Worthiness Assessment of New Mining Projects: The Case of Potash Mining in Bamnet Narong, Thailand

During these recent years, there have been efforts to develop new potash mining projects in Thailand. However, society doubts whether these projects are worth developing. The government cannot respond well to this question since it has no tool for evaluating new projects and providing concrete answer on the issue. The purpose of this study is to establish a framework to assess the worthiness of new mining projects and apply it to one of the new potash mining projects to find answers for the society. The new assessment framework determines the project’s worthiness by a matrix of the necessity of project development and the negative impacts. The worthiness is presented in terms of development priority. The project in Bamnet Narong, Chaiyaphum province is selected as a case study. The project was classified as a moderate development priority. The results provide useful information for supporting governmental decisions, communicating with stakeholders, and identifying suitable management measures during the life cycle of the project.