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The article argues that updating the U.S. General Mining Law of 1872 can help balance the increasing demand for critical minerals due to the rise of renewable energy technology and environmentally responsible mining. It explains the economic importance of critical minerals. It discusses the legal history of the mining law and environmental laws affecting the mining industry. It suggests a reformed mining law that balances environmental justice considerations and critical mineral mining.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and accompanying 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention create the requirement to regulate and facilitate deep-sea mining while simultaneously protecting the marine environment for the Common Heritage of Mankind. At the time of the initial drafting of the Convention, there was a pretense that extraction of seabed resources could be managed in a manner that was not destructive of the marine environment. However, recent research has shown that harm to the marine environment from seabed mining is likely to occur. Due to the potential harm of current seabed mining technology, prospective exploitation projects in the deep-sea of the Pacific Ocean must be regulated in a manner compliant with the Convention. The International Seabed Authority, and its subordinate Legal and Technical Commission, must determine proper regulations and procedures to review and adopt exploitation proposals while complying with the Convention's requirement to avoid harm to the marine environment and promote the Common Heritage of Mankind. The expiration of a procedural deadline, in July 2023, accelerated the timeframe in which the International Seabed Authority must adopt exploitation regulations. Now the Authority must adopt regulations against the ticking clock or risk permitting underregulated mining to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article characterizes the communication practices of the committees that promoted the popular consultations called against mining and energy extraction projects in two municipalities of Colombia: Arbeláez (Cundinamarca) and Fusagasugá (Cundinamarca). To this end, the factors that originated the socio-environmental conflict are addressed, the process of calling for consultation is reconstructed and the “repertoire of communication practices” organized by the promoting committees is detailed, including the integration of nanomedia and popular arts and their articulation with the actions of social organizations that promoted the consultations. It is concluded that the communication process of the committees strengthens the recognition of socio-environmental conflicts in the community, expands and diversifies public opinion and contributes to the development of popular participation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was devised to examine the pattern of disturbance and reclamation by Tronox, which instigated a closure process for its Hillendale mine site in South Africa, where they recovered zirconium- and titanium-bearing minerals from 2001 to 2013. Restoring mined-out areas is of great importance in South Africa, with its ominous record of almost 6000 abandoned mines since the 1860s. In 2002, the government enacted the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (No. 28 of 2002) to enforce extracting companies to restore mined-out areas before pursuing closure permits. Thus, the trajectory of the Hillendale mine remains unstudied despite advances in the satellite remote sensing technology that is widely used in this field. Here, we retrieved a collection of Landsat-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within the Google Earth Engine and applied the Detecting Breakpoints and Estimating Segments in Trend (DBEST) algorithm to examine the progress of vegetation transformation over the Hillendale mine between 2001 and 2019. Our results showed key breakpoints in NDVI, a drop from 2001, reaching the lowest point in 2009–2011, with a marked recovery pattern after 2013 when the restoration program started. We also validated our results using a random forests strategy that separated vegetated and non-vegetated areas with an accuracy exceeding 78%. Overall, our findings are expected to encourage users to replicate this affordable application, particularly in emerging countries with similar cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource extraction is economically important in many developing countries, but social conflict can threaten the viability of the sector. This article examines why polluting extractive industries sometimes generate social mobilization but often do not. First, I distinguish acute, highly visible environmental externalities from chronic, less observable pollution, showing that only the former generate social mobilization. Second, I explore how high-quality local governance can mitigate the local resource curse dynamic by both reducing pollution and improving compensation in mining-intensive areas. The analysis uses microlevel data on extractive commodities, water pollution, children's and livestock health, local government quality, and mining-related social conflict in Peru to demonstrate the full causal pathway of the local resource curse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article complicates the neoclassical factors of production––land, labor, and capital. Instead, it uses Georges Bataille's "general" economy, which situates all human activity within the energy system of the sun. This means that human domination of nature, and its resultant alienation, must be manufactured within the system of production. Also, a general economy's necessity of profitlessly consuming surplus energy recasts extractive sites as necessary sites of reproducing alienation in capitalism through destructive waste. The Bakken oil fields are a site of destructive extraction to consume excess energy but because capitalism insists on productive consumption, it has destructive social consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extractive industry operations are associated with environmental and climate injustice on local and global scales and frequently intertwined with violations of the human rights of women and girls. In this article, I draw upon diverse approaches to legal analysis, including the work of ecological vulnerability and Indigenous feminist theorists, to argue that one key piece of the puzzle as we seek environmental, climate, and