GineersNow Engineering Magazine November 2016 Issue No 009

economic diversification and
empowerment of the poor."
Aside from creating jobs,
implementing community
development programs and
implementing environmental
management and enhancement
programs, mining also tangibly
contributes to the national
and local economy through
various taxes and royalties. In
the Philippines, companies are
required to pay an excise tax
equal to 2% of revenue and
corporate income tax equal to
30% of net income, on top of
many other local and national
taxes. The taxes and fees
collected from mining amounted
to around $450 million in 2014.
40% of this fund goes to the
local government while 60% are
kept by the national government.
In Brazil, 3% of the net income
arising from sales of mineral
products constitute the Financial
Compensation for the Exploration
of Mineral Resources (CFEM).
The CFEM is distributed to the
states, municipalities and federal
government directly affected by
the mining industry.
Mining contributes to society
by providing jobs that can add
wealth to the communities,
by implementing social and
environmental programs using
best practices, and by paying
various taxes and fees to the
national and local governments.
Science and technology also
advances through mining.
The challenges encountered
in mining encourage creative
thinking to develop innovative
solutions to overcome those
challenges. Such solutions can
propagate to other industries
and to our daily lives. Take for
example the the steam engine
that propelled the Industrial
Revolution in Europe and
paved the way to the modern
combustion engine. This
technology was initially used to
quickly and cheaply pump water
out of British underground coal
mines in the 17th century --
replacing horses traditionally used
in dewatering systems. Because
of the challenge of dewatering
the mine, some people came up
with inventions to effectively
and cheaply drain the mines,
starting with a man named
Savery who invented the first
steam engine for water pumping.
The steam engine design was
further improved by others, most
notably Watt, who coined the
term "horsepower" when he was
calculating the number of horses
replaced by one steam engine.
In the 1800s, the steam engine
became portable enough to be
used in the first steam-powered
locomotive in Britain. The use of
the steam engine for locomotive
was then followed by the use
of steam engine to propel ships
in the United States. Initially
used as a water pump to drain
water from coal mines, the steam
engine quickly gained popularity
in other industries, especially in
transportation, which quickened
the trade of goods and propelled
the industrial revolution.
Mining opens opportunities
to gather information about
underground regions of the
Earth's crust either through
drilling or through excavation.
Such information can help us
better understand how the world
works. For example, geologic
data can help improve our
understanding of how magmas
move and cool or how minerals
are deposited in the Earth's crust.
Exciting archeological and
paleontological findings are
sometimes unearthed because
of mining operations. In 2011,
a three-dimensionally preserved
fossil of an armored marine
dinosaur (either plesiosaur or
ichthyosaur) was discovered in
the Millennium Mine in Australia
while an excavator was digging
oil-rich sand. And just this year,
Namdeb Diamond Corporation in
Namibia unearthed a gold-laden
Portuguese ship that sank around
500 years ago by draining the
part of the sea where the ship
was submerged -- a feat made
possible because of the mine's
access to large equipment.
Mining can contribute to science
and technology by imposing
challenges that encourage
innovation, by opening up
opportunities to study the
Earth, and by sometimes
excavating artifacts and fossils
that can help archeological and
paleontological research.
Besides agriculture, mining is
arguably a foundation of modern
human society. We depend on
its products to maintain and
advance our quality of life. Since
the stone age, we have been
Photo by PhilippineLifestyleNews
relying on mining to acquire raw
materials that we need to make
the products that we use.vIn the
modern world we live in, our
demand for raw materials is ever
increasing. We need to mine
for materials to make our tools,
weapons, gadgets, appliances,
vehicles, and communication
infrastructure, among others.
Mining also contributes to the
local and national economies
by generating jobs and paying
taxes and royalties. Beyond these
contributions, mining advances
science and technology by
encouraging innovation and by
aiding geological, archeological,
and paleontological research.
We can expect society to
continue to depend on mining
for years to come, with more
mines opening up to meet
the world's demands. The
vision then is a much more
responsible mining industry
that is increasingly disposed
to ensure mitigated impacts
and sustainable enhancement
programs in the communities
and the environment around it;
supported by fair and effectively
implemented government
regulations.
Do you think we can rise to
the challenge?
20
NOVEMBER 2016
Mining Engineering and Its Importance