Global trends in gold mining: Towards quantifying environmental and resource sustainability |
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| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland, Postbox 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland;2. Political Science Unit, Division of Social Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Universitetsområdet, Porsön, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden;3. Economics unit, Luleå university of technology, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden;5. Fersman st.24a, Murmansk region, Apatity, 184200, Russia;6. Northern Research Institute – NORUT, P.O. box 1463, N-9506 Alta, Norway;1. Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology, Industrial and GeoEconomics Division, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland;2. Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology, Mining Division, Wroclaw, Poland;1. Environmental Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia;2. CSIRO Mineral Resources, Clayton, Victoria, Australia;3. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Espoo, Finland;1. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada;2. Technical University of Machala, Centre for Agricultural Research, Machala, Ecuador |
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| Abstract: | In recent years, due to public concern over perceived and actual environmental impacts, the global mining industry has been moving towards a more sustainable framework. For gold mining, there are a number of fundamental issues with regard to assessing sustainability. Commonly perceived as a finite and non-renewable resource, long-term gold production trends include declining ore grades and increasing solid wastes (tailings, waste rock) and open cut mining. Conversely, core sustainability issues include water, energy and chemical consumption and pollutant emissions—also known as ‘resource intensity’. It is important to recognise the links between gold production trends and resource intensity, as this is critical for understanding future sustainability challenges. This paper links data sets on historic gold mining production trends with emerging sustainability reporting to estimate resource intensity, demonstrating the sensitivity of ore grade for gold production and sustainability. Final judgement of the sustainability of gold mining must take account of the sensitivity of the ore grade in the resource intensity of gold production. This has implications for environmental policy and sustainability reporting in the gold mining sector. |
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