gender justice in the context of extractive industry harms is to re-imagine constructs and legal tools through a relational lens. Diverse relational approaches to legal analysis share a desire to shine the spotlight away from the bounded autonomous individual of liberal thought and towards interdependent relationships existing among people and the material world, including relationships in the international sphere. Attention to relational law enables us to align our concerns for local and global environmental and climate justice, including gender justice, with respect for Indigenous laws and institutions and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Ultimately, we must guard against unconscious acceptance of legal structures that invoke the bounded autonomous individual and, instead, actively seek relational laws and practices, whether in international law, human rights law, business law, and even environmental law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral and hydrocarbon extraction and infrastructure are increasingly significant drivers of forest loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and threats to the rights of forest communities in forested areas of Amazonia, Indonesia, and Mesoamerica. Projected investments in these sectors suggest that future threats to forests and rights are substantial, particularly because resource extraction and infrastructure reinforce each other and enable population movements and agricultural expansion further into the forest. In each region, governments have made framework policy commitments to national and cross-border infrastructure integration, increased energy production, and growth strategies based on further exploitation of natural resources. This reflects political settlements among national elites that endorse resource extraction as a pathway toward development. Regulations that protect forests, indigenous and rural peoples' lands, and conservation areas are being rolled back or are under threat. Small-scale gold mining has intensified in specific locations and also has become a driver of deforestation and degradation. Forest dwellers' perceptions of insecurity have increased, as have documented homicides of environmental activists. To explain the relationships among extraction, infrastructure, and forests, this paper combines a geospatial analysis of forest loss overlapped with areas of potential resource extraction, interviews with key informants, and feedback from stakeholder workshops. The increasing significance of resource extraction and associated infrastructure as drivers of forest loss and rights violations merits greater attention in the empirical analyses and conceptual frameworks of Sustainability Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining poses serious and highly specific threats to biodiversity. However, mining can also be a means for financing alternative livelihood paths that, over the long-term, may prevent biodiversity loss. Complex and controversial issues associated with mining and biodiversity conservation are often simplified within a narrow frame oriented towards the negative impacts of mining at the site of extraction, rather than posed as a series of challenges for the conservation science community to embrace. Here, we synthesize core issues that, if better understood, may ensure coexistence between mining and conservation agendas. We illustrate how mining impacts biodiversity through diverse pathways and across spatial scales. We argue that traditional, site-based conservation approaches will have limited effect in preventing biodiversity loss against an increasing mining footprint, but opportunities to improve outcomes (e.g. through long-term strategic assessment and planning) do exist. While future mineral supply is uncertain, projections suggest demand will grow for many metals and shift mining operations towards more dispersed and biodiverse areas. Initiating dialogue between mining companies, policy-makers and conservation organizations is urgent, given the suite of international agendas simultaneously requiring more minerals but less biodiversity loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides that everyone has the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations. To give effect to this right, the South African Parliament has promulgated section 49 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 and section 24(2A) of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, which collectively bestow upon the Minister of Mineral Resources and the Minister of Environmental Affairs respectively, the powers to declare a prohibition or restriction on prospecting or mining rights. Consequently, this article assesses whether these two provisions comply with the constitutional mandate to protect the environment. In essence, this paper contends that these twin provisions countenance further destruction of the environment in contravention of the constitutional mandate to protect the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the impact of anti-mining discourse of a social movement, the Frente en Defensa de Wirikuta (fdw), on a group of people who live in a community historically dedicated to mining. I discuss how the circulation of knowledge about the ecological impact of mining has shaped the political position of old miners and their families as well as facilitated their claims. A language and popular knowledge of mining challenged the ideological weight and authoritarian practice of the mining companies. The question, then, is what is the link between local agency and the scientific, moral and political discourses that seek to regulate productive practices and conceptions of the environmental? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between mining, memory and environmental suffering on the Bolivian Altiplano (Andean plateau). Mining activity has had a long and well documented role in transforming landscapes throughout the Andean region, and Bolivia provides some of South America's starkest examples of mine‐related water and soil contamination. In Bolivia, mining is publicly memorialised as central to the collective national experience, and public murals and monuments help construct a national identity as a país minero (mining country). Memory is similarly important, though less public, for populations impacted by mine‐related pollution and their demands for remediation and reparation. In discussing these conditions, residents of the region draw on memories of past landscapes and waterscapes, which they often represent as verdant and bountiful. Such memory narratives are less important for what they tell us about the former landscapes – which were likely less pristine than reported – than what they tell us about contemporary conditions. Drawing on ethnographic research, I argue that memory – as represented in stories told about past experience – necessarily requires selective remembering and selective forgetting, and may function as a political and ideological resource in its own right. In this sense, memory can be mobilised in various forms and at a range of scales, from the individual to the national. As a representation of the past, memory is always also a representation of the present, and a reflection of contemporary realities, which in turn informs political demands. The paper ends by considering the potential and limitations of memory as a conceptual tool for envisioning environmentally just futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic research around the Misima and Lihir gold mines in Papua New Guinea, this Afterword provides anthropological reflections on the main themes of the articles in this issue. Endorsing the call for interdisciplinary research on mining, I present instantiations of the varying meanings of place, migration and sustainability. I describe variations in perceptions of place between different sites and these are also subject to change over time. The commoditization of land and engagement with capitalism profoundly alter knowledge and understanding of place and ideals of development. Migration occurs at different rates over the life of the mine but has a lasting effect on the stability of the community and its economic sustainability. Mining companies often resort to simplistic and inadequate solutions to the environmental and social problems created by their projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acid mine drainage (AMD) derives from the oxidation of sulfide minerals, primarily pyrite (FeS2), and is the most severe environmental issue facing the minerals industry. The most common short-term approach to AMD treatment is migration control, such as acid neutralization and metal/metalloid and sulfate removal, through the addition of alkaline materials, including lime (Ca (OH)2), limestone (Ca CO3), gangue minerals and industrial wastes. This requires the continuous input of materials and may result in the production of a vast amount of secondary sludge requiring further treatment and disposal. Addition of chemicals is usually more important in metal/metalloid removal than in sulfate removal unless the sulfate is present in very high concentrations. A more promising long-term strategy for AMD prevention is source control through the complete removal of pyritic minerals and encapsulation of potential risk minerals by coating with impermeable surface layers. This is regarded as the most cost-effective approach, although the mechanisms underpinning this and the implementation procedures are yet to be fully elucidated. It is likely that long- and short-term practices can be combined to optimize the remediation of contaminated mining sites. Some factors such as differing geological and mineralogical characteristics and transportation costs must also be considered for the successful implementation of AMD prevention and remediation strategies. This review also considers some implications for AMD remediation, but the promising bioremediation of AMD is not discussed as it has been extensively reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Mining Regulations were adopted in 1954, revised in 1961, and amended in 1968 and 1978 as a means to promote mineral resource development on First Nation reserves, where First Nations hold title to the mineral resource. In this article, the Indian Mining Regulations, as part of a suite of regulations associated with the Indian Act, are outlined in relationship to Saskatchewan mining law. First is a general survey of First Nations' mineral titles across Canada where the Indian Mining Regulations apply. This article then discusses the application of these Regulations; compliance with provincial law; the disposition of minerals; permits; leases; and, finally, the assignment of royalties. It is recommended that a critical review of mineral resource potentials, exploration, mine permitting, and standards for environmental monitoring and reclamation be established prior to any assignment of the existing Indian Mining Regulations against any mineral resource development that occurs on First Nation lands or reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home-based workers are workers who work at home for a certain wage without health and safety protection. For them, house is their workplace, so the hazards of the workplace and work activities are health risk for the workers and their family members. This research was conducted to identify the dangers of working environment to the home-based workers in charcoal industrial sector in Semarang City. It also described the relationship of the working environment hazard to the experienced health problems. This observational research was done using crosssectional design with samples of 146 home-based workers collected using purposive sampling. The working environment conditions include the housing environment and work activities. The housing conditions of home-based workers who were not eligible include ceiling 91.1 percent; floor 57.5 percent; ventilation 42.5 percent and waste disposal facilities 97.3 percent. The working environment conditions were exposed with chemical hazard (dust) 39.7 percent and ergonomic hazard (non-ergonomic position) 59.6 percent. The types of experienced injury were 80 percent joint pain and 13.7 percent out of breath, whereas the more often work complaints were 41.1 percent muscle pain; 19.2 percent stiffness; 13 percent cough and 11.6 percent tingling. The dangers of working environment to the home-based workers in the charcoal industrial sector including the condition of the floor which was a risk factor for the occurrence of dizziness and headache (increased risk for 1.84 times greater), as well as twisting and repetitive movements risking to a dizziness and headache (increased risk for 1.48 times greater) and tingling (increased risk for 1.36 times greater). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of extractive industries on human rights and the environment. Topics discussed include the convergence between the human rights and environmental protection movements, environmental and human rights-related litigations involving oil companies Shell in Ogoniland, Nigeria and Chevron in Ecuador and the La Oroya mine in Peru, and the application of environmental justice as a framework for discussing the human and environmental impact of extractive industries.

