Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effective integrated frameworks for assessing mining sustainability

  • Review Paper
  • Published:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to review existing methods used for assessing mining sustainability, analyze the limited prior research that has evaluated the methods, and identify key characteristics that would constitute an enhanced sustainability framework that would serve to improve sustainability reporting in the mining industry. Five of the most relevant frameworks were selected for comparison in this analysis, and the results show that there are many commonalities among the five, as well as some disparities. In addition, relevant components are missing from all five. An enhanced evaluation system and framework were created to provide a more holistic, comprehensive method for sustainability assessment and reporting. The proposed framework has five components that build from and encompass the twelve evaluation characteristics used in the analysis. The components include Foundation, Focus, Breadth, Quality Assurance, and Relevance. The enhanced framework promotes a comprehensive, location-specific reporting approach with a concise set of well-defined indicators. Built into the framework is quality assurance, as well as a defined method to use information from sustainability reports to inform decisions. The framework incorporates human health and socioeconomic aspects via initiatives such as community-engaged research, economic valuations, and community-initiated environmental monitoring.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Azapagic, A. (2004). Developing a framework for sustainable development indicators for the mining and minerals industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 12, 639–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azapagic, A. & Perdan, S. (2000). Indicators of sustainable development for industry: A general framework. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 78(4), 243–261.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, A. J., & Kumar, U. (2004). Innovation and technology driven sustainability performance management framework (ITSPM) for the mining and minerals sector. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 18, 135–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonney, R., Ballard, H., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Phillips, T., Shirk, J., et al. (2009). Public participation in scientific research: Defining the field and assessing its potential for informal science education. Washington, DC: Center Advancement Informal Science Education (CAISE).

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., de Groot, R., et al. (1997). The value of the worlds ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387, 253–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dashwood, H. S. (2014). Sustainable development and industry self-regulation: Developments in the Global Mining Sector. Business and Society, 53(4), 551–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emel, J., Makene, M. H., & Wnagari, E. (2012). Problems with reporting and evaluation mining industry community development projects: A case study from Tanzania. Sustainability, 4, 257–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EPA Office of Research and Development. (2011). A framework for sustainability indicators at the EPA. Washington, D.C.: National Academies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, A., Mcallister, M. L., & Fitzpatrick, P. (2013). Measuring what? A comparative anatomy of five mining sustainability frameworks. Minerals Engineering, 46–47, 180–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, A., Mcallister, M. L., & Fitzpatrick, P. (2014). Sustainability reporting among mining corporations: a constructive critique of the GRI approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 70–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giurco, D., & Cooper, C. (2012). Mining and sustainability: Asking the right questions. Minerals Engineering, 29, 3–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2013). Hazardous waste cleanup: Observations on states’ role, liabilities at DOD and hardrock mining sites, and litigation issues. Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Wednesday, May 22, 2013. GAO-13-633T, United States Government Accountability Office, 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548.

  • GRI (Global Reporting Initiative). (2010). Sustainability reporting guidelines & mining and metals sector supplement. https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/G3-English-Mining-and-Metals-Sector-Supplement.pdf. Accessed 2014.

  • Groot, R. D., Brander, L., Van Der Ploeg, S., Costanza, R., et al. (2012). Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units. Ecosystem Services, 1(1), 50–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hacking, T., & Guthrie, P. (2008). A framework for clarifying the meaning of triple bottom-line integrated, and sustainability assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 28, 73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). (2014). Sustainable development framework. https://www.icmm.com/website/publications/pdfs/commitments/revised-2015_icmm-principles.pdf. Accessed 2018.

  • International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (1992). Business strategies for sustainable development. Winnipeg, Canada: IISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (2003). Out of respect—The Tahltan, mining and the seven questions to sustainability. British Columbia: IISD Dease Lake.

    Google Scholar 

  • IISD. (2012). Compendium: A global directory to indicator initiatives. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/library/compendium-sustainable-development-indicator-initiatives. Accessed 2014.

