : UNEP’s
follow-up initiatives 2
It is important to strengthen the focus on accident
prevention and emergency preparedness at mine
sites. The Baia Mare Report highlighted a number
of causal factors. While many of these factors
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 65

Mining
have also been present in other tailings accidents,
the experience at Baia Mare has led to a number of
organisations, including UNEP, undertaking initiatives
aimed at preventing, or at least lessening,
the impact of such events as may occur in the
future. UNEP is working with various partner
organisations on key areas which are expected to
make a difference in the future.
Code for cyanide management in the gold
industry
The gold industry has signalled its intention to
develop a voluntary global Code for the management
of cyanide in mining. UNEP, working with
the International Council on Metals and the Environment,
is supporting this initiative. The two
organisations convened a multistakeholder workshop
in Paris in May 2000. Discussion commenced
at that workshop on issues relating to
scope, coverage and content, and a process was
agreed to oversee the work. A broad stakeholder
Steering Committee was established and there is
widespread consultation occurring within the gold
industry. There is strong support for such a Code
and it is expected to be implemented in early 2002.
Emergency preparedness and disaster
response
Adequate local awareness and preparedness for
emergencies is necessary to ensure that the critical
first response to an accident is rapid and effective.
In the past, community consultation for integrated
emergency response planning has not always
occurred at mining and minerals processing operations.
As one of the Baia Mare follow-up activities,
UNEP and the International Council on
Metals and the Environment held a joint workshop
on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster
Response in May 2000. Awareness & Preparedness
for Emergencies at the Local Level – the
APELL programme, provides a well established
general methodology which UNEP is now tailoring
to the specific characteristics and needs of the
mining industry and its communities. A handbook
for mining and minerals processing now
being developed by UNEP will be reviewed and
field tested with governments and companies during
2001.
Improving the effectiveness of regulation for
accident prevention in mining
As regulators of the mining industry, it is incumbent
on governments to examine the effectiveness
of their approach to permitting and monitoring
of those activities in mining, which, were they to
fail, could have large environmental and community
impacts. To assist in this process, the Australian
Government and UNEP co-hosted an
international workshop of regulators in October
2000. Government officials from some 25 mining
countries reviewed emerging practices in regulation
with a focus on the permitting of tailings
facilities and the use of chemicals such as cyanide.
Reviewing the lessons learnt from past mining
accidents and comparing actions taken by governments
to prevent their recurrence, it was
acknowledged that national and international
efforts on building appropriate skills to enhance
◆◆◆◆◆
regulatory capacity and learning to identify early
warning signs of impending accidents is needed
to improve the effectiveness of regulation for accident
prevention in mining.
Contingency engineering or “fail-safe”
features for tailings storage facilities
If sound principles and practices are followed in
the design, construction and operation of tailings
facilities, there should be few accidents in the mining
industry and hence little need to consider “failsafe”
or “back-up” features in the design and
location of dams. However, the frequency of
occurrences and potential consequences of dam
failures indicate the need for thorough consideration
of the potential which may exist for additional
safety features to be integrated into the
design of tailings facilities in order to minimise the
impact of a dam accident. Working with experts
on this issue, UNEP is calling together a targeted
group of people to examine the range of available
options, their benefits and costs, limitations and
applicability.
Notes
1 The full text of the Report, Cyanide Spill at Baia
Mare, UNEP/OCHA Assessment Mission
Report, April 2000 is available at www.naturalresources.org/environment/BaiaMare
2 Information on UNEP activities is publicly available
on the Mineral Resources Forum website at:
www.natural-resources.org/environment
◆
Tailings accidents and
lessons learned
“Tailings Dams: Risk of Dangerous Occurrences:
Lessons Learned from Practical Experiences” is the
title of a Bulletin to be released by the International
Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and
UNEP. The “practical experience” is presented in
the form of a review of some 230 tailings dam
accidents over the past 50 years, together with
examples of effective remedial measures. The Bulletin
aims to highlight some of the dam failures
commonly encountered so as to avoid similar difficulties
in future as these failures have been costly
to both life and the environment.
The Foreword to the Bulletin describes the
challenge:
“The disposal of wastes in our overcrowded world has
become a serious problem. Due to the nature of mining
and mineral processing, the volumes of mining
wastes are significantly larger than those of both
domestic and industrial wastes. The chemical characteristics
of the waste (particularly mobility of metal
constituents) are often of concern. The volumes of
mine wastes greatly exceed the total volumes of materials
handled by civil engineering throughout the
world. The crushed rock passed through the processing
plant to extract the desired product is discharged
from the “tail end” of the plant as the waste tailings,
and in many parts of the world forms the greatest volume
of mine waste, although at open-pit mining operations
the volume of waste rock may exceed the volume
of tailings. The fine particulate tailings are commonly
stored in impoundments retained by tailings dams.
The material is placed hydraulically and so is loose
and nearly saturated. Any major movement of the
retaining walls of the impoundment can induce
shearing strains that disturb the structure of the tailings
mass, inducing a rapid rise of pore water pressures
and liquefaction of a section of the impoundment,
causing even greater pressures to be applied to the
retaining walls. Failure of the retaining dam can
release liquefied tailings that can travel for great distances.
Water will flow through and around buildings,
but liquefied tailings, due to their greater weight
can destroy the structures. The increasing size of modern
mines means that tailing dams are becoming ever
higher and impoundments even larger.
Similarities between tailings dams and embankment
dams designed to retain water, have enabled
many of the design techniques used with embankment
dams to be applied to produce safe tailings dams, but
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Mining
despite great improvements, there has been a
reported failure of a tailings dam almost
every year for the past two decades. The
damage caused by these failures in terms of
human casualties, destruction of property,
disruption of communications, pollution of
the environment and economic loss to the
mining industry is enormous. The purpose
of this Bulletin is to discuss some of these failures
and see what lessons can be learned from
them, to identify improvements that would
reduce the occurrence of these failures.”
Knowledge about the factors that control
the behaviour of tailings dams has
improved greatly during the past 20
years. Detailed guidelines for the safe
design and construction of tailings dams
and waste lagoons have been published
and the consequences and public awareness
of tailings dam failures have increased considerably,
causing managers and owners to
become more aware of the risks involved in the
construction of impoundments. Nevertheless,
although the percentage of recorded failures has
decreased over the past decades because of the
improved understanding of the behaviour of dams
and the improved methods of design and construction,
the number of incidences (14 between
1990 – 2000) remains unacceptably high. Many
factors influence the behaviour of tailings
impoundments; accidents and other incidents are
often the result of inadequate site investigation,
design, construction, operation, or monitoring of
the impoundment, or some combination of these.
At the design stage, attention must be paid to
those critical features that can affect the long term
safety of a tailings dam. Sound fundamental
design pays dividends throughout the life of the
dam. ICOLD and others have published many
technical guidelines for the safe design and construction
of tailings dams and waste lagoons.
However, ICOLD is increasingly warning that to
keep a tailings facility in a safe condition throughout
its life, overall management and the practical
application of knowledge is critical. Sound design
must be followed by appropriate management,
plus regulation that effectively targets ongoing
operational safety over the life of the facility – and
beyond.
ICOLD and UNEP have drawn the conclusion
Venezuela: environmental damage from artisanal mining activity
from recent accidents that the vital efforts on prevention
must be supplemented by additional
attention to risk reduction and mitigation to
reduce not only the frequency, but also the severity
of accidents which do occur. Emergency preparedness
should also be part of the total picture
of responses to the continuing contemporary
accident record.
Every site and dam is unique and there
needs to be more attention paid to risk
assessments in each individual case, leading
to tougher decisions about whether
the presence of certain risk factors can be
adequately addressed through siting or
design or other means. UNEP has posed
the question as to whether in some cases
there may also be scope for incorporating
additional measures through engineering,
siting or contingency structures, to reduce
the energy or deflect the impact in the
event of a failure.
The Bulletin on Lessons Learned is
intended to give advice, drawn directly
from experience, that can help those
responsible for impoundments and tailings
dams. Learning from errors is vital for
improving knowledge and promoting improvements
and it is in that spirit that the Bulletin will
be published early in 2001. It is only one in a series
of initiatives being taken in the tailings area with
the aim of making a difference to their safety and
environmental record.
◆
Silvaculture project for area rehabilitation: Las Cristinas, Venezuela
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 67