Cemented paste backfill (CPB) has been extensively used as a popular mine fill system for underground mining operations. Understanding the CPB’s in situ properties as an element of ground support is indeed really important for developing a well-organised mine design in terms of costs and security. In this paper, a comprehensive experimental work was conducted to better understand the effect of stope depth on in situ behaviour and performance of CPB having three different binding agents (ordinary Portland cement alone, slag-based cement and fly ash-based cement) over different curing times. A stope depth of 0 (it replicates the stope’s top), 5, 10, 15 and 20 m (it replicates the stope’s bottom) were virtually simulated by using an improved laboratory set-up, escorting with conventional plastic moulds. Results show that the highest compressive strength is obtained from CPB having slag-based cement. The strength of CPB increases with increasing stope depth mainly due to resulting improved geotechnical properties, such as reduced water content, degree of saturation and porosity as well as increased specific surface area retained at the bottom of a simulated stope. Geochemical testing shows that sulphate SO4−2 and calcium Ca contents increase with increasing curing time and reduce with increasing stope depth. As a critical point, a number of experimental relationships considered typically for different curing times, overburden pressure, arching stress and binder contents within CPB material were expressed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining projects, as with many other extractive activities, result in divergent opinions during the planning process which may trigger conflict. Early understanding of stakeholders’ priorities can help with the design of better projects while reducing sources of potential conflict. The objective of this article is to present a rule-based method for decision support to be used in the first stages of the project to identify disagreements in the form of potentially conflictive criteria. The method proposed defines four attributes that should be evaluated for the different relevant criteria subject to potential conflict: the importance of the criterion, the perceived risk, the fairness, and the affected side’s willingness to make dialogue. These attributes are used to construct a rule-based system that can assess the degree of sensibility to conflict for each criterion. The application of this rule-based approach is explained using information from a real past conflict in Chile, where nine criteria were considered, four key decision makers were interviewed and 81 rules were created. The output given by the rule-based system was compared with the conflict degree given by the four decision makers. Results show that in 44.4% of the responses the rank level was the same, in 44% there was a slight subestimation and in 11% an overestimation of the criterion conflictive level. The method proposed incorporates new aspects into the analysis of sources of potential conflict and is simple enough for an anticipatory screening of potential disagreements around the criteria. In addition, this type of precautionary approach in the earlier stages of project appraisal can contribute to a better project design and a constructive industry-community dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social licence to operate has become an integral part of the discourse around social accountability for mining globally. Meaningful engagement between companies and communities has been proposed as a foundation for relationships that support a social licence. The links among these elements are investigated in the present research, which developed and tested a model exploring correlations between one such engagement mechanism, dialogue, and company-community relationships. It also considered other critical elements of social licence, including procedural fairness, trust, and social acceptance of mining. Survey participants (N = 560) were Australians living close to mining or natural gas development across 11 non-metropolitan regions in Australia. Path analyses showed that the more positive community members’ experiences of dialogue were, the stronger their relationships with company personnel and the more they perceived that the procedures used by the mining industry were fair. These factors, fairness and relationships, mediated the significant indirect effects that dialogue had in building trust in the mining industry, which, in turn, predicted increased acceptance of mining. The findings support previous research in indicating that fairness, trust, and acceptance are critical elements in social acceptance. The findings provide an empirical link between these factors and the quality of dialogue and of company-community relationships. These results have implications for future research on social licence and the development of engagement strategies that seek to foster community and broader social acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods for quantifying the impacts of water use within life cycle assessment have developed significantly over the past decade. These methods account for local differences in hydrology and water use contexts through the use of regionally specific impact characterisation factors. However, few studies have applied these methods to the mining industry and so there is limited understanding regarding how spatial boundaries may affect assessments of the mining industry's consumptive water use impacts. To address this, we developed production weighted characterisation factors for 25 mineral and metal commodities based upon the spatial distribution of global mine production across watersheds and nations. Our results indicate that impact characterisation using the national average ‘Water Stress Index’ (WSI) would overestimate the water use impacts for 67% of mining operations when compared to assessments using watershed WSI values. Comparatively, national average ‘Available Water Remaining’ (AWaRe) factors would overestimate impacts for 60% of mining operations compared to assessments using watershed factors. In the absence of