Lightening the lode: a guide to responsible large-scale mining

This document offers recommendations for responsible metal mining, to help guide the appropriate siting and development of large-scale mineral development in sensitive environments, such as tropical forests. The paper offers ways in which the mining industry and governments that regulate that industry can minimize the mining sector’s negative environmental and social impacts and increase its overall positive contribution to conservation and community development.

The report begins with a look at recent trends in the mining industry and the overall movement of exploration activities to less-developed, more remote parts of the world. It then reviews the potential negative environmental and social impacts that mining projects can have in these areas and offers recommendations for management practices and technologies that companies can use to improve the performance of their operations. The paper concludes with a review of public sector planning and policy tools that governments can use to encourage and direct the responsible development of their national mining sectors.

The general principles that guide the specific recommendations made in this report include:

• Conduct complete environmental and social impact assessments
• Develop an overall environmental and social strategy
• Supplement mitigation with proactive contributions to conservation and community well-being
• Professionalise both environmental and social activities
• Minimize the scope and extent of impacts on surrounding ecosystems
• Implement a comprehensive closure and reclamation program
• Involve and consult with local stakeholders at all stages of an operation
• Provide appropriate economic compensation and support to local communities
• Develop strategic, long-term land-use plans
• Increase government capacity through training and institutional reform
• Enact comprehensive environmental,social and mining legislation and regulations
• Use financial and economic tools to promote responsible mining