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…
to double its current production capacity. BHP Billiton hopes that by undergoing this expansion the Olympic Dam Mine will increase its production of copper from 235,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes per year by 2024 in order to allow the mine to hopefully become a large competitor in the mining sector. The expansion is also aimed at satisfying the foreseen increased future demand for copper and uranium ore within the next decade. This expansion is estimated to cost BHP Billiton and its shareholders more than $200 million USD. Due to an increase in the productivity of the mine, the new Olympic Dam Mine will create thousands of new job opportunities in the South Australian region which will reduce South Australia’s currently high unemployment rate. Due to the increasing concern for environmental sustainability BHP Billiton is trialling a new method of extraction called heap-leaching as well as having numerous other methods in place to ensure it minimises its impact on the environment in which it operates as it expands. South Australian Economic Context During the South Australian mining boom, the South Australian economy had a strong growth in revenues in the mining sector. This resulted in a rapid expansion in job opportunities and increased Australia’s Gross Domestic Product. However, the decline of the mining boom in 2008-2011 and the “fall in jobs, construction and retail” (dianne’s link) in South Australia has had a negative impact on the economy. South Australia is currently experiencing hardship as a state in the form of job opportunities for its residents since the end of the boom. The current unemployment rate of South Australia according to the Australian Department of Employment is 7.7%. Due to this high unemployment rate South Australia is ranked number one in Australia in terms of unemployment and also has a higher unemployment rate than the nation as a whole which only has a rate of 6.1%. Therefore, it is clear that South Australia is struggling in the employment sector with more than 132,000 residents out of the work force. BHP Billiton’s decision to expand the Olympic Dam Mine will be beneficial to South Australia’s economy as the expansion will result in an increase of approximately 3500 employees and therefore will hopefully reduce the current unemployment rate slightly. According to Dean Dalla Valle, the president of the uranium customer sector group “the new mine would provide billions of dollars to the South Australian economy over the first 30 years of its operation” which will majorly benefit the economy and the government’s revenue. Impact On Stakeholders A Stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in an organisation or is affected by an organisation’s activities.
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…
dividends. Employees BHP Billiton currently employees approximately 3500 employees. The expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine will have a positive impact on employees as at least another 3000 jobs will become available in order for BHP to successfully operate the underground mine. A negative impact of the Olympic Dam Mine is the health dangers associated with longer term exposure to chemicals and radiation. Government The Government will be positively impacted by the expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine. Due to the expansion of the mine BHP Billiton will have to pay larger royalities and taxes to the government. As well as this, due to the increase in job opportunities and the average annual wage of an employee in the mining industry being 129,714 Australian dollars (2014), the government will receive higher tax revenues. This will also enable the government to satisfy budget concerns and it will aid in the struggling South Australian economy. Accountability of BHP Billiton In the 21st century accountability is a key issue and concern for organisations. Accountability is the “duty to provide an account (by no means a financial account) or reckoning of those actions for which one is held responsible” (Gray et al. 1998). To be accountable the organisation must be able to explain and justify its actions and understand the impact its actions have on the environment and community in which they operate. Due to the nature of the mining sector and the production processes used in order to extract minerals and precious metal there are numerous environmental concerns including pollution, land degradation, change in water table and erosion.
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
employees. BHP Billiton is also accountable to its shareholders. Due to the high cost of over $200 million US, with a majority of this being shareholder contributions, BHP Billiton is responsible to ensure that the expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine will generate enough revenue in order to be able to repay the shareholders in the form of dividends. Due to the high demand of minerals and precious metals around the world it is highly unlikely that BHP Billiton will not be able to repay its shareholders. Therefore, it is clearly evident that BHP Billiton is accepting the responsibility and is taking appropriate measures to ensure it is accountable to both the environment and its shareholders. Group Analysis of Case Study BHP Billiton’s decision to expand the Olympic Dam Mine to double its production size by 2024 is a positive. Although there are numerous negative impacts of the expansion including environmental issues it is clearly evident that BHP Billiton is placing environmentally conscious measures in place to reduce these negative impacts. It is clear that the positive aspects of this expansion clearly outweigh the negative impacts and this expansion will hopefully positively increase the employment status of South Australia as well as the need for future development and growth of South Australia. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clearly evident that BHP Billiton have accounted for the risks and possible outcomes of the expansion. Overall, the expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine will be an economically, social and to an extent environmentally positive development.
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.
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.
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.
BHP Billiton commits to customer awareness and outreach through many of its existing programs in hopes to promote sustainable and long-term by decreasing their environmental footprint while building collective stakeholder relationships. The company has committed to its target of being more environmental responsibility and working towards reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by way of sustainable development. This means pushing forward with extensive innovation through their partnerships with companies like Hatch and any other future
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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
Some of the typical impacts that mining in South Africa has on the environment are that it can lead to a loss of biodiversity because of a transformation in the natural habitats and ecosystems. The mining industry also usually requires large amounts of water. Surface and groundwater pollution often happen due to the acid mine drainage.
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.
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.