watershed scale inventory data, assessments may benefit from developing alternative characterisation factors reflecting the spatial distribution of commodity production across watersheds. The results also provide an indication of the commodities being mined in highly water stressed or scarce regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Global Mining Initiative, the mining industry came together to understand the industry's role in the transition to sustainable development and to ensure its long-term contribution. The industry has since then come a long way and improved its sustainable development performance in many areas. But how far has the industry been considering environmental (“strong”) sustainability in its approach? And how does this compare to companies in other sectors and leading organizations such as the United Nations, World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Global Reporting Initiative? This paper presents results from a literature review, looking at how far the mining industry has considered environmental sustainability in its approach. It explores, if the current efforts of the largest mining companies are aligned with the efforts of companies from other industry sectors, as well as the position of leading organizations. We conclude that the mining industry is not setting on the wrong sustainability paradigm at this stage, but is at risk of falling behind societal expectations on climate change and the leaders from other industries on natural capital considerations. The industry can improve by considering the Paris Agreement in its approach to climate change, considering natural capital as an industry, e.g. through working with the Natural Capital Coalition and more broadly by pro-actively thinking about what the consequences of “strong sustainability” would mean for their business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental impact of coal exploitation has significant, inevitable and irreversible effects on aquatic systems, air, natural mineral resources, ecosystems, climate, geomorphology and landscape, land use and human collectivity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When cemented backfill mixture (CBM) is transported through pipelines from a backfill plant to stopes, it experiences shearing forces over the transport time. In this paper, the effects of solids concentration, binder content, shear rate and curing time on the time-dependent rheological behaviour of CBM were studied. It was found that over long periods of shearing at a constant rate greater than 5 s−1, the shear stress decreased at first and then increased gradually with time. When the shear rate was less than 0.5 s−1, shear stress increased slightly firstly with shearing time, then it started to behave similar to the test with a higher shear rate whose shear stress decreased firstly and then increased. The samples that were sheared at a higher shear rate exhibited a lower apparent viscosity and the higher yield stress CBM samples displayed more pronounced shear-thinning properties. It was also found that for transient flow, increasing the solids concentration and the curing time lead to both a higher initial shear stress (τ0) and minimum shear stress (τmin). When the cement to tailings ratio increased, the τ0, τmin and final shear stress after shearing for 3600 s (τ3600) increased at first, and then subsequently decreased. Moreover, changes in the solids concentration profile and the cement hydration property were displayed during the rheological tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been an influx of investment in the Arctic, particularly in relation to the extractive industries. Yet in spite of their economic potential, extractive industry projects come with considerable social and environmental risks for northern indigenous communities. Within these communities, the associated challenges of resource development are felt most acutely by women; however, there is a lack of research and analysis concerning the gendered dimension of resource development in northern Canada through the lens of indigenous women's human rights. This article proposes the adoption of a rights‐based approach to address this issue, suggesting that such an approach can provide a coherent framework for enhancing the inclusion and well‐being of indigenous women in resource development, helping to ensure that Canada meets its human rights and constitutional obligations while furthering its commitment to reconciliation with indigenous peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before environmental legislation was enforced, worldwide historical mines abandoned their operations without properly remediation and closure affecting the ecosystems. Because of its geological richness, Peru has attracted mining activities since colonial times and more than 8571 mining liabilities have been left. Pacococha and Millotingo mining liabilities are located on the banks of Aruri River, above Parac micro-watershed, from where communities of San Jose de Parac and San Antonio (San Mateo Huanchor district, Lima) take water for irrigating crops in low-flow periods. This paper reports for the first time in Peru the use of an interdisciplinary approach to examine the environmental effects of mining liabilities and small-scale mining on peasant communities. Physical and chemical methods, such as microscopy and spectrometry, were used to verify the presence of sulfides and to measure critical water quality parameters of Aruri and Rimac rivers. The ecosystem approach was applied to collect socioeconomic information from both communities; social actors and their statements regarding tailing problems were identified by social multi-criteria evaluation. It was found that the tailings contained sulfides that provide arsenic, cadmium, copper, zinc and manganese to Aruri and Rimac rivers in levels that exceed State of Oregon (USA) standard limits. It was also observed that both communities use this water to irrigate potato and alfalfa crops, well-known bioaccumulators. The tailings were classified as high risk to the environment by the Peruvian General Direction of Mining; however, future remediation remains uncertain due to a judicial dispute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the November 2015 Samarco tailings dam disaster in Brazil, the largest in the world according to many criteria, and its impact on water risk management. Focus is on BHP and Vale, as two of the world's largest mining companies and