Mining, clean water, and healthy eco systems can and do exist together. This is the idea behind corporate social responsibility initiatives within the extractive industry. The mining industry produces waste that has negative impacts on the environment; however, mining companies have and continue to make important changes and investments in Research and Development in order to modernize past practices. The industry is proactive and demonstrates strong environmental leadership. To maintain licenses to operate, companies must consider and address social issues and environmental concerns throughout the lifecycle of the project from design, to closure, and future impacts. Recently, green mining initiative groups, (specifically in the U.S. and Canada), have begun working more closely with governments, industry, academia, NGOs and other interested stakeholders to improve the mining sector’s environmental performance and create green technology opportunities.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. is a publically traded mineral exploration and development company that is part of the Hunter Dickinson Group based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Northern Dynasty’s only focus is the advancement of The Pebble Project, the world’s largest undeveloped gold and copper project in Alaska. With many more permitting milestones ahead, Northern Dynasty is well positioned with the support of a driving force within the mining industry, associate company, Hunter Dickinson. Within the group there are eight public companies. CEO, Ronald Thiessen, describes the group as an “incubator” of mineral resource companies. The group places one project within the company and looks after it for the shareholders for that company until they reach a decision to joint venture it...
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...he “…EPA released drafts of the watershed assessment in May 2012, and April 2013, to widespread criticism about the report's flawed methodology and findings, including from the state of Alaska, Alaska Native groups and expert peer reviewers commissioned by the federal agency” and insists that “EPA (had) repeatedly failed to meet its own guidelines and policies for watershed assessments, risk assessment and peer review, and violated the US Information Quality Act”. Thiessen also adds that the report did not contain any suggestions or regulatory actions that would affect future development of the project and is looking forward to “... defining a proposed development plan for Pebble and to having it reviewed by federal and state regulatory agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the months and years ahead” (Lazenby, 2014).
With forward movement in society, it is important to consider not just what will propel most toward success, but also what will help to sustain the environment along the way. What may have been considered appropriate decades ago, may no longer be socially acceptable due to the changes observed in both the business world and the environment (Fiske, 2010). Therefore, it is important for organizations thriving in today?s economy to consider how they may capitalize most effectively from their product or service of choice while minimizing or eliminating any damages along the way (Knoke, 2012).
One of the most frequently talked about and discussed ethical issues, that I have heard a lot about since moving and living in the state of West Virginia for over a year, is about Mountain top removal mining. Mountain top removal poses two ethical questions, the environmental hazards of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia? And the economical benefits and resources it brings to the state? What is right and what is wrong; an answer or a problem?
With annual revenue of US $19.02 billion, Chevron Corporation is the 16th largest integrated oil and gas energy company in the world. Globally they account for a workforce of approximately 62,000 (Forbes 2011). In 2010, the company produced 2.763 million barrels of oil per day (Chevron 2012). Corporations as large as Chevron owe a great amount of responsibility towards the society and environment above and beyond the economic and legal obligations. The industry is strongly linked to environmental scandals and companies make various efforts to address these issues (Farache and Perks 2010, 235). The following thesis will review the Environmental performance of Chevron in terms of fulfilling social needs within society and stakeholders.
The Pebble mine project is a copper and gold deposit in its progressive expedition phase. The area of this project is located near the Bristol Bay region in southwest Alaska. The West side of Pebble contains approximately 4.1 billion metric tons. The East location contains 3.4 million metric tons. This range altogether contains 7.5 billion metric tons of high quality minerals. The debate of this project lies on the dangers to the surrounding environment, and the economic boost for the community.
Kenneth Schiff wrote an editorial for the Marine Pollution Bulletin in 2014 where he asked environmental scientist about the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act. Three topics were discussed to support their approval; The Cuyahoga River, Platform A and declines in marine life. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had hit a point 1969 where there was so much oil on the surface of that it caught on fire and now it has been deemed as fishable by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to the Clean Water Act. Platform A was located in Southern California. In 1969, an explosion occurred, causing 100,000 barrels of oil to devastate beaches along the Pacific Ocean and kill thousands of animals located in this region. Also discussed was the effects of hazardous substances, in this example DDT, on marine life. The use of this pesticide caused brown pelicans and California sea lions to experience intense decline in population- thanks to the Clean Water Act being followed by much research, restrictions and bans were able to be placed on these chemicals, allowing these populations to flourish once more. Within this editorial, there is also many who state that this Act has not been effective enough. One big argument is that the EPA has a list of pollutants that has not changed since the 1970’s yet in the last 40 years, there has
Coal is considerably one of the most important sources of energy in nature and is one the most significant sources for power generation worldwide. The excavation and importance of coal became mainstream and apparent during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The United States has come to a point where a person cannot go for very long without being greeted with some sort of advertisement. Advertisements are everywhere, no matter how secluded of a life someone may live. They appear on most web pages of the Internet, show up on cellphones during applications, and are plastered along roadways. It has become second nature for most people to tune out the advertisements that are thrown in their faces at practically every turn. Our country is especially ridden with advertisements compared to others, as it has become a multi-billion industry for the country. Fueled by a materialistic frame of mind, the population’s desire for the latest product keeps the advertising field thriving.
