But how do we compensate those communities that bear most of the costs of living alongside mining activities? It identified 68 studies organised into seven themes: adverse impacts of increasing non-resident workforces; pressures on infrastructure, housing and services; income inequality; poor child development and education outcomes; pressures on families and relationships; drug and alcohol abuse; and impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. When resources are located where other industries (or populations) are already well established, there is real potential for land use conflicts to emerge. Cultural and Social Impacts of Gold From the first nugget found in a Bathurst Creek to the 370,000 immigrants who arrived in Australian during 1852, every step of the gold rush changed this nation. People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read. Get it wrong, and we falter. These processes also have an impact on the atmosphere from the emissions of … However, little information exists to classify key impacts … The bulk of the studies focus on the pressure generated by mining on service provision, Some of the key challenges that have emerged for mining regions are the increasingly high cost and shortage of housing, the impact of “fly in and fly out” (FIFO) or “drive in and drive out” (DIDO) workforces, and a significant gap in the wages paid to mining staff and those who work locally in service industries. Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab. Social or environmental harm may lead to tangible and intangible costs to industry including reputational loss, costly retro-fitting and even the closure of an operation due to a loss of social licence. It also raises the question of where some of that wealth being generated by the mining boom ends up being invested. Mining activities in Australia tend to be cyclical, with boom and bust times impacting upon associated communities. These themes discuss the breadth of findings and critical knowledge gaps of existing research. For the last century, mining has been one of our planet’s largest industries (it generated 683 billion dollars in revenue in 2018 alone).. Led by colleagues at the University of Queensland (UQ), the cluster’s research in this area has found that the success of technologies is no longer only about their technical efficiency but also their acceptability to the Australian public. Yet technology that is poorly designed or inadequately thought through has the potential to create unintended consequences for the environment, reduce the number of jobs available to local community members, and change the way mining and society relate to each other. There are impacts resulting from the end-use of uranium in energy and weapons production involving risks of radioactive leaks, emissions, melt downs, and nuclear detonations at great risk to the environment and public health. Ore grade has decreased over time across most commodities in Australia. Figure 1. Studying the rural community of Boddington in south-west Australia, the research links the concepts of social impacts and social … This research cluster represents an investment of around $3 million dollars over three years, with work due to conclude in June 2012. In fact, in 2008–09 more revenue was generated from mining software sales by Australian companies than from combined sales of uranium and zinc ores. Over time, exposure to the dust created by mining operations can lead to disease and buildup of scar tissue in the lungs. Technology: Problem or Solution? This choice has been made because two defining characteristics of the region highlight the significance of both environmental and social issues at Ranger and Jabiluka. 3. Indirect impacts include road-building and pipeline development, which may result in habitat fragmentation and increased access to remote areas. 48 hours to view or download: However, automation implies that some jobs currently based in mining regions will be lost to higher skilled positions located in capital cities and regional centres. Communities in mining regions have been vocal about the need to see some of the benefits of living in Australia’s mining towns. Recently one of the world’s biggest mining companies, Rio Tinto, announced that it would be investing half a billion dollars in its automation program, which includes driverless trains in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to transport iron ore, new technologies in underground tunnelling, a remote operations centre in Perth, and a new fleet of driverless trucks. If you believe industry propaganda, coal mining is a panacea not only for economic ills but also for smoothing troubled social waters.But a lack of local evidence about the health impact … At the same time, there is increasing community interest and pressure on government and industry to ensure that these resources are being managed for the benefit of all Australians. Research Report No. This is particularly the case in China, which has seen incredible development since the 1990s and is Australia’s second largest export destination behind Japan. Personal Alerts to Give Retailers Competitive Edge. As advocates for the mining industry point out, the materials that mining produces are central to almost everything that our society uses and values: • coal is essential to our current electricity generation models; • metals are used to make the smart phones, computers and televisions we use every day; and. This only underscores the fact that our desire for precious metals and minerals has grown exponentially since we first started digging through the topsoil … We don’t currently take a national approach to managing this issue so we don’t really have a complete picture of exactly who is benefiting and who is bearing the costs of mining, or to what extent this is occurring. 2) it may be more economical in the future to recycle and recover materials from products at the end of their life cycle than dig them out of the ground. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) states that in the year to March 2011 the value of mining exports was $155 billion and represented 52.8% of the value of total exports from this country, with the bulk of that being contributed by iron ore and coal. The mining industry forms an important pillar of the global economy. Restore content access for purchases made as guest. 2. RR5, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University and Mineral Policy Institute. There is also the reality that mineral resources will be exhausted or their extraction will cease to be economically viable, and when this happens communities need to have the capacity to reinvent themselves if they are to maintain their viability into the future. Unrefined materials are released when mineral deposits are exposed on the surface through mining. In this section, the focus will be on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). • the use of diamonds in jewellery remains a near-universal symbol of wealth and prestige. The mining industry forms an important pillar of the global economy. There may also be alternative sources for the commodities that we value and opportunities for new and creative mining business models. Oxfarm Australia recently said that mining can impact local communities both positively and negatively. Just consider this: it takes two grams of gold to make a wedding ring. Automation sounds like a good way of addressing current labour shortages in the mining industry, especially as mining operations continue to expand across Australia. THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF MINING AND DEVELOPMENT 4.1. Figure 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS . While the economic impacts of mining have been thoroughly explored and social impacts … That can either be produced from 10,000 kg of gold ore or 10 kg of mobile telephones. The main perceived benefit of mining was the creation of jobs. As Dr Damien Gircuo of the Institute of Sustainable Futures points out in a recent article in Dialogue, Australia is already a leader in services to mining, such as the development of software and automation technology. ABSTRACT. “While positive impacts such as employment and community development projects are important, they do not off-set the potential negatives. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. One of the clear messages that has emerged thus far is the idea that Australia needs to develop a national minerals policy supported by a comprehensive set of mineral accounts that provides some transparency about resource stocks (both above and below the ground), along with some detailed analysis of the impacts of mining activities. Lead, arsenic, cadmium, and other toxic elements are often present in such particles. Under this scheme the state government promised to distribute 25% of Western Australia’s mining and onshore petroleum royalties to the state’s regional areas each year as an additional investment in projects, infrastructure and community services. One focus of the cluster’s work has been the direct impacts of the extractive industries on local communities in mining regions around Australia, and how those regions transition through various stages of mining activity. This included the creation of jobs for Australians, employment and training opportunities in regional areas, and for Indigenous Australians and women. Adani's proposed mine in Queensland has long been a lightning rod for division over coal-mining and climate change in Australia. 1). 30 days to view or download: This is particularly due to acid-rock drainage processes, not unique to uranium mining, Land use-related impacts and environmental impacts affecting human health and human rights appear to be the most concerning social aspects in the mining sector. By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. Air quality is adversely affected by mining operations. 4.2 Direct Effects of the Mining Industry on the National Economy . We use cookies to improve your website experience. This article conducted a critical literature review that synthesises contemporary Australian research on the social impacts of mining on local communities. 4. What is the future of mining in Australia, and can it be more sustainable? 3. For example, with declining ore grades (Fig. This in particular creates inequities in communities and is often described as the “two-speed economy”. Also, automation may push down the costs of mining because there are (potentially) fewer wages to be paid and it improves workplace health and safety by taking people out of dangerous situations. This process has created controversy in Australia and other places where it is used for coal seam gas resources, much of which is based on little or incomplete information about the process, its impacts and the risks to people and the environment. Communities that are singularly reliant on resource development can find themselves at risk when that industry faces a downturn or needs to move on. Adapted from Mudd, G.M., 2010, The Environmental sustainability of mining in Australia: Key mega-trends and looming constraints. Women often experience the negative impacts of mining more than men, and rarely receive the benefits that men do. Successful technologies will be those that not only solve technical problems but also meet the needs of decision-makers, local communities and the broader Australian public. The presence of mining in a landscape can completely transform not only land use but also the infrastructure and labour force of a region – in some cases to the detriment of the more traditional or well established sources of economic production. The mining industry forms an important pillar of the global economy. The proportion of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP: the value of all final goods and services produced by Australia during a specific period) made up by mining has grown significantly from around 4% in 2004 to around 9% today. Instead of being an asset and allowing the development, mines often become an obstacle for the countries concerned. The mining industry in Australia is significant in both scope and size, and it’s still growing. In an effort to maximise the positive benefits and minimise the negative impacts of mining, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has been exploring the future sustainability of the Australian mining industry through the Mineral Futures Collaboration Cluster. These technologies will instigate a change in the nature of employment in the mining sector and, as a result, the way in which mines interact with the communities in which they operate. By asking residents what would make their town more or less “liveable” if coal mining expanded in the region, they found that residents thought increasing the number of workcamps separate to the community would make Moranbah a much less attractive place to live. Although we are in no danger of physically running out of minerals any time soon, we do need to address the fact that continued production and declining resource quality create technological, environmental and social challenges. While the economic value of mining often outweighs other land use options, this masks the much more complex socio-economic impacts of restructuring communities in this way. While the EIS process remains important for the assessment of new projects, it does not cover all the economic and social impacts of mining on regional communities. By incorporating community views on how long-term benefit can be best derived from Australia’s mineral endowment, there is real opportunity here to make the Australian public central to the decisions that are being made about this issue and the future they wish to see for their country. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), mining industry revenue increased from around 6 per cent of GDP in 2000 to 14 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade, an average annual growth rate of almost 15 per cent (Table 6). In particular, the cluster has focused on examining what the future of mining in Australia might hold, how Australian regions are impacted by mining, and how technology influences the way mining is conducted and experienced by those around it. The mining industry in Australia features in much of the public discussion about our current and future prosperity. In an article in Resources Policy, Dr Galina Ivanova and Professor John Rolfe from CQU explored what mining communities want, using the town of Moranbah in Queensland as a case study. Outcomes of the RUEI The RUEI paid special attention to social impact issues and proposed a range of measures to address this, including the establishment of a joint managed National Park to act as a social impact 'buffer' — ensuring space between new residents, tourists and local indigenous people. It has the ability to drive environmental efficiencies (e.g. Article Purchase Our work shows that the impacts of mining are not gender neutral. This increase in the amount of mining conducted in Australia, and the value it has for mining companies and the government, has been driven by enormous global demand for commodities like iron ore and coal to fuel industrialisation and urbanisation, and to support population growth around the world. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. In Australia, land use conflict, near-neighbour impacts, mine closure and rehabilitation are contributing to higher social costs associated with mining (Brereton and Forbes, 2004, Brereton et al., 2008, Franks, 2009, Franks et al., 2009). To gain access to all content online and receive your print copy in the mail you need to Subscribe. The demand for mineral resources is likely to stay high for the foreseeable future so finding more sustainable ways for the industry to operate in Australia is important. Resources Policy, 35(2), 98–115. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email, The social impacts of mining on local communities in Australia, Telethon Kids Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia, /doi/full/10.1080/10371656.2018.1443725?needAccess=true. Social and economic impact assessment is an important component of environmental planning and project approvals processes in Australia. As the Mirrar have pointed out, the development of mines in the area brings increased presence and pressure by non-Aboriginal cultural practices, institutions, and economic values, entrenching the dominance of non-Aboriginal … USD 543.00 One way this has been addressed is through the Western Australian Government’s Royalties for Regions agreement. 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG. Impacts can result in erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by the chemicals emitted from mining processes. USD 45.00 Social impact assessment (SIA) is a methodology to review the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development interventions. For example, one particularly controversial technical mining process in Australia relates to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, which is a process used in the mining of coal seam gas resources and metalliferous ore. The analysis of the social impacts of mining is not a new area of academic interest and the Australian booming resource sector influenced a significant research interest in recent years. More often than not, when a transient workforce is involved they are unlikely to be spending their income in the regions where the minerals are being extracted. The mining boom of the last decade has done many things for the state and for Australia, most notably being the economic factor that stopped Australia … There are however some social negative impacts associated with mining including violence, child labour, escalation of gender inequalities, health and environmental effects including deforestation and pollution. As our Prime Minister, the Honourable Julia Gillard, has said: “The future is in our hands, and it will be defined by the way we handle the current minerals boom. While the economic impacts of mining have been thoroughly explored and social impacts recently have received growing attention, increasingly, mining developments are being required to consider how they affect local communities and implement strategies to minimise negative impacts they … More and more, however, society is asking: “But at what cost?” Those with reservations about mining point to the environmental impacts of extracting and using non-renewable resources like coal, the economic distortion that results from one part of the economy booming while other parts languish (i.e. Registered in England & Wales No. Research is limited, but growing, and studies have identified how mining developments can affect nearby communities and town residents. What Happens When Mining Comes to Town? reduce water and energy use), improve the cost-efficiency of mining, and improve the safety of industry workers. We need to get smarter and more creative in how we approach the business of mining, and what we export to the world. Mining technology development in the future will benefit strongly from the inclusion of a broader set of voices in considering how technologies are designed and deployed. While the economic impacts of mining have been thoroughly explored and social impacts recently have received growing attention, increasingly, mining developments are being required to consider how they affect local communities and implement strategies to minimise negative impacts they may be causing. In some ways, this is about managing the risks associated with technologies – a poorly chosen or unsuitable technology can lead to considerable damage to the public, individual industries, specific mining processes and companies, mine employees and the environment. Benefits from income and employment are, instead, the main positive impacts identified in … – The coal mining industry makes a key contribution to the Queensland economy, and is the underlying driver of employment and economic conditions in many local and regional communities. Our works shows that: 1. women aren’t consulted when companies negotiate access to land, compensation or benefits 2. when mining damages the environment, it undermines women’s ability to provide food and clea… After all, every Australian presumably has the right to spend their earnings wherever they please. Australia is a major supplier of mineral resources globally and, as a major export industry, mining brings significant financial benefits to the nation. For example, autonomous and remote operation technologies are set to transform the Australian mining industry. In turn, if the Australian government was genuinely interested in the job security of those working in and around Australia's coal mines, the last thing it … Led by researchers at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney, Vision 2040 aims to provide a clear view of what governments, communities and the industry would need to do to have mining and mineral production contribute positively to a sustainable Australia in 2040. Mankind started mining for precious metals between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Currently we are seeing this played out across Australia where land uses such as mining, agriculture and tourism among others are attempting to coexist in the landscape. Get it right, and we set the nation up for decades to come.”. While the amount of material exported has increased during this period, so has the value of the commodities being extracted. At the same time, the mining industry is facing decreasing productivity as a result of declining ore grades and ore bodies that are increasingly remote and difficult to access. 2.1 The impacts of uranium mining are very broad. Some of the key challenges that have emerged for mining regions are the increasingly high cost and shortage of housing, the impact of “fly in and fly out” (FIFO) or “drive in and drive out” (DIDO) workforces, and a significant gap in the wages paid to mining staff and those who work locally in service industries. While the economic impacts of mining have been thoroughly explored and social impacts recently have received growing attention, increasingly, mining developments are being required to consider how they affect local communities and implement strategies to minimise negative impacts … As a nation, it is important that we think about the benefits of mining balanced against the costs – those resources under the ground belong to all Australians and we should be active in shaping how they are exploited and how the benefits that flow from mining are used and distributed. One of the key outputs of the cluster’s research is the strategy “Vision 2040: Mining, Minerals and Innovation”, which outlines a vision for Australia’s mineral future. Although SIA is usually applied to planned interventions, the same techniques can be used to evaluate the social impact of unplanned events, for example, disasters, demographic change, and epidemics.SIA is important in applied … 3099067 Due to the close relationship between the industry’s social licence to operate and technology, the cluster’s research has identified an opportunity to address future social challenges within the design stage of technology development using a method known as Social Licence in Design, as described by UQ researcher Dr Daniel Franks. So, what happens when mining comes to town, and what happens when it leaves? Adapted from Mudd, G.M., 2009, The Sustainability of Mining in Australia: Key Production Trends and Their Environmental Implications for the Future. The adverse impacts of COVID-19 were not isolated to Australian businesses and the economy. Businesses in the mining industry were least affected (38%) by reduced demand for goods and services, and only 17% of businesses (second lowest among all industries) had registered or intended to register for the JobKeeper Payment. The key direct impact of mining on forest ecosystems is the removal of vegetation and canopy cover. Environmental impacts of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. What this means is that extraction and processing of minerals is becoming more challenging and creating more waste (Fig. The cluster brings together researchers from five Australian universities and CSIRO to collaboratively explore large and complex future sustainability issues in the minerals industry across regional, national and global scales. In many cases, that money travels back to capital cities rather than being spent locally. Iron ore, which is used primarily to make steel for construction, has increased from around A$25 per metric tonne in 2004 to over A$140 per metric tonne today. The Rum Jungle mine is a stand-out example of a poorly regulated mining operation leading to legacy environmental impacts that are difficult and costly to remediate. This design process attempts to reduce social hazards or minimise potential social risk by involving designers and decision-makers in considering the likely impacts (anticipated and unanticipated) of technologies once deployed, and how these may be communicated to the public more effectively. The role of technology is central in defining and realising a sustainable future for the minerals and mining industry in Australia. Inform your opinion on scientific issues. impact arising from uranium mining in Australia using the Ranger and Jabiluka mines as a case study. Further, Franks suggests that technological change may also induce social and economic change such as shifts in employment and skills requirements, or economic returns to communities that may not necessarily lead to social conflict but nonetheless have serious impacts on those communities. Mining was considered to deliver positive benefits to regional and Indigenous communities. In this area, the cluster has focused on understanding how mining technologies impact on those who work and live around them. Ore dust and gases released by the mining process are bad for the health of miners as well as the environment. The mining industry forms an important pillar of the global economy. 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