their exposure to water risk through the disaster and their responses as equal owners of the Samarco joint venture. The study employs a case study method based on publicly available data in which the companies' water risk management is assessed. The analysis reveals a number of issues which include too much discretion given to joint ventures in the assessment of water risk and the need for a specialized water risk function and improved contingency planning for downstream communities impacted by the organization's activities. Based on the analysis a future research agenda is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water that floods the mining complexes is drained on a constant basis when a mine is still active, but the situation changes the moment the mine is closed. This article presents the influence that flooding of mine workings has on a surface of a mining area using computer simulation. The evaluation of potential changes to the surface and scale of this phenomenon has been done using as examples the exploitation of mine deposit layers 702, 705, and 718 of the old Gliwice and Pstrowski mines. The performed numerical simulation showed that using numerical modeling of rock mass demonstrates the possibility of predicting uplifting of the surface caused by flooding of underground workings. Maximum designated value of surface uplifting amounts to around 34 mm/m. This value is relatively small and does not exceed 2% of subsidence caused by previous mining activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandoned mines are a recurrent problem for nearby communities in Mediterranean regions because mine tailings represent a major source of polymetallic contamination. Metal contaminants are emitted in mining areas and dispersed by wind and water erosion in the surroundings. The goal of this literature review was to identify the specific features of polymetallic contamination arising from abandoned mines in the Mediterranean regions. Mediterranean climate conditions and local geochemical context are the most important factors that control the metal-bearing particle dispersion toward the different compartments of ecosystems. Acid mine drainage, as an important source of damage to the environment, is limited to a certain extent by the predominance of carbonate rocks in the Mediterranean regions. In opposite, aeolian contamination is specific to the semiarid conditions of the Mediterranean climate. In this context, impacts on different compartments such as agricultural soils and edible plants or human populations were underlined. The analysis of environmental laws and regulations of North and South Mediterranean countries shows that one of the main differences is the lack of identification and definition of mining waste as a public concern in the latter countries. In order to limit the transfer of contaminants from mining waste to the different components of the environment, phytostabilization of mine tailings was considered as the more adapted green technology even in the Mediterranean region where water access is limited. Finally, this review of polymetallic pollution from abandoned mines in Mediterranean regions enabled to identify priority actions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ombrotrophic peatlands are a recognized global carbon reservoir. Without restoration and peat regrowth, harvested peatlands are dramatically altered, impairing their carbon sink function, with consequences for methane turnover. Previous studies determined the impact of commercial mining on the physicochemical properties of peat and the effects on methane turnover. However, the response of the underlying microbial communities catalyzing methane production and oxidation have so far received little attention. We hypothesize that with the return of Sphagnum spp. postharvest, methane turnover potential and the corresponding microbial communities will converge in a natural and restored peatland. To address our hypothesis, we determined the potential methane production and oxidation rates in natural (as a reference), actively mined, abandoned, and restored peatlands over two consecutive years. In all sites, the methanogenic and methanotrophic population sizes were enumerated using quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays targeting the mcrA and pmoA genes, respectively. Shifts in the community composition were determined using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the mcrA gene and a pmoA-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP) analysis, complemented by cloning and sequence analysis of the mmoX gene. Peat mining adversely affected methane turnover potential, but the rates recovered in the restored site. The recovery in potential activity was reflected in the methanogenic and methanotrophic abundances. However, the microbial community composition was altered, being more pronounced for the methanotrophs. Overall, we observed a lag between the recovery of the methanogenic/methanotrophic activity and the return of the corresponding microbial communities, suggesting that a longer duration (>15 years) is needed to reverse mining-induced effects on the methane-cycling microbial communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison between two digestion methods of hot plate Hossner (total-total) and USEPA method 3051 (total-recoverable) was carried out to suggest a proper method for determining nine heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) content of three urban soils affected by mining (Mahd AD'Dahab) or industrial activities (Riyadh and Jubail) at Saudi Arabia. The results showed no significant differences between two digestion methods for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils affected by mining and for Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils affected by industrial activities. Additionally, lower biases were obtained between two methods for metals Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb in the urban soil samples from mining area with the percent biases of −16.5%, +6.24%, −12.4% and +24.1%, respectively. The results also revealed that only Cu and Zn in the soil samples from Riyadh were extracted satisfactorily using USEPA 3051 with low biases of +5.69% and −9.61%, respectively. Meanwhile, only Pb in soil samples from Jubail showed lower baise between two methods with satisfactory biase of −8.07%. The correlation coefficients were significant between total-recoverable and total-total concentrations for Cu (r = 0.66), Pb (r = 0.72) and Cd (r = 0.65) in soil samples from mining area. Overall, concentrations of Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, and Ni that may show soil background concentrations were found higher by Hossner method than by USEPA 3051; thus, this suggests the addition of hydrofluoric acid (HF) is necessary for the determination of lithogenic metal concentrations. It could be concluded that the USEPA 3051 may be recommended and applied for total Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn originated from anthropogenic source in mining and industrial areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive study on the spatial distribution and source apportionment of heavy metals in soils and so by risk assessment at You'xi County, a major Pb–Zn mining area southeast China, was conducted in this contribution. A total of 93 soil samples were examined with the concentration of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn), pH, and soil organic matter (SOM) contents by using geostatistical approaches combined with geographic information system (GIS) analysis. The mean values of heavy metals were determined to be 7.9 ± 5.8, 12.8 ± 14.1, 80.4 ± 42.0, 34.4 ± 45.0, 0.12 ± 0.13 368.5 ± 873.6, and 369.6 ± 505.5 mg kg − 1 (mean ± SD) for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Contents of all heavy metals present in the study area were considerably higher than their background values of provincial and national standards except for As. A principle component analysis revealed the main origin of heavy metals: soil parent materials for Cu, Pb, and Zn; atmospheric deposition during mining processes for Cr, and Hg; and human farming activities for Cd. Carcinogenic risk was assessed with an average value of 69.3 × 10 − 6 mg kg − 1 , suggesting an average of 69 individuals per million people being predisposed to cancer. Meanwhile, the identification of heavy metal sources in agricultural soils might be beneficial to local soil protection and soil quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent decades, fine-scale land use and land cover classification in open-pit mine areas (LCCMA) has become very important for understanding the influence of mining activities on the regional geo-environment, and for environmental impact assessment procedure. This research reviews advances in fine-scale LCCMA from the following aspects. Firstly, it analyzes and proposes classification thematic resolution for LCCMA. Secondly, remote sensing data sources, features, feature selection methods, and classification algorithms for LCCMA are summarized. Thirdly, three major factors that affect LCCMA are discussed: significant three-dimensional terrain features, strong LCCMA feature variability, and homogeneity of spectral-spatial features. Correspondingly, three key scientific issues that limit the accuracy of LCCMA are presented. Finally, several future research directions are discussed: (1) unitization of new sensors, particularly those with stereo survey ability; (2) procurement of sensitive features by new sensors and combinations of sensitive features using novel feature selection methods; (3) development of robust and self-adjusted classification algorithms, such as ensemble learning and deep learning for LCCMA; and (4) application of fine-scale mining information for regularity and management of mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geo-environmental impact of anthropogenic activities in Jinshazhou area is predicted by assessing the geo-environmental problems susceptibility under the condition of nature and anthropogenic activities in the study. An evaluation factor system including natural and anthropogenic factors is setup and the principal component analysis-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model is selected. Results are shown in four grades, including very low, low, high, and very high. Under the natural condition, the very low, low, high, and very high susceptible regions of geo-environmental problems take up 67.73%, 0.71%, 7.30%, and 24.26%, respectively. Under the condition of anthropogenic activities, the very low, low, high, and very high susceptible regions of geo-environmental problems take up 69.18%, 5.88%, 5.88%, and 19.06%, respectively. Comparing the susceptibility of geo-environmental problems under two conditions, it can be predicted that there is a greatly negative impact of anthropogenic activities in the southern surrounding region of Jinshazhou tunnel; while in the north of the study area, such as Poly West Coast, anthropogenic activities have a positive impact on geo-environment. The present distribution of geo-environmental problems has shown that the new evaluation technique system can be successfully applied to predict the urban geo-environmental impact of anthropogenic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Attention to the determinants of health and health equity in impact assessment remains under-utilised at the project, Environmental Impact Assessment, level. Determinants focussed health impact assessment has developed at an upstream, policy level, but tends to assess draft proposals rather than form the basis of policies and plans. Project level health (risk) impact assessment tends to focus on a project by project basis, and generally eschews a broad model of health. One answer to this ‘health and impact assessment’ problem is to shift attention to the strategic level, in a similar manner to, and learning from, the development of Strategic Environmental Assessment and its theoretical and practical derivatives. In this article we explain the need for this shift both conceptually and practically by navigating the literature. Our analysis derives specifically from developing the Strategic Health Impact Assessment section of new international industry HIA guidance, coupled with work in and around health impact assessment and policy analysis for the past decade. We develop characteristics of conducting strategic health assessments for multiple industry development activities at the supra national, national or regional level. Our intended audience are public administrators, industry planners and financial sector investors. A particular focus is low and middle income countries, now seen by industry as emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation and mining activities have proven to be very damaging to rivers because these activities disturb the environmental characteristics of