未来的小规模采矿环境和社会经济的视角外文文献翻译.docx

未来的小规模采矿环境和社会经济的视角外文文献翻译.docx

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未来的小规模采矿环境和社会经济的视角外文文献翻译

英文原文

Thefutureofsmall-scalemining:

environmentalandsocioeconomicperspectives

GavinM.Hilson

EnvironmentalPolicyandManagementGroup（EPMG）,ImperialCollegeofScience,TechnologyandMedicine,RoyalSchoolofMines,PrinceConsortRoad,LondonSW72BP,UK

Abstract

Althoughsmall-scaleminingprovidesinnumerablebenefitstotheruralinhabitantsandgovernmentsofthedevelopingworld,itsoperationshavebeenresponsibleforawiderangeofenvironmentalandsocioeconomiccomplications.Thisarticleexaminestheimpactsofsmall-scalemining,andprovidesaperspectiveonthefutureoftheindustry.Itfirstdescribes

small-scaleminingactivity,emphasizingkeydefinitionalandlocationalcharacteristics.Next,itexaminesthesocioeconomicimpactsoftheindustry,alongwithitsenvironmentalproblems.Thearticleconcludesbydiscussingthefutureofsmall-scaleminingindevelopingcountries.

Keywords:

Small-scalemining;Developingcountries;Environment;Future

+Introduction

Small-scalemininghasbecomeanindispensableindustryinthedevelopingworld.Itsoperations,whichfeaturethemostrudimentaryoftechnologiesandmanagementpractices,provideemploymenttomillionsofruralinhabitants.Furthermore,therevenuesaccruedfromactivitiescontributepositivelytothemineralexportbasesandforeignexchangeearningsofanumberofcountries.

Atthesametime,however,severalproblemsexistwithinsmall-scaleminingregions.Inadditiontocausingsignificantpollutionandlanddegradation,theindustryisrenownedforitsunsafepractices.Moreover,diseasessuchasAIDSandmalaria,whichareprevalentwithinresidentcommunities,arespreadingatanunprecedentedrate.WithoperationsincreasinginabundancethroughoutAfrica,AsiaandLatinAmerica,itisimperativethatgovernmentsbegintacklingkeysmall-scaleminingissueswithimprovedstrategy.

Thepurposeofthisarticleistoexamineenvironmentalimpactsofsmall-scaleminingindevelopingcountries,andtoprovideaperspectiveonthefutureoftheindustry.Thearticlefirstdescribessmall-scaleminingactivity,emphasizingkeydefinitionalandlocationalcharacteristics.Thearticleconcludeswithabriefdiscussiononthefutureofsmall-scaleminingindevelopingcountries.

+Anoverviewofsmall-scalemining

Mininghasoccurredonasmall-scaleforwellover2000years.Thereisawealthofevidenceindicatingthatseveralearlycivilizations,includingtheRomans,Greeks,Egyptians,andmostsuccessfulpre-colonialAfricangroups,engagedinwidespreadartisanalmineralextractionandwinningprocesses.Infact,theexploitationofmineralsonasmall-scalewaslargelyresponsibleforthewealthandstrengthofmostancientempiresandcultures.

Althoughseveraldefinitionshaveemerged,‗small-scalemining‘isnowusedasan

all-encompassinglabelforthenon-mechanized,labourintensiveactivitiesoftheminingsector1.Whatmakesituniqueisitsoperationsandmanagementtechniques.Unlikelarge-scalecounterparts,whichcommonlyfeaturestate-of-the-artmachineryandskilledworkers,small-scaleminesareusuallyrudimentaryindesign,andarecharacterizedbyhighlymanualprocesses.Thetypicalmineoperatingonasmallscaleisaproducer,oftensporadically,oflimitedamountsofmineralfromdepositswithfewknownorereserves,and,whencomparedtolarge-scalemining,requirementsintermsofimplementationtimeand

initialinvestmentareextremelylow,andemploymentper-unitoutputishigh（Figure1）,sinceashortageofadequatemachineryleadstoheavydependenceonmanuallabour.Inmostcases,technologydoesnotextendbeyondthebasicshovelandpick.

Fig.1.Small-vslarge-scaleminingcomparativeprofiles[4]

Small-scalemininghasbecomeanindispensablepartofthesocioeconomicfabricofthedevelopingworld.Theindustryhasnotonlytraditionallyprovidedawealthofemploymentopportunitiestoruralinhabitantsbutinrecentyears,hasalsocontributedsignificantlytoanumberofcountries‘mineralexportbasesandforeignexchangeearnings.

Atthesametime,however,operations,collectively,havecausedsignificantenvironmentalproblemsworldwide.Mostofthesecomplicationsareadirectresultoftherudimentarynatureofactivities,andthefactthatgenerally,environmentalawarenessislowindustry-wide.Theaimofthediscussionthatfollowsistoputintoperspectiveboththeenvironmentalandsocioeconomicimplicationsofsmall-scalemining.Acompleteunderstandingoftheseissuesiskeytofacilitating

andpromotingasustainable2industryforfuturegenerations.

+Socioeconomicperspectives

Thesocialandeconomicimportanceofsmall-scaleminingcannotbeoverstated.Althoughitisestimatedbymanythattheindustryemploysapproximatelysixmillionpeople,ithasrecentlybeenreportedbytheInternationalLabourOrganization（ILO）thatamoreprecisefigureis11.5–13million.Itisquitepossible,however,thatasmanyas100millionpeopleworldwidedependupontheindustry—bothdirectlyandindirectly—fortheirlivelihoods（needlesstosay,amorerealisticestimateis30million）.AsTable1depicts,insomecountries,suchasBrazilandChina,thesmalls-caleminingemploymentcontingentisinthemillions.Themajorityareengagedingoldandpreciousstoneextractionandprocessing,althoughanotablepercentageisinvolvedintheminingofawiderangeofindustrialminerals;suchisthecaseinChina（coal）,Chile（copper）andZambia（dimensionstones）.Occupationsrangefromsimplesedimenttransportationtasks,tomorecomplicatedmercuryprocessingduties.Ininstanceswhereentirefamiliesareworkingatsites,typically,menengageinheavyliftingandstrenuousactivities;womenperformorepanningand

‗sorting‘tasks;andchildrenserveascouriers,transportinggoodsandorefromoneareaofasitetoanother.Apartfromtheobviousemploymentbenefits,however,small-scaleminingcontributessignificantlytothemineralresourcebasesandexportearningsofanumberofdevelopingcountries.

Table1

Small-scaleminingoperationsandemploymenttotalsinselecteddevelopingcountries

Regularizationhaslargelybeenresponsiblefortheincreasedproductionachievedinthesmall-scaleminingindustryinrecentyears.Inthepast,small-scaleminingwasperceivedasinformal,andwasnotrecognizedinternationallyasanindustry.Thetrend,therefore,appearstobe

increasedlegalizationandregularizationworldwideinasectorthathastraditionallynotbeenperceivedasbeingeconomicallysignificant.

Twoparticularlydisturbingissuesthathavebeenbroughttotheforefrontofinternationalsmall-scaleminingagendasinrecentyearsarehealthandsafety,andlabourconcerns.Infact,small-scalemininghasacquiredareputationforbeinginherentlyunsafeandinhumane.Asfarassafetyisconcerned,pitsaretypicallyconstructedhaphazardly,leadingtorockfalls,cave-insandventilationcomplications.Moreover,explosives,whichhavebeenbannedforuseinsmall-scaleminingdistrictsbyanumberofgovernments,areoftenusedcarelessly,resultingininjuryanddeath.Overall,theseandrelatedsafetyproblemsareattributabletoacombinationofalackoftraining,improperinspectiononthepartofgovernmentalauthorities,andviolationofregulations.Tosummarize,sociallyandeconomically,small-scaleminingprovidesnumerousworkopportunitiesforruralinhabitantsofthedevelopingworld,andmakespositivecontributionstothemineralbasesandexportearningsofanumberofcountries.Atthesametime,however,sitesareinherentlyunsafe,serveasvectorsforwaterbornediseases,andfeatureoverworkedandunderpaidfemaleandchildlabourers.Assmall–scaleminingoperationsareincreasinginbothnumberandsizethroughouttheworld,itiscrucialthat,governmentstaketheseissuesintocarefulconsideration,andbeginimplementingmeasurestoimprovesocialquality-of-lifeinandaroundsites.

4.Environmentalperspectives

Inspiteoftheabove-mentionedissues,themostseriousproblemsinthesmallscaleminingindustryareenvironmentalinnature.Pollutionfrommercuryisperhapsthemostsignificant,asalmostallAfrican,LatinAmericanandAsiancountrieswithflourishingsmall-scalegoldminingsegmentshavereportedsomecontaminationcomplicationasaresultofitsuseasamineralprocessingagent.Inaprocessknownasamalgamation,mercuryisappliedtogold-aggregatedsediment,whichresultsinapastyamalgam.This,inturn,isburned,generallyintheopenair,toproducethefinalgoldproduct.Inorganicmercury,however,whenreleasedintotheenvironment,istransformedintotoxicmethylmercury,which,insufficientquantities,isdeleterioustobothplantandaquaticlife,andharmfultohumanhealth.

Anotherenvironmentalproblemthatpersiststhroughouttheindustryisexcessivelanddegradation.Asamigratoryactivity,small-scaleminingrequirescontinuouspittingandtrenching.Moreover,asprospectivegeologicaldepositsarefixed,quiteoften,masstractsofforestareremovedandriversaredivergedintheprocessofsearchingforore.Mostofthelandthatisexcavatedisnotproperlyreclaimed,resultingin‗potholed‘landscapes.

Inthepast10–15years,bothoftheaforementionedenvironmentalproblemshaveintensifiedbecausemuchofthesmall-scaleminingindustryhasexpandedinananarchicmanner.Further,theeffortsmadebyregionalgovernmentstoaddresstheseandrelatedimpactshavebeenmarginalatbest.Infact,mostoftheinitiativesundertakenhavenotbeenenvironmentalpersebutratheractionsaimedatimprovingtheefficiencyofoperations.Onepromisinginitiativeisthereclamationbond,which,in

caseswheregovern