2015-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2015 Volume 4: Meech Intl. Symp. / Mining Operations
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Veiga MM, Anderson C |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2015 |
| Pages: | 275 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-27-0 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
< CD shopping page
Local Perceptions of Large versus Smaill-scale Mining: Three Cases from the Developing World
Azaria Botta1; Zarai Toledo Orozco1; Garth Thomson1;1UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, Vancouver, Canada;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 451
Topic: 4
Abstract:
The mining sector is a major economic driver throughout the developing world. Many developing countries invite foreign investment to develop their natural resources, and in turn, they receive a steady stream of tax and royalty revenues to government treasuries. Many of the regions have a long history of artisanal and small-scale mining, and mining is an entrenched part of regional economies. Paradoxically, the regions with a tradition of mining are also the ones that have expressed strong opposition to large-scale mining. This paper examines causes of this paradox from three case-study countries in the developing world. Throughout the case studies, pre-existing populations of artisanal and small-scale miners complicate the entry of conventional large-scale miners into regions which have rich resources. The subsequent competition for resources can lead to social conflict, putting the operations of both small and large miners at risk. This paper concludes with potential solutions to this conflict observed in the case studies.