rivers. Thus, the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate nitrogen (PN), and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) were measured monthly during 2 hydrological years in the Maroni and Oyapock Rivers to assess the dynamics and fluxes of organic carbon and nitrogen in these 2 Guiana Shield basins, which have been strongly (Maroni) and weakly (Oyapock) impacted by deforestation and mining activities. The 2-year time series show that DOC, POC, PN, and Chl-a concentrations vary seasonally with discharge in both rivers, indicating a hydrologically dominated control. Temporal patterns of DOC, POC, and PN indicate that these variables show maximum concentrations in rising waters due to the yield of organic matter and nitrogen accumulated in soils, which are incorporated into the rivers during rainfall. However, the Chl-a concentrations were at a maximum during low-water stages. The C/N and C/Chl-a ratios also showed a seasonal trend, with lower values during the low water periods due to an increase in algal biomass. During high water, the POC in both rivers is the result of terrestrial organic matter, whereas during low-water autochthonous organic matter can reach up to 34% of the POC. The mean annual fluxes of TOC and PN were higher (4.56 × 105 tonC year−1 and 1.77 × 104 tonN year−1, respectively) in the Maroni River than those (1.84 × 105 tonC year−1 and 0.54 × 104 tonN year−1, respectively) in the Oyapock River. However, the specific fluxes of DOC, POC, and PN from both basins were nearly the same. Although gold mining activities are performed in both basins, there is no conclusive evidence regarding the impact of these activities on the dynamics of organic matter and particulate nitrogen in the Maroni and Oyapock Rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given are the results of many-years’ research aimed at implementing the major state policies in the field of environmental development of the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation, eliminating environmental damage accumulated due to past mining activities, and restoring disturbed natural ecosystems. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to justify the need to develop a method for reclamation of the surface of the tailing dumps of bankrupt mining enterprises of the Far Eastern Federal District to ensure their environmental safety. Innovative proposals have been developed to reduce negative impact of toxic mining wastes on the environment, the novelty of which has been confirmed by patents of the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental status of an area impacted by Roman mining activities was assessed in order to establish the current risks posed by such old mine emplacements. For this purpose, soil samples were collected throughout the mining area and analysed for their total, mobile and mobilizable trace element (As, Cd, Mo, Sb and Zn) contents. Additionally, beehive products (honey and pollen) were also sampled and evaluated for their use as environmental indicators of the area. The results obtained were compared with those from a control non-polluted area. The mine soils presented slightly increased levels of Cd and Sb (about 2- to -3-fold their normal soil concentrations), whereas the enrichment of As reached considerable levels, with concentrations almost ten-fold of those considered the threshold for causing toxicity. Leachable As contents exhibited very high values (1.2–21.9 mg kg − 1 ), indicating the need for risk attenuation measures. All trace elements were mainly partitioned in the soil residual fraction, especially Mo (76–99%) and Sb (61–91%). Significant partitioning levels were also found in the reducible fraction of As (up to 35%) and Cd (up to 38%), and in the oxidizable fraction of Mo (up to 23%). The reducible pool of As was particularly relevant due to the eventual mobilization of this element under reducing conditions. Among the beehive products tested, honey proved not to be useful as an environmental indicator, whereas pollen showed great potential as an indicator when the contamination levels were moderate to high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of increasing mining and agriculture in Africa, on remaining habitats. It mentions effect of the expansion of transport ‘development corridors' on the ecological integrity. It discusses evaluation of environmental costs and agricultural benefits of road development projects. It also discusses urgency of improved spatial planning.

This proposal discusses the neoliberal and extractive model that has been implemented in Latin American countries due the development of the world market economy, using the case of green capitalism and the strategic use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The technique of analyzing argumentative discourses on ENDESA's CSR was used in the context of a conflict for a hydroelectric plant in the county of Panguipulli, in southern Chile, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with governmental and local actors. Finally, discursive relations are discussed to propose that business strategies introduce and socialize this type of investments by managing neo-extractivism and particular state functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The largest part of the river Spreča flows through the heavily populated region of Tuzla canton, and it is also area of mining-industrial zone. This study monitors the PAHs content, in the part of Spreča’s flow which is extremely exposed to these pollutants during the year of 2015. Content of PAHs in the river were analyzed on three locations: prior Modrac lake, in the lake and on the mouth of Spreča into river Bosna. Determination of PAHs in the water was performed by HPLC techniques - fluorescence detection, after liquid-liquid extraction. Eight PAHs, recommended by EU directive, have been analyzed: naphthalene, anthracene, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene. The highest concentration was found for naphthalene. Except naphthalene, concentration of all other PAHs was significantly higher on the mouth of Spreča than on the two previous locations. Concentration of all PAHs significantly varies during seasons and it was highest during the winter period. High level of naphthalene and fluoranthene comes from coal-mining area which is prior to Modrac lake and also from the soda drinks chemical industry further away fromthe lake. Other six PAHs mainly come from soda drimks -chemical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]