Gold and Diamonds: The Social and Environmental Impacts of Mining for the Diamond Ring Katharina...

Gold and Diamonds:Gold and Diamonds:

The Social and Environmental The Social and Environmental Impacts of Mining for the Impacts of Mining for the

Diamond RingDiamond Ring

Katharina Marcin BA, MPA Candidate 2007Katharina Marcin BA, MPA Candidate 2007

Nicholas Ruder BA .H., MPA Candidate 2007Nicholas Ruder BA .H., MPA Candidate 2007

AgendaAgenda

• Life Cycle Assessment of the Diamond Ring• International Mining Sustainability Initiatives• Canadian Regulations• The Leader and Laggard of the industry• Gold and Diamond Mining in Canada• Mine reclamation projects• Options for a sustainable future

Diamond RingDiamond RingComponentsComponents

• Diamond• Au• +- Ag, Ni, Cu, Zn

Life CycleLife Cycle

Extraction

Processing

Manufacture / RetailUse

Re-use“A Diamond is Forever”

Exploration

Waste?

ExplorationExploration

• Processes: geological survey, geophysical surveys, trenching, drilling

• Inputs: energy, water, land resources

• Outputs: air emissions, waste soil and rock, waste water

• Environmental Impacts: water contamination, air quality, solid waste disposal

ExtractionExtraction

• Processes: drilling, mining, concentration, reclamation

• Inputs: water, land resources, energy

• Outputs: air emissions, water contaminants, solid waste

• Environmental Impacts: water contamination, local air quality, land resource use, solid waste, global warming

Mining InefficiencyMining Inefficiency

• To extract enough gold for a single wedding band, 18 tons of waste-ore are produced

• 0.00001 percent of ore (by weight) can be refined into gold; everything else is waste

• The amount of waste from the mining industry in the US is 9 times the amount produced by US towns and cities combined

• In 2001, metals mines produced 1,300 tons of toxic waste—46 percent of the total for all US industry combined—including 96 percent of all reported arsenic emissions, and 76 percent of all lead emissions

ProcessingProcessing

• Processes: smelting, concentrating, separating

• Inputs: water, energy, chemicals

• Outputs: waste water and chemical sludge, air contaminants

• Impacts: toxic waste disposal, local air quality, water contamination, land resource use, global warming

Manufacture / RetailManufacture / Retail

• Processes: transport, sorting, valuation, cutting, forming, polishing

• Inputs: fuel, electricity, other forms of energy, machinery, water

• Outputs: exhaust, energy waste

• Environmental Impacts: air contamination, water waste

Gold Life CycleGold Life Cycle

• Ore is broken into chunks and exposed to a recyclable cyanide solution which dissolves the gold

• Dissolved gold and cyanide solution exposed to activated carbon which collects the gold component

• Gold is mechanically separated from carbon

• Gold is melted into bars

Use / Re-UseUse / Re-Use

• Diamond rings are rarely discarded

• Reused generation after generation

• Gold can be melted and recycled

Major Environmental ImpactsMajor Environmental Impacts

• Air emissions – global warming and local air quality

• Water contamination – groundwater and surface water

• Waste disposal – solid waste

• Land resource use – reclamation of mined land area

Mining Sustainability InitiativesMining Sustainability Initiatives

• ISO 14001: International Standards Organization

• Ceres

Climate Change Governance Checklist

• World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) – Mining, Minerals and Sustainability Development Project (MMSD)

Mining Sustainability InitiativesMining Sustainability Initiatives

• United Nations Global Compact

• International Council on Mining and Minerals (ICMM) – Sustainable Development Framework

• International Development and Research Council (IDRC) Canada – Mining Policy Research Initiative

• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Mine Certification Evaluation Project (MCEP)

Customer AwarenessCustomer Awareness

Jewellery Marketing Jewellery Marketing InitiativesInitiatives

• Consumers affect Jewelers first

• Formation of industry regulatory bodies

• “Blood Diamonds” “No Dirty Gold”

• Jewelers of America Supplier’s Code of Conduct

• Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices

What do they have in common?What do they have in common?

• Voluntary

• Non-Regulatory

• Non-binding

• Unenforceable

• Green-washing

• Profit-driven

Canadian RegulationCanadian Regulation

Fisheries ActMetal Mining Effluent Regulations(SOR/2002-222)

Description:

These Regulations are adopted under the Fisheries Act in 1979.

“They impose limits on releases of cyanide, metals, and suspended solids, and prohibit the discharge of effluent that is acutely lethal to fish. The Regulations also require metal mines to conduct Environmental Effects Monitoring programs to identify any adverse effects of their effluent on fish, fish habitat, and the use of fisheries resources.”

http://www.ec.gc.ca/EnviroRegs/Eng/SearchDetail.cfm?&intReg=174

BC RegulationBC Regulation

Waste Discharge Regulation Implementation Guide

Issued by the Government of British Columbia, on July 8th, 2004 to integrate and replace the previous Environmental Management Act and the Waste Management Act. The Waste Discharge Regulation Implementation Guide (WDRIG), only allows certain industries to release waste into the environment, and regulates the amount of waste that these industries can release.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epdiv/env_mgt_act/pdf/wdr_implement_guide.pdf

The Laggard – Newmont MiningThe Laggard – Newmont Mining

Newmont Mining – Newmont Mining – Environmental InitiativesEnvironmental Initiatives

• Set the highest standards of community development initiatives and environmental stewardship

• They are: - A founding member of the International Council

on Mining and Metals (ICMM) - A founding member of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices - Adherents of the UN Global Compact 10

Principles - Signers of the International Cyanide Code

NGO Report: GhanaNGO Report: Ghana

• Involuntary displacement of subsistence farmers threatens food security in the region

• Although they assure transparency, no disclosure of potential significant acid generation from mine’s waste rock

• EIA: - Acid mine drainage not addressed- No assurance of financial backing for mine

cleanup and reclamation

NGO Report: IndonesiaNGO Report: Indonesia

• Dumping of mine wastes directly into the ocean causing fishing families to relocate for reasons including the pollutants from this practice

• 120,000 tons of tailings dumped per day (this dumping is illegal in Canada and the US)

• Water shortages in surrounding villages because of the damming of 2 rivers

• Exploration threatens protected forest and the livelihood of rural communities who depend on the forest

NGO Report: PeruNGO Report: Peru

• Several mercury spill victims still awaiting response and official health assessment from Newmont Mines

• 6 years after the spill, victims still experiencing memory loss and skin irritation, and children have learning disabilities

NGO Report: RomaniaNGO Report: Romania

• Historic area with estimated archaeological value comparable to that of Pompeii

• If mine operations go ahead, the densely populated Rosia Montana Valley will have 4 open-pit mines, and the neighboring Corna Valley will hold an unlined cyanide storage pond

• It will cause the relocation of 2000 people and the tearing down of 900 homes

• There is mass opposition from the Romanian people and government, and the government of Hungary

NGO Report: NevadaNGO Report: Nevada

• Western Shoshone Nation are not compensated or asked permission for the use of their land

• Groundwater depletion threatens Shoshone communities

• Land scarring, water and air pollution from mercury and other emissions threaten peoples’ health in Nevada and neighbouring states

• No monitoring of mercury emissions, a neurotoxin, is currently done

The Leader – BHP BillitonThe Leader – BHP Billiton

The Leader – BHP BillitonThe Leader – BHP Billiton

• 38,000 employees

• 100 operations in 25 countries

• Aluminum, coal, copper, manganese, iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver and titanium, substantial interests in oil, gas, liquefied natural gas and diamonds

• 2006 profit of US$10.2 billion and net operating cash flow of US$10.5 billion

The Leader – BHP Billiton (BHPB)The Leader – BHP Billiton (BHPB)

• 64 out of 100 on CERES Climate Change Governance Checklist (average for mining sector is 42.2)

• Roberts Environmental Center, Pacific Sustainability Index (PSI) - overall score of B+

• DJSI – sustainability leader for the mining sector, 2006

BHPB – Global OperationsBHPB – Global Operations

BHPB – Environmental InitiativesBHPB – Environmental Initiatives

• Sustainable Development Policy – “Zero Harm”• Set management standards using precautionary

principle ( “aligned” with ISO 14001)• Extensive environmental and sustainability

reporting and benchmarking• Member of World Business Council for

Sustainable Development• Working with World Wildlife Fund on MCEP

Green-Washing?Green-Washing?Pacific Sustainability IndexPacific Sustainability Index

Green-Washing?Green-Washing?

• OK Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea

• 80,000 tons of ore and 120,000 tons of waste rock, daily

• Pressuring for development in protected forest areas in Ghana and Philippines

Canadian Mining OperationsCanadian Mining Operations

• Major Diamond Mining Operations:1) Diavik

- ISO 14001 Certified- Preparing for future reclamation- Fish Habitat Restoration

2) Ekati-BHP Billiton- Open-pit mining operation- little environmental information

Case: Sullivan MineCase: Sullivan Mine

• Located in Kimberley, BC

• Run by Teck Cominco

• 92 years of operation as a Zinc, Lead, and Iron mine

• New initiatives to reclaim the mine

Case: HollowayCase: Holloway

• Newmont in Canada

• Gold mine in Ontario

• Treatment of waste

• Reclamation procedures in place

Sustainable JewellerySustainable Jewellery

From the MineFrom the Mine

to the Golden Circleto the Golden Circle


Extraction

Processing



Exploration

Waste?

Environmental IssuesEnvironmental Issues

• Air Pollution

- At all stages

• Ecosystem destruction

- Exploration and mining

• Chemicals

- Metal extraction

Tired of doom and gloom?Tired of doom and gloom?

Jewellery Life CycleJewellery Life Cycle

Extraction

Processing



Exploration

Waste?

Doom and gloom?Doom and gloom?

BE GONE!!!BE GONE!!!


Extraction

Processing



Exploration

Waste?

Re-Use Re-Use

Use

Recycled MetalsRecycled Jewellery

The Golden CirclesThe Golden Circles


Re-Use Re-Use

Use



Re-Use Re-Use

Use

Energy

Emissions


• Post-consumer materials

• Minimal Impacts

• Facilities visited and inspected

The Outer CircleThe Outer Circle


Re-Use Re-Use

Use

Energy

Emissions


The Inner CircleThe Inner Circle

• Goldsmith on staff

• Recycle Old Unused Jewellery

• Design to your specifications

• Minimum Ecological Footprint

Minimal Footprint

The Inner Circle

Hedging your bets…..?Hedging your bets…..?


Re-Use Re-Use

Use

Energy

Emissions


Concluding RemarksConcluding Remarks

• Collaboration between business and government is essential to the success of sustainability initiatives

• Enforceable initiatives are key to reforming mining standards

• Consumer education to affect the market

For Additional Information and a For Additional Information and a Copy of the Presentation contact:Copy of the Presentation contact:

• Katharina Marcin

[email protected]

• Nicholas Ruder

[email protected]

Gold and Diamonds: The Social and Environmental Impacts of Mining for the Diamond Ring Katharina...

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Transcript of Gold and Diamonds: The Social and Environmental Impacts of Mining for the Diamond Ring Katharina...