Mining

➡️ The Mining Industry – Exploitation, Risks, and Exponential Demand

The mining industry plays a crucial role in the global economy by providing the raw materials needed in the energy, construction, transport, and technology sectors. Mining involves the extraction of valuable minerals, metals, and other materials from the Earth.

The growing necessity of these products and the importance of mining economically has led to the expansion of the industry in an often unchecked and unregulated manner. Serious concerns such as the environmental impact, health implications, and poor resource management have attracted much debate. The mining industry is responsible for 4-7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Jump straight to our resources on ➡️ Mining

Explore our comprehensive guides on -

• Fossil Fuels

• The Energy Transition

• Uranium Mining for Nuclear Energy and Weapons

• Rare Earth Mineral Mining

• Deep Sea Mining

• Gold Mining

• Sand Mining

• Mines in Latin America

With a dark legacy of worker exploitation, Indigenous rights violations, a dire environmental record, and large-scale water contamination, mining is long overdue a cleanup. It is not a matter of whether a mine will pollute, but when and for how long. Lax mining regulations, corporate lobbying, and greenwashing have allowed relatively unchecked mining expansion to seriously impact people and the planet for centuries.

The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is a coalition of NGOs, mining companies, and purchasers. It sets the world's most rigorous standards for mining practices to raise the industry's social and environmental performance. Through independent auditing, mines can be voluntarily certified to demonstrate their commitment to safe and responsible mining. However, with a lack of international mining safety and environmental standards in general, the work of the IRMA has only gone so far.

• A recent Earthworks report of U.S. copper mines found that 100% had pipeline spills, and 92% failed to control mine wastewater.

• Approximately half of the gold mined from 1995 to 2015 came from Indigenous territories.

• Mining has deep links to corruption, violence, and human rights abuses. Mines are also highly associated with criminal activity and are drivers of conflict.

• Swiss mining giant Glencore is the world's biggest mining company. With a revenue of $226 billion, they are in the top 25 richest companies in the world. They are responsible for violent repression in the Philippines, Colombia and Peru, have collaborated with paramilitary death squads, have displaced tens of thousands, and contracted armed forces who acted with brutal force against mining protesters. They also divert rivers away from communities that now face drought, and have left the remaining water sources polluted with 160 times the maximum level of permissible lead. In Cerro de Pasco, Peru, 78% of children in the city show symptoms of heavy metal poisoning.

• Australia is the world's top mining nation for domestic extraction per capita. In tonnes though, China is the leader by a long stretch. The country extracted 34 billion tonnes of materials in 2023, more than four times that of the next two largest extractors, India and the U.S.

• Developing countries are paying a high price for the global mineral boom. Communities across Asia, India, Latin America, and Africa are transformed by social conflict, legal disputes, human rights violations, and large-scale loss of fertile agricultural land.

   

Issues in the Mining Industry

Mining, while essential for obtaining valuable resources, presents several significant issues that last generations and make current rates of extraction massively unsustainable.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT - Mining operations cause deforestation, habitat destruction, and soil erosion. The extraction process often results in the contamination of soil and water sources due to the release of harmful chemicals and heavy metals.

POLLUTION - Mining activities are a significant contributor to air and water pollution. Dust and emissions from machinery degrade air quality, while runoff from mines pollutes rivers and groundwater with toxic heavy metals.

BIODIVERSITY LOSS - Widescale destruction and pollution of ecosystems and habitats threatens the survival of plant and animal species.

LABOUR EXPLOITATION - Unsafe conditions, lack of safety equipment, limited or no health insurance, and low rates of pay are typical for workers who often have no alternative employment options. This is especially the case in developing countries. Wealthy corporations reap the profits of cheap labour at the expense of workers' rights.

HEALTH RISKS FOR MINERS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES - Exposure to hazardous substances such as arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, carbon monoxide, and sulfuric acid can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, skin conditions, cancer, and growth defects.

DISPLACEMENT - Mining projects are increasingly causing mass displacement of communities around the world. Indigenous peoples and poor rural families are disproportionately affected. In many cases, they are not consulted about projects beforehand and are forced to leave their land without consent. These people lose their land, their homes, and their livelihoods. They have reduced access to food and water and, in the worst cases, are subjected to harassment and violence.

ECONOMIC DISPARITIES - While mining can bring economic benefits, the wealth generated often doesn't flow into the local economy. Profits are typically funnelled straight to large corporations and stakeholders. The employment opportunities provided are often unskilled, low pay, and hazardous.

CHILD LABOUR - An estimated 1 million children worldwide work as miners. These children work in inhumane and dangerous conditions and are stripped of their right to an education. Of the 2 million miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 40% are children.

RESOURCE DEPLETION - Non-renewable resources are finite. Over-extraction is unsustainable and will leave future generations without access to these materials. As demand increases and technology makes mining easier and faster, we will reach the point of depletion much sooner.

The Dark Side of the Energy Transition

We are in the midst of an urgent transition to renewable energy as we attempt to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis. Paradoxically, green technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles require minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium – putting them in demand like never before.

The green energy explosion has made the mining industry indispensable. The World Bank estimates a 500% increase in graphite, cobalt, and lithium by 2050 if we are to succeed in achieving net zero targets. This, of course, has considerable implications for both people and the planet in the drive for increased production.

Additionally, soaring energy demand in developing countries, the exponential growth of AI, energy-hungry data centres, and the production of high-tech products such as smartphones and computers have all placed an unprecedented demand on the mining industry.

Mining expansion needs to be done responsibly and with strict long-term strategies to protect biodiversity and ecosystems, safeguard local populations, and prevent pollution. Careful regulation and monitoring of the expansion of mining for energy transition materials could help boost economies, create jobs, and help countries reduce poverty, especially in developing nations.

Author: Rachael Mellor, 28.02.25 licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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