The Range of Environmental Concerns - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 555

available for local labour, compared to surface mining. Higher health and safety risks are
also associated with underground mining. Finally, special attention is required during mine
closure to avoid unsafe surface openings and to avoid public access to underground mines
( Figure 13.16 ) .

13.9 ACCIDENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Like all industrial sectors, the mining industry has risks specii cally related to its opera-
tions. Some risks are similar to those in other industries, such as storage, handling, trans-
portation and use of toxic chemicals ( Figure 13.17 ). Hazardous materials are used at most
mining and mineral processing operations, and the waste products generated by these
operations and stored in specially designed facilities may also be hazardous to human
health and the environment.

CASE 13.12
The Dutch Disease

Are countries with rich natural resources (minerals or oil
and gas) more likely to industrialize and to develop? It
may seem that having a large amount of these natural
resources is a big advantage. History shows that this is not
necessarily so. But why?
There is a danger when a country or region containing
a large natural resource receives too much money, too fast.
There is even a name for it: 'Dutch disease', a term coined in
1977 by The Economist to describe the decline of the
manufacturing sector in the Netherlands after the discovery
of natural gas in the 1960s (The Economist, November 26,
1997). Finance and Developmen t, a magazine of the
International Monetary Fund, defi ned the term as 'too much
wealth managed unwisely' (Ember 2007, www.voanews.com ) .'
In the Netherlands, as natural gas was extracted, it
increased domestic income and spending. Investment was
redirected toward the natural gas sector. Dutch wages and
prices began to rise. The Dutch guilder became overvalued
in real terms, Dutch industrial products became uncompeti-
tive, and the traditional manufacturing sector declined. The
Netherlands experienced the phenomenon of de-industriali-
zation despite the presence of rich natural resources.
The Dutch disease is most often associated with oil, gas
and other minerals, because they tend to be discovered
suddenly and in large amounts. The same phenomenon was
observed in the UK some years later (see graphic above),
and in many resource rich countries and regions since then.
Does this mean that having natural resources is a bad
thing? Not necessarily. Natural resources are a precious

earner of foreign exchange provided that these earnings are
wisely spent. However, there is another complicating factor.
Logic dictates that any non-renewable natural resource
will eventually be exhausted, no matter how big it is (or
appears to be). There are numerous examples of what
happens when the resource becomes depleted. Assume that
during mine operation a complacent government enjoyed
foreign revenue without redirecting these earnings in
sustainable capital building. Further assume that at the
same time local communities and the private sector were

left unprepared for mine closure, and investments in infra-
structure were predominately concentrated on the sectors
supporting mine operation. What happens when natural
resources start to run out? The local traditional economy
has probably decreased and local communities become
economically stranded. Worse, public and private spending
may be out of control and unsustainable.
Today, governments and the mining sector alike, rec-
ognize that human resources count for more than natural
resources.

31 8

30

6

28

Manufacturing Share

4

26

2

24

North Sea Oil and Gas Share

23 0

1956 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985