Future Transitions in the Mining Industry by Mononen, Tuija; Peltonen, Lasse;

Short description:

This book focuses on mining and the challenges for this industry as it transitions and evolves as the demand for products and responsible and sustainable mining ever increases. It will appeal to scholars, students, and professionals in mining, extractive industries, and natural resource management.

Long description:

This volume focuses on mining and the challenges for this industry as it transitions and evolves as the demand for products and responsible and sustainable mining ever increases.

Mining is a prerequisite for modern society, yet the industry is often criticized for having many negative environmental and social impacts. The volume explores the challenges, controversies and responses that arise when a society is reliant on the products of mining to maintain their standard of living, yet are simultaneously calling for the implementation of sustainable practices, with many communities also being resistant to mining activities taking place in their own location. Many transitions which present a solution to one problem can often lead to new issues and developments elsewhere. For example, the electrification of vehicles will help to mitigate climate change, but this will simultaneously increase the demand for minerals required for batteries. The acceptance of, or resistance to, mining varies from location to location and across different scales, with key factors relating to the social and environmental impacts and the economic benefits. One common tension revolves around whether local communities really benefit economically from mining activities, and even if they do, they could now be negatively impacted by the digitization of the industry which will naturally lead to a reduction in the number of jobs. This volume explains how transitions of these types are inextricably linked by demand, acceptance and the perception of benefits, and that as the industry evolves, more tensions and controversies will develop.

This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of mining and the extractive industries, transitions and sustainable development, as well as to professionals working in natural resource management.

Table of Contents:

Contents

Introduction 1

LASSE PELTONEN AND TUIJA MONONEN

1 Mining in the era of climate politics and energy transition 9

RAUNO SