Industry News

Social responsibility is the duty of mining company

There has been sustained growth of opencast mining operations globally as demand for commodities buoys the industry, says mining and exploration management software developer Micromine Pitram sales manager Dennis Kattowitz.

“We have seen an increase in the number of enquiries from the opencast mining sector for our solutions and services. Even with major natural disasters, such as the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, there is still significant demand for commodities,” he notes.

The disaster has severely affected the country’s automotive manufacturing sector and has reduced demand for steel from the country, which is expected to remain subdued for only a few months, Japanese government reports indicate.

Further, many opencast mining operators are also inves- tigating the possibility of under- ground mining to continue extraction of the orebodies, says Kattowitz.

“Underground mining is significantly more capital intensive than opencast mining but is a global trend, given that most shallow orebodies have been exploited,” he adds.

The upturn in the commodities trade and associated industries has again triggered debate on national ownership of mineral assets, as well as who benefits from mining operations and revenue. Kattowitz explains it is understandable that some countries want to retain ownership of minerals mined.

“Governments have to under- stand that a product must be commercially viable. Legislation, procedures and other hurdles to the development of mines, the mining of these assets and their sale into the marketplace could result in making the asset uneconomical to mine,” he explains.

Governments should receive revenue from the sale of minerals mined in their countries but Kattowitz believes that the people in countries where minerals are mined should receive the most benefit from the mining and selling of mineral assets.

“A number of economies, specifically in conflict-prone regions, have grown tremendously, but the people in the countries have not always received direct benefit from the sale of mineral assets. “Countries can take ownership of the minerals but must ensure the commercial viability of the project for society and for the operator of the mine,” he says.

“Mining companies also have a social responsibility to the surrounding communities of their mining operations. “In some instances, a mining operation impacts negatively on the people in the area,” says Kattowitz.

Increased social responsibility and awareness of the environ- mental and social impact of mining are leading to technological developments that can reduce the short- and long-term impact of mining, be it environmental or social, he adds.

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