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This commentary is a response to the Hodge et al. (Miner Econ 35: 587-606, 2022) article on global mining industry corporate profiles, complexity, and change. The author states that the total number and distribution of mining companies may be weighted towards non-OECD developing countries, especially with regard to small to medium size companies. This difference may in turn influence corporate sustainability practices and performance, consequently affecting the trust deficit. This assertion is supported by a brief comparison of the Global Top 50 mining companies based on Sustainalytics data. Companies from OECD countries tend to perform much better than non-OECD country–based companies, especially the Chinese and Indian companies. The corporate profile differences and sustainability performance country by country clearly exert an influence on the trickle-down effect as well. Real and imaginary reasons for trust deficit in different countries may also vary considerably. There is clear evidence that overall adverse impacts related to mining activity may be much greater in many developing countries. This does not, however, prevent or discourage the development of strong anti-mining movements in many developed countries, even though it is the developed world which has a huge appetite for commodities, particularly to meet the demands of the highly ambitious Green Transition. This creates a sustainability dilemma, where the much-sought-after commodities are sourced mostly from jurisdictions where adverse effects on the environment and society are potentially greatest. The author proposes enhanced research and dialogue to be undertaken on these topics by all industry parties to improve understanding on the matter, which should also contribute to policy and decision-making. Eventually, the commodity pricing mechanisms should reflect sustainability performance, providing yet further incentives for the producers to continuously improve performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many advanced technologies applied to maintenance are aimed at data analysis and not directly at the execution of activities. Considering the lack of studies that analyze the use of technologies with a focus on aiding maintenance activities, this study aims to investigate the applicability of advanced technologies capable of mitigating ergonomic risks in mining maintenance activities. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method study approach was performed in the most important Brazilian mining company, where three groups of equipment were observed: pumps, crushers and sieves. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected, including structured interviews with 60 maintenance professionals for the equipment, and a workshop was held to evaluate the applicability of these technologies in the maintenance activity of this equipment. Findings: It was verified that the load handler, weight cancelers and automatically guided vehicle technologies were assessed as capable of mitigating ergonomic problems of the supporting the weight of parts and tools and the human traction during maintenance activities. Research limitations/implications: The study observed only one company, and the five technologies analyzed here are not yet a reality in this sector. Practical implications: This research directs maintenance managers in the implementation of process improvements, in the incorporation of technologies capable of mitigating the ergonomic problems experienced by the maintenance professionals. In this way, it is expected to reduce the number of absences from work and improve the working conditions of these professionals. Social implications: Mining activities impact the local economy and are important in the development of technologies that improve productivity and the man–work relationship. The demands of industries for new solutions encourage local technological development through an approximation with university research and development centers. At the same time, it is observed that these centers can help in the formation of competences to act, either in the implementation of these technologies or in their handling. This university–company integration, in addition to benefiting the mining segment, has the potential to expand the solution to different supply chains, which proves to be a relevant social impact. Originality/value: This study is pioneering in understanding the use of advanced technologies in maintenance activities in the context of the mining industry (extractive primary sector). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the growing demands of the modern economy, 21stcentury technology, and the challenges of Industry 4.0, the classical management of mining enterprises is not sufficient, and it is transforming into a process approach to the organization. The usage of the process management concept creates a situation for improving the organization at many levels, both at the strategy and operational levels. This provides an opportunity for a comprehensive view of the organization, but it is necessary to define indicators that determine the flexibility of operations, the achievement of profitability, and effective operational management. These indicators, called key performance indicators, focus on crucial aspects of the organization's activity that are fundamental to its current and future success. The contribution goal of the presented paper is to propose a new index for assessing the efficiency of coal mines, called the labor intensity index. The proposal is based on a previous three-area strategic analysis, including production indicators of coal mining companies, the state of coal mining in Poland, and economic factors affecting the current situation of the Polish coal mining industry. The analysis covered the period from 1988 to 2020. The use of new KPIs to assess performance in process terms is necessary to develop better new strategies for mining companies. It is particularly important in light of the industry's restructuring plans to restructure the mining industry and the far-reaching vision of decarbonizing the Polish energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sound corporate governance (CG) system in the mining sector ought to promote resource utilization while adhering to the principles of accountability and responsibility. In this case, it is curious that so little attention has been paid to understand the CG structures and practices of the mining industry. Therefore, this paper aims to unearth the CG practices of Indian mining through a uniform and structured CG Index. The paper develops a CG index to measure the CG performance across a range of CG structures. The data for this study was extracted from 2012–2013 to 2020–2021 for 11 mining companies in India. The sample companies constitute 78.23% of the total market cap of NSE 500 metal and mining companies. T-test was conducted to test the differences between the CG characteristics of the sample companies on various levels. This study highlights the CG practices within the mining industry of India. The findings of this study can come handy to assess the CG performance of mining companies in not just emerging economies but for the developed ones too. This study lays the foundation for future studies around CG practices, given its role in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the influence of transformational leadership style on work engagement mediated by motivating language in mining industry. Mining work is a type of heavy work requiring work engagement from the employee in order to achieve the goals of the company, therefore needed a leader who is able to move or direct the employees to be involved in their work, besides that with the existing of a motivating language, it is hoped that employees will be more involved in their work. This research was conducted on 222 mining company employees working in four regions of Indonesia, results obtained that transformational leadership style has a negative and insignificant influence on work engagement, futhermore transformational leadership style has a positive and significant influence on the three motivating language, namely direction-giving language, empathetic language, and meaning-making language, whereas from the third motivating language only direction-giving language has a significant influence on work engagement. Based on the research, it was found that only direction-giving language was able to mediate transformational leadership style on work engagement, Therefore, in order for employees to be more involved in their work and the goals of the company can be achieved, it is important for the leader to maintain and increase direction-giving language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining industry is one of the most important sectors of economy in most countries, developing it as efficiently as possible is a major task for science, due to this reason great efforts are being devoted to study the main operations that make it up in order to optimize resources. The problem that bases this investigation is the need to establish the relationship between productivity, maintenance and replacement of mining equipment that is used in large-scale in the open-pit mining, based on the analysis of their performance under specific exploitation conditions. Therefore, the objective of implementing the indicator that measures the Total Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to the conveyor belts in a mining company was outlined, based on the production information for the year 2021-2022. From the analysis, the most important result was obtained: low performance refers to the incorrect use of the machine's capacity in the time it was available, mainly caused to eliminate breakages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the mining sector's potential to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by examining its past engagement with sustainable development. Once a pariah, the mining industry is now very active in the sustainability space and played a key role in the development of the SDGs. In this paper, we first examine two key texts in evolving institutional frameworks: the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project and the recent Mapping Mining to the SDGs, highlighting their limited framing of sustainable development. Then, we examine how sustainable development concerns and voluntary standards have been translated into practice by mining companies. Analysing this history and track record shows an approach to sustainable development which sidesteps contradictions at the heart of the mining industry's production processes, all of which bode ill for their potential to contribute meaningfully to the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community development (CD) is widely accepted within the mining industry as a major part of the industry's sustainability strategy. Consequently, over the last two decades, community development has gained root in the mining industry, providing a framework for mining company interactions with local communities around the world. Dedicated CD departments stocked with development specialists have since become a common fixture of mining company structures at all levels. This development has naturally triggered an avalanche of scholarly interest in the mining industry CD practices and outcomes. However, current literature on the subject has rarely explored mining companies' discourse on the "community" as is applied within the context of CD practice. Based on Wiering and Arts' three-level analysis of discourse, the paper interrogates the concept of the "community" as is understood and applied within the Ghanaian mining industry, at the ontological, normative, and strategic levels. The paper shows that mining companies hold three simultaneous ontological conceptualizations of the community: communities as victims; as enclaves of poverty; and as owners of social license, each differing slightly in its underlying logic to CD. Of all three conceptualizations, the owners of social license view, which is driven by an instrumentalist logic, dominates CD practice, allowing mining companies to approach CD largely as a risk management tool. At the normative level, companies have advocated "value creation" (for communities). At the strategic level, company–community partnerships have been proposed as the preferred method of accomplishing CD. These views of the community and their accompanying industry practices are dissected and policy proposals suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the worker-employer conflicts in one of the representative companies of the mining industry in Mexico in the context of the great depression of the world economy of 1929, based on the study of the group's files documentary of the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration belonging to the General Archive of the Nation corresponding to the company ASARCO in the period 1927-1932. The study carried out contributes to broaden the understanding of the way in which the crisis affected the working conditions of mining workers, as well as the way in which the State, through the Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, acted in conflicts between the capital and labor in the context of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this secondary data‐based research paper examined the role of China's mining companies' adherence to CSR within the context of its engagement with Zambia. The central question grappled within this paper is whether there is a practise of CSR as a corporate ethic strategy to further social good which must be interpreted even beyond the firm or companies' interests, all required by the internal laws of Zambia. The central objective is to analyse CSR which ought to be applied to enhance high ethical standards, reduction of legal risks, and positive public relations. As such, this paper argues that there is a deficit literature and/knowledge existing which outlines the role of Chinese mining corporates' CSR in the Zambian mining industry. Implying that there are limited policy blueprints or scholarly documents, outlining how Chinese mining companies are expected to conduct themselves. The only scholarly relevant available knowledge at our disposal in respect to the subject under scrutiny exists in Euro‐American Multimedia video‐sharing engines such as Youtube and Twitter. These knowledge systems are North [ern] angled, contributing to an imbalanced body of knowledge, that triggered the adoption of Afrocentricity as the alternative theoretical telescope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how the lifecycle of mining companies impacts staff turnover and the workforce, with a particular focus on the potential role of age management. Content analysis of several companies' internal and publicly available documents provided the necessary data, in particular with regard to the micro-environment of the company, some of which are under threat of bankruptcy. The findings suggest that the potential failure of such companies has a significant effect on staff turnover, requiring the implementation of an effective age management strategy to resolve the resulting problems. At the same time, and in parallel to the aforementioned, the current conflict in Ukraine is having a significant impact on the mining industry and state energy policies. Many (open-cast) mines were reopened or given a stay of execution, with all the implications this has. The article is limited by the fact that it lacks sufficient data on enough mining companies that are facing bankruptcy and have restructured on the basis of effective age management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study determined the environmental actions of a mining company dedicated to exploiting stone aggregates in La Guajira to optimize its production processes. The methodology was initially based on the execution of several visits to the mine facilities, followed by identifying of environmental impacts through the elaboration of the checklist and impact assessment. After this, measures were established to prevent, mitigate, or compensate for the impacts generated by the company, and environmental guidelines were proposed. The results show that the qualification criterion that prevailed more for the identified impacts was the one of --moderate impact--, where it is indicated that the air resource is the most susceptible factor to receive environmental impact due to the processes of extraction, processing, and commercialization inside the company; based on the valuation, the 5 impacts with more importance were chosen for the development of the different environmental programs. Finally, it is concluded that executing environmental actions coherently and sustainably allows to improve the local development of the mining company in its social and environmental aspects. Additionally, with the optimization of the productive processes, the company will be able to redesign its business to reduce costs and promote sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African mining industry has a history of a range of major challenges, including high operating costs that have had a negative impact on mines' profitability and financial sustainability. The advent of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies has opened up new opportunities for the mining industry, among other things, to improve its cost-effectiveness and future competitiveness. Most South African mining companies have begun to adopt Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies; however, quite a large number of their projects have not been successful. The main objective of the paper is to conduct an integrative literature review to determine why some of the companies in the minerals, mining, and processing industry have not been successful in implementing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. The findings of the study outline areas of organisational and technological capability on which the industry could focus when developing future innovation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining industry is often associated with decisions that have huge social significance. Using the example of the AGL mining company and the Damang community in Ghana, this study sought to assess the extent of adherence to government policies as well as the implications of resettlement on the livelihood dynamics of the affected communities. The paper argues that the existing policies create a new type of poverty by widening the poverty gap. Furthermore, the actual practice adopted for the computation and payment of both land and cash compensation clearly seems to be in violation of the principle of fair compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the political, economic, and territorial changes that enabled conditions more favorable to the accumulation of large private mining capital in Mexico. The article also reviews the continuities and contradictions present in this process during the period 1982-2018. Documentary, statistical, and cartographic analysis reveal that since the 1990s, Mexican mining groups have dominated mining and metallurgical production. It is concluded that the disincorporation of federal mining reserves, the privatization of mining companies with state involvement, the changes in the legal framework, and the monopolization of mining concessions are elements that favored the extent of integration, diversification, and capital internationalization mining companies have attained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining industry should sustain mass and continuous production with an essential contribution of high-capacity machinery. Therefore, spare parts inventory management is vital in ensuring the intended mining production rate as an integral part of maintenance policies. In this paper, a mixed-integer model is presented to solve a multi-item and multi-supplier spare parts inventory model. This model is addressed to a lubricating oil inventory problem in one of the biggest multi-process mining companies in Turkey. The optimisation results show that the company's current lubricating oil inventory policy can be improved financially by yielding an annual saving up to ₺18,566. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the HGN performance model and its verification at four selected mining companies from the results of 2020. We abstract from the predictive ability of the HGN model. The analysis focuses on the impact of one of the six indicators affecting the efficiency and overall financial performance of the company to generalize the findings of this analysis. We focused on the potential possibilities of modifying one of the indicators affecting efficiency as part of the evaluation of the company's financial performance by applying it to selected companies in the mining industry. It confirms the hypothesis, which assumes a more objective impact on the evaluation of efficiency by including the asset in its acquisition price compared to the asset in the residual price. In other woords, the hypothesis of the need to include the asset in its total volume in its acquisition price was confirmed. This is vitally important for a more objective assessment of efficiency and for better comparisons between companies. The residual price would improve turnover and thus the performance of companies with outdated technical and technological equipment. More fundamental changes in the content of some indicators entering the HGN model will also require a reassessment of the performance interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the impacts of new mining projects in Africa is generally set in a normative debate about their possible contribution to development, which leads to a representation of African societies as divided between beneficiaries and victims of foreign investments. Based on research in the Congolese copperbelt, this article aims to examine in more detail the inequalities generated by the recent mining boom by taking the processes of labour market segmentation as a starting point. It shows that the labour market in the mining sector has progressively been organized along three intersecting lines that divide it: the first is between employment in industrial and artisanal mining companies, the second is between jobs for mining or subcontracting companies and the third is between jobs for expatriates, Congolese skilled workers and local unskilled workers. Far from simply reflecting existing social inequalities, the labour market has been actively involved in their creation, and its control has caused growing tensions in the Congolese copperbelt region. Although largely neglected in the literature on extractive industries, processes of labour market segmentation are key to making sense of the impacts of mining investments on the shape of societies in the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo discute la visión del autor sobre las luchas socio-extractivistas en Argentina con un enfoque en Esquel, un pueblo de Argentina y su lucha contra empresas mineras, alcaldes, gobernadores y funcionarios nacionales contra la minería nuclear en el altiplano de Chubut. El artículo también se centra en Malvinas Argentinas, un pueblo de Córdoba y su lucha con Monsanto, una empresa de agroquímicos para detener su instalación.

National and foreign companies distributed around Huila, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Kwanza Norte, Cunene and Namibe provinces exploit granite quarries in the Republic of Angola. The main cause effecting the environment caused by this increasingly intense mining activity is the non-existence of sustainability criteria that contribute to a rational and responsible mining operation. The purpose of this study is to establish sustainability criteria for exploiting granite quarries in Hulla province. It was showed by using a four-stage methodology: bibliographical analysis, field work, consulting to specialists and applying the Delphi method that exploiting Huila granite quarries impact vegetation, fauna, soil, surface and ground water, the atmosphere, population, economy and landscape; therefore fifteen sustainability criteria were established for the exploitation of these quarries, each criterion was characterized and their ranges were determined for qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The sustainability criteria obtained can be applied in other similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone mining traditionally neglects sustainable performance, focusing only on the economic benefits for owners. The purpose of the present study is to identify the link between sustainable performance and results of administrative excellence in context of Mexican stone mines. In this quantitative study of exploratory scope, field work was carried out for applying questionnaires to a non-probabilistic sample (n = 37) of owners, administrators or cooperative representatives of stone mines. The questionnaire was based on standards of the Global Report Initiative and result indicators of the Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management. The Pearson test detects that the social and environmental components of sustainable performance are related to results of administrative excellence, but not the economic element; it is concluded that sustainable performance practices favor the results of mining companies, although they are applied to a small extent without noticeable impact on economic sustainable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a multidimensional account of the politics of resource extraction in two subnational regions of India in response to the question: what are the political conditions that facilitate extraction? Emerging from the same moment of state creation in 2000, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are adjacent mineral‐rich states with similar demographic profiles and comparable levels of economic development. The authors argue that despite these similarities and India's highly centralized legislative framework for natural resource governance, the two states have developed distinctive 'extractive regimes' in the years since statehood, which contrast in important ways across three dimensions: political organization and history, institutional effectiveness, and the nature and management of social resistance. The article offers