Mining
Emergency preparedness and response:
APELL for mining
Recent accidents – including that at Baia Mare
in Romania in January 2000 – have focused
attention on the fact that mines can be dangerous
to the public as well as to those at the mine
site. We have also learned that emergency response
procedures are deficient and that public understanding
of mine related threats is low. This misunderstanding
often leads to fear and adverse
reaction to mining developments.
Emergency response is a multi-stakeholder
activity that requires extensive preparation and
determined execution. Not all industries understand
the full extent of the public communication
challenge that is involved.
Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at
Local Level (APELL) is a process which has been
developed by the United Nations Environment
Programme in conjunction with communities,
governments and industry. APELL was prepared
in response to various industrial accidents in both
developed and developing countries which have
resulted in adverse impacts on the environment
and on local communities. The purpose of
APELL is to prevent, prepare for and respond to
technological accidents and emergencies.
While major accidents are not frequent given
the number of global mining operations, they are
continuing to occur with unacceptable regularity.
In addition, the industry has in a sense been lucky
that few lives have been lost in adjacent communities
as the result of accidents in recent years. The
next major accident could reverse that unless measures
are taken to minimise risks and plan for
effective action.
Although the aim of accident prevention and
safe operation must remain paramount, UNEP
urges the pragmatic approach of preparing for
emergencies as they may happen despite safe
design proactive and sound procedures being followed.
Promoting use of APELL by the mining
industry is therefore one of UNEP’s priorities to
improve contingency planning in the industry.
Peru: tailings dams in Rimac River Valley
Mining industry emergencies: the case
for APELL
Mines and mineral processing facilities are often
large, multifaceted operations in unique locations,
with very specific interactions between communities
and the environment. Over the last 25 years
there have been some 33 major accidents worldwide
resulting in releases to the environment. 5 Of
these, 7 incidents involved fatalities; a total of 326
people have died, 268 in one accident at Stava in
Italy in 1985 as a result of a pipe failure at a fluorite
mine. Of the remaining fatalities, 7 occurred
in Brazil in 1986 as a result of a dam failure, 20 in
1988 in China, 17 at Merrespruit, South Africa in
1994 from an overtopping failure and 12 in the
Philippines in 1995. 1 An October 2000 tailings
dam failure at a mine in China has left ten dead
and over 100 unaccounted for when a mine hostel
and local houses were engulfed by tailings. In
the latter part of 2000, a number of well publicised
incidents at or near mine sites again raised
the awareness of mining as an industry in which
incidents may result in severe off-site damage,
including effects on local communities. The April
2000 UNEP/OCHA Assessment Mission Report
on the Baia Mare Tailings Accident highlights the
fact that public knowledge and understanding of
risks inherent in mining and related industries is
very low. It also reported that, in the case of a spill,
there is frequently insufficient communication
between the industry, various authorities and
68 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
between NGOs and the public concerning emergency
preparedness, emergency response and
measures to limit damage should an accident
occur.
Like all industrial sectors, the mining industry
has risks specifically related to its operations. Some
risks are similar to those in other industries, such
as storage, handling, transportation and the use of
toxic chemicals. Hazardous materials are used at
most mining and mineral processing operations,
and many waste products generated by these operations
and stored in specially designed facilities at
mines can be hazardous to human health and the
environment.
Risks from tailings dams have drawn particular
attention, following failures at mines in Europe
and elsewhere. In August 1995, a tailings dam at
the Omai gold mine in Guyana, South America
failed, spilling water containing cyanide from the
tailings dam into one of the country’s main rivers.
At Los Frailes in Spain, the wall of the tailings
impoundment failed in April 1998, releasing
around 5.5 million cubic metres of acid water and
1.5 million tonnes of tailings from the polymetallic
mine into the local river and floodplain system.
2 Farmland was inundated, wells were
contaminated and the Doñana National Park, a
World Heritage Site and also a RAMSAR site was
threatened by the resulting pollution. In January
2000, a spill at Aurul SA Baia Mare gold mine, a
site in Romania reprocessing tailings, caused
extensive water pollution and fish kills in the Tisza
and Danube rivers, crossing national boundaries
into Hungary and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
While accidents involving facilities or activities
other than tailings disposal do occur, they appear
to be generally less frequent. However, they still
have the potential to cause serious environmental
and health effects. A review of gold industry incidents
since 1975 reveals 72% of the incidents
involved tailings dams, while 14% involved pipe
failure and 14% transport accidents. 3 For example,
in May 1998, a truck carrying cyanide to
Kumtor mine in Kyrgystan overturned, spilling
cyanide into the river. Another example involving
the transport of cyanide to a site is that of a tonne
of sodium cyanide pellets falling from a helicopter
en route to Tolukuma mine in Papua New Guinea
in March 2000, and landing close to a stream. In
June 2000, a truck carrying mercury, a by product
of the mineral processing at Yanacocha gold
mine in Peru, spilled around 200 kilograms of
mercury from an opened flask as it passed through
a number of villages. Only 66 kilograms of the
mercury was recovered, and several hundred people
were treated in medical centres and hospitals as
a result of exposure to fumes and from direct contact
with the mercury.
What is APELL?
APELL provides a step-by-step description of how
to develop an integrated and functional emergency
response plan for local communities.
APELL identifies and creates awareness of risks in
communities living close to industrial facilities,
initiates measures for risk reduction and mitigation,
and develops preparedness for emergencies
involving industries, local governments, and communities.
APELL is comprised of a ten-step
approach to carrying out this process which was
originally developed with large industrial operations
in mind. Adapted so far for port facilities and
the transport industry, a Handbook for APELL
for the mining industry is expected to be released
in 2001.
How is APELL relevant to the minerals
industry?
The minerals industry is diverse – sites may be
found in all parts of the world, in all climatic
zones, extracting a variety of different minerals
and metals, using different mining methods, different
processing routes, different chemicals and
producing different end materials and wastes. Yet
there are also common features and similarities
between sites. Most sites use chemicals or processes
or produce materials that have the potential to
cause off-site incidents and therefore the APELL
process can be applied to them.
The table below gives examples of the sort of
accidents which are possible. Many of these have
actually occurred in the industry, but not all have.
Some of them however have occurred in other
industries. In mining most major accidents with
offsite impacts have been tailings accidents. The
possibilities are not raised to be dramatic or to fuel
fear of the industry, but in the interests of thoroughness
for contingency planning purposes.
What is the APELL process?
APELL’s overall goals are to prevent loss of life or
damage to health and social well being, ensure
environmental safety in the area surrounding and
avoid property damage by promoting community
preparedness.
APELL for the mining sector has two overall
goals. First, the process creates/increases community
awareness of the possible hazards involved in
the production, transport, handling, use and storage
of hazardous materials including tailings, waste
rock and chemicals, and the steps taken by authorities
and the company to protect the community
from them. Secondly, there is a need to develop, or
improve, on the basis of this information, and in
co-operation with the local communities and
emergency providers, effective response plans
involving the entire community, should an emergency
arise.
The specific objectives of the Process are fivefold,
namely:
◆ Communicate with potentially affected members
of the community on the hazards involved in
mining and mineral processing operations in their
neighbourhood and the measures taken to reduce
the resulting risks;
◆ Review, establish or update emergency response
plans in the local area;
◆ Increase company involvement in community
awareness and emergency response planning;
◆ Integrate company emergency plans with local
emergency response plans in one overall plan for
the community, to handle different possible emergencies;
and
◆ Involve members of the local community in the
development, testing and implementation of the
overall emergency response plan.
The 10 APELL steps
The APELL process has been designed along
ten steps which are outlined below:
◆ Identify the emergency response participants
and establish their roles, resources and concerns;
◆ Evaluate the risks and hazards that may result
in emergency situations in the community;
Potential accidents associated with mine sites and their effects
Type of incident Typical Causes Effects on communities
Tailings dam failure Piping, overtopping, foundation failure, Loss of life, water supplies, contamination
erosion, earthquake.
of wells, destruction of aquatic habitat, loss
of crops and contamination of farmland,
threat to protected habitat and loss of
livelihood
Failure of waste rock dump. Stability often related to water, such as s Loss of life, injuries, destruction of property,
prings, poor dump drainage
damage to ecosystems and farmland.
Spills of toxic chemicals Inadequate transport procedures Contamination of soil, water, effects on
en route to/from site. and equipment. water users, aquatic ecosystem damage.
Unsafe packaging
Release of chemicals Overtopping, piping breaks, Loss of food and water supply
from tailings dams foundation failure (see above) in subsistence areas, fish kills impacting
livlihoods, destruction of ecosystems,
increased community concerns
Subsidence Slope failure, breakthrough to surface Loss of life, damage to property
Spills of chemicals at site Poor maintenance, inadequate containment. Contamination of soil and water, poisoning
e.g. fuel tank rupture,
of water users. Air pollution could have
reagent store damage
health effects.
Fire Poor design, poor maintenance Effects of air pollution on health, property
and operation
damage
Atmospheric releases Inadequate design, failure to follow Community concern, possible health effects.
procedures, inadequate maintenance.
Explosions (plant) Inadequate design, failure to follow Community concern, loss of life, destruction
procedures, inadequate maintenance. of property.
Blasting and explosives Poor practice Property damage, risk to life
accidents
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Mining
◆ Have participants review their own emergency
plan for adequacy relative to a coordinated
response;
◆ Identify the required response tasks not covered
by the existing plans;
◆ Match these tasks to the resources available
from the identified participants;
◆ Make the changes necessary to improve existing
plans, integrate them into an overall community
plan and gain agreement;
◆ Commit the integrated plan to writing and
obtain approvals from local governments;
◆ Communicate the integrated plan to participating
groups and ensure that all emergency
responders are trained;
◆ Communicate the integrated plan to the general
community.
When UNEP first developed the APELL
process, it was recognised that various countries
differ in culture, value systems, community infrastructure,
response capabilities and resources, and
in legal and regulatory requirements. Given the
variety of local situations that exist, the APELL
steps provide the basic concepts for the development
of action plans based on local community
awareness of potential dangers and the preparation
of unique emergency response plans. While
the objectives remain unchanged, the mechanics
of the development and operation will change
from place to place, in accordance with specific
local conditions and requirements.
Scope
Large and small mining operations should be
equally concerned with community involvement
in contingency planning and being fully prepared
for emergencies, but it is likely that there is a certain
size of mine below which APELL would be
difficult to implement. Although small scale and
artisanal mining operations have the potential to
cause off-site damage, particularly when they are
highly concentrated in a relatively small area, 4 the
organisation and resources required to move
through the APELL process would be lacking. In
some areas, however, some of the activities of artisanal
miners are becoming centralised through cooperatives
designed to increase recoveries, improve
safety and reduce impacts to the environment,
and where these schemes are operating successfully,
introducing the APELL process to the co-operative
group may be feasible.
The Benefits of Implementing APELL
Mining companies have become much more
transparent and proactive in their relationships
with stakeholders. This is in recognition of the
legitimate interests of local communities, not only
in the employment and business opportunities
generated by the presence of a mine in their area,
but also in the environmental and social impacts
and pressures which it can bring. Communities
have a right to know what they are exposed to and
increasingly they expect to be consulted and, if
they have well-founded concerns about certain
aspects, to have an influence on the way operations
are managed.
Companies understand that support for or
opposition to a mine from civil society and communities
can be highly influential in decisions
about whether and under what conditions a mine
can operate. They therefore need to establish trust
and support based on effective two-way communication
with local communities and other stakeholders.
Trust, support and an understanding of the
operation amongst the local community will be
severely tested if there is a major accident with
potential or actual off-site impacts. If trust exists,
the company will be better placed to communicate
effectively in the case of an emergency as well
as to recover more quickly from one. If a base of
awareness and trust does not exist, the consequences
of an accident for the company will certainly
be worse and more long-lived.
The APELL process should bring benefits in at
least three ways:
◆ to reduce the risks of accidents and to reduce
the impacts of accidents as a result of the process
of hazard and risk identification, risk reduction
and risk communication undertaken
◆ to help build relationships between the mine
and the community which will be of benefit over
the long term
◆ to assist awareness and understanding of the
operation and its management which should generate
the confidence, trust and support which
companies need whether or not they experience
an accident.
Mining companies and management have
many important priorities which compete for
attention and resources. How important is APELL
in the scheme of things for companies? Individual
companies will make their own decision about
that, but they will no doubt take into consideration
that accidents and their consequences, though
rare, do happen with potentially disastrous consequences;
that a mine is often part of a community
for a generation or more and is often the dominant
operation in that community; and that the industry
is coming off a base of having a trust and a
knowledge deficit. These considerations should
make APELL an option worth pursuing.
How APELL could have made a
difference
As an example where the effects of an accident
may have been significantly reduced had local
communities been more knowledgeable because
of their involved in an APELL process is the
Yanagocha case in Peru. 200 kilograms of mercury
spilled from an open flask on a truck as it passed
through a number of villages en route from the
Yanagocha gold mine. Only 66 kilograms of the
local material was recovered. As well as using it in
local medicine, the local people believe that the
mercury contains gold. Many therefore heated the
mercury in their homes, with little ventilation to
“obtain the gold”. As a result, several hundred
people were treated in medical centres and hospitals
as a result of exposure to toxic mercury fumes.
In this case, had an effective communication program
regarding the hazards and potential health
effects arising from contact with mercury been
conducted, it could have influenced behaviours
and health impacts should not have arisen.
Notes
1 T. Mudder and M. Botz
2 Eriksson and Adamek, 2000
3 T. Mudder and M. Botz
4 such as at Serra Pelada in Brazil ◆
70 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
The case for auditing and certification of
tailings management facilities
Stewart Cale, Director, Knight Piésold Ltd., Kanthak House, Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PP UK
Mike Cambridge, Director, Knight Piésold Ltd., Kanthak House, Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PP UK
Abstract
A quick review of tailings dams that have failed in the past 25 years indicate that many have
occurred in under-regulated environments. The major driving force in reducing the number of
tailings dam incidents is the adoption of regulations requiring independent auditing and facility
certification, and recognition of the need for a competent person with experience in tailings
management facilities.
Résumé
Une étude rapide des bassins de retenue de résidus qui se sont rompus au cours des vingt-cinq
dernières années montre que beaucoup de ruptures se sont produites dans des environnements
sous-réglementés. Le meilleur moyen de réduire le nombre d’accidents est d’adopter des règlements
exigeant l’audit et la certification des installations par un organisme indépendant et de
reconnaître la nécessité de confier les installations de gestion des bassins de retenue à une personne
compétente et expérimentée dans ce domaine.
Resumen
Un rápido análisis de las represas para decantación de desechos mineros que han sufrido desperfectos
en los últimos veinticinco años indica que muchas de estas fallas ocurrieron en ambientes
con reglamentación insuficiente. El factor principal para reducir el número de incidentes
en las represas para decantación de desechos mineros es adoptar normas que exijan auditorías
y certificaciones independientes y reconocer la necesidad de contar con una persona
competente con experiencia en plantas de tratamiento de residuos mineros.
Introduction
As the volume of waste material produced in the
world increases, efforts to minimize the waste produced
or to store it in both an environmentally
sound and well engineered manner are essential.
This process is especially important in the mining
industry where increased worldwide demand,
lower ore resource grades and increased equipment
capacity has led to higher tonnages and rates
of throughput at many mines. These increases
have placed great demands both on the design and
operation of waste rock dumps and tailings management
facilities.
The reputation of the mining industry has been
damaged recently by a number of high profile tailings
dam incidents that have dented confidence
in the storage process. This article seeks to review
existing procedures in place for auditing and certification
of tailings management facilities and
suggests a regime which would increase public
confidence.
It is important to note that many of the regulations
and laws that have been put in place have
been in reaction to an incident that has raised
public concern. The industry should therefore not
wait until a severe failure occurs before putting
acceptable procedures in place.
Existing regulations
Most countries in the world have developed their
own mining regulations to cover both underground
and surface extraction of minerals and
often, but not always, the processing of the
ore/aggregate. Legislation –originally developed
to ensure the health and safety of workers, together
with the associated regulations – has been modified
as planning, health and safety and
environmental requirements have changed. For
instance, the Mining Act in the UK dates from the
mid 19 th Century and has been successively modified
and adapted for both metalliferous and coal
mining as developments in both mining technologies
and health and safety requirements have
progressed. The same legislation remains in force
in the UK today, but strengthened and supplemented
by a range of additional legislation to
meet the needs of a modern mine and to cover all
aspects of the extraction industries from methane
generation in coal mines to statutory inspection
of mine waste tips and tailings lagoons. There are
similar examples of mining laws being updated
and modernized in Europe. However, what is
clear is that, despite its origins, current mining legislation
ranges from providing guidance on general
mining health and safety issues to generic
guidelines for the extraction of minerals from surface
and underground operations. Evidence of
specific legislation for mine waste rock dumps and
tips or for tailings disposal facilities and lagoons is
very limited in extent. There are few countries
which have specific regulations covering these
aspects.
Early legislation does not include reference to
either waste rock tips or tailings dam lagoons. In
fact, in the UK, the latter were assumed to be covered
in the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930
if such a facility, i.e. the tip or lagoon, was capable
of containing more than 5 million gallons (22
600 m 3 ) of water above ground level. Such a tip
would then be inspected under the Reservoirs Act
and primarily with respect to control of water
rather than control of the solid fraction. It is clear
that in Europe similar practices have been adopted
and continue. For example, Portugal adopted a
similar approach when the first modern tailings
management facility was developed and the tailings
dam was permitted under existing Portuguese
reservoir legislation. Unfortunately, this has led to
a number of anomalies because of the prescriptive
nature of the act with regard to both design and
operational features of the facility and due to the
lack of regulations pertaining to solid waste disposal.
It is believed that the first legislation specifically
associated with mine tips and tailings lagoons
was developed in the UK following the 1966
Aberfan disaster. The legislation was crafted by a
group of individuals with experience both of mining
tips and geotechnical engineering and was
specifically aimed at addressing the problems of
tailings lagoons and waste tips and their continued
security and safety. The legislation was drafted
to form an extension of the Mines and Quarries
Act 1954 and accordingly the Mines and Quarries
(Tips) Regulations 1971 were passed. The regulations
were designed to provide guidance to
permitting authorities and to operating companies
with regard to requirements for design and
management and incorporated the need for expert
audit and reporting on all tailings dams and tips
during all the stages of development, including
commissioning, operation and closure.
The table on the following page shows the general
requirements under the Act with regard to the
auditing process.
The Regulations indicated that the audits had
to be undertaken by a competent person, but the
precise qualifications of that person are ill-defined.
However, the Health & Safety Executive, during
the years of enforcement, has tended to ensure
that, for the most part, the people undertaking the
audits are indeed competent. The link with the
UK reservoirs act has also continued, in that many
of the competent people with regard to tailings
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Mining
dams have also been appointed under this act. The
Act and associated Regulations were further
strengthened when the Reservoirs Act 1975
specifically excluded tailings dams and recognized
the specific technical problems associated with
mining-related containment structures. This Act
and associated Regulations have been incorporated
into existing legislation or used as the basis for
new regulations in other countries.
Following the Mufulira tailings inrush disaster
in Zambia in 1970, the Mines and Quarries Act
was incorporated into the Mining Act in Zambia
and formed the basis for regulations for the
inspection and management of waste tips, water
dams and tailings dams on mining properties.
Similarly, the UK based legislation was also adopted
in Malaysia in formulating its regulations for
the management of tips and tailings dams, particularly
associated with the tin mining industry. It is
believed that this legislation has been the basis of
a number of similar local regulations with regard
to the control, operation and maintenance of tailings
facilities and their regular inspection.
It is noted that the Act has successfully regulated
waste tipping and tailings disposal and prevented
any fatal occurrences due to strict
enforcement by the Health & Safety Executive.
Moreover, the Act is seen as having had significant
benefits for the mining industry, governmental
bodies and planning and permitting authorities in
ensuring the preparation of regular independent
audit reports from competent persons throughout
a facility’s operational life. More importantly,
from an environmental perspective, the requirement
for continuation of these audits post closure,
indeed until the deposit or tip has been fully rehabilitated
and become benign, was also defined.
A further significant aspect of the UK regulations,
which has been repeated in other countries,
is the formal appointment of competent persons
to supervise the planning and design, undertake
the auditing and certify the facilities.
Corporate policy
In the last 10 to 15 years major mining companies
have taken a responsible attitude and have seen the
corporate benefit of developing a policy that
ensures compliance with appropriate engineering
and environmental standards for their tailings
facilities worldwide. In particular, as a result of a
number of high profile tailings dam incidents,
major mining houses have developed expert teams
to undertake independent auditing of all their
facilities regardless of the legislation under which
they were constructed. More recently smaller mining
companies have also adopted a similar policy
of ensuring that regular auditing of their facilities
is undertaken. These audits have often been instigated
as a result of financial reviews or restructuring.
Financial institutions require their investment
in projects to be protected and, as tailings management
facilities represent a major risk, auditing
is often specified.
Permitting
There has been a significant change in the planning
and permitting requirements for tailings
Section 9
Section 12
Section 18
Procedures before beginning tipping operations
1a
Geological map of site and boundaries at appropriate scale.
1b Geological section of the strata underlying intended tip.
1c Accurate plan of mine facilities at appropriate scale.
2 Tipping report which includes:
• total and annual amount of waste to be deposited;
• site investigation details;
• site preparation;
• plans and cross sections of the depository;
• method of tipping;
• inspection and monitoring routines.
Active classified tips require a report from a competent person on the tip and every matter
affecting security of the tip every two years.
Closed classified tips require a report from a competent person on every matter affecting
security of the tip every five years.
management facilities, particularly in North
America, Europe and Australia, primarily as a
result of concerns with regard to closure and the
premature abandonment of facilities which then
remain unremediated and lead to environmental
blight. As a result of this requirement planning
authorities are increasingly resorting to bonding
at permitting stage, primarily to ensure that premature
closure of a mine would not lead to unremediated
tailings management facilities or to
mining companies abandoning a site on mine closure.
Such bonding has primarily targeted closure
and environmental remediation, but has also
required the preparation and regular updating of
closure plans and external auditing of the facility
to ensure that it can be closed in accordance with
closure requirements. Again this has led to mining
companies being required to carry out audits
on the facility with regard to closure. However,
these tend not to be on a regular basis and therefore
are of less benefit in ensuring ongoing safety
and integrity of the facilities throughout their
operational life. Such arrangements do ultimately
require that, post closure, the facilities are monitored
on abandonment and that the safety, security
and environmental performance of the facilities
are monitored on a regular basis post abandonment.
These bonding arrangements also avoid
“walk away” and the adoption of a passive care
approach which inevitably leads to companies
undertaking regular monitoring of the facility to
ensure that as soon as a facility becomes benign
they can transfer their responsibilities and minimize
their long term liabilities.
Best practice
Experience of a wide range of systems for inspecting
and auditing of tailings management facilities
around the world indicates that where policies for
regular expert auditing by competent persons have
been enforced, failures have been reduced and
incidences of untoward discharges have been significantly
reduced. However, where legislation has
remained under local water regulations it is clear
that a number of problems remain due to the different
approaches appropriate to water reservoirs
and tailings dams. Such legislation has therefore
been found wanting. Where no legislation exists,
the risk of poor management practices and of failure,
leading to untoward events, is greatly
enhanced and a quick review of those failures
which have occurred in the last 25 years indicates
that a number have occurred in under-regulated
environments. The major driving force in reducing
the number of tailings dam incidents is, firstly,
the adoption of regulations that require regular
independent auditing and certification of a facility
and, secondly, the recognition of the need for a
competent person to undertake the audits, and
that the competent person must have experience
of tailings management facilities, rather than having
general competence in water dams or civil
engineering.
A way forward
To restore public and industry confidence in tailings
management facilities it is clear that a formal
auditing regime leading to regular certification
needs to be put in place. Many of the processes
already exist in legislation, but are fragmented and
not presented as a single coherent policy. However,
it is clear that although a framework already
exists it is inconceivable that identical legislation
could be passed in all countries where mining
occurs. The industry could, with appropriate support,
prepare relevant and workable guidelines for
mining companies and regulators alike, based on
existing and well proven legislation. Important
features which should be incorporated in such
guidelines could be:
◆ Definition of a competent person;
◆ Definition of risk categories;
◆ Frequency of inspections for different classes of
risk;
◆ Highlighting of the importance of continuity of
supervision;
◆ Emphasizing the need for accurate and long
term record keeping;
◆ Attempting to define the regulatory authority;
◆ Provision of guidance on relevant engineering
and environmental standards and reference appropriate
documents;
◆ Specification of the need for operator training;
◆ Encouraging high safety standards and a consistent
approach.
The question remains as to which bodies might
be sufficiently authoritative and acceptable in the
international arena to produce suitable guidelines.
For example, the European Commission (EC) has
drafted the landfill directive which, in the absence
72 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
of local relevant mining legislation, has been proposed
as the pan-European standard for tailings
management facilities, but it does not include
guidance on auditing procedures. Similarly, the
EC is also currently considering including “tailings
ponds” in the Seveso II Directive [92/082/EEC].
Neither approach is likely to be acceptable internationally,
due primarily to the generic and nonmining
basis of the legislation. A combined
ICOLD/UNEP/ICME document would be more
likely to represent an acceptable route, if based on
existing best practice and published bulletins. This
is suggested as a topic for discussion.
It is appreciated that even if draft guidelines are
produced quickly, international recognition and
acceptance may still take several years. The early
implementation of such guidance by industry is
considered to be extremely important for creation
of public confidence, and to Governmental and
non-Governmental bodies so that tailings management
facilities can be designed and constructed
to be safe, stable and environmentally
appropriate repositories for mine waste both during
operation and post closure. In the present climate,
and until such guidelines have been
implemented, it is incumbent upon industry and
regulators to ensure that all those involved with
tailings management facilities are competent and
that high standards for design, construction,
auditing and operating are maintained throughout
the life of a depository. Without such an
approach future mine permitting may be extremely
difficult, if not impossible.
◆
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Prevention of hazards in mining tailings
dams and waste heaps
Kazunori Kano, Metal Mining Industry Corporation, Japan, Beijing Office, 5 Dong San Huan Bei-Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Abstract
Low metal prices, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and high labour costs have
caused closure of many mines in Japan. According to MMAJ records, there are about 5,500
abandoned mines in Japan, and only 13 still in operation. This article discusses the current situation
of hazard prevention in mining waste heaps in Japan and presents a case study of an
active mine.
Résumé
Le prix extrêmement bas des métaux de base, les fluctuations du taux de change des devises
étrangères et les coûts de main-d’œuvre élevés ont entraîné la fermeture de nombreuses mines
japonaises. Selon l’Agence japonaise des mines de métaux (MMAJ), il y aurait au Japon environ
5 500 mines abandonnées et seulement 13 encore exploitées. L’article expose la situation
actuelle au Japon en matière de prévention des dangers présentés par les terrils de déchets
miniers, avec un cas d’étude concernant une mine encore en activité.
Resumen
Como consecuencia de los bajos precios de los metales, la fluctuación de los tipos de cambio
de las divisas extranjeras y el incremento de los costos laborales, muchas minas en Japón han
cerrado. De acuerdo con registros de la Agencia de Minería de Japón ((MMAJ), existen alrededor
de 5.500 sitios mineros abandonados en Japón y sólo 13 minas continúan funcionando.
Este documento analiza las medidas de prevención de riesgo que se aplican actualmente a los
desechos en Japón, mediante el estudio casuístico de una de sus minas activas
Hazards in mining waste heaps
Because mining wastes generally contain heavy
metals, even a small-scale accident can cause great
damage to the environment. Destruction of tailings
dams due to natural disasters such as earthquakes
or storms can result in the release of large
amounts of tailings and may pose a serious risk for
both humans and the environment.
In 1954, the “Standard Regulations for Construction
of Mining Waste Heaps” were established,
based on a worldwide standard for construction
of waste heaps produced by the International
Conference on Dams. In 1959, 1973 and 1980,
provisions for “design to prevent liquefaction caused
by earthquakes” were added to the regulations. In
1982, provisions for “management of mining waste
heaps” were amended.
This article explains the main hazards that have
caused accidents in the past and the measures recommended
in Japan to prevent them.
Types of mine hazards
The main types of hazards are:
(1) Release of mining wastes and dam-filling
materials caused by heavy rains, snow and storms.
This can happen when:
◆ inadequate routine maintenance of the drainage
facility beyond the mine site allows the drainage
system to become clogged by driftwood or collapsed
soil; water from beyond the site can then
flow in and cause the tailings dam to overflow;
◆ the mine site’s drainage system is clogged by
driftwood causing build up of water which flows
over the tailings dam;
◆ the surface of the tailings dam is shaved (due to
heavy rain or snow);
◆ the tailings dam collapses due to elevated levels
of seepage water;
◆ insufficient capacity and inadequate monitoring
of the drainage facility lead to inflow of water
to the mine site resulting in overflow of the tailings
dam;
◆ tailings dams are destroyed by river flood water
seeping into the bottom of the dam.
(2) Release of mining waste due to damage to the
underground tunnel.
(3) Release of the mining waste caused by the phenomenon
of piping.
(4) Failure of the dam caused by earthquake.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 73

