The effects of mining on the environment
- construction of infrastructure - roads, mining installations,
housing for miners, power plants and dams - often in remote and
unspoilt locations;
- stripping of large areas of topsoil and of all flora and fauna
in addition to manmade constructions;
- digging up chemically-reactive minerals which are harmless when
underground, but when extracted react spontaneously with oxygen and
water. The extraction of sulphide ores ineviatably produces
sulphric acids and metal ions. This emission known as 'acid mine
drainage', occurs in active mines and in places where waist is
stored, and remains a risk even after the mine has closed,
sometimes even centuries after the closure of a mine;
- adding potentially toxic chemicals, such as cyanide, to the ore
to extract the metal, which increases the toxicity level of the
waste;
- using large amounts of energy and water, which are often
scarce; mining is responsible for about 10 percent of the world's
energy consumption;
- conflicts over resources. Mining usually involves the destruction of resources which people rely on such as agricultural land, drinking or fishing waters, hunting grounds, religious or recreational areas as well as even their homes themselves. If these people are not involved in the decision-making process and/or if they do not benefit from the mine, a conflict will arise.
Ecological scarcity
Mining companies increasingly exploit low-grade ores which used to
be uneconimical. On the one hand this is caused by the fact that,
naturally, richer reserves are mined first. On the other hand,
technical developments make it possible to mine unproductive
reserves. Mining of unproductive ores leads to more waste per the
amounts of metal that are being produced. More and more, mining
companies exploit reserves in far off, and sometimes valuable and
vulnerable ecosystems. The potential ecological costs per kilo
metal are rising; the ecological scarcity of metals is
increasing.
Financial liberalization
The mining sector is booming, especially the prospecting of copper
and gold. The liberalization of mining legislation in many
developing countries and former communist states, offers
transnational mining companies unprecedented possibilities for
prospecting for and exploitation of mineral deposits in areas that
they had had no acces to, before now. The governments of most of
these countries are urgently in need of foreign currencies. They
compete amongst each other regarding the conditions they offer to
mining companies, such as low taxes and lax social and
environmental regulations.
The ones accountable
Since mining companies have no direct relationship with the actual
consumers, they are not immediately vulnerable to public opinion.
They are also not the only ones that can be held responsible for
the effects of mining. The government agencies involved, as well as
the metal industry, the mining prospects' financiers and insurers
are equally reponsible. In the report "Taking Responsibility; Metal
mining, people and the environment", Friends of the Earth
Netherlands proposes basic principles for more responsible mining.
These basic principles should serve as minimal criteria for the
judging of mining projects, and above all, of all parties
involved.
Het rapport (november 1997, 53 pagina's, prijs f 25,-) is verkrijgbaar bij de Milieudefensie Servicelijn