  • IISD and OECD. (2010). BellagioSTAMP: SusTainability assessment and measurement principles. Winnipeg, Canada: International Institute for Sustainable Development and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H., & Yakovela, N. (2006). Corporate social responsibility in the mining industry: Exploring trends in social and environmental disclosure. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14, 271–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, F., Liu, X., Zhao, D., Wang, B., Jin, J., & Hu, D. (2011). Evaluating and modeling ecosystem service loss of coal mining: A case study of Mentougou district of Beijing, China. Ecological Comlpexity, 8, 139–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lodhia, S., & Hess, N. (2014). Sustainability accounting and reporting in the mining industry: Current literature and directions for future research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 43–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MAC. (2014). Towards Sustainable Mining Progress Report 2014. Mining Association of Canada, MAC.

  • Marimon, F., del Mar Alonso-Almeida, M., del Pilar Rodriguez, M., & Alejandro, K. A. C. (2012). The worldwide diffusion of the Global Reporting Initiative: What is the point? Journal of Cleaner Production, 33, 132–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being; opportunities and challenges for business and industry. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • MMSD. (2002). Seven Questions of Sustainability: How to Assess the Contributions of Mining and Mineral Activities. MMSD, WBCSD, Manitoba: IISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, C. J., Lodhia, S., Kunz, N. C., & Huisingh, D. (2014). Sustainability in mining, minerals and energy: New processes, pathways and human interactions for a cautiously optimistic future. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NCP (2008) InVEST: Integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs. Natural Captial Project.org. https://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/invest/#what-isinvest. Accessed 2015.

  • Ness, B., Urbel-Piirsalu, E., Anderberg, S., & Olsson, L. (2007). Categorising tools for sustainability assessment. Ecological Economics, 60, 498–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., Maier, R. M., & Gandolfi, A. J. (2014). Environmental research translation: enhancing interactions with communities at contaminated sites. Science of the Total Environment, 497–498, 651–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Artiola, J. F., Maier, R. M., & Gandolfi, A. J. (2015). Building a co-created citizen science program with gardeners neighboring a superfund site: The gardenroots case study. International Public Health Journal, 7(1), 139–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., Brusseau, M. L., Beamer, P., & Maier, R. M. (2013). Home gardening near a mining site in an arsenic-endemic region of Arizona: Assessing arsenic exposure dose and risk via ingestion of home garden vegetables, soils, and water. Science of the Total Environment, 454, 373–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roca, L. C., & Searcy, C. (2012). An analysis of indicators disclosed in corporate sustainability reports. Journal of Cleaner Production, 20, 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Energy (DOE). (2014). The water energy Nexus: Challenges and opportunities. DOE/EPSA-0002. https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/f17/Water%20Energy%20Nexus%20Full%20Report%20July%202014.pdf. Accessed 2 July 2014.

  • World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). (1987). Our common future. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO). (2015). Using economic valuation methods for environment and health assessment. http://www.who.int/heli/economics/valmethods/en/. Accessed 2015.

  • Yellishetty, M., Ranjoth, P. G., Tharumarajah, A., & Bhosale, S. (2009). Life cycle assessment in the minerals and meal sector: A critical review of selected issues and challenges. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 14, 257–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Arizona International Human–Environment Observatory (OHMI), the French CNRS Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE), the CNRS Institute of the Social Sciences (INSHS), the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Mining (CESM), the NIEHS Superfund Program (P42 ES04940), and the Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions (WEES) Program of The University of Arizona for financial support to this project. We also thank Dr. Franck Poupeau for his support of the project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil, Water, and Environmental Science Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    K. M. Virgone, M. Ramirez-Andreotta, J. Mainhagu & M. L. Brusseau

  2. Division of Community, Environment and Policy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    M. Ramirez-Andreotta

  3. Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    M. L. Brusseau

Authors
  1. K. M. Virgone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Ramirez-Andreotta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Mainhagu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. L. Brusseau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. L. Brusseau.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Virgone, K.M., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Mainhagu, J. et al. Effective integrated frameworks for assessing mining sustainability. Environ Geochem Health 40, 2635–2655 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0128-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0128-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation