Looking Ahead - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 841

The environmental impacts of mining are a dominant driver for the development of
technology in the industry. Although much of this effort is focused on waste treatment and
disposal, a signii cant amount of waste prevention has also occurred. Development of new
technologies to extract useful products from mine wastes (solid wastes and mine efl uents)
has long been a goal of the industry. In the future, the industry would like to i nd construc-
tive use for all material removed in the mining process, either as input materials for other
industrial activities or as backi ll material once mining i nished. To achieve this vision there is
a need for mining countries to provide a benei cial environment for the development of new
technologies; currently some regulatory statutes discourage companies from trying unproven
and innovative processes (National Mining Association 1998). And in some cases, government
regulations actually discourage benei cial use of mine wastes, as noted in Case 22.3.

The environmental impacts of
mining are a dominant driver for
the development of technology
in the industry.

Mining in the Last Frontiers

Recently there has been a trend for more countries to become involved in the export of
mineral commodities. While the majority of minerals are still supplied by the historical
producers (USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Russia, Brazil and Chile), an increasing
share of worldwide production now originates in other countries. Resource-rich countries

Recently there has been a trend
for more countries to become
involved in export of mineral
commodities.

CASE 22.3
Limestone Mining in the Sirmour Area, Himachal Pradesh, India

Numerous small limestone quarries situated in the Sirmour
area of the Lesser Himalayas, produce limestone for the
cement industry. Waste materials from these operations
comprise limestone which is not of suitable quality for

cement production. These wastes are well suited to a range
of other uses including aggregates and road surfacing
materials. However, the producing companies are discour-
aged from selling their wastes for such purposes because, if

they did, then the wastes would become products, subject
to government royalties, which would render the transac-
tions uneconomic.