the first in‐depth, comparative account of how subnational territorial reorganization in India acts as a critical juncture enabling the formation of extractive regimes, which have also converged in important ways in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to find empirical evidence and test the influence of Indonesia Bank Certificate (SBI), rupiah exchange rate against US. dollar (KURS), operational cash flow (CFO), working capital (MK), net profit (LB), partially and jointly on stock returns, and find empirical evidence and test the effect of SBI, KURS, CFO, MK, LB, stock return (RS). This study uses two research models with a sample of 12 mining companies from a population of 40 companies listed on the Indonesia stock exchange. The analysis technique used is multiple linear regression method using the fixed effect model (FEM) in the E-View9 application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining is an important industry in Peru, but local communities where mining takes place do not perceive its benefits. Mining corporations need to achieve legitimacy within these communities. The main objective of this study is to identify the factors that determine the provision of social licenses to operate in Peru's mining regions. We conducted this research using a case study of two Peruvian mining companies. Our study concludes with the identification of four essential factors needed to achieve a social license to operate within these communities: a deep understanding of the socioeconomic environment, a strong commitment to the community, an active presence of Government, and effective communication between the actors involved in mining activities. The combination of these elements can result in improved trust levels between companies and society, enabling all agents to recognize the costs and benefits resulting from mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental reporting is a realistic alternative for mines to prioritise operational changes in crucial environmental areas. Gold mines report to multiple platforms - i.e., integrated reporting. All these platforms have created the need for effective environmental data management. A methodology was developed in which the environmental performance data for numerous operations is centralised. A standardised reporting procedure was developed for each environmental data category that includes the different stakeholders' needs. Focus was also placed on reducing the data transfer errors due to the importance of data accuracy. The methodology is based on the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and was implemented at a gold mining company. After implementation, the rate of transfer error that would have been recorded in the data was reduced from 20 percent to four percent. This error rate was recorded before an external audit took place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John A. Agnew (1872-1939) and his son Rudolph (Dolph) J. Agnew (1896- 1960) were both mining engineers and held senior positions within the British miningfinance house founded by Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd - The Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa. They worked for periods in Western Australia and made a major contribution to the development and operation of various gold mining interests from the mid-1920s, as well as broader investments in the mining industry in Australia and New Guinea. Their activities were a precursor to the formation in 1960 by Consolidated Gold Fields of a major company in the Australian mining sector, Consolidated Gold Fields Australia, which later became Renison Goldfields Consolidated. These entities developed interests in a range of Australian companies including The Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, Renison, Associated Minerals Consolidated and Mount Goldsworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gives an overview of safety initiatives in the Swedish mining industry over 30 years. • Investigates initiatives that may have improved the accident frequency rate in mining. • Different periods have been characterised by different types of measures. • Organisational and technical initiatives may have improved the accident frequency. • Future measures and research need an holistic approach and must include contractors. This article investigates safety-related developments in the Swedish mining industry over a 30-year period, from the 1980s to the 2010s. It studies what may have contributed to lowering the accident frequency rates and improvement of safety more broadly in the industry. On this basis, interviews were conducted with informants from mining companies. This material was supplemented with a workshop with mining health and safety representatives and documents relating to the subject. The results are divided into four main themes, showing that from the 1980s and onwards, lowered rates and general safety improvements followed in the wake of technology development. This was complemented by a more direct focus on organisational aspects of safety beginning in the early 2000s. Still the effectiveness of the individual measures is not clear; while they theoretically have an effect, causality is hard to show. In other words, the improvements may not necessarily depend on the specifics of these initiatives. Given this, the article discusses the different initiatives in-depth, and gives suggestions for future research and industry action. This includes recommendations for approaching safety holistically and the development of new proactive indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although project scope definition is regarded as a key element in successful project management, research on the subject is sparse. This paper investigates the relationship between project scope readiness and project performance in the Namibian mining industry. A survey was done on ten projects from seven Namibian mining companies, using the project definition readiness index (PDRI) tool as a scope definition indicator, while cost and schedule performance were used as performance indicators. Support was found for the proposition that readiness of project scope definition improves schedule performance, but the relationship between the PDRI score and cost performance was less conclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present time of economic crisis overcoming is influencing also mining industry when companies are fighting with high indebtedness. High level of debt means a number of mining companies started to have big problems, a decrease of production and a single recession. One of the possible ways to solve the situation is private equity, which has a single impact especially to the mining industry. Contribution provides an evaluation in the area of PE investors in the mining industry with the aim to compare the performance of the mining industry with PE participation, attractiveness and total impact to the mining companies. The goal was to find out if PE means benefit for the mining industry and if so, what are benefits, reflecting in the performance of the company. The determined goal was achieved by a socalled micro index that could according to analytical results and evaluation of mining companies present certain informative structure about individual parts of the companies and to which measure these parts are qualitatively managed from the view of PE investor. Results of the analysis show that PE in the mining industry records better results than companies without PE participation. Through analysis of the mining industry, we found out the mining industry achieved better performance than the whole European industry. PE acting in the industry had a positive impact on the mining companies. The situation can be solved through simple micro index and summary of individual risks, which mining company should avoid with the aim to increase attractiveness for PE investors and at the same time to increase the stability of the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on fieldwork in three Andean regions of Peru, this article analyses the capacity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to reduce mining-related violence in rural communities in developing countries. Within Peru, to some extent CSR has stabilised short-term relationships between mining corporations and nearby communities, although tensions remain high in others. While effects are varied and locally-contingent, the findings support a theoretical understanding of CSR as deeply embedded in legitimising the violence of capitalism, including the slow violence from degrading local environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the territory of the southeastern mesoregion of the Pará State, as one of the preferential locus of conflicts that involves different social actors and the mining companies, besides contesting analytically the form of the economic and social development adopted by the Brazilian government in the Amazon of the Pará State at the dawn of the 21st century. The southeastern mesoregion of the Pará State is the most affected by the mining activities of the principal mineral company of the State, the Valle Company. These social and territorial impacts have brought into debate if the mining is the only way of regional development. The conflicts of interests among the populations directly affected and the mineral policy in the Amazon region, have raised a broad debate in the affected societies in the last 30 years of the mineral exploration in the region, confronting the richness and poverty as a remarkable regional landscape, and proposing to reflect about the effects of the mining activities in the mining towns of the Pará State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents result of an empirical study in which presence of values among workers of two mining squads characterized by different level of work performance has been compared. Values have been measured by two scales: Mining Values Scale (MVS) and Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). The squad with higher performance had significantly higher level of five out of nine values measured by (MVS); while none of the values measured by OCAI have been differentiating the squads with a statistical significance. The results suggest that Managing by Values (MBV) model for a mining corporation should rather be based on values specific for the mining industry rather than general management value set proposed by OCAI. Research results suggest also an association between presence of certain values and work satisfaction among workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• One-quarter of mining operations in Africa face social conflicts in nearby communities. • This paper analyses the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending on conflict. • The higher the risk of conflict, the more likely it is that companies engage in CSR spending. • At least in the short term, this functional use of CSR reduces the occurrence of conflict. • The conflict-reducing effect of CSR does not exceed the high conflict risk before CSR started. Recent research finds that the opening of mines in Africa increases the risk of local protests and conflict. However, few empirical studies have analysed the effect of 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR) of mining companies on conflicts in extraction areas. This study investigates the relationship between CSR payments and conflicts in African mining communities using econometric techniques. We create and explore a large dataset on CSR payments by 292 mining companies across 17 African countries and eight years. Our study finds that mining companies are more likely to engage in CSR activities when they are exposed to conflict in their areas of operation in previous years. Once conducted, CSR activities attenuate tensions. However, CSR does not lead to lower levels of conflict than in mining areas that have never received any CSR. The latter might be less in 'need' of CSR to manage operational risks in the first place. These findings support the view that mining companies engage in CSR activities to counter operational risks associated with local conflict, but that the effects are moderate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bauxite companies in Jamaica have increasingly begun to feel the ire of the owners of bauxite lands who believe that they have been denied reasonable compensation for the use of their lands by bauxite companies for the purposes of mining bauxite. The Mining Act speaks to the landowner being fairly and reasonably compensated for the damage done to the surface rights of the land during the bauxite mining process. It does not consider how a landowner should be compensated when the bauxite company unlawfully acquires the landowner’s property. Where property has been compulsorily acquired, the landowner must be adequately compensated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The mining operations of loading and haulage have an energy source that is highly dependent on fossil fuels. In mining companies that select trucks for haulage, this input is the main component of mining costs. How can the impact of the operational aspects on the diesel consumption of haulage operations in surface mines be assessed? There are many studies relating the consumption of fuel trucks to several variables, but a methodology that prioritizes higher-impact variables under each specific condition is not available. Generic models may not apply to all operational settings presented in the mining industry. This study aims to create a method of analysis, identification, and prioritization of variables related to fuel consumption of haul trucks in open pit mines. For this purpose, statistical analysis techniques and mathematical modelling tools using multiple linear regressions will be applied. The model is shown to be suitable because the results generate a good description of the fuel consumption behaviour. In the practical application of the method, the reduction of diesel consumption reached 10%. The implementation requires no large-scale investments or very long deadlines and can be applied to mining haulage operations in other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the deepening of financial markets in developing countries has been widely seen as growth-enhancing. A well-developed capital market – so the argument goes – provides a source of finance for productive investment, thus fostering growth. South Africa possesses one of the oldest stock exchanges among emerging economies, making the country a good case study to scrutinise such growth-enhancing effects. Employing a detailed – and original – analysis of company annual reports and financial statements, this article questions the validity of the growth-enhancing claims made for financial deepening. Although the South African equity market is a source of substantial funds for mining companies, the consequences of their activity do not appear to enhance growth but rather to induce financial fragility. New evidence will show that listed mining companies use financial markets to support their speculation in mining assets. As a consequence, financial funds are channelled into few productive activities with limited impact on job creation. Crucially, detrimental effects on monetary policy and domestic credit growth can be expected, since external finance is not flowing towards productive investment but ends up as cash holdings on corporate balance sheets. This trend in turn encourages rapid credit expansion, which recently favoured unsustainable consumption-driven growth in South Africa,1 leaving the country with heavy job losses and high household debt in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the historical trajectory and changing political economy of the mining industry in the Caribbean. It will trace how mining operations have occurred in the region through a fragmentation of earlier national development policies and international corporate models, shifting to a globalized industry of transnational corporations, flexibilized labor, and a host of subcontractors and exploratory firms. State interaction with the industry has gone from practices of direct or partial control (or guidance) toward policies favoring global competitiveness and transnational capitalist investment. With a specific focus on mining operations in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica, this article seeks to illuminate the transition from the international to the global phase of world capitalism. The article concludes that labor, local communities, environmentalists, and social and political movements must tackle these shifting conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Last decade's surge in commodity prices has now abated, but some of its effects on the mining industry may well be longer-lasting. The combination of booming consumer demand and continued depletion of mineral deposits in established producing nations expanded investor attention to the developing world. Projects grew bigger to capture economies of scale and compensate for rising capital costs, and the industry's pipeline soon filled with some of the largest projects ever proposed. Expectations of social and economic gain in mineral-rich nations also increased dramatically, fuelling a surge of resource nationalism worldwide. As a new tier of developers courted governments to access mineral resources, a sense of choice became entrenched. Individual mining corporations came under pressure to demonstrate that their ever-larger investments delivered commensurate economic benefits to host countries. In an attempt to balance the need to attend to local hegemony in policy making with a growing interest in economic development outcomes, some large mining corporations have started to develop innovative responses-illustrated in this paper with the case of Simandou and its promotion of a Southern Guinea Growth Corridor. The authors contend that a company's ability to address and manage development matters will become an increasingly important dimension of competitive advantage in the mining industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates certain aspects of what mining and exploration companies do to obtain a social license to operate (SLO) by studying choices made by companies when applying for a mining concession in Sweden. Evidence is provided of well-established mining companies having done no more than is strictly necessary to obtain their concessions. Examples of the opposite are also provided, where relatively newly established mining and exploration companies have done more than is legally required, in apparent attempts to obtain stakeholder support. The apparent disinterest by established mining companies to 'do more' is considered, as is the effectiveness of the more newly established mining and exploration companies' approaches. It is shown that the established mining firms, after a long history of mining, appear to have gained social and community acceptance. Conversely, in spite of the attempts made by the newly established firms to 'do more', their project are much more often being met with resistance and distrust by stakeholders. In spite of the apparent success of the approach taken by the established mining firms, there are indications that they are now being influenced by international developments in the mining sector, which calls on companies to work harder on issues related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and in ensuring their SLO. It is argued that such developments may become problematic, as these concepts have largely been developed within an Anglo-American, neoliberal model of development and may therefore need to be modified to fit in a Nordic, welfare state based context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]