Mining
Table 1
Items measured and frequency of measurement
Mine in operation
Closed mine
In use Finished In use Finished
Rain
Every day
Seepage water level Every month Every six months Every three months Every year
Pore water pressure As required As required As required As required
Deformation As required As required As required As required
Settlement As required As required As required As required
Level of hydration As required As required As required As required
and permeation of water
(5) Damage to the dam because of piping and the
elevation of seepage water level, allowing inflow
of water from the dam’s soil.
Main causes of accidents in the past
According to a survey conducted by the Department
of Mine Safeguards, 264 accidents occurred
in mining waste heaps between 1930 and 1978.
The causes of these accidents were:
(1) Storm (heavy rain): 169 cases:
◆ clogging of the drainage system by driftwood
and collapse: 62 cases;
◆ shaved surface of tailings dams and collapse of
the tailings dam caused by increased levels of seepage
water: 24 cases;
◆ insufficient capacity and monitoring of the
drainage system: 6 cases;
◆ other storm-related causes: 77 cases.
(2) Damage to underground tunnel: 20 cases.
(3) Piping phenomenon in the dam: 13 cases.
(4) Failure or partial failure of the dam caused by
earthquake: 10 cases.
(5) Other identified causes: 43 cases.
(6) Unknown causes: 9 cases.
Measures for prevention of mine
hazards
For the main causes of accidents, described above,
the following points should be stressed:
Storm (heavy rain)
While 64 per cent of all of the accidents were
caused by continuous heavy storms, 37 per cent
resulted from clogging of the drainage system.
At present, heavy storms caused by abnormal
climate are the most frequent hazard causing clogging
of the drainage system by driftwood, leading
to collapse of the heap. It is very important to take
measures to prevent such accidents.
Recently, the Standard Construction Guidelines
for Mining Waste Rock Heaps (Construction Guidelines)
have been implemented, and the Guidelines
for Site Selection, Dam Construction and Drainage
have been amended in accordance with the conclusions
of very thorough research.
Since the proper implementation of these
Table 2
Stabilization technology suggested by Construction Guidelines
Technology Basics Points for attention
1. Underground ditch, Blind ditch and drainage hole Prevent piping and clogging
horizontal drainage hole
Drain through
2. Gravel drainage Set crushed stone in bubbling hole Prevent piping and clogging
to lower water pressure during
earthquake
3. Sand drainage, paper drainage Install vertical drainage system in the
heap (sand or paper), then increase
load
4. Lime pile Install vertical lime piles to increase the
density of wastes
5. Injecting cement and reagent Solidify the wastes by injecting cement Maybe fail when pH of seeping water
and reagent
is low
6. Adding soil The density of the wastes may increase It is necessary to remove the excess
by being compacted by adding soil soil layer after the density of wastes
becomes unsatisfactory
7. Vibroflotation Put sand into the wastes and form 8 m deep maximum construction
a compound foundation by vibration
8. Plate and pile Put steel plate and pile or concrete pile When the seeping water is of low pH
into the wastes to increase the strength value, corrosion may occur
of the heap
9. Soil compaction Add soil at the front of the heap, or on
the slope layer by layer to resist slide by
the weight of the soil
10. Cut slope Form a gentle slope by cut The cut soil should form a gentle slope
and should not wash out in the event
of a storm
guidelines, no accident due to inappropriate
design of mine waste heaps has been reported in
Japan. That is, there have been no accidents due to
shaved dam surface, rise of seepage water or insufficient
drainage capacity.
Damage to the underground tunnel
The design and manageability of the underground
tunnel must be given thorough and deep
consideration. Once the waste has been dumped,
the underground tunnel can be impossible to
maintain and may have structural problems.
When this occurs, the tunnel is generally buried
(filled with soil) and another tunnel built.
Piping in the dam
In addition to implementation of the guidelines
for tailings dam construction and for improvement
of technology and equipment, it is very
important to control the level of hydration and
permeation of water at the surface of a mining
waste heap, in order to prevent accidents.
Failure or partial failure of the dam caused by
earthquake
Failure caused by earthquake may result in a disaster.
Adequate construction and management
plans should therefore be implemented. Routine
monitoring of the seepage water level is also a
strict requirement.
However:
◆ A mining waste heap is different from a general
water supply dam, as it only contains mining
residues. It is relatively rare that piping occurs in a
mining waste heap due to earthquake.
◆ Current construction guidelines include the
requirement for the ability to withstand earthquake
and there are standards for liquefaction. All
the mining waste heaps in Japan were inspected
fully after these guidelines were introduced.
◆ Examination of past accidents indicates that
accidents due to earthquake are very few and that
most cases are the result of exceptional accumulation
of water in the mine site. A large-scale accident
can be avoided if the level of hydration and
permeation of water are properly controlled.
Design points for hazard prevention
Depending on the measures for prevention of
mine hazards, the points explained below should
be considered carefully during design stages.
Points for proper site selection, these are:
◆ Low inflows of soil and stone.
◆ Low possibility of collapse, landslide and
avalanche.
◆ Solid ground and no groundwater or springs.
Drainage system
◆ In order to prevent driftwood and debris from
blocking the drainage system, arresting equipment
should be installed upstream of the site.
Both horizontal and vertical screens are required
at the entrance to the tunnel.
◆ Tunnel design is not only determined by the
capacity to prevent inflow of water, but also by the
requirements for good tunnel maintenance.
74 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Tailings dams
In order to reduce seepage water levels and prevent
dam failure due to earthquake and liquefaction,
tailings dams should be designed to include
two features:
◆ a drainage layer in the lower part of the dam;
◆ a water-proof layer and drainage layer on the
inside slope of the dam.
Management of mining waste heaps
for the prevention of mine hazards
Management activities for mining waste heaps
should include some additional points:
◆ Keep good records of all the conditions of the
drainage facility during the construction process,
for the purposes of maintenance after construction.
◆ Keep complete records of all important measures
in the case of emergency.
◆ Establish a system of checks for the tailings dam
and drainage system, to be carried out in case of
emergency such as leakage of water.
◆ Establish a checking system for use in cases of
storm, continuous rain or earthquake.
Measuring equipment
Depending on the amount, degree of importance
and type of tailings, the Construction Guidelines
require the installation of measuring equipment
for heavy rain, interval water pressure, hydration
level and permeation of water. Hydration level
and permeation are relatively easy to measure, it
is therefore required that they be measured regularly
(frequently).
Frequency of measurement
Frequency of measurement is indicated in Table 1.
Emergency checks and hazard
prevention
Heavy rain and continuous rain
As bad weather can be forecast fairly accurately,
the following six items should be checked carefully
before a storm and emergency equipment
should be readied.
(1) Condition of roads under management.
(2) Condition of hills upstream of the site (concerns
are deforestation, collapse, etc.).
(3) Condition of driftwood screens and drainage
systems.
(4) Conditions on sites where the drainage facilities
are located.
(5) Possibility of shaved surface, fissures, and sinking
of soil.
(6) Condition of the wastewater treatment plant.
Measures for thaw
Before a snow storm or freeze, all six check-list
items on the heavy-rain and continuous-rain
check list should be considered.
Measures for earthquakes
Since it is difficult to predict an earthquake, the
following six items should be carefully checked
after an earthquake. If some of the systems have
emergency status, emergency measures should be
taken in preparation for aftershocks and rain:
(1) Condition of the tailings dam (fissures, sinking
of soil, collapse, etc.).
(2) Condition related to water permeation (turbidity,
volume, etc.).
(3) Condition of the drainage facility (blockage,
leakage, damage to building, etc.).
(4) Condition of the waste water treatment plant.
(5) Condition of roads under management.
(6) Condition of hills upstream of the site (deforestation,
collapse, etc.).
The technology for stabilizing tailings
dams
Stabilization technology as regulated by the
Construction Guidelines
The Construction Guidelines require lowering of
seepage water levels in order to compact mining
waste and to reinforce the tailings dam when dam
safety cannot be ensured when the heap is in operation
or closed. Table 2 shows stabilization technologies
included in the Construction Guidelines.
Case study on stabilization of
mining waste heap: the Oshidorisawa
mining waste heap
The Oshidorisawa Mining heap is about 50
metres high. It is expected to accumulate an additional
14 metres before its closure.
With the paper drainage methods from the Construction
Guideline continuing to be applied, sinking
of the soil over 15 years will be about 8 metres,
instead of 3 metres without these methods. This
implies that the accumulation capacity of the heap
will be increased by 5 metres by this method, and
the strength of the soil will increase.
Whether a mine is active or closed, wastewater
flows out from its dam. Such water generally contains
large amounts of heavy metals and must be
treated in accordance with the Discharge Standards.
Although various water treatment methods
may be used, neutralization is always applied.
In order to reduce the accumulation of sediments
resulting from neutralization and to
improve the stability of the heap, the High Density
Sludge (HDS) method is applied in some mines
in Japan (e.g. in the Yatani and Iwami mines.) This
method may prolong a site’s service life and can
contribute to lower utility costs for the heap.
The Construction Guidelines define vegetation
as the condition that: “soil in the heap and that in
the outside will be assimilated; the level of the seepage
water should be lowered not to be harmful for the stability
of the heap; and the wastes should be dehydrated
adequately and solid, and it will be the same
condition with soils outside of the heap.”
From the point of view of hazard prevention,
vegetation not only provides a good landscape but
also reduces the heap management workload.
Healthy vegetation should be an objective from
the earliest stages of design, construction and
operation.
For construction at inactive mines, three additional
points should be considered in addition to
vegetation:
◆ in order to keep the dam stable, the drainage
facility should be installed within the site, to
reduce residence time of the rain water and to
lower the seepage water level in the dam;
◆ a driftwood screen should be installed to keep
the off-site drainage facility operating normally;
◆ the underground tunnel should continue to be
accessible to allow for maintenance, or the tunnel
should be closed and a new tunnel built.
◆
Rehabilitated tailings dam: Captical Steel Mine Corporation, China
Iron ore mine: Captical Steel Mine Corporation, China
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 75

Mining
Designer waste
Hugh Jones, Senior Consultant, Golder Associates Pty, 441 Vincent Street West, Leederville,
Perth, 6007, Australia
Abstract
The usual current industry practice of placing tailings as slurry in a structure located close to the
operating plant often results in excessive water and reagent consumption and an unnecessary
exposure to chronic and acute risks. These risks can be offset to a large degree by designing
the tailings disposal system to remove all excess water from the structure.
Résumé
La pratique actuelle qui consiste à stocker les résidus sous forme de boue dans une structure
située à proximité de l’usine d’exploitation entraîne une consommation excessive d’eau et de
réactifs, ainsi qu’une exposition inutile à des risques chroniques et graves. Ces risques peuvent,
dans une large mesure, être réduits en concevant le système d’élimination des résidus de façon
à éliminer de la structure tout excédent d’eau.
Resumen
Actualmente la industria tiende a utilizar desechos mineros como lechada en estructuras ubicadas
cerca de la plantas de operación, lo que suele provocar el consumo excesivo de agua y
reactivo y una exposición innecesaria a riesgos crónicos y graves. Estos riesgos pueden evitarse
en gran medida diseñando el sistema de eliminación de desechos de manera tal de eliminar
toda el agua excedente de la estructura.
The management of waste in the mining
industry has historically been very low on
the list of priorities of mining companies
and governments. This attitude was very well
expressed by the Tribunal appointed to inquire
into the disaster at Aberfan in their report issued
in July 1967, some eight months after that disaster.
The three man Tribunal, chaired by Sir Herbert
Edmund Davies, stated:
“At the start of this Inquiry we were aware of the fact
that the great bulk of mining operations take place
below ground and that most of the best men in the
industry are employed there. It is there that the coal is
won and in that direction that the attention of those
employed in the industry is naturally turned. Rubbish
tips are a necessary and inevitable adjunct to a
coal mine, even as a dustbin is to a house, but it is
plain that miners devote certainly no more attention
to rubbish tips than householders do to dust bins.”
Later in the same report the Tribunal issued a
very strong statement about the way we in the
mining industry go about our tasks. The Report
states:
“ As we shall hereafter seek to make clear, our strong
and unanimous view is that the Aberfan disaster
could and should have been prevented…..But the
Report which follows tells not of wickedness but of
ignorance, ineptitude and a failure in communication.
Ignorance on the part of those charged at all levels
with the siting, control and daily management of
tips; bungling ineptitude on the part of those who had
the duty of supervising and directing them; and failure
on the part of those having knowledge of the factors
which affect tip safety to communicate that
knowledge and see that it was applied.”
The management of tailings in most of the
76 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
mining industry has not, and is not being conducted
with the overall design objective of ending
up with a safe, stable and aesthetically acceptable
post-operational tailings structure. One challenge
that all of us involved in tailings management face
is to advance our knowledge, assist others advance
theirs and lead a thrust towards more stable and
safer tailings structures. A second challenge will be
to drive this change using cost effective solutions.
Since the Tribunal report in 1967, many good
things have happened in our industry, but as tailings
incidents over the past few years show our
industry’s record in “looking after its dust bins”
has not improved as well as would have been
expected. Acute tailings incidents are still occurring,
as shown in Table 1. The “rubbish” end of
our business still has far too many bins being spilt
over our neighbour’s front gardens!
Table 1 shows that a major challenge is to get
our industry to adopt the mindset that sorts
wastes and maximizes their re-cycling (particularly
of reagents and water), with the balance being
disposed of in a safe, stable and aesthetically
acceptable structure.
The general practice in the industry has been to
receive wastes from the processing plant as slurry
and place it in an impoundment, usually as close
as possible to the processing plant. Many different
impoundment structures have been developed
to meet the combined challenges of the selected
site and available resources (cash). All have a common
design feature: they have to accept and handle
the tailings slurry produced by the process
plant. The tailings slurry, in turn, has its properties
determined by the requirements of the metallurgical
processing plant and the need to dispose of
the tailings at the minimum direct operating cost.
Very little real consideration is normally given to
placing the tailings in a structure and in a condition
that will optimize its short- and long-term
safety, ultimate stability and aesthetic acceptability.
This means that post-mining decommissioning
can be very expensive if the resulting structure is to
be stable, safe and acceptable to the community.
For example, many structures today are built
using the upstream method although it is well recognized
within the industry that this construction
method produces a structure that is highly susceptible
to erosion. In a recent paper Blight and
Amponsah-Da Costa reported erosion losses of
over 500 tonnes per hectare per year as being quite
common on unprotected tailings slopes, with up
to 200 tonnes per hectare per year being lost from
vegetated tailings slopes. Structures with these erosion
characteristics are unlikely to be defined as
stable or meet the acceptance of the community.
I believe that it is necessary for the industry to
reorientate its thinking with regard to waste management,
particularly tailings, and to begin to
make real efforts to design waste streams and
Table 1
Recent tailings related incidents, compiled by WISE Uranium Project,
10 March 2000
Date Location Parent Company Type of Incident Release
10 Mar 2000 Borsa, Romania Remin S.A. Tailings dam failure 22,000 t of
after heavy rain
heavy–metal
contaminated tailings
30 Jan 2000 Baia Mare, Romania Esmeralda Exploration Tailings dam crest failure 100,000 m 3 of
50%,Remin S.A. 44.8% caused by heavy rain & cyanide contaminated
snow melt
liquid
26 Apr 1999 Placer, Surigao del Manila Mining Corp Tailings spill from 700,000 t of cyanide
Norte, Phillippines damaged concrete pipe tailings
31 Dec 1998 Huelva, Spain Fertiberia Dam failure during storm 50,000m 3 of acidic
and toxic water
25 Apr 1998 Los Frailes, Spain Boliden Ltd. Dam failure 4-5 million m 3 of
water and slurry
22 Oct 1997 Pinto Valley, BHP Copper Tailings dam slope failure 230,000 m 3 of tailings
Arizona, USA
and mine rock
29 Aug 1996 El Porco, Bolivia Comsur (62%), Dam failure 400,000 t
Rio Tinto(33%)

Mining
structures that are specifically directed towards
nominated post mining land uses and effectiveness
of post mining closure. In other words the
final land use of the structure becomes as important
a design objective as the decant system. This
probably requires the tailings stream itself to
become an integral and potentially variable part
of design considerations. In effect the final structure
must become a customer of the metallurgical
plant rather than a receiver of the rejects from it.
The waste should be designed and not just happen,
otherwise our industry will not attain the
level of community acceptance we require.
Why do we need to change? What are the problems
associated with current tailings systems that
we would like to eliminate through designing our
waste? Table 1 listed a number of international
examples of acute reasons why change is needed,
but what of Australia?
The current tailings management practice in
Australia has four commonly identified chronic
difficulties:
◆ many structures suffer problems with seepage
◆ many structures carry supernatant ponds with
potentially toxic concentrations of chemicals
◆ post operations rehabilitation often cannot be
undertaken for many years after tailings deposition
has ceased
◆ some structures are sources of considerable dust
pollution.
Australia has not recently had the sort of acute
tailings mishap that would be registered on the
Table 1 data base, but should such an event occur
the media and public focus on tailings management
in the industry would increase considerably.
This would raise the urgency with which we
would need to address the chronic difficulties listed
above, as well as the acute case that brought us
to the public attention.
The elimination of these four chronic difficulties
would go a considerable way towards making
our industry’s waste management acceptable to
the community. The challenge is to design our
tailings management so that:
◆ seepage is (practically) eliminated
◆ toxic chemicals are not retained in solution on
the structure
◆ rehabilitation can be undertaken immediately
after cessation of deposition
◆ the structure is stable against erosion.
The first three of the above design goals can be
effectively met by managing the tailings as a paste
or, slightly less effectively, as thickened tailings.
None of these three design goals can be met using
the slurry without thickening. The fourth design
requirement can be addressed through either the
current armouring of the structure wall using runof-mine
waste, or adding reagents (e.g. cement) to
the paste in strategic locations.
Every mine is unique and not every operation
would expect to arrive at the same tailings management
solution. The decisions are rarely clear cut
and the weighting placed by individual operators
on various “properties” offered by different tailings
management solutions will depend on their individual
circumstances. Listed below is an attempt
to compare the various “properties” of the three
main tailings management options subjectively.
In Table 2 the term “paste” means a non-segregating
material that has no supernatant water,
“thickened” means tailings that have been thickened
to reduce the amount of process water being
discharged to the tailings structure, and “slurry”
means tailings ex treatment process.
Will the image of our industry change
if we are able to change our way of
managing tailings and design for
minimum chronic and acute risk?
One way of addressing this very important question
is to consider some of the consequences of the
seven recent tailings mishaps listed in Table 1.
Esmeralda is currently in administration, probably
on the road to bankruptcy; Romania and its
neighbouring countries are in dispute; Boliden
has a multi million dollar clean up bill; BHP Copper
has been subject to legal action in the USA; all
companies have suffered loss of production during
clean up and intangible impact on employees
and company image. If the operators of the projects
listed in Table 1 had been able to predict the
acute problems they have had I am certain they
would have changed some of the design factors
that contributed to their mishaps.
How many of the mishaps would have occurred
and what would their overall impact have been if
the tailings had been placed either as paste or
thickened tailings rather than as slurry? In most of
the mishaps the major problem reported was the
supernatant water and the chemicals it contained,
rather than the (solid) tailings in the structures.
Operating with minimal or no supernatant water
would, in most of the cases, have prevented the
mishap from occurring. In other cases the overall
impact would have been considerably less if there
had been no supernatant water to distribute the
solid tailings.
Overtopping and wall failure are both dramatic
events that catch the attention of the world
media. They can be avoided to a very large degree
through the adoption of disposal systems that
effectively eliminate excess water in and on the
tailings disposal structure.
Table 2 compared the properties of the three
general types of tailings with regard to the chronic
challenges of seepage and rehabilitation, while
Table 2
Comparison of properties
Properties Slurry Thickened Paste
Final density Low Medium/high High
Segregation High Slight None
Supernatant water High Some None
Post placement shrinkage High Some Insignificant
Seepage High Some Insignificant
Rehabilitation Delayed Immediate Immediate
Permeability Medium/low Low Very low
Application Above ground Above ground Above and under ground
Footprint Medium High Low
Water consumption High Medium Low
Reagent recovery Low Medium High
the potential utilization of the mine site post mining
depends on post-placement settlement, the
footprint, location and general stability of the
structure.
At the extreme end of minimization of the
impact of tailings disposal at a mine site, paste can
be placed underground where it will have the
added benefit of minimizing the chance of collapse
of underground voids, itself a potential public
safety issue. A less radical option for tailings
management is to place tailings in an abandoned
open pit, a solution that has been tried with various
degrees of success at a number of operations
in Australia. Using thickened tailings or paste
rather than slurry avoids a major difficulty with
in-pit disposal, namely the very long lead time
between placement and the completion of settlement,
and hence post-mining rehabilitation.
Increasingly in the mining industry decisions
are being made on the basis of risk assessment.
The seven recent examples of tailings mishaps in
Table 1 and their consequences suggest that there
is need for the industry to bring its risk assessment
models up to date and to give due consideration to
the real risks posed by failure to manage its tailings
correctly. The usual current industry practice
of placing tailings as slurry in a structure located
close to the operating plant often results in excessive
water and reagent consumption and an
unnecessary exposure to chronic and acute risks.
These risks can be offset to a large degree by
designing the tailings disposal system to remove
all excess water from the structure.
It is my view that this means seriously considering
thickened tailings and paste as risk reducing
options for tailings disposal.
References
Report of the Tribunal appointed to inquire into the Disaster
at Aberfan on October 21st, 1966. HMSO, London
1967
Proceedings of the International Workshop on Managing
the Risks of Tailings Disposal. UNEP,ICME,SIDA,
Stockholm,1997
Proceedings of the Workshop on Risk Management and
Contingency Planning in the Management of Mine Tailings.
UNEP,ICME, Buenos Aires,1998
Blight, G. and Amponsah-Da Costa, F., In search of the 100
year tailings dam slope. Civil Engineering, Oct 1999 ◆
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 77

Mining
Environnement minier : résidus de
l’industrie minière et alternatives de
valorisation
G. Morizot, chargé de mission, GMI, BRGM,
H. Lesueur, ingénieur de Recherche, SMN, BRGM,
H. Zeegers, Directeur, GMI, BRGM, BP 6009, F-45060, Orléans Cedex 2, France
Résumé
Le traitement ou retraitement des résidus miniers est une des options possibles pour résoudre
les problèmes de pollution liés à l’exploitation des mines. Le retraitement qui implique le plus
souvent une reprise des résidus vise à séparer des minéraux à valeur marchande ou, au contraire,
les minéraux possédant le plus grand pouvoir polluant (en particulier par la génération de
solutions acides chargées en métaux lourds). Il ne doit pas se limiter au cas où son coût est
entièrement couvert par les recettes de commercialisation des produits extraits. En effet un tel
retraitement peut aussi diminuer le coût global de mise en sécurité des résidus miniers et de protection
des populations, souvent très élevé pour des régions dont le passé minier est riche. Tout
moyen de réduire ce coût ou d’apporter une recette participant à son financement sera donc
bienvenue. En définitive, il apparaît du ressort des autorités administratives de considérer le
problème d’environnement minier dans sa globalité et de favoriser les solutions qui permettent
la banalisation des résidus débarrassés de leurs éléments polluants et la mise à profit des
recettes possibles.
Abstract
Waste reprocessing is one way to solve pollution problems related to mining. The purpose of
reprocessing, which generally begins with waste collection, is to separate out valuable minerals
from highly polluting ones (especially those which generate acid solutions containing concentrations
of heavy metals). Reprocessing should not be limited to instances in which it is
directly paid for through sales of reprocessed materials. It can also reduce the overall costs of
confining wastes and protecting the potentially affected public. These costs are often very high
in regions where there has been a significant amount of mining in the past. Any means of
reducing the costs of safety measures, or helping pay for them, would therefore be welcome.
Public authorities should consider the environmental problems of the industry in their entirety
and support solutions that permit the removal of pollutants from mining wastes and the sale
of as much of the remainder as possible for profit.
Resumen
El reciclado o la reutilización de los residuos mineros podría ser la solución adecuada para el
problema de la contaminación causada por la explotación minera. La reutilización, que en la
mayoría de los casos implica la recogida de los residuos, sirve para separar el mineral con valor
comercial del que contiene más agentes contaminantes (susceptibles de generar soluciones
ácidas, ricas en metales pesados). Esta selección no debe limitarse a los casos en que la comercialización
de los productos extraidos cubran todos los costes del tratamiento. De hecho, este
tipo de práctica reduce considerablemente el coste global de la seguridad en el tratamiento
de residuos y de la protección de la población, que suele ser muy elevado en las regiones de
importante tradición minera. Lo que se procura por todos los medios es reducir este coste, o
lograr posibles fuentes de financiación. En definitiva, corresponde a las autoridades administrativas
hacerse cargo de este problema medioambiental y encontrar la solución adecuada
para minimizar los residuos, previa eliminación de los agentes contaminantes, de la forma
más económica posible.
Introduction
Le domaine de l’environnement minier est très
vaste puisqu’il englobe les précautions à prendre
dès la phase de la prospection géologique jusqu’aux
solutions à apporter au traitement des points noirs
résultants d’activités industrielles passées qui ont
souvent un impact négatif important au niveau
régional (en particulier sur la qualité des eaux utilisées
pour l’alimentation humaine). Aujourd’hui,
les préoccupations environnementales sont prises
en compte durant toutes les phases de l’exploitation.
Un aspect commun à ces différentes problématiques
est l’importance des interactions, en
surface ou en profondeur, entre l’eau et les roches
(figure 1), à partir des micro phénomènes à l’origine
des sources de pollution après perturbation
des circulations et des équilibres eau-roches-atmosphère
jusqu’aux effets sur la santé des populations
humaines qui, la plupart du temps, proviennent
d’une dégradation de la qualité des eaux d’alimentation.
Les quantités de ces résidus qui créent des nuisances
sont considérables, aussi bien dans l’absolu
que par rapport à la quantité des produits de
valeur extraits du sol, en particulier quand les
minerais extraits sont à très faible teneur, comme
dans le cas de minerais d’or ou de diamant. Pour
l’or par exemple, si l’on considère qu’annuellement
2300 tonnes sont produites à partir de
minerais titrant en moyenne 5g/tonne et si l’on
suppose que le rapport, au niveau de la mine, entre
le stérile qu’il faut extraire pour avoir accès au
minerai et le minerai lui-même, est de 1/1 (taux
de découverture), le tonnage total de résidus
accompagnant la production de ce tonnage d’or
sera d’environ un milliard de tonnes.
Le problème actuel est aggravé par l’existence
de résidus anciens générés par l’industrie minière
passée qui trop souvent se préoccupait peu de ses
déchets. Ainsi il existe au Canada 750 millions de
tonnes de résidus miniers et 1,9 milliards de
tonnes de résidus de traitement sulfurés dont la
mise en sécurité par inertage coûterait entre 1 et
2 $ par tonne, soit l’équivalent en valeur contenue
de 0,1 à 0,2 g/t d’or.
En dehors de l’impact directement lié à l’extraction
du minerai lui-même, les nuisances générées
se situent à plusieurs niveaux. La pollution chimique
des eaux superficielles et souterraines ainsi
que la contamination des sols par des métaux
lourds et des ions acides, voire radioactifs (drainage
acide), sont probablement les plus importantes.
Bien d’autres effets polluants doivent être mentionnés,
même dans le cas où ces résidus sont
inertes ou considérés comme tels (Bortnikova S.
et Morizot G., 1997).
◆ immobilisation de surfaces cultivables ou utilisables
à d’autres fins,
◆ destruction de l’écosystème local,
◆ effet sur l’organisation du réseau hydraulique
(depuis la simple sédimentation de particules fines
ou «siltation», dans le moindre des cas, jusqu’à la
destruction complète du régime hydraulique dans
d’autres cas),
◆ risques de glissements de terrain,
◆ destruction du paysage,
◆ pollution aérienne,
◆ ...
78 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Il est difficile de ne pas faire de rapprochements
entre l’existence de telles sources de pollutions et
l’observation d’une espérance de vie abrégée d’une
dizaine d’années pour les populations locales directement
concernées par rapport aux populations
vivant à quelques dizaines de kilomètres, voire
quelques kilomètres dans des zones préservées de
ces pollutions (Dzhida République Bouriate, CEI
1997 ; Kolonin et alii, 1994 – Subarnarekha Basin,
Etat de Bihar, Inde).
L’objet du présent exposé n’est certes pas de présenter
l’ensemble des problèmes environnementaux
liés aux résidus miniers, mais de montrer comment
la prise en compte des caractéristiques propres à ces
résidus peut dans un certain nombre de cas contribuer
à participer au coût de la mise en sécurité de
ces résidus. Or celle-ci apparaît aujourd’hui indispensable
dans le cadre du développement durable,
non seulement pour la préservation immédiate des
populations concernées, mais aussi pour l’acceptabilité
de la poursuite de l’activité minière, indispensable
au développement de l’humanité.
Figure 1
Schéma global des interaction eaux/roches dans un contexte minier
(d’après R. Fabriol - BRGM - 1977)
Résidus
d'extraction
Ecoulements
modifiés
Extraction
Ruissellement
Exhaure
Traitement
Résidus de traitement
Précipitations
météoriques
Décantation
Infiltration
Captage
Résidus miniers et résidus de
traitement
La plupart du temps on peut distinguer deux types
de résidus miniers :
◆ les résidus miniers proprement dits sont les
roches de teneur en éléments de valeur nulle ou
infra économique (trop faible), extraites du sol
seulement parce que leur extraction est indispensable
pour accéder au minerai lui-même, compte
tenu de la méthode minière choisie. Ces résidus se
présentent le plus souvent sous forme de blocs
rocheux, relativement peu réactifs chimiquement
et de tenue mécanique normale ; parfois il peut
s’agir de recouvrement argileux ou encore du sol
arable superficiel ;
◆ les résidus de traitement sont obtenus à l’issue du
processus d’extraction des éléments de valeur du
minerai (opération de traitement). Ils se composent
de particules relativement fines dont la taille des
plus grosses est de quelques dizaines voire de
quelques centaines de microns. Cette faible granulométrie
résulte de l’opération de broyage des
roches nécessaire aux différentes opérations d’extraction
des minerais. La plupart des procédés de traitement
se réalisant en milieu aqueux, ces résidus se
présentent fréquemment sous forme de particules
solides en suspension aqueuse. Ils sont alors souvent
très réactifs du fait de cette finesse et de leur composition
minéralogique, notamment quand la
minéralisation de valeur économique est sulfurée.
Leur tenue mécanique est fréquemment médiocre.
La principale distinction entre ces deux types de
résidus est leur granulométrie. Il en découle des
caractéristiques géotechniques et une réactivité
physico-chimique très différente qui ont un
impact important sur l’usage que l’on peut en faire.
Ainsi, les résidus ayant subi le processus de broyage
inclus dans un procédé de traitement, bénéficient
déjà d’une certaine valeur ajoutée liée à leur
finesse. Les éventuelles opérations de retraitement
ou d’extraction des valeurs résiduelles seront moins
énergivores. De même les éventuelles réutilisations
comme par exemple en produit de charge en seront
facilitées.
Différentes voies de valorisation des
résidus de l’industrie minière
La valorisation des résidus de l’industrie minière
peut se faire par différentes approches, soit en
s’efforçant, comme s’il s’agissait d’un minerai, d’en
extraire des produits marchands, soit en considérant
le résidu comme un tout valorisable dans son
ensemble, par exemple pour en faire une matière
première de travaux publics ou pour créer un sol
agronomique parfois moyennant l’ajout d’éléments
fertilisants (Cadillon M., Lancar R., 1997).
Une combinaison des deux approches est évidemment
possible : elle permet d’extraire de leur
gangue qui sera ensuite banalisée ou valorisée soit
des minéraux directement marchands comme du
charbon, soit des minéraux potentiellement polluants
comme des sulfures susceptibles de nuire à
la fois à l’utilisation en agriculture et en travaux
publics par relargage d’acide et de métaux lourds.
Cette approche bien développée en Europe occidentale,
en particulier pour les résidus de l’industrie
charbonnière (Delaume M., 1997) doit
obligatoirement prendre en compte le développement
socio-économique local et les besoins qui lui
correspondent. Par exemple, la valorisation de
matériaux pouvant servir de soubassement à des
constructions d’autoroutes ou à des parcours de
golf ou encore comme matière première industrielle
(argiles, calcaires, etc.) ne sera pas la même
dans une région où l’activité de génie civil est
dense et l’extraction de granulats réglementée et
dans une région à faible densité de population et
de développement.
Les résidus miniers ont été produits par des procédés
de traitement correspondant à l’état de l’art
existant sur le site de production au moment de
cette production. Or, les performances technicoéconomiques
des procédés de traitement se sont
améliorées avec le temps, ce qui leur a permis de
satisfaire à des contraintes plus sévères comme
l’appauvrissement des minerais traités (les minerais
les plus riches s’épuisant), ou la baisse généralisée
depuis plusieurs décennies des cours des matières
premières (Lassonde P., 1997) : il apparaît donc
normal que des techniques récentes puissent de
façon économique extraire une nouvelle quantité
de minéral de valeur d’un stérile élaboré quelques
dizaines d’années plus tôt. Parfois même il arrive
que des résidus soient retraités à plusieurs reprises
et à un intervalle de quelques années par des techniques
identiques, mais aux performances si
médiocres qu’à chaque fois ce n’est qu’une fraction
modeste du métal de valeur, mais économiquement
suffisante aux yeux de l’opérateur, qui est extraite :
on explique parfois cette nouvelle récolte par « une
régénération » avec le temps du minéral de valeur !
Procédés physiques et
physico-chimiques
Procédés gravimétriques
L’introduction des séparations par milieux denses,
basées sur une séparation dans une suspension à
base de ferrosilicium ou de magnétite de densité
intermédiaire entre les densités des deux minéraux
à séparer ne sont certes pas très récentes car elles
datent de plus d’une quarantaine d’années, mais
elles ont permis d’extraire des quantités appréciables
de charbon des résidus de traitement effectués
avec des méthodes plus rustiques et elles
gardent certainement un bon potentiel en Europe
centrale et orientale ainsi qu’en CEI (le manque de
disponibilité de pompe de qualité y interdisait leur
emploi). Ces procédés (figure 2) s’appliquent à des
particules de dimensions millimétriques ou centimétriques.
Les séparateurs centrifuges sont des équipements
relativement nouveaux. Grâce au remplacement
de la force de la pesanteur par une force
centrifuge de plusieurs dizaines voire de plusieurs
centaines de g, ils permettent la séparation de particules
fines (quelques dizaines de µm), de poids
spécifiques différents ; initialement développés
pour le traitement des minerais d’or, ils s’adressent
maintenant à de nombreux autres types de minerais
et leur futur apparaît prometteur pour l’extraction
des minéraux lourds contenus dans les
résidus (figure 3).
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 79

