Sustainability and gold mining in the developing world

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Abstract

Generally, the gold mining industry has a negative image because it is potentially highly polluting, its costs often externalized on local communities that host its operations. Recently, there has been growing activism in most countries where rich gold deposits exist. Although the industry has many drawbacks, it can potentially confer many benefits, especially for the people of the developing world, by providing employment and foreign exchange. In the context of the mining sustainable development debate, this paper examines the environmental performance of the gold mining industry in developing countries, and its impacts on resident populations and communities.

Section snippets

Introduction: mining and sustainability

In 1987, the Brundtland Commission set out the parameters for sustainable development, which has become a guiding principle for businesses, organizations and governments. In its report, Our Common Future, the Commission defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1]. Although sustainable development has since entered into everyday dialogue, because of the limitations of the

Gold mining in the developing world: a sustainable path?

Many developing countries are endowed with abundant natural resources, and for centuries, have relied immensely on their primary sectors – particularly extractive industries – as a source of wealth and economic growth. Evidence in the literature shows that organized gold mining in Africa dates as far back as the Middle Ages; certain countries, such as Ghana and present-day Mali, were parts of important trans-Saharan gold trading routes. Today, Africa accounts for some 30% of global gold mine

Case study: gold mining in Ghana

Mining constitutes the backbone of the Ghanaian economy, providing valuable foreign exchange. In 1997, minerals contributed 612.9 million or 45.48% of Ghana's foreign exchange earnings, and gold accounted for $579.2 million or 95.44% of the value of all mineral export earnings [31]. The macroeconomic reforms implemented under the Structural Adjustment Program in 1983 reversed some two decades of stagnating production in the country's mining sector. The changes made under the Program included:

Conclusion

Developing countries have not been able to achieve the same pace of economic growth as developed countries, in spite of their rich natural resource base. In the case of Guinea, Kathleen Anderson [45] maintains that a challenge facing government is to negotiate financial terms and agreements that would capture a sizeable share of the economic rent from mining. This certainly holds true for other mineral-rich developing economies.

We have also seen that the gold mining industry causes serious

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