Introduction Olympic Dam Mine is an underground mine which produces copper, silver, gold and uranium and was first opened in 1988. In addition to the underground mine, the site also hosts an integrated metallurgical processing plant. The Olympic Dam Mine is located 555 kilometres north-west of Adelaide in South Australia. The mine has been owned by BHP Billiton since 2005 when it was purchased for $9.2 billion AUD from the Western Mining Corporation. The Olympic Dam Mine currently employs approximately 3500 people from the Adelaide region and surrounding towns with a majority of the employees living in the nearby town of Roxby Downs. Overview In 2007, the global conglomerate BHP Billiton announced it was going to expand the Olympic Dam Mine …show more content…
Stakeholders can be either internal or external to the organisation (Kinicki et al.2015). The main stakeholders of BHP Billiton are; the environment, shareholders, employees and the government. Environment Due to the nature in which the mining sector operates there will always be some form of negative environmental impact. The expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine will impact the environment as harmful chemicals leach into the water table, higher chance of erosion and land degradation and an increased amount of greenhouses gases created by operation of machinery. However, BHP Billiton is implementing numerous methods in order to minimise the negative impact the mining sector has on the environment. Shareholders A shareholder is anyone who owns shares in an organisation’s company. Shareholders profit if the organisation performs well while if the organisation performs poorly a shareholder stands to lose (Investopia). The impact of BHP Billiton on shareholders with the expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine is that the expansion is going to cost over 200 million US dollars with a majority of this coming from shareholder contributions. If the expansion does not generate a high enough revenue the shareholders are at risk of not being repaid in the form of …show more content…
With the expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine BHP Billiton is trialling a new environmentally conscious method called heap leaching. Heap leaching is a process of extracting minerals and metals by placing them on a pad and the use of chemical reactions to dissolve the minerals. This method is considered more environmentally conscious than traditional techniques as it requires less energy consumption making heap leaching an environmental alternative (Wikipedia). Heap leaching also is 60-70% cheaper than alternative methods. BHP Billiton also proves they are environmentally conscious as the Olympic Dam Mine has storage facilities for its waste products, has an air pollution control unit and a monitoring system for air emission and noise. The Olympic Dam Mine employees also undergo frequent monitoring for radiation exposure and personal health showing that BHP Billiton is being accountable for the dangers employees are surrounded by working in the mine. Thus, BHP Billiton is accountable toward the environment and its
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
Stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a business; stakeholders are individual, groups or businesses. They are affected by the activity of the business. There are two types on stakeholders who are internal and external. Internal stakeholder involves employees, managers/directors and shareholders/owners. External stakeholder involves suppliers, customers, government, trade unions, pressure groups and local and national communities.
Warragamba supplies water to over 3.7 million each day who live in Sydney and areas in the lower Blue Mountains. The Dam is one of the largest in the world and Warragamba Dam is located in Wallacia, New South Wales around 65 kilometers to the west of Sydney. It is managed and run by Sydney Catchment Authority.
Wivenhoe dam was built on the Brisbane river in 1984. The dam was built so it can catch excess water from the lakes,river and stream etc. It is built with concrete across a river valley to block the river flow. The dam supply's a great water supply for south-east Queensland.
Yes, this additional expense is necessary and mining affects the plant and animal population, hydrological cycle. And it’s necessary to maintain this for sustainable development.
In contrast , the shareholder theory organisations or organisation's decision-makers only have the responsibility to their shareholders by increasing the organisation profits and should only make the decisions to increase as much as possib...
According to Fearnside Phillip M(2006), a study on the Brazilian Tucuruí dam showed that the actual greenhouse gas emissions were a factor ten higher than its official calculations showed, and this dam is no exception; it is feared that the Belo Monte Dam calculations are also deliberately undercutting reality and that the flooding of its reservoir will create a similar situation. If the organic matters are removed with forests being cut down, this area will produce less methane, reducing the pace of greenhouse effect. In addition, I think Brazil government should continue to build Altamira Dam upstream. Critics said that only on condition that a year-round flow of water is ensured can Brazil sustain the development of the dam. Also, a study done in 2006 took several scenarios, including risks of cost overruns and the postpon of construction into consideration, demonstrating that Belo Monte Dam will create so much pressure to build upstream storage dams with much larger reservoirs no matter if it is a single project.
Though I will summarize most of the unethical issues with gold mining, many of the same unethical issues apply to most mining. Because it creates an enormous amount of toxic waste and is considered as one of the most environmentally destructive forms of mining, gold mining cause more than a few issues with the ecosystem. Gold mining is the leading cause of manmade global mercury pollution. Many gold mines dump their toxic waste directly in natural water bodies. When one considers that to mine gold for a 0.333 ounce ring equates to 20 tons of toxic waste, the amounts of toxic waste is massive. Companies that mine for gold and other metals dump at least 180 million tons of toxic waste in rivers, lakes, and oceans every year, 1.5 times the amount of waste U.S. cities send to landfills yearly. Another ethical issue in the mining industry is labor concerns. Labor practices in gold mines are far from responsible. Most gold miners work in dangerous conditions and earn so little money that they live in poverty. The most vulnerable gold miners are the youngest; an estimated 600,000 gold miners are children. Poverty is an issue that lies beneath gold mining labor practices. Gold mining can be a path to riches but for most miners it leads to a life of poverty. About 15million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are artisanal gold miners. Artisanal miners use simple
Due to the use of dirty practices such as open pit mining and cyanide heap leaching, mining companies generate about 20 tons of toxic waste for every 0.333 ounce gold ring. The waste, usually a gray liquid sludge, is laden with deadly cyanide and toxic heavy metals. Many gold mines dump their toxic waste directly into natural water bodies. The Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea dumps over 5 million tons of toxic waste into the Pacific Ocean each year, destroying corals and other ocean life. Companies mining for gold and other metals in total dump at least 180 million tons of toxic waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans each year—more than 1.5 times the waste that U.S. cities send to landfills on a yearly
Stakeholders are those groups or individual in society that have a direct interest in the performance and activities of business. The main stakeholders are employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, financiers and the local community. Stakeholders may not hold any formal authority over the organization, but theorists such as Professor Charles Handy believe that a firm’s best long-term interests are served by paying close attention to the needs of each of these stakeholders. The modern view is that a firm has responsibilities to all its stakeholders i.e. everyone with a legitimate interest in the company. These include shareholders, competitors, government, employees, directors, distributors, customers, sub-contractors, pressure groups and local community. Although a company’s directors owes a legal duty to the shareholders, they also have moral responsibilities to other stakeholder group’s objectives in their entirely. As a firm can’t meet all stakeholders’ objectives in their entirety, they have to compromise. A company should try to serve the needs of these groups or individuals, but whilst some needs are common, other needs conflict. By the development of this second runway, the public and stakeholders are affected in one or other way and it can be positive and negative.
Gold mining in South Africa has a large impact on the environment, the economy and social structure in South Africa. The environmental impact of gold mining on the environment includes water, air and noise pollution. The mining industry in South Africa is one of the largest in the world. It provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of people in the mining industry alone. The mining industry also indirectly provides jobs for about 400 000 with the goods and services that the mines require to run successfully.
Stakeholders refer to individuals or groups of people that have an interest in a business. Management argues that as long as there is wealth for shareholders, then anything is done in a responsible manner and things should be done to promote the interest of other stakeholders.
Rio Tinto has not only been a mining company but an investor to small and coming business that would help it to gain a competitive advantage to the mining industry. It has mostly invested in companies that specialized in innovation and technology.
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.