Mining
Séparations magnétiques
Des progrès importants ont également été faits
dans le domaine des séparateurs magnétiques,
d’une part grâce à l’introduction d’aimants permanents
à base d’oxydes de Terres Rares qui permettent
une plus grande efficacité pour un prix de
revient nettement plus bas, et d’autre part grâce
au développement du cryomagnétisme mettant
en application les développements récents de la
supra conductivité.
Des utilisations sont à prévoir, par exemple dans
le domaine de la production de minerais de fer à
partir de résidus latéritiques.
Séparation par flottation
Les techniques de flottation ont également fait
des progrès importants, notamment dans le
domaine de la récupération de particules de granulométrie
non classique (soit inférieure à
quelques dizaines de microns, soit supérieure à
quelques centaines de microns), ou dans celui de
la séparation entre minéraux de propriétés physico-chimiques
proches. Utilisée depuis longtemps
pour le retraitement des résidus, par exemple
pour extraire de la fluorine ou de la barytine à
partir de résidus d’extraction du plomb ou du
zinc, la séparation par flottation paraît être spécialement
recommandée pour séparer les minéraux
sulfurés contenus dans un résidu de
traitement, soit avec l’objectif de tirer un profit
direct de ces sulfures, soit avec celui de permettre
la banalisation du résidu qui, privé de ses sulfures,
n’aura plus de réaction acide; les deux objectifs
peuvent bien entendu être combinés. Une difficulté
résidera ensuite dans la séparation des différents
sulfures, leur permanence dans les
conditions physico-chimiques existant dans les
stériles rendant cette séparation beaucoup plus
difficile que pour des sulfures fraîchement extraits
de leur minerai.
Procédés chimiques et biochimiques
Procédés chimiques
Des procédés comme la lixiviation sulfurique
sont depuis longtemps utilisés sur des résidus
miniers, en particulier de cuivre ou d’uranium,
dans des opérations appelées « dump leaching »
qui s’effectuent par arrosage des blocs à la granulométrie
de leur extraction minière. Leur faible
teneur en métal de valeur ne justifie pas leur
concassage et à condition que les blocs aient une
certaine perméabilité, ce traitement peut être en
lui même économique, surtout s’il est mis en
oeuvre pendant l’exploitation minière principale ;
l’infrastructure existante (et notamment le module
de traitement des solutions) est alors pleinement
utilisée et amortie sur une plus grosse production.
La cyanuration est elle-même largement pratiquée
sur les résidus de l’industrie minière, qu’il
s’agisse des résidus miniers ou des résidus de traitement
(Barett G., 1996). Relativement peu utilisée
dans le passé dans certains pays, notamment
sous sa variante incluant une récupération de l’or
par charbon actif, cette technique est probablement
celle qui a conduit aux plus nombreuses installations
de retraitement de stériles de type purement
commercial.
Procédés biologiques (ou procédés
chimiques catalysés par action biologique)
La percée récente des traitements de biolixiviation,
en particulier pour catalyser l’oxydation des sulfures
est présentée en encadré par D. Morin sous
une application à des résidus de traitement. Elle
est applicable à de nombreux types de sulfures et
notamment à la chalcopyrite grâce à l’utilisation
de nouvelles souches bactériennes (thermophiles
extrêmes). Elle permet d’envisager le cas souvent
rencontré de mélanges de sulfures. Une difficulté
économique subsiste : la séparation des différents
métaux à partir de la solution quand celle-ci est
complexe.
Approche à privilégier
Sur une base économique, il paraît nécessaire de
distinguer les cas suivants :
◆ le coût de l’extraction des éléments de valeur est
inférieur à la valeur commerciale de ces éléments ;
◆ le coût de l’extraction des éléments de valeur est
supérieur à la valeur commerciale de ces éléments.
Il s’y ajoute dans ce cas l’alternative suivante :
◆ le retraitement des résidus ne présente pas
d’intérêt global ;
◆ le retraitement des résidus présente un intérêt
global.
Figure 2
Schéma d'un procédé de séparation par milieux dense (d'après documentation Tercharmor)
Fraction 1 - 40mm pompée après mise en liqueur dense
Fraction légère
Cyclone de séparation densimétrique
Fraction lourde
Alimentation en résidus
ou minérales
Eau
Recyclage eau de rinçage
Eau
Mise en milieu dense de
la fraction 1 - 40 mm
Récuperateur magnétique
Légers
Lourds
Bidon de milieu dense
Vers traitement des fractions fines (< 1 mm) par hydroclassification
80 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Cas où le coût de l’extraction des
éléments de valeur est inférieur à la
valeur commerciale de ces éléments
Ce cas, actuellement le plus connu et le plus facile
à résoudre, peut être mis en oeuvre sur la base
d’une initiative privée simple. De nombreux
exemples peuvent être cités, notamment dans le
domaine de l’or pour lequel bien souvent une opération
de cyanuration, soit en cuve, soit en tas,
permet, éventuellement après un rebroyage, de
récupérer une quantité suffisante d’or à partir de
résidus produits précédemment par une autre
méthode (gravimétrie, flottation : exemple : Salsigne).
La limite de rentabilité d’une opération
d’extraction d’or pour des minerais frais se situant
dans le meilleur des cas aux environs d’une teneur
de l’ordre du g/tonne par cyanuration en tas ou de
quelques centaines de mg/tonne par gravimétrie
à partir de minerais alluvionnaires, on peut espérer
extraire économiquement de l’or de résidus
miniers pour des teneurs analogues. Malheureusement,
le problème se complique souvent du fait
des caractéristiques minéralogiques des résidus
miniers : trop souvent -et en particulier quand
l’impact de ces résidus sur l’environnement est
majeur- l’or est accompagné d’une quantité telle
de minéraux sulfurés eux-mêmes consommateurs
de cyanure que le procédé de cyanuration devient
prohibitif ou bien la forme de l’or est telle que son
extraction par gravimétrie n’est pas économique ;
cela se produit lorsque l’or extrêmement fin est lié
à des sulfures ou encore finement associé à d’autres
minéraux comme le quartz. De nombreux autres
cas peuvent être cités, pour des métaux de base
(Zinc de Zellidja au Maroc, Cu-Co de Kolwesi au
Congo, Co de Bou Azzer au Maroc, Pb-Zn de
Haute Silésie en Pologne), pour des métaux
d’alliage (étain de Colquiri en Bolivie, tungstène),
pour du charbon, etc.
Bien entendu, pour les autorités en charge il
sera indispensable de concéder les permis d’exploitation
correspondants, de s’assurer que la mise en
sécurité des nouveaux résidus produits s’effectuera
dans des conditions correspondant aux normes
internationales et en particulier ne laissera pas subsister
de désordre écologique ; en effet, la teneur
résiduelle des nouveaux stériles ne devrait pas permettre
avant longtemps leur reprise et l’effacement
de points noirs environnementaux dans des
conditions d’autofinancement.
Cas où le coût de l’extraction des
éléments de valeur est supérieur à la
valeur commerciale de ces éléments
La reprise et le retraitement de ces résidus ne peuvent
pas alors se justifier économiquement par la
seule production associée de produits marchands,
mais ils peuvent l’être si on prend en compte le
problème d’une façon plus globale, en particulier
en considérant le coût de la pollution et le coût des
solutions alternatives permettant de faire cesser
l’effet de cette pollution sur les populations
concernées. L’initiative de ces opérations ne peut
alors que rarement revenir à un entrepreneur
privé, sauf si, cas exceptionnel, il lui est possible
de prendre en compte le problème dans sa globalité
économique.
Figure 3
Vue en coupe d’un séparateur centrifuge (d’après documentation Knelson)
Alimentation générale
Il faut alors distinguer deux situations, en fonction
des coûts globaux des deux approches :
Le retraitement des résidus ne présente pas d’intérêt
économique global
Entrent dans cette catégorie les résidus ne produisant
pas de pollution ou de gène particulière
ou bien pour lesquels des solutions peu onéreuses
(en particulier n’impliquant pas une reprise du tas
de résidus) peuvent limiter à des niveaux acceptables
l’impact de la pollution (résidus mis en
place sur des sols soit imperméables, soit jouant
des rôles tampons vis-à-vis de la pollution chimique
générée).
Bien entendu, le retraitement des résidus ne
sera pas alors la solution à retenir, sauf si une préoccupation
à long terme de développement
durable incitait à éliminer toutes les causes potentielles
de pollution, fussent les moins probables.
Le retraitement des résidus présente un intérêt global
Ce cas se présente surtout lorsque, sur la base de
l’intégration de tous les paramètres socio-économiques
locaux, le coût de la suppression de l’effet
de la pollution et des nuisances par une méthode
mettant en oeuvre le retraitement des résidus est
inférieur au coût de la suppression de cet effet par
toute alternative acceptable, grâce aux recettes
tirées de la valorisation de ce qui aura été extrait
des résidus.
Dans certaines circonstances, il peut en effet
être intéressant de séparer les différents constituants
des résidus, et cela, pour des raisons
variées:
◆ l’obtention des éléments nocifs sous une forme
concentrée permet de limiter le coût d’un confinement
sévère qui ne s’applique plus alors qu’à un
volume limité. Le reste du stock de résidus pourra
soit rester sur site, soit être utilisé, par exemple
en travaux publics. En tout état de cause, il sera
Bol centrifuge de
concentration des lourds
Cavité de drainage
des fluides
Décharge des
concentrés
plus facile de garantir un confinement strict s’il est
limité à un volume faible que s’il s’adresse à un
volume très important ;
◆ l’élimination d’une source de pollution liée, par
exemple, à la présence de sulfures de métaux
lourds générant des solutions acides peut permettre
d’éviter tout aussi bien l’impact direct sur la
santé de la population des eaux de rivière ou de
nappes polluées dont elles s’abreuvent, ou des aliments
concentrant la pollution qu’elles consomment,
et le coûteux traitement chimique curatif
de ces eaux (au Kazakhstan, par exemple) ;
◆ la libération de surfaces occupées par les tas de
résidus au profit de leur mise à disposition pour
des utilisations agricoles, industrielles ou sociales,
de même que la suppression des effets polluants
divers (sur l’écosystème, le réseau hydraulique,
l’atmosphère, le paysage) correspondent à des
gains significatifs pour les communautés locales
et régionales, que l’on sait de mieux en mieux
quantifier.
Dans ces différents cas, il apparaît clairement
que la globalité sous laquelle l’économie du système
doit être considérée est subordonné à une
supervision directe par l’Administration régionale
qui devra veiller à ce que les solutions techniques
retenues prennent bien en considération
l’optimisation de l’ensemble des critères socioéconomico-politiques
: dans certains cas
extrêmes, une solution techniquement simple de
ces problèmes d’impact des pollutions liées à
l’existence de stériles miniers pourrait être basée
sur le déplacement des populations, solution qui
n’est pas sans lourdes conséquences politiques et
sociales.
On voit alors l’importance des outils d’aide à la
décision destinés aux autorités locales, basés sur
des approches faisant notamment appel à des sys-
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tèmes géographiques d’information (SIG) prenant
en compte à la fois des critères géologiques,
géochimiques, hydrauliques, hydrogéologiques,
socio-économiques (occupation des sols, densité
de population, etc.) qui permettront à la fois de
définir :
◆ la capacité de pollution des différentes sources
identifiées et leur impact actuel et futur, direct et
indirect, sur les populations concernées ;
◆ les différents scénarios de surveillance et d’action
techniquement envisageables ;
◆ la hiérarchie des risques et des problèmes à traiter
: Chevrel S. (1997) démontre l’intérêt d’une
telle approche d’utilisation de SIG dans l’analyse
de sensibilité de l’impact des activités minières sur
la pollution des eaux et des sols sur un terrain de
jeu situé en Afrique du Sud ;
◆ un plan d’action cohérent basé sur les données
de terrain et prenant en compte, à la fois l’impact
des pollutions et les contraintes économiques.
Conclusions
Dans les problèmes liés à l’environnement minier,
la facette du traitement ou du retraitement des
résidus qui constitue une partie importante des
sources de pollution, correspond souvent à un
enjeu économique important, d’une part à travers
la récupération d’éléments de valeur qui ont
échappés à une première phase de traitement,
d’autre part à travers l’isolement de minéraux polluants
qui permettra une mise en sécurité plus
aisée de la seule fraction polluante et également
une banalisation du reste des résidus. Une mise en
sécurité de résidus par inertage est en effet coûteuse
(1-2 $/tonne, comme nous l’avons vu ci-dessus)
et il convient de limiter le plus possible le
tonnage à isoler de la sorte.
Que ce traitement s’adresse à des produits qui
ont déjà subi une première étape de traitement ou
pas (cas des résidus miniers), leur valorisation sera
basée sur une bonne connaissance de leurs caractéristiques
minéralogiques et devra faire appel aux
techniques minéralurgiques les plus performantes,
car techniquement comme économiquement les
objectifs seront ambitieux (récupération de fines
particules, séparation de minéraux ou d’espèces
dissoutes dilués et aux propriétés très proches). Il
est certain que des progrès technologiques sont
souhaitables dans ces domaines.
Par ailleurs il est important que les autorités administratives
suivent de près ces actions de traitement
ou de retraitement des résidus miniers et des résidus
de traitement, d’une part pour s’assurer qu’elles
seront menées en prenant en compte l’impact global
des pollutions sur les populations concernées et
d’autre part en favorisant par des mesures législatives
appropriées l’utilisation des fractions non polluantes
des résidus dans l’activité industrielle (génie civil,
matériaux de construction, etc.).
Bibliographie
Bortnikova S., Morizot G. : Sulfide tailings : Sources of
Hazardous Elements and Prospective Deposits 22/1P08,
European Union of Geosciences-Strasbourg, France, 23-
27 mars 1997.
Kolonin G., Bortnikova S., Airijantz A, Eidelman V.
Dzhida Tungsten plant in Buriatya, Russia, Symposium
Mineral Resources of Russia,12-15 octobre 1994, Saint-
Pétersbourg.
Cadillon M. et Lancar L., Mines et Carrières, Comment
créer un sol agronomique avec des boues de lavage de granulats
Industrie Minérale, février 1997, pp.48-50.
Chevrel S. and Coetzee H., 4th International Conference
on Computer Methods and Water Resources, Byblos,
Lebanon, 6-18 juin 1997. A paraître.
Delaume M., Rejets rocheux : Les Terrils :Typologie,
évolution,valorisation, stabilité. L’après charbon, conférence
mondiale sur le Développement durable des
anciens Pays Charbonniers, 17-21 mars 1997, Lille,
France.
Barett G., Rehabilitation in Saline Environment, Case
Studies Illustrating Environmental Practices in Mining
and Metallurgical Processes, ICME-UNEP, 1996, p.53.
Nota : Cette publication BRGM qui porte le numéro
98-002 a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet de
développement PRD 612 intitulé « Environnement
minier et valorisation des stériles ».
◆
82 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