The loud beat thumps relentlessly. It is like a never-ending headache changing only with a mood, an arrangement, or a performer. The message of the song, in and of itself, is clear, but performers can change a song’s meaning without as much as the alteration of a single lyric. In 1966, Lee Dorsey released a song entitled, “Working in a Coal Mine.” Allen Toussaint wrote the lyrics and music. (Wikipedia-Working in a Coal Mine) The release of the song came at a time when America coal miners were enduring tremendous hardship in the coalmines of West Virginia. While it was not the intent of the songwriter to indicate any allegiance with the plight of coalminers, it found home with many of them. Some would eventually classify this as an anthem for the coalminer’s cause. The song sprouted branches in other musical genres where R&B roots ran deep. Specifically, these were Rock and Roll, and Country. The 1980’s ‘New Wave’ group, ‘Devo,’ (which stands for De-evolution) and the female Country duo, ‘The Judds’ created two of the most memorable performances to date. While genre most certainly plays a part in each presentation, gender, or a lack of, plays an equal role. On the one hand, ‘New Wave’ seeks androgyny; on the other, female country artists are not afraid to be seductively feminine. The presentations of ‘Working in a Coal Mine’ by both Devo and the Judd’s clearly demonstrate gender-influenced presentations of this classic R&B hit.
The CSD (carbonated soft drink) industry is one that is very competitive. A few firms dominate this industry, most notably Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. This is due to substantial barriers to entry. Cadbury-Schweppes, producer of products such as 7up and Dr. Pepper is the third leading company in this industry. Due to the dominance of Coca Cola and Pepsi, Cadbury-Schweppes faces the daunting task of having to fight for market share and survive in this fiercely competitive industry. Using economic analysis for support, Cadbury-Schweppes will need to use its strengths in the non-cola categories to compete in this CSD industry.
The mining industry is a billion dollar industry that has been around for years. In calendar your 2016 a net profit of $US20 billion was the aggregated profit for global miners. The year before, 2015, the mining industry had a record high gearing ratios, 49%. The industry took advantage of better operation conditions to pay down debt, reducing the gearing ratios to 41%. Many company front line executives took advantage to reduce debt and fortify their company balance sheets. The results of reducing company debts resulted in minimum funds for capital expenditure
Though it has had many negative impacts on the environment in the past, mining is a vital industry completely necessary to our economy and lives. Nearly every item we use or encounter in our day to day lives is mined or contains mined products. Without the excavation of such materials things like computers, televisions, large building structures, electricity, and cars would not be possible. Virtually every technological and medical advance uses minded materials, without which millions would suffer. Some examples of minerals in the home include the telephone which is made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, silver, and talc. A television requires over 35 different minerals, and more than 30 minerals are needed to make a single personal computer. Without boron, copper, gold and quartz, your digital alarm clock would not work. Every American uses an average 47,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year, which is higher than all other countries with the exception of Japan, which is a staggering figure representative of our dependence and need for mined minerals. Coal makes up more than half of nation’s electricity, and will continue to be the largest electrical supplier into 2020 & accounting for some 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves – nine of every ten short-tons of coal mined in the United States is used for electricity generation. As the population of the world grows more mineral resources must be exploited through mining in order to support the rising demand for such products. Though it may present a hazard to the environment and those physically located nears the mines, the materials extracted from mines...
In recent years, business or green business was no longer an option to become an obligation. Companies started to change their mindset and values to develop new environmental proposals, for example launching second ecological lines.
In this environment conscious world, there is a growing argument about the ways in which a business should run its activities that should not have any negative impact on the environment overall. Raderbauer, M. (2011) A research done at the University of Exeter indicated that Industry has been the perpetrator behind ruining the environment for fulfilling its short-term profits instead of long-term environment consequences. Many businesses have understood the importance of preserving the environment and thus it is in the betterment of its own business, keeping in mind the long-term profits they can have while making environment responsible decisions. Business are more affected by environment because they run with the help of all the raw materials
Warhurst, A. (1999). Mining and the environment: case studies from the Americas. Ottawa, ON, Canada: International Development Research Centre.
The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry.