Lesson 1.4: Mining in Contemporary Society

Lesson 1.4: Mining in Contemporary Society

Once upon a time, a mining operation was opened with little more than a mule, a pickaxe, a shovel, and some camping supplies, and of course a crusty old guy with a floppy hat! Alas, the world has become much more complicated, and opening and operating a mine has become a complex undertaking. In the early stages, the mining engineers may well be part of a team consisting of professionals from archeologists to zoologists! Really, I am not joking! Before we delve into the details of designing and operating mines, we’ll be well served with a basic understanding of the broad context in which mining occurs today, i.e., the interactions between the mine or mining company and other elements of society. Let’s start with that piece in this lesson.

The diagram that we constructed in this lesson captures the workings of real-world mining; and for those of you who will work in this industry in an engineering or science capacity, you will experience many of these interactions very early in your career and throughout your career. Moreover, an understanding of the societal context in which mining occurs will help you to understand why we follow certain practices, or why we are limited in our approaches. Beyond that, this lesson has served as a platform to introduce you to key stakeholders in the mining industry. A mining stakeholder is a person or organization that either affects the mining operation or can be affected by the mining operation. Given our discussion here, I think you will agree that the organizations represented in our diagram are very important stakeholders. If we were to attempt a list of all stakeholders, it would be very long and include manufacturers, universities, consultants, contractors, and on and on. Arguably, there is one significant stakeholder missing from the diagram: Non-Governmental Organizations, known as NGOs. An NGO is an organization that is independent of governments, is funded through donations, and has a specific mission, e.g., protect the environment. In particular, there are many NGOs at the regional, national, and international level with missions that are in conflict with mining. For example, some NGOs operate on the belief that there should be no extraction of resources for any purpose, while others have a primary interest of ensuring no damage to the environment. Others seek the elimination of fossil fuel usage. Regardless of your politics and beliefs, NGOs are a reality. Through often-frivolous lawsuits, and civil disobedience that borders on or crosses over into criminal behavior, NGOs are important stakeholders in mining. The solution to this represents one of the grand challenges that will be discussed in this course.