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Voluntary non-regulatory
and regulatory initiatives
Voluntary initiatives: improving
environmental performance
Voluntary approaches and initiatives have
been used increasingly by industry and governments
as a policy tool alongside regulations
to improve environmental performance.
These initiatives have ranged from commitments
by individual companies to achieve environmental
targets to codes of conduct adopted unilaterally
at the national or international level by sectoral
industry associations, to agreements on environmental
performance targets between a government
and a company, group of companies or
industry sector.
There are a number of advantages for industry
in the use of voluntary approaches. These include
greater flexibility concerning ways and means of
reaching targets, the opportunity to present a better
public image and an opportunity for industry
leaders to differentiate themselves from others in
their field often leading to competitive advantage.
For governments, the benefits of voluntary
industry approaches include their usefulness in
promoting dialogue with the private sector and in
raising industry awareness of environmental
issues. They can serve as tools to push industry’s
environmental performance and resource productivity
beyond previously agreed regulatory targets.
In addition, such voluntary activities can
promote innovation and limit enforcement costs.
Non-governmental organizations also recognize
the that appropriate use of voluntary initiatives
can be beneficial. However, they generally
insist on the importance of establishing measurable
targets, of involving employees and NGOs in
setting and implementing these targets, of reporting
on progress and, of third party verification.
UNEP’s contribution to the debate was an
analysis of voluntary actions already undertaken.
This resulted in an understanding of the five critical
aspects to make codes effective (commitment,
content, collaboration, check and communicate).
In 1998, UNEP produced “ Voluntary Industry
Codes of conduct for the Environment, 1 ” guidelines
for the purpose of providing guidance to
industry associations, governments and others on
how to develop and use voluntary codes. Providing
real examples, the guidelines demonstrate
what can be achieved identifying how voluntary
codes can be used as a tool to constibute to sustainable
development.
Voluntary code for the use of cyanide
in mining
The gold industry has signalled its intention to
develop a voluntary global Code for the management
of cyanide in mining. UNEP, working with
the International Council on Metals and the Environment,
is supporting this initiative. The two
organisations convened a multistakeholder workshop
in Paris in May 2000. Discussion commenced
at that workshop on issues relating to
scope, coverage and content, and a process was
agreed to oversee the work. A broad stakeholder
Steering Committee was established and there is
widespread consultation occurring within the
gold industry. There is strong support for such a
Code and it is expected to be implemented in
early 2002.
The power of such a Code will be in the fact
that is has the potential to apply wherever companies
operate and to attract signatories from companies
of different scales. It would set out
principles and practices in all key areas of cyanide
handling, storage, usage and disposal, and would
address risk reduction in the various phases of
cyanide usage as well as emergency response. It
will be responsive to the concerns of communities
as well as drawing on sound science to reduce
environmental and human risks which can arise
from cyanide use. Implementation of the Code
has the potential to reduce substantially the risks
associated with cyanide use in gold mining.
ISO standards and mining
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are families of standards
which are referred to under these generic
titles for convenience. They consist of standards
and guidelines relating to management systems,
and related supporting standards on terminology
and specific tools, such as auditing. ISO 9000 is
primarily concerned with “ quality management ”
meaning what the organization does to ensure
that its products conform to the customer’s
requirements. ISO 14000 is primarily concerned
with “ environmental management ” meaning
what the organization does to minimize harmful
effects on the environment caused by its activities.
ISO 14000 addresses whether or not everything
is being done to ensure a product will have the
least harmful impact on the environment, either
during production or disposal, either by pollution
or by depleting natural resources. As an known
mining example, the SAMA Mineracao de
Amianto Ltda mine in Brazil received the 9002
ISO certification for its quality control processes
and in 1998 qualified for 14001 environmental
management certificate from Det Norske Veritas
for all activities related to mining and processing
of chrysotile.
The greenhouse challenge
Australian industry, working with the Australian
Government, developed and implemented a program
of voluntary reductions of greenhouse gases.
The program, which has run over some 5 years has
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attracted widespread membership and strong
commitment from industry and has produced
impressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
in both absolute terms as well as relative to either
business- as- usual, or emissions per unit of production.
Each member company develops an inventory
of emissions and an action plan of projects to
reduce emissions, which is updated yearly. The
company submits its plan to government and
reports to it on performance against plan. Companies
participating have described the cultural and
management change which has resulted from the
program and the business benefits which have also
accrued in many cases as increased focus has been
placed on energy and other operational efficiencies.
The mining and minerals processing sectors
have been at the forefront of the program. In terms
of participation in the Greenhouse Challenge Program
by the Australian minerals industry, the
recent Evaluation Report highlights that 78 per
cent of emissions from mining (including 91 per
cent from coal mining) are covered by companies
participating in the Greenhouse Challenge Program.
On the minerals processing side, 89 per cent
of emissions from machinery and metals manufacturing
is covered by the Challenge with 100 per
cent coverage from aluminium and iron and steel.
Orphan site clean-up
An innovative scheme started in the United
States by The Conservation Fund and the
National Geographic Society has resulted in
Asarco Inc. (now part of Grupo Mexico) cleaning
up an abandoned mine site that it does not
own. The scheme encourages companies to
adopt voluntarily an abandoned site for which
they have no liability and to clean it up for a
desired benefit or credit. In Asarco’s case, a mine
waste pile at the former Queen Elizabeth and
Tomboy mines in Clear Creek, near Idaho
Springs, was remediated by removing the waste.
The waste was disposed of in the Keensburg facility
owned by Coors Brewing Co., free of charge.
The project was coordinated by Colorado’s
Department of Public Health and Environment,
the US Environmental Protection Agency and
the Clear Creek Watershed Forum.
Accelerated reduction and/or
elimination of toxics (ARET)
In 1991, toxic substances were a focus for the
Canadian mining industry and, with academics,
the environmental community approached the
Canadian government and launched a process to
identify and reduce or eliminate toxic substances
linked to industrial activity. The subsequent
ARET programme by 1993 targeted some 117
substances, in five categories, for reductions of
90% for 30 of the most bioaccumulative sub-
International Conventions and Guidelines Affecting Mining
A number of environmental issues have such extended scope – either in
their impact or in the way they need to be addressed – that only a collective
approach to action can be effective. Global issues such as climate change or
biodiversity are two examples of issues of truly international importance.
Where trade restrictions are used to mitigate environmental impacts, as for
example in the tranfrontier dumping of waste, again only international
action can solve this problem.
International Conventions on Environment, sometimes called Multilatral
Environmental Agreements or MEAs, have been developed by the international
community of nations to address this global aspect of our
environmental agenda. The increasing globalisation of our economic and
social fabric has resulted in a large number of such global instruments on
environment protection. Many of these are relevant to the mining industry,
although few actually single out mining in the text. But national obligations
to control certain substances, protect selected areas of global
importance, take trade measures to reduce impact and so on means that
mining companies are affected by many of the Conventions listed below.
Drafted and negotiated on the basis of consensus, international Conventions
are legally binding instruments once a minimum, negotiated number
of countries have ratified the Convention. Protocols are sometimes used
to define the implementation mechanisms for specific Conventions in certain
action areas, as for example the targets and methods of achieving reductions
of emissions of gases that affect the global atmosphere (Montreal and
Kyoto Protocols under the Vienna and Climate Change Conventions
respectively). UNEP has helped to bring a number of Conventions into
being, and has subsequently been designated as the Secretariat for some of
them, however the Convention and its action programme remains a matter
for the contracting parties.
In addition to formal Conventions, a number of international meetings
result in soft instruments such as guidelines, recommendations, Declarations
and policy statements. These are not legally binding, and may or may
not be accompanied by implementation mechanisms. Nevertheless they
remain useful policy guides for countries and industry alike. They are frequently
reflected in the organisational priorities and action programmes of
international institutions, national agencies and bilateral assistance programmes.
In this, they may also influence the attitude to and funding priorities
for mining development.
International Conventions on the environment1
1971 RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands provides the framework for
national action and international cooperation for the conservation
and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention). More than 150
countries are signatories. (www.unesco.org/whc).
1973 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of
Wastes and Other Matter (London Dumping Convention) was
established to control pollution of the sea by dumping of wastes
including heavy metals which could create hazards to human health
or to harm living resources and marine life.
1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution - to combat
acidification and pollution from long range transport air pollutants
(www.unece.org/env/lrtap).
1982 Law of the Sea Convention - to take measures to prevent, reduce and
control the pollution of the marine environment (www.un.org/
Depts/los).
1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal - designed to minimise the generation
and transboundary movement of hazardous waste which has
impacted metal wastes destined for recycling (www.unep.ch/basel).
In 1999, the Protocol on Liability and Compensation to the Basel
Convention established rules on liability and compensation for damages
caused by accidental spills of hazardous waste during export,
import or disposal (www.unep.ch/basel/COP5/liability).
1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty
(PEPAT) - Article 7 prohibits any activity related to mineral resources
in the Arctic region other than scientific research (www.antarctica.ac.
uk/AboutAntarctica/Treaty/protocol).
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Mining
stances by the year 2000. Reductions achieved to
1998, the most current statistics available, by
members of the Mining Association of Canada,
include: arsenic 50%; cadmium 69%; copper
54%; hydrogen sulphide 52%; lead 70%; mercury
91%; nickel 77% and zinc 82%.
Australian minerals industry code
for environmental management
The Australian Minerals industry launched its Code
for Environmental Management in 1996. It developed
the Code to drive continuous improvement in
environmental management and to be transparent
in its dealings with the Community. The Code sets
out key principles which companies are required to
follow. It does not prescribe the details of how the
companies will implement those principles, thus
allowing flexibility in the improvement path. The
Code is to be applied by companies wherever they
operate, in Australia or elsewhere. Signatories are
required to produce public environmental reports
as well as to audit their performance in implementing
the Code on a regular basis.
Over 40 companies have signed on representing
more than 300 mining or mineral processing
operations, producing about 85% of Australia’s
mineral production. The Code is a dynamic document,
having been evaluated and reviewed after
extensive consultation. A standing community
advisory panel will also help ensure its responsiveness
and evolution.
As a voluntary initiative, it is regarded by practitioners
in the industry as a powerful management
tool to drive change. The Australian industry
sees the potential for this Code to become
global in application and would welcome that
development. The Australian Government is
strongly supportive of this industry Code as one
of the most effective ways to enhance the performance
and the reputation of the Australian industry
as it operates inside and outside its sovereign
borders.
Conclusion
In 1998, at its sixth session, the UN Commission
on Sustainable Development noted the value of
voluntary initiatives and agreements in providing
content and direction to the dialogue between
governments, industry, trade unions, NGO’s and
international organizations. Although important,
voluntary approaches are not the only means of
addressing environmental problems. They need
to be seen as complementary to other environmental
policy instruments (eg. regulations, economics
instruments). In fact, they are part of the
continuum of voluntary, non-regulatory and regulatory
initiatives
Note
1Technical Report No. 40. ISBN 92-807-1694-8 ◆
1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – addresses the
emission of greenhouse gases, to which the consumption of fossil
fuels, including coal, oil and gas. This Convention was strengthened
by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol committing the industrialized nations to
specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse
gases” (carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O),
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur
hexafluoride (SF 6 ) (ww.unfccc.de/resource/conv) and (www.fao.org/
WAICENT/FAOINFO/FISHERY/agreem/kyoto/ kyoe.asp).
1993 Convention on Biological Diversity – to address the present trend of
biodiversity loss (www.biodiv.org).
1998 Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for
CertainHazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
(irptc.unep.ch/pic).
2000 UN/ECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial
Accidents aims at protecting people and the environment against
accidents through prevention, reduction in frequency and severity,
mitigation of effects. Agreement was reached in November on an
early-warning system. (www.unece.org/env/teia/english/intro.htm)
2000 Future Persistent Organic Pollutants Convention – affects interalia
dioxins and furans (www.chem.unep.ch/pops).
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and
Recommendations
(ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/public/english/docs/ convdisp)
1981 Occupational Safety and Health Convention and Recommendation
1985 Occupational Health Services Convention and Recommendation
1986 Asbestos Convention and Recommendation
1989 Indigenous and Tribal Convention (revised) and Recommendation
1990 Chemicals Convention
1993 Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention
1995 Safety and Health in Mines Convention and Recommendation
United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of
Dangerous Goods
The transportation of dangerous goods is coordinated by the UN Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Secretariat is the UN/ECE. Recommendations
and regulations are addressed not only to all governments
for the development of national requirements but also to international organizations
such as: the International Maritime Organization; the International
Civil Aviation Organization and regional commissions such as the
Economic Commission for Europe. (www.unece.org/ trans/danger)
“Soft Laws” (i.e. not binding) principles and instruments
1989 Cleaner Production Programme: UNEP’s Governing Council
launched its Cleaner Production programme to “continue its catalytic
role to promote with Governments, industry, research organizations
and other relevant institutions the esablishment of a network
which will allow the transfer of environmental protection strategy.
The CP Declaration is a tool to actively promote front end technological
improvements to eliminate pollution rather than using the
more traditional end-of-pipe solutions to reduce or mitigate the effects
of pollution. (http://www.unepie.org/Cp2/declaration/home.html)
1992 Rio Declaration and Plan of Action (updated in 1997) – Agenda 21
deals with topics related to the mining activities, such as Planing and
Managing of land resources (chapter 9), Deforestation (chapter 10),
Atmosphere (chapter 15), Oceans and Seas (chapter 17), Freshwaters
(chapter 18), Toxic Chemical (chapter 19), Hazardous Wastes
(chapter 17), Business and Industry (chapter 31)
1999 Mining and Environment “Berlin Guidelines” (revised)
1 Summaries and full texts can be obtained from the United Nations Environment
Programme Register of International Treaties and Other Agreements
in the Field of Environment (http://sedac.ciesin.org/pidb/
register-home.html)
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 85

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Mining Minerals and Sustainable
Development (MMSD) Project
Luke Danielson, Director, 1A Doughty St., London, WC1N 2PN, England
MMSD is an independent process of
multi-stakeholder engagement and
analysis with the objective of “identifying
how mining and minerals can best contribute
to the global transition to sustainable development”.
Beginning in April 2000, it is a two year
project designed both to produce concrete results
during this period, and to create structures capable
of being carried forward thereafter.
MMSD was initiated by the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
as one of a number of projects initiated by the
Global Mining Initiative (GMI). The Project is
independent of the Global Mining Initiative and
managed by the International Institute for Environment
and Development (IIED), 1 under the
supervision of a distinguished international Assurance
Group.
MMSD’s objectives are fourfold. First, there is
a need for analysis to assess global mining and
minerals use in terms of the transition to sustainable
development. Second, what are the future
scenerios to identify if and how the services provided
by the minerals system can be delivered in
accordance with sustainable development in the
future. Third, propose key elements of an action
plan for improvement in the minerals system, and
fourth, create mechanisms to identify how mining
and minerals can best contriubte to a global transition
to sustainable development.
To achieve these objectives, four main elements
have been identified: research and analysis; stakeholder
engagement; communication and implementation.
MMSD represents a unique attempt to bring
together the actors affected by the minerals cycle
including exploration for deposits, construction
of mines, mining operations, closure and rehabilitation
and the use, reuse, recycling and final disposal
of mineral products. MMSD views itself as
an agent of change for the transition to a more sustainable
society which will require all social actors
to change the way they produce, use recycle and
dispose of resources.
The Project, directed by Luke Danielson is centred
at the IIED in London, England. It is in the
process of creating a series of regional partnerships
and has a unique, albeit complex governance
structure. But it is working to get the process right
– to be as transparent and open as possible so as to
create conditions in which as wide as possible a set
of stakeholders feel they can engage with confidence
that their efforts can influence the Project’s
outcomes. Information is easily available on the
MMSD website (www.iied.org/mmsd).
Mineral resources have throughout history
been a critical part of the human economy, and
the way they are produced and used has had a profound
effect on human society and culture. This is
obvious by our very characterization of much of
the human past as the Stone Age, the Copper Age,
the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. It is therefore,
reasonable to believe that a major shift in the way
human societies operate is likely to produce – or
be produced by – changes in the conditions under
which minerals are produced and consumed.
The timelines for the MMSD Project are very
tight as the Project Report is scheduled to be presented
at the GMI meeting in Toronto, Canada
in May 2002 so as to be presented to the Rio +10
high level summit in 2002. Expectations are high
that this Project will contribute significantly to
everyone’s understanding of sustainability and the
role of mining minerals and metals.
Note
1 GMI was formed by the Chief Executive Officers
of several of the world’s principal mining
companies.
◆
Accident prevention and environmental safety in mining: the role of governments
Improving mining safety around the world is a responsibility of governments
and of companies. With accidents, particularly tailings spills, happening
in developed and developing countries alike causing increasing
concern amongst communities and governments, the time was ripe for an
initiative to bring mining regulators together to focus on ways to achieve
the common objective of accident prevention.
Together with the Australian Government, UNEP hosted a Workshop
on Environmental Regulation For Accident Prevention in Mining – Tailings
and Chemicals Management. Held October 2000, in Perth, Australia, is
was the first major international gathering of regulators to share experience,
practices and problems associated with regulation of the high hazard
components of mining. Forty-five regulators and professionals
attended from some 20 countries.
Participants compared the actions which various governments had taken
to prevent accidents and improve environmental safety at mines. A large
number of common issues, objectives and approaches emerged in spite of
the differences in size, scale or age of the various countries’ mining industries
and the different geological and climatic environments which host
mines. Participants benefited from the preparedness of governments which
had experienced a major mining accident sharing what they had learned
and the changes they had made to their permitting and oversight procedures
as a result. Participants from developing countries currently opening
up new mining operations found the information particularly timely.
Key issues which emerged at the Workshop included:
◆ How to adapt regulations and permitting procedures to efficiently and
effectively cover a non-homogeneous industry with big and small players,
different site specific circumstances, high performing companies and companies
operating to recognised systems or Codes along with poor performing
companies;
◆ Specific ways to improve permitting, monitoring and oversight of tailings
facilities, especially different requirements for critical review before
approvals, plus effective inspection and reporting regimes. The competency
and authority of regulators to intervene in the event of a problem
was a related issue;
◆ Identification of early warning signs of impending accidents;
◆ The need to build and maintain appropriate skills, expertise and
resources to enhance regulatory capacity;
◆ Evolving interface between industry codes and regulation, and evolving
regulatory tools including differential approaches to financial or oversight
provisions for different performers;
◆ Community participation and involvement in approaches to decisionmaking,
oversight and emergency awareness and preparedness.
The presentations represent a resource for all governments as well as the
papers on each country’s issues and practices. The resulting network will
facilitate the international spread of new regulatory approaches.
The Workshop made significant progress towards finding better ways
of regulating potentially hazardous aspects of mining, and many of the
participants were keen that this not to be a one off event. Regular
exchanges between governments would help accelerate the evolution of
international thinking and practice amongst governments. UNEP is also
of the view that a regular Mining Regulators Forum should be seriously
considered. ”Mining is a global activity and it is perhaps remarkable that there
is no such regular exchange already taking place”. ( Klaus Töpfer , Nov 2000)
The legacy of the Workshop should be more effective government oversight
in support of the industry’s own efforts to reduce the number of accidents.
This will allow the benefits of the mining industry to continue to
accrue to consumers, companies and countries alike as confidence is
regained in the industry’s safety.
Workshop papers have been posted on UNEP’s Minerals Resources
Forum website (www.natural-resources.org/environment).
86 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Viewpoints on
future challenges
Environment, multi-culturalism and
human rights: challenges for the mining
industry and governments
Cristina Echavarría, Director, Mining Policy Research Initiative, IDRC, P.O. Box 6379, 11100 Montevideo, Uruguay
The challenges for mining and sustainable
development over the coming decade are
numerous and varied. If the 1980’s and
1990’s saw environmental imperatives affecting
corporate practice, the turn of the millennium is
witness to the rise of the social imperative. From
this perspective one could mention the following
challenges:
◆ Providing and facilitating access to relevant and
adequate information for improved participatory
decision-making and understanding of trade-offs
with regard to mineral development.
◆ Developing transparent, efficient and reliable
environmental and social evaluation and monitoring
systems that are meaningful to all stakeholders.
◆ Making lasting partnerships between corporations,
communities and governments for the sustainable
and equitable development of mining
localities and regions.
◆ Designing and applying intercultural mechanisms
for resolution of conflicts over natural
resources in indigenous territories.
◆ Developing and implementing mine closure
and rehabilitation laws and practices.
◆ Finding ways to make artisanal and small-scale
mining sustainable, in every sense of the word.
◆ Building capacities of local governments to deal
with the multiple challenges of mineral development.
Perhaps the most crucial question is: how can
large scale mining and mineral processing contribute
to increased well-being, equity and sustainable
development of mining regions and
localities in the developing world?
The answers are diverse and multi-dimensional,
and are likely to be voiced from multiple cultural
perspectives in today’s world. In effect, the
outcome of mining in each particular mining
region – in terms of its contribution to equitable
and sustainable development – will not depend
only on the performance of the mining companies.
It will also depend on the capacity and performance
of other key stakeholders such as the
local, regional and national governments, the different
groups and civil organizations within the
communities themselves and even advocacy
groups at the global level. I will address the key
challenge of complete and respectful communication
and engagement of stakeholders as one of
the main requirements for moving towards more
equitable and sustainable development of mining
regions.
Due to the nature of global geopolitics and the
global economy, many developing country governments
are forced to make decisions where the
implications of the trade-offs involved are not
properly known or understood. In the developing
world, short-term realities usually dictate that the
decision-making process tends to take place under
the pressure of growing social unrest and of the
effects of economic globalization and structural
adjustment. The structural restrictions that make
for imposed decisions tend to broaden the gap
between participatory demagogy and meaningful
public participation. The urgency for much needed
foreign direct investment and the need to generate
jobs means that the medium and long term
strategic importance of biodiversity may be minimized,
the rights and ethnic integrity 1 of indigenous
peoples deemed contrary to national interest,
potential public health hazards ignored, and
the diversified livelihoods of rural dwellers undermined.
In the same way that developing countries
are restricted in their development options by an
unlevel global market and playing-field, so local
communities find their needs and priorities mandated
by central governments. It is in this context
of differences in power, capacity and degree of
freedom of choice that mining takes place.
The liberalization of investment regimes and
the globalization process have brought the rapid
expansion of mining activities to areas previously
isolated from mainstream development processes
in many developing countries. Many of these
areas coincide with territories traditionally occupied
or used by indigenous and other traditional
rural peoples as the basis of their livelihood 2 .
Many of these regions are also characterized by
cultural and biological diversity and are fragile
ecosystems (e.g. desert, mountain or tropical forest)
3 . Most of them are areas where basic public
services are either lacking or deficient, where
indeed the “presence” of the government may be
very weak, and where there is likely to be a high
level of expectation that large mining companies
will deliver these services. A common situation in
many localities is that local communities do not
have freedom of choice. Solutions to problems of
social and economic rights and minerals development
are presented in the discourse of both governments
and mining companies as one and the
same thing. The promise of “development” dominates
the communication scenario in the early
phases of mining, but in general this develop-
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 87

Mining
ment, if forthcoming, leaves many vulnerable
groups excluded from its benefits. Today, the
promise of “development” is no longer enough to
ensure that corporations and governments gain
access to resources. The issue in some cases is precisely:
“development” according to whose definition
of quality of life and well-being? For whom?
What kind of development? 4
In this era of multi-culturalism, and environmental
and human rights concerns, the mining
industry is at a cross-roads. Access to information
and communication technologies has allowed
unprecedented visibility of the actual historical
experience of many local communities with mining
and with its lasting (positive and negative)
effects on livelihoods and health, as well as of the
non-mining options left to mining regions and
communities once the minerals have been extracted.
For some stakeholders the contribution of
mining to sustainable and equitable development
is far from clear. This perception is based on past
and present cases of insufficient transparency in
the management of information on the social and
environmental impacts of mining, unequal distribution
of its economic benefits between the federal
and the municipal governments in some
nations, and inadequate management of royalties
and taxes. If trust and respect are accepted as the
necessary ethical bases for equity and meaningful
participation in decision-making processes,
improving the quality, timeliness, accuracy, cultural
compatibility and integrity of communication
between stakeholders is a very real challenge.
This in itself calls for a greater effort on the part
of governments and companies to articulate intercultural
protocols for the management of consultation
and negotiation processes for large-scale
resource development projects.
To this end, another important challenge is
establishing a “dialogue of knowledges”, between
mainstream science and practical traditional
knowledge about the local environment. EIAs and
SIAs, and the scientists in charge of predicting
impacts, must incorporate methodologies that
facilitate joint decision-making processes with
local organizations in order to jointly evaluate
impacts and plan for mine closure and rehabilitation
from the outset. This would allow for the
development of a better understanding of the
restrictions and potential that a local ecosystem
and social context imply for a projected mineral
development, and thus provide the opportunity
to design the project accordingly and put in place
the necessary management systems. On the basis
of this increased understanding, the challenge is
to put in place multi-stakeholder monitoring systems
that generate and maintain trust among
stakeholders, a key cornerstone of lasting partnerships.
Only through addressing these challenges
will it be possible to develop forms of partnership
with local communities that will respect their view
of the purposes of development. Mining may then
be seen to contribute towards increased levels of
well-being in multi-cultural regions and localities.
Notes
1 Ethnic integrity: “The maintenance of factors
that are essential for the life, sustenance and recreation
of the ethnic, economic, political, social,
spiritual and cultural systems of indigenous peoples”
(Direccion General de Asuntos Indigenas –
Ministerio del Interior, Colombia, 1998. Los
◆◆◆◆◆
Pueblos Indigenas en el Pais y en América: Elementos
de politica colombiana e internacional. Serie Retos
de la Nacion Diversa, No. 1. Santafé de Bogotá).
2 Parakh Hoon, Naresh Singh and Samir S. Wanmali.
1997. Sustainable Livelihoods: Concepts,
Principles and Approaches to Indicator Development.
A Draft Discussion Paper. Prepared for the
workshop on Sustainable Livelihoods Indicators.
UNDP, New York.
3 Although demographic data on indigenous populations
in many countries is often incomplete, it
is estimated that there are some 300 million individuals
who identify themselves as belonging to
indigenous peoples in the world today. They
inhabit 70 countries and are characterized by an
enormous cultural diversity (COICA – Coordinadora
de Organizaciones Indigenas de la Cuenca
del Amazonas – In: Banco Mundial and OLADE.
Tercera Reunion del Grupo Energia, Poblacion y
Ambiete. Cartagena, 1999. Consideraciones sociales
y ambientales de las actividades hidrocarburiferas en
areas sensibles de la cuenca Sub-Andina).
4 For an extensive critique of the “development”
paradigm see: Arturo Escobar. 1995. Encountering
Development: The Making and Unmaking of
the Third World. Princeton University Press.
Princeton. For discussion of development, postmodernism
and multi-culturalism see also: Arturo
Escobar. 1999. El Final del Salvaje: Naturaleza,
Cultura y Politica en la Antropologia Contemporanea.
Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia &
CEREC. Santafé de Bogotá.
◆
Mining and World Heritage
considerations
Mechtild Rössler, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 7 place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris 07SP, France
Arecent workshop on “World Heritage and
Mining”, organized by the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), and the International
Council on Metals and the Environment
(ICME) in collaboration with UNESCO’s World
Heritage Centre in Gland (Switzerland) from 21
to 23 September 2000, explored this difficult relationship.
The 1972 World Heritage Convention,
one of the flagship legal instruments in the conservation
field, protects sites of outstanding universal
value. 630 of these are protected around the
world in 118 countries. 430 cultural, 128 natural
and 22 sites of both cultural and natural values are
inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List.
Although the sites are nominated by the States
Parties to the Convention (currently 161), these
sites are the shared concern of humanity as a
whole.
The responsibilities and obligations, as well as
the benefits of the World Heritage Convention are
indeed enormous. The specific cases we have been
dealing with, which are illustrated in Table 1, are
far from being a matter of importance only to the
particular sites in the countries, but are an issue of
global concern. The World Heritage status of
these sites makes their protection not only a
responsibility of each of the States Parties but also
for the international community as a whole. Mining
and related issues concerning the management
and protection of World Heritage sites are challenging
the future implementation of the World
Heritage Convention.
The necessity for a new dialogue with the mining
industry can easily be demonstrated: disasters,
such as the toxic mining spill threatening Donaña
National Park (Spain) in April 1998, which led to
such immense cleaning operations that the mining
company became bankrupt, or the recent spill
at Baia Mare, Romania which affected several
World Heritage sites in the region including the
Danube Delta (Romania) and Hortobagy
National Park (Hungary), illustrate such a need.
Increasingly, the World Heritage Centre, as Sec-
88 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
Selection of World Heritage Sites (potentially) threatened by mining
Natural sites
World Heritage Site State party Year of (Potential) Mention of Mention of Site on bureau Listed on World
inscription threats to site (potential) (potential) mining and committee Heritage in
mining threats threats in IUCN and/or agenda, total danger
in nomination file ICOMOS evaluation figures
WCMC data sheet
Great Barrier Reef Australia 1981 Mining, oil Yes Yes 15 No
Shark Bay Australia 1991 Sand, gypsum, salt Yes Yes 11 No
Okapi Wildlife Reserve Congo 1996 Illegal gold mining Yes Yes 9 (Yes, 1997)
Mt. Nimba Strict Nature Reserve Guinea 1981-82 Iron ore Yes Yes 37 Yes, 1992
Lorenz National Park Indonesia 1999 Oil, copper Yes Yes 2 No
Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino Mexico 1993 Salt No Yes 16 No
Huascaran National Park Peru 1985 Copper, zinc No Yes 14 No
The Virgin Komi Forests Russia 1995 Oil, gas No Yes 2 No
Volcanoes of Kamchatka Russia 1996 Gold Yes Yes 7 No
Doñana National Park Spain 1994 Mining accident No No 8 No
St. Kilda UK 1986 Oil No Yes 6 No
Yellowstone USA 1978 Oil, gas No No 17 Yes, 1995
Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park South Africa 1999 Sand Yes Yes 2 No
Mixed and Cultural Sites
Kakadu National Park Australia 1981-87-92 Uranium Yes Yes 20 No
City of Potosí Bolivia 1987 Silver No No 6 No
Hortobágy National Park Hungary 1999 Mining accident No No 4 No
retariat of the Convention is faced with questions
concerning mining operations next to World Heritage
sites, such as coal mining in Jasper National
Park in the Rocky Mountains Parks (Canada),
zinc mining by Antamina near Huascaran
National Park (Peru), or one of the large copper
mining operations by Freeport next to Lorenz
National Park (Indonesia). The case of Kakadu
National Park (Australia), a World Heritage site
inscribed for both its natural features
and cultural values including
aboriginal rock arts sites,
made the headlines of newspapers
around the World. The
necessity felt by the World Heritage
Committee was to hold an
extraordinary session in July
1999, devoted exclusively to
examining the case of Kakadu
National Park (Australia), shows
the increasing complexity of
mining issues that the statutory
organs of the Convention, the
World Heritage Committee and
its the Bureau as well as the
States Parties of the Convention
are called upon to review.
The presidential stop of the
largest salt extraction projects on
earth, in the Whales sanctuary of
El Vizcaino (Mexico), was not
only due to public interest and
pressure by environmental
groups, but mainly to the consideration
given to protection of
the integrity and the beauty of
the World Heritage site for
future generations.
The tasks facing us are indeed
enormous. Each case has to be considered on its
own, each site is unique and the Convention text
and the listing criteria, as presented in the Operational
Guidelines for the Implementation of the
Convention, have to be considered. However,
questions of human and economic development
also have to be taken into account. This one of the
reasons why the Gland meeting also attracted the
interest of other UN agencies, not only of UNEP
but also of UN/DESA and international institutes.
The best results in the new dialogue with the
mining industry were achieved from reviewing
specific case studies. During the past two years,
the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and IUCN
have been involved in the solving of specific problems
to maintain the integrity of the Huascaran
National Park. A working group has been created
with representatives of the mining company, the
Status of construction of the Jabiluka uranium mine, October 1998, photo taken by UNESCO’s mission
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 89

Mining
site manager, the Mountain Institute, the national
environmental agency INRENA and the
IUCN representatives from Peru. This working
group was instrumental in dealing with issues
such as monitoring of the temporary use of the
central road across the park and reviewing potential
impacts on the wildlife.
The case of Lorenz National Park (Indonesia)
led to a lengthy debate at the December 1999 session
of the World Heritage Committee, and several
delegates noted the issues of mining
concessions and adjacent oil concessions as well as
other impacts on the site, such as road construction
and visual impacts related to these operations.
The World Heritage Committee inscribed the site
as the largest protected area in Southeast Asia
(2.35 million ha) and the only protected area in
the world which incorporates a continuous, intact
transect from snow cap to tropical marine environment.
The site is also clearly of outstanding
universal value for its high level of biodiversity and
endemism. At the same session, the Committee
reduced the inscribed area at the request of the
Indonesian authorities by 150,000 ha to exclude
oil exploration concessions. The case of Lorenz
National Park is illustrative of the complexity of
the issues to be discussed concerning World Heritage
areas.
Other cases such as Greater St. Lucia Wetland
Park (South Africa) or Yellowstone (United States)
mainly illustrate the processes of mining leases
and the decision of the State Party not to allow
mining within or next to an area identified for
World Heritage listing or an existing World Heritage
site. Table 1 also shows the number of times
the World Heritage Committee dealt with specific
cases, such as Mt. Nimba Strict Nature Reserve,
a transfrontier site between Guinee and Cote
d’Ivoire. In 1993 an expert mission was sent to
review the boundary changes requested by the
Government to accommodate exploitation of the
iron-ore mine at Mount Nimba. Following the
expert’s recommendations, the boundaries of the
World Heritage site were changed, although the
total area was not reduced. Continuous negotiations
are being held to ensure an integrated development
of the Mount Nimba region and to take
all measures to protect the World Heritage area.
◆◆◆◆◆
The site was included in 1992 in the List of World
Heritage in Danger, because of “the real dangers
of exploitation of the mine and the arrival of large
numbers of refugees”.
For the first time, in 1998 and 1999, the World
Heritage Committee and its Bureau discussed the
question of mining and World Heritage in general
terms. Following the September technical workshop
on “Mining and World Heritage”, a set of
recommendations was presented to the World
Heritage Committee in Cairns in November-
December 2000. The report containing the decision
of the World Heritage Committee will be
made available on the webpages of the UNESCO
World Heritage Centre (www.unesco.org/whc). It
is necessary to share information between the different
actors dealing with World Heritage and to
review cases of good practice, as well as lessons
learnt from disasters such as the situation around
Donaña National Park. This could be the basis for
a better national and international collaboration
to ensure that the World Heritage sites are conserved
for future generations.
◆
Mining and protected areas:
an IUCN viewpoint
Adrian Phillips 1 , Chair, World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), IUCN, 2 The Old Rectory, Dumbleton near Evesham, WR11 6TG, UK
The impact of mining and mining-related
activities on protected areas is currently
much in the news. In recent years there have
been a string of controversial and well-publicized
cases affecting a number of the world’s great natural
sites. Examples include Kakadu (Australia),
Mt. Nimba (Guinea/Ivory Coast), Lorentz
(Indonesia). Huascaran (Peru), Kamchatka (Russia),
Doñana (Spain), Canaima (Venezuela), and
Yellowstone (USA). These are all World Heritage
sites, but the issue of mining and associated activities
also affects many more of the world’s growing
number of protected areas. As a result the
topic has recently been on the agendas of the
World Heritage Committee and of the World
Conservation Congress (WCC) – see below. It is a
key theme in the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable
Development (MMSD) project 2 and also
concerns governments, mining companies, environmental
bodies and citizens groups around the
world. This short article sets out IUCN’s position
on this issue and considers the challenge which the
topic poses for the mining industry.
90 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000
IUCN Protected Area
Management Categories
Protected area managed mainly for:
Ia: science
Ib: wilderness protection
II: ecosystem protection and recreation
III conservation of specific natural features
IV: habitat and species management
V: landscape/seascape and recreation
VI: sustainable use of natural resources
(for a fuller explanation, see IUCN, 1994, Guidelines for
Protected Area Management Categories)
Conflict over mining and protected areas issues
is becoming more common. This is because the
number of protected areas continues to grow (see
below), and because knowledge of mineral potential
and new mining techniques now makes it possible
and profitable to work in places which were
previously ignored or avoided due to their remoteness
or because of the high costs involved. Further,
as awareness of the importance of protected areas
has grown, so has concern over the negative
impacts that mining and related activities can give
rise to. The stage is therefore set for greater conflict
in the future unless ground rules can be
agreed between all concerned. IUCN is working
to help develop such ground rules.
IUCN is a global alliance of member States,
government agencies and non-governmental
organizations committed to the conservation of
nature and to ensuring that any use of natural
resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
As well as its members and a secretariat operating
in more than 40 countries, IUCN works through
volunteer networks of experts, or commissions.
One of these is the World Commission on Protected
Areas (WCPA), involving a thousand or so
people with expertise in every aspect of protected
area management. WCPA is concerned with all
protected areas, but it also has a particular part to
play in assisting IUCN in its role as advisor to the
World Heritage Committee on natural sites. In
the light of the difficulties which many protected

Mining
area agencies and managers have recently encountered
in dealing with mining and protected areas,
WCPA developed a position statement on this
topic in 1998. It covered all forms of mining and
mineral extraction, including that of fossil fuels,
as well as related activities, such as processing,
transport and settlement, whose environmental
impact can be greater that that of extraction itself.
The status of this WCPA position was that of a
peer-reviewed document prepared by experts in
WCPA’s own network, and also from other parts
of IUCN. Consultations on the draft were held
with the International Council on Metals and the
Environment (ICME). At the recent WCC, held
in Amman, Jordan, (4-11 October 2000),
IUCN’s members adopted a resolution on this
subject, based in large part on the WCPA position.
The resolution (reproduced as an annex to
this article) provides IUCN with its current formal
position on this topic.
The starting point behind WCPA’s work, and of
IUCN’s effective endorsement of it, is the significance
of protected areas. These have been defined
by IUCN as follows: “an area of land/and or sea
especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance
of biological diversity, and of natural and
associated cultural resources, and managed
through legal or other effective means”. Most
countries have set up places that meet this definition,
seeking to protect the integrity of nature in
selected sites permanently. The importance of
protected areas at the national and international
levels is growing. For example, protected areas are
one of the main means by which countries can fulfill
their obligations under the Convention on
Biological Diversity. The World Conservation
Monitoring Centre, which maintains the world
protected areas database for IUCN/WCPA,
reports that there are more than 30,000 protected
areas meeting this definition and covering about
9.6 per cent of the land surface of the earth. This
is roughly equivalent to the areas of India and
China together.
Through WCPA, IUCN has developed a system
of categorizing protected areas by reference to
their principal management objectives, as shown
in the box below. This categories system – now
widely used by governments and others – is critical
to shaping WCPA’s, and hence IUCN’s, policy
towards mining.
As will be seen from the resolution adopted in
Amman, IUCN believes that mining should not
take place at all in the first four categories and only
under strict conditions under categories V and VI
(together these two categories account for about
30% of the land under protection). IUCN also
believes that if it is proposed to alter protected area
boundaries so as to permit mining or related activities,
a proper and exacting process should be gone
through. De-designating a protected area, or a
part of it, is not to be undertaken lightly. Also
IUCN is concerned to ensure that mining and
related activities near protected areas do not
adversely impact on their values.
The original WCPA position statement contained
several other important points. It recognized
that countries would need to adapt the
Resolution adopted at the Second World Conservation Congress on the Protection
and Conservation of Biological Diversity of Protected Areas from the Negative
Impacts of Mining and Exploration, October 2000
CONSIDERING that protected areas of various
definitions and categories are home to a
substantial portion of the earth’s biological
diversity, threatened species, indigenous communities,
lifestyles, and cultures;
NOTING that protected areas act as an important
natural system for the regulation of the
world’s climate balance;
RECALLING that a large majority of State
members of IUCN are signatories to the Convention
on Biological Diversity;
ACKNOWLEDGING that many of IUCN’s
State members have established national systems
of protected areas to guarantee the conservation
of biological diversity;
CONCERNED by the negative social and
environmental impacts associated with the
rapid growth of mining and mineral exploration
activities world wide with particular reference
to the risks posed to the preservation of
biological diversity in protected areas;
RECOGNISING that the positive endeavours
of States, environmental groups, and threatened
communities require strong legislative instruments
to strengthen their efforts for nature conservation;
The World Conservation Congress at its 2nd Session
in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October 2000:
1. INVITES all governments and corporations
to promote and implement best practice in all
aspects of mining and mineral extraction, from
first exploration through to decommissioning
and subsequent land use;
2. CALLS on all IUCN’s State members to
prohibit by law, all exploration and extraction
of mineral resources in protected areas corresponding
to IUCN Protected Areas Management
Categories I to IV;
3. RECOMMENDS that:
(a) in categories V and VI, exploration and
localised extraction would be accepted only
where the nature and extent of the proposed
activities of the mining project indicates the
compatibility of the project activities with the
objectives of the protected area;
(b) authorization for localised exploration and
mining require an environmental impact assessment
(EIA) of the project and approval by the
relevant competent authority and stakeholder
groups after public disclosure of the EIA draft
document; and
(c) authorized exploration and mining projects
be subject to strict planning, operating, monitoring,
and post-use restoration conditions;
4. URGES that proposed changes to the boundaries
of protected areas, or to their categorization,
to allow for the exploration or localized
extraction of mineral resources, should be subject
to procedures at least as rigorous as those
involved in the establishment of the protected
area in the first place;
5. RECOMMENDS that exploration and
extraction of mineral resources and allied infrastructure
development work, which is outside
of a protected area, but which may negatively
affect the values for which the protected areas
were established, should be subject to:
(a) EIA preparation and approval from relevant
competent authority and stakeholder groups
after public disclosure of the EIA draft document;
and
(b) strict planning, operating, monitoring, and
post-use restoration conditions.
global statement regarding mining and the categories
of protected areas to local circumstances. It
also pointed out that a proper knowledge of natural
and mineral values was essential before new
protected areas were set up. It specifically recognized
that mining companies can and do make
important positive contributions to biodiversity
conservation and indeed to the success of some
protected areas (e.g. by supporting research or
helping to meet management costs), and thus
WCPA argued for more dialogue and collaboration
with the mining sector in future. While these
points are not found in the words of the IUCN
resolution, they are certainly very relevant to
future practice. For example, much common
ground was found at a recent seminar organized
by IUCN and ICME over the issue of mining and
World Heritage sites, though ICME is not at present
able to accept the idea that World Heritage
sites should be “no go” areas for mining in future.
IUCN’s position is therefore that protected
areas need to be protected – and that mining and
related activities are not, in principle, compatible
with the objectives of certain categories of protected
areas. The challenge to the mining industry,
and to the government departments around the
world which control their activities, is to ask
themselves whether they should even consider
new mining operations within protected areas,
and to review on-going activities of this kind.
However, providing the special status of protected
areas is acknowledged, IUCN believes there is
much scope for cooperation with the industry,
and that a potentially large common agenda can
be developed, based around best mining practice
and other areas of collaboration.
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 91

Mining
This Recommendation (see box) was adopted
by a show of hands. The delegation of the State
member United States made a formal Statement
for the Record indicating that it had opposed and
voted against the Recommendation, noting that
mining policy is an internal matter for sovereign
states, and reiterating that, “in the US, management
of parks and requirements for environmental
assessments are based on domestic laws and regulations,
not a global framework. In this context, the
US Government has acted strongly to limit mining
where it is not appropriate”. The full Statement is
reproduced in the Congress Proceedings.
Notes
1 Adrian Phillips was the Chair of IUCN’s World
Commission on Protected Areas 1994-2000, and
is now the vice chair of WCPA for World Heritage.
◆◆◆◆◆
2 The MMSD is managed by the International
Institute for Environment and Development. It is
an initiative of the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development and is supported by the
CEO’s of some 25 of the world’s principal mining
companies. It aims to identify how mining and
minerals can best contribute to the global transition
to sustainable development.
◆
La minería en la encrucijada
de la sustentabilidad
Adam Rankin e Hildebrando Velez,
CENSAT AGUA VIVA- FoE Colombia
La historia contemporánea de América Latina
está signada por la minería. Ella hace parte de
las esperanzas y tragedias de nuestros pueblos,
de la formación de nuestras culturas y paisajes, de
la codicia y del progreso, de los impulsos empresariales
de los capitales nacionales y extranjeros.
Ella está en los ríos y en las montañas mágicas y
erosionadas, está en el verbo de los indígenas y de
los afroamericanos.
El pasado está presente en el futuro, como el
futuro tiende sus raíces en el pasado. Caracterizar
cómo será la minería en la década presente lleva a
referirnos a las tendencias que encontramos en el
presente. Las huellas están acá, son cicatrices en el
paisaje, son historias en las novelas, son narraciones
en las noches negras en el pacífico colombiano,
son ritos y ceremonias de los indígenas de la
Orinoquía y la Amazonía para que la Madre Tierra
no sea profanada.
Los siguientes ejemplos muestras lo hechos y
plantean cuáles son los retos de la minería:
El gobierno peruano ha puesto una multa de
$500.000 dólares en contra de la mina de oro
Yanacocha en Perú, debido a un derrame de un
camión que cargaba mercurio de la mina. La
gente recolectó el mercurio del derrame y lo
metieron a sus casas. Una mujer, fue envenenada
seriamente y se encuentra en coma y muchos
otros fueron examinados y tratados. (Elko Daily
Free Press).
Los trabajadores de la mina de estaño Huanuni
en Bolivia iniciaron una huelga con el fin de
denunciar a la compañía extranjera encargada de
la mina por su falta de respuesta a las demandas
sobre el pago, seguridad laboral y condiciones laborales.
(El Diario – La Paz).
Desde su establecimiento, en 1976, Carbocol
ha contratado empréstitos con la banca internacional
por un monto aproximado a los
U$2.242 Millones, con una tasa de interés promedio
aproximada de 10.9%... De estos créditos,
Carbocol ha cancelado un total de U$698
millones y la Nación ha cancelado en su nombre
U$461.2 millones... Actualmente el pasivo
financiero [es] de U$1.082,7... Desde 1985,
Carbocol sólo ha dado ganancias en 1996 por
un monto de col. $230 mil millones... sin
embargo ha producido ganancias operacionales
sostenidamente desde 1988. (Carta del
Ministro de Hacienda de Colombia, Juan Restrepo,
nov-02-99)
A pesar de las políticas que procuran la protección
medio ambiental y la participación comunitaria,
la minería sigue causando altos impactos
sobre ecosistemas, destrucción de las culturas tradicionales
y deterioro de la salud ocupacional y
pública. Pablo Neruda lo dijo poéticamente:
“Madre de los metales, te quemaron, te mordieron,
te martirizaron, te corroyeron, te pudrieron
más tarde, cuando los ídolos ya no pudieron
defenderte.....”.
Los negocios mineros han resultado poco atractivos
para las comunidades y países poseedores de
la riqueza pero bastante para los inversionistas
extranjeros. El reto más significativo para la minería
es mostrar que puede articularse a la búsqueda
de la sustentabilidad de las sociedades. Para ello
deberá dejar de orientarse por las necesidades de
acumulación de capital en pocas manos y dirigirse
a satisfacer las necesidades esenciales de la sociedad
y con ello contribuir a resolver los problemas
del hábitat humano, de las tecnologías eficientes
y baratas, de la seguridad alimentaria, de las comunicaciones,
de la vivienda adecuada y perenne,
conservando los ecosistemas y la vida.
Sin darse un sentido ambiental y ético, la minería
traerá pobreza, enfermedad, destrucción
ambiental y desintegración social. Por ello, el
imperativo ético del empresariado minero debe
llevarle a la construcción de condiciones de equidad
y bienestar de las sociedades presentes y futuras.
En América Latina la experiencia de los pueblos
donde ha habido minería no es halagüeña, bien
sea por los impactos ambientales o por la efímera
y esquiva prosperidad económica. Por ello la
explotación de bienes mineros deberá hacerse en
los márgenes de resilencia de los ecosistemas, preferiblemente
por empresas con alta participación
de los actores locales y de los trabajadores y para el
beneficio social. La actividad económica minera
deberá concordar con los planes de vida de las
comunidades y contribuir a la solución de las
demandas históricas de la sociedad, así como a
cimentar el futuro deseado en la región para hacer
un uso racional de los minerales y construir una
economía sostenible, solidaria y diversificada.
Desde la perspectiva enunciada surgen objetivos
para asumir durante esta década:
◆ Buscar condiciones de intercambio económico
y comercial justas entre países, entre regiones y
entre grupo sociales asociados a las actividades
mineras.
◆ Desarrollar tecnologías mineras apropiadas e
impulsar la investigación aplicada y básica, tanto
en las disciplinas técnicas como en la humanidades.
◆ Fortalecer medios y procesos de socialización
del conocimiento minero, escolarizados y no escolarizados.
◆ Concertar estrategias para manejar adecuada y
oportunamente los impactos ecológicos y sociales
de la minería en todas las fases, incluida la etapa
de cierre de la mina. Esto implica integrar de
forma clara y lógica los planes de gestión ambiental
participativa con los procesos de planeación
minera y desarrollar mecanismos de prevención
de riesgos.
92 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

Mining
◆ Aprovechar racionalmente los minerales y darles
valor agregado, dentro de procesos de ordenamiento
territorial concertado, y teniendo en
cuenta las generaciones futuras.
◆ Asesorar, en todas las escalas de minería, el
empleo de tecnologías de producción y transformación
apropiadas y limpias y promover una
cultura minera con responsabilidad social y ecológica.
◆◆◆◆◆
◆ Desarrollar veedurías de la salud ambiental
minera con participación de autoridades locales,
empresas y grupos de interés.
◆ Implementar una ética de la administración
pública que vele por la adecuada asignación de
excedentes financieros y de regalías mineras, conforme
con las necesidades esenciales de la población.
◆ Promover y fortalecer las organizaciones locales,
de mujeres mineras y afectadas por la minería.
◆ Promover alternativas culturales, sociales y económicas
que permitan la erradicación del trabajo
infantil en la minería.
Asegurar el reconocimiento de los derechos culturales
y territoriales de los pueblos indígenas y
comunidades tradicionales que son vulnerados
frecuentemente en las actividades mineras. ◆
Future challenges for the
large-scale mining industry
Amy Rosenfeld Sweeting, former Director, Energy & Mining Initiatives,
Conservation International, 2501 M Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20037, USA
Introduction
In the last several decades, the international mining
industry has expanded rapidly into all corners
of the world. Growing global demand for minerals,
combined with an increasingly open economic
and political climate for investment in much of
the world has meant that areas that were once all
but inaccessible to large-scale development are
now available and attractive investments. Much
of this expansion has been away from the more
traditional, developed mining areas and into
many of the less-developed and largely unexplored
countries of tropical Latin America, Africa and
Asia.
While many of these countries offer vast mineral
resources, they also often contain tremendous
stores of biological diversity, the wealth of species,
ecosystems and ecological processes that make up
life on Earth. As this expansion continues and
potential conflicts arise between industrial mineral
development and conservation, the challenge
for the large-scale mining industry will be to
ensure that its presence in ecologically sensitive
areas results in a net benefit for conservation.
Net Conservation Benefit
Large-scale mining projects in sensitive ecosystems
can present significant risks and opportunities
for biodiversity conservation in these areas.
While mining can cause serious direct and indirect
damage to air, water, soil, habitats and ecosystem
health, the presence of a large mining
company will also often represent an important
resource for support of and contributions to conservation
on the ground.
Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that the
ethical responsibilities of a large industrial developer
in a sensitive ecosystem do not end at simply
mitigating any potential negative environmental
impacts. In many ways, the “cost of doing business”
in such areas also includes contributing to
conservation in a proactive and meaningful way.
Ensuring a net benefit to conservation in an
area simply means that the positive benefits of a
project’s presence outweigh its negative impacts so
that the end result is improvement rather than
degradation of an ecosystem. This equation has
two basic components: minimizing and mitigating
the negative impacts of an operation, and
making some form of positive contribution to
conservation.
Positive Contributions to Conservation
In recent history, the large-scale mining industry
has come a long way in developing technologies
and techniques for understanding and minimizing
negative impacts. Yet, while much of this
knowledge is becoming standard practice
throughout the industry, the other half of the net
benefit equation, making a positive contribution
to biodiversity conservation, has yet to become the
norm of large mining projects worldwide. Nevertheless,
in remote and sensitive ecosystems,
improving the state of conservation is equally as
important as reducing any potential negative
impacts of a project.
The scope and type of any contribution to conservation
should be determined by the expected
impact of a project, based on data gathered during
the environmental assessment process, as well
as a baseline evaluation of the ecological characteristics
and needs of a specific ecosystem. Companies
should work with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), local communities, government
authorities and other interested parties
to design the most appropriate activities. The
most straightforward type of contribution might
be the creation of a long-term trust fund for conservation
in an area, or to make a deposit to an
already existing fund. Investments could also
include financial or in-kind support for the management
of a national park system, participation
in the creation and management of a new protected
area, government training and capacitybuilding,
contributions to national biodiversity
strategies, educational programs, support for scientific
research or contributions to existing conservation
efforts.
Any positive contribution should be one half of
a two-part integrated environmental management
strategy, with negative impact minimization being
the other half. A positive contribution should
never be seen as “permission” to damage the environment
or develop in any available location. Nor
should it be considered an excuse to degrade pristine
land while restoring or conserving environmentally
marginal land. At the same time,
advanced impact mitigation or minimization
practices are not a substitute for positive contributions.
No matter how carefully a project is
designed and implemented, it will always have
some level of negative impact, and achieving a net
benefit will require additional offsetting activities.
Impact measurement
A strategy for minimizing negative impacts and
promoting positive impacts involves a key
assumption: that the company will be able to reliably
measure the level of positive and negative
impacts in order to calculate the cumulative effect.
To do so requires a standard set of biodiversity
metrics to measure both the extent and character
of a project’s impact, an index that can be applied
to any project anywhere. Such a “footprint metric”
would allow companies to more credibly
demonstrate their performance to regulators,
communities and activists, while NGOs and governments
would be better able to evaluate the
UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 93

Mining
merits of existing and proposed projects.
Any standardized metric would include both
qualitative and quantitative “indicators” that
could be monitored over time to determine
cumulative impacts and changes. A full understanding
of such changes requires accurate baseline
data on the condition of the ecosystem before
the project activity began.
The most straightforward ecological indicator
for measuring project impact is land-take. By
comparing the number of hectares severely disturbed
or converted – directly or indirectly – by
the operation to the number of hectares under
some form of conservation supported by the project,
enables a company to determine whether the
net impact on land is positive or negative. (The
land in conservation should always be of the same
or greater biodiversity value as the land being converted.)
Such a calculation can be done at a project,
regional, national or company-wide level.
But conservation is more than just counting
hectares. The health of ecosystem functions that
depend on complex water, air, soil and animal
movements and interactions cannot be measured
just by land-take. Other measurements, such as
the level of impact on particular species or changes
in water, soil or air pollution, are also necessary to
get a complete picture of the impact of a project.
Finally, in addition to tangible indicators of
ecosystem health, such as species counts and numbers
of hectares, other contributions will benefit
conservation on a broader level. For example,
financial or in-kind support for training in conservation
practices or park management can have
an important impact on the security of protected
areas that can’t always be readily measured in
hectares. Support for infrastructure and monitoring
of access to an area can help prevent unauthorized
incursions and indirect impacts from
land-clearing and colonization. Funding or support
for biological research and data collection can
contribute to general knowledge of biodiversity in
an area and improve the quality of impact assessment
and monitoring programs. None of these
impacts are easily quantifiable, but all are equally
important.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Conclusion
The large-scale mining industry has already
made great strides towards understanding and
addressing the potential impacts of their operations
in sensitive ecosystems. Environmental
impact statements and management plans are
standard practice at most major projects around
the world, and advanced technologies and practices
are routinely used by progressive companies
to minimize and mitigate environmental
impacts. As a result, the potential negative effects
of a large mine’s presence in a sensitive environment
can be greatly reduced.
Nevertheless, as these operations advance into
the world’s last remaining undeveloped and biodiversity-rich
ecosystems, simply reducing negative
impacts is not enough. Companies operating
in these areas also have an ethical responsibility to
make a positive contribution to conservation, to
ensure that their presence has a net benefit to the
ecosystem and that the area is in better condition
when they leave than when they arrived.
◆
Mining and metals
processing: the commitment
to sustainable development
Gary Nash, Secretary General of the International Council on Metals and the Environment (ICME),
294 Albert Street, Suite 506, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIP 6E6
Many companies in the global mining and
metals processing sector have made
notable progress in the past 10 years in
embracing the elements of sustainable development.
Companies can provide sustainable economic,
environmental and social benefits to the
communities and regions in which they operate.
Towards this end, many companies have now put
in place environmental and, in some cases, community
policies, together with management systems
that require regular audits and public
reporting. A committee of the Board of Directors
overseeing corporate environmental performance
is also common in most major companies. Further,
more and more companies have adopted sustainable
development as a context for their
corporate objectives. The benefits of integrating
environmental, social and economic aspects into
the decision-making process are being increasingly
recognized. Stakeholder consultations and participation
are now seen as integral to this process
and to achieving common objectives.
From the perspective of ICME, society’s pursuit
of sustainable development is a dynamic
process that will continue to evolve over time in
response to changing social values and priorities.
Sustainable development involves values and principles
that guide corporate policies and practices.
Recently, commitments to sustainable development
by ICME members took the form of decisions
by the Board of Directors to sign the United
Nations Declaration on Cleaner Production and
to amend the ICME Sustainable Development
Charter. The new Charter outlines members’
commitments to sustainable development, which
will guide them into the new millennium.
The new ICME Charter contains management
principles in four key areas: Environmental Stewardship;
Product Stewardship; Community
Responsibility; and General Corporate Responsibilities.
ICME members acknowledge through
the Charter that sustainable development is a corporate
priority, which expresses a commitment to
high quality in their economic, environmental
and social performance.
In the early years of this new millennium, significant
challenges must be addressed by members
and regions where these activities take place.
ICME seeks to work in partnership with international
organizations, governments and other
stakeholder groups on behalf of the industry to
promote the implementation of sustainable development
policies and practices. With respect to
specific sustainable development challenges currently
facing the global mining and metals processing
industry, ICME is currently addressing a
number of important issues, for example:
◆ Tailings management: Golder Associates, with
funding from ICME, finalized a study in October
2000 assessing the need for an International
Guide for Tailings Management. ICME presented
the results at a workshop co-hosted by UNEP
and the Government of Australia on Mining held
in Perth, Australia in October 2000;
◆ World heritage and mining: A workshop organized
by IUCN, in partnership with ICME, was
held in Gland, Switzerland in September 2000 to
develop a set of principles regarding mining in
areas adjacent to World Heritage Sites; and
◆ Cyanide management in gold mining: ICME
and UNEP convened a multi-stakeholder workshop
in Paris in May 2000 to consider the development
of an international voluntary Code of
Practice for the management of cyanide in the
industry as a result of the Baia Mare incident in
Romania.
By working together with international and
domestic partners, and with a clear commitment
of the industry to the principles of sustainable
development, a positive legacy of economic, environmental
and social benefits can be realized from
global mining and metal processing activities in
the coming decades of the 21st century.
◆
94 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000

THE UNEP DIVISION OF TECHNOLOGY,
INDUSTRY AND ECONOMICS
Current uses and development of natural resources, technologies
and production processes, as well as urbanization patterns,
have negative effects on human health and the environment.
This is illustrated by unsustainable use of water, land and energy,
air and water pollution, persistent and toxic bio-accumulative
chemicals in the food chain, and other industry-related
problems. To have a healthy environment, we need to change
how we produce and consume goods and services. This
change involves revising and developing economic policies
and trade practices so as to integrate environmental issues in
the planning and assessment processes.
UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP
DTIE) was created in 1998 to help decision-makers in governments,
local authorities and industry develop and adopt policies
and practices that:
• are cleaner and safer;
• use natural resources efficiently;
• ensure adequate management of chemicals;
• incorporate environmental costs;
• reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment.
UNEP DTIE, whose main office is in Paris, is composed of:
◆ The International Environmental Technology Centre
(Osaka), which promotes the adoption and use of environmentally
sound technologies, with a focus on the environmental
management of cities and freshwater basins, in
developing countries and countries in transition.
◆ The Production and Consumption Unit (Paris), which fosters
the development of cleaner and safer production and
consumption patterns that lead to increased efficiency in the
use of natural resources and reductions in pollution.
◆ The Chemicals Unit (Geneva), which promotes sustainable
development by catalyzing global actions and building national
capacities for the sound management of chemicals and the
improvement of chemical safety world-wide, with a priority on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Prior Informed
Consent (PIC, jointly with FAO).
◆ The Energy and OzonAction Unit (Paris), which supports
the phase-out of ozone depleting substances in developing
countries and countries with economies in transition, and promotes
good management practices and use of energy, with a
focus on atmospheric impacts. The UNEP/RISØ Collaborating
Centre on Energy and Environment supports the work of this
Unit.
◆ The Economics and Trade Unit (Geneva), which promotes
the use and application of assessment and incentive tools for
environmental policy, and helps improve the understanding
of linkages between trade and environment and the role of
financial institutions in promoting sustainable development.
UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME
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UNEP Industry and Environment – Special issue 2000 ◆ 95

Industry and Environment
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