Minerals policy in Europe: Some recent developments

The importance of a secured supply of raw materials for the European economy is evident. However, securing the supply of raw materials based on an appropriate EU minerals policy has been scarcely treated by the decision-makers in the last decades. Solely the impact of price development of international commodity markets in the last years induces a re-thinking of this field. The EU Raw Materials Initiative, which was published by the European Commission in November 2008, establishes an EU raw materials strategy including a list of actions.     

The great metals boom: A retrospective

The metals boom that ran from 2003 to 2008 represented the most powerful and sustained such boom since the Second World War. As the boom gathered momentum, the notion began to emerge that commodities were at the beginning of a multi-year ‘super cycle’ driven by demand growth in the emerging economies and, in particular, China. The persistence of the boom helped sustain this belief right up to the point when metal prices collapsed in the second half of 2008. Looking back over the period, much of what occurred can be readily explained by the unusual strength of the demand shock and the lagged response of the supplying industry, with prices receiving an additional boost from the activities of commodity investors. There is, however, some evidence to suggest that the combination of downward pressure on the costs of manufactured goods and upward pressure on the costs of mineral commodities which accompanied the boom marked a shift in the terms of trade between these two product groups. This in turn seems to have brought to an end the sustained decline in real terms metal prices that occurred in the years following the boom of the 1970s. In sum, the key structural change taking place may not have been on the demand side of the industry as the super cyclists maintained, but on the supply side.     

Allocation and banking in Korean permits trading

This paper investigates how Korean industry would respond to four different allocation and banking options in CO₂ permit trading within a fully dynamic computational general equilibrium framework. Four different allocations are categorized—a uniform allocation and three performance-based allocations. We explore that performance-based allocation and banking lower losses in Korean potential GDP, allowing energy-intensive industry more flexibility in inter-temporal decision making on purchasing and selling permits. The steel industry can derive a particular advantage from a performance-based allocation with respect to energy use, while the semiconductor industry would prefer a performance-based allocation with respect to value-added. The two key conclusions are (i) the Korean economy should replace an absolute allocation with a performance-based allocation, and (ii) the banking of permits enables market players to reallocate allowances more efficiently in a long-term commitment period. These results support the findings of the key study by Kling and Rubin (1997).     

Drainage and utilization of Chinese coal mine methane with a coal–methane co-exploitation model: Analysis and projections

Coal mine methane (CMM) released during coal mining attributes to unsafe working conditions and environmental impact. China, the largest coal producer in the world, is facing problems associated with CMM such as fatal gas accidents and intense greenhouse gas emission along the path to deep mining. Complicated geological conditions featured with low permeability, high gas pressure and gas content of Chinese coal seams have been hindering the coal extraction. To solve these problems, a model of coal–methane co-exploitation is proposed. This model realizes the extraction of two resources with safety ensured and has been successfully applied in Huainan coalfield, China. The current situation of drainage and utilization of CMM in China are diagnosed. Connections between the coal production, methane emissions, drainage and utilization are analyzed. Estimations of future coal production, methane emissions, drainage and utilization are made in a co-exploitation based scenario. The emitted, drained and utilized CMM are projected to reach 26.6, 13.3 and 9.3 billion m³, respectively by adapting the assumption of 3800 million metric tons of coal production by 2020.     

Development on whose terms?: CSR discourse and social realities in Papua New Guinea's extractive industries sector

The emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the extractive industries represents a bid to legitimize the sector after decades of environmental disasters and the trampling of indigenous rights. But whilst the rise in CSR has meant safer technologies and better stakeholder engagement, there is little evidence of any real socio-economic development at the grassroots. This paper examines the uneasy relationship existing between the strategic ‘business model’ of CSR and the brand of development it delivers. Using evidence from two multinational extractive industries in Papua New Guinea, we show how weaknesses in CSR practice come from greater emphasis on meeting global ‘performance standards’ than on the specificities of the social contexts in which strategies are implemented. These weaknesses, we argue, lead to ill-conceived and inappropriate development programmes that generate inequality, fragmentation, and social and economic insecurity. We conclude that greater engagement with affected communities will facilitate the development of more mutually beneficial and appropriate CSR strategies.     

Multiproduct mine output and the case of mining waste utilization

This article addresses the concepts of economies of scope and multiproduct production, subadditivity and transray convexity as it applies to the mining industry. The article goes on to expand these concepts to include the case of mining waste utilization. It discusses how the modification of mining wastes into a marketable product can develop a relationship across the cost functions of the modified mining waste and ore production and how this interrelationship affects the profit maximizing condition. It discusses four possible outcomes from mining waste modification and its development into marketable products on the profitability and production of ore by the firm. Finally, it discusses mining waste utilization effects on rehabilitation costs and the potential for a decrease in the adverse community effects due to mine closure.     

Indigenous engagement in Australian mine water management: The alignment of corporate strategies with national water reform objectives

In the mineral rich but arid Pilbara region of Western Australia, managing water constraints represents a significant challenge to the mining sector where local depletion is a growing problem. Conversely, the expansion of pit dewatering is creating surface water excess in localised areas of potentially high social and ecological significance. Indigenous people are by far the longest term residents of the Pilbara region and express a range of strong concerns about past, current and future water-related developments in the area. They also have proprietary interests in water recognised by the common law and protected by federal native title legislation. Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO), commissioned the authors to undertake research to improve corporate understanding of Indigenous interests in water and to provide advice on its consultation processes. We argue here that a more sophisticated account of Indigenous water values is a necessary but, on its own, insufficient measure to achieve RTIO’s desired long-term goals. We suggest an equivalent process of understanding and documenting corporate water values and interests, actions to improve trust and credibility in the relationship between the parties, and leadership in wider catchment management as necessary complementary actions. These actions follow logically from internal corporate commitments regarding water and Indigenous people and from recognition of their property rights, but also align directly with major trends in the National Water Initiative, the key water policy framework for Australia. Therefore significant synergies exist between internal corporate aspirations, the evolving legal regime, and wider governance agendas for a key limiting resource. Our analysis is relevant to a range of CSR and water resource contexts across the wider mining sector.     

Forest owners’ perceptions of ecotourism: Integrating community values and forest conservation

The use of forest land for ecotourism has been well accepted due to its ability to provide income to local people and to conserve the forest. Preparing the forest with infrastructure to attract and educate visitors has been reported of importance. This study applied Q methodology in a small rural community of the State of Puebla, Mexico, to reveal forest owners’ perceptions to build infrastructure in their forest as part of their ecotourism project. It also discloses forest owners’ underlying motives to use their forest for ecotourism. Ecotourism is perceived as a complementary activity to farming that would allow women to be involved in community development. Low impact infrastructure is desired due to forest owners’ perception to preserve the forest for the overall community well-being.     

The sustainability of China's major mining cities

The aim of this paper is to identify principal factors controlling the Degree of Sustainable Development of Mineral Resources (DSDMR) of mining cities and then to measure their DSDMR and reveal their developing trends. To do this, 78 Chinese mining cities are used as an example. These cities are classified on a hierarchical level of the DSDMR in order to support decision-making of sustainable development. Six principal factors controlling the DSDMR are recognized using factor analysis. They are used to measure the DSDMR of the Chinese mining cities and their developing trends. The results show that in terms of the type of mineral resources, the DSDMR decreases from petroleum to multi-resources to non-metal to coal to metal cities. It decreases also from middle to old to young aged cities and from eastern to central to western cities in geographical location. In addition, large and very large cities have higher DSDMR values than middle- and small-sized cities. These Chinese mining cities are classified into six clusters by cluster analysis, which forms the basis for policy making.     

Mineral economics: Overview of a discipline

Mineral economics is the academic discipline that investigates and promotes understanding of economic and policy issues associated with the production and use of mineral commodities. While its origins can be traced back at least 200 years to the writings of David Ricardo and other early Classical economists, it emerged as a separate academic field only after World War II and then primarily in the United States. As a separate academic discipline, its roots are found in mining schools that needed to consider the milieu in which minerals are sold. While geologists, mining engineers, and others with technical backgrounds were largely responsible for creating the first stand-alone mineral-economics programs, ultimately trained economists became participants as well. Moreover, even after the rise of mineral-economics departments, most of the research in the field continued and continues to be carried out in other academic units, including traditional economic departments and engineering schools, as well as in government agencies, nonprofit research organizations, consulting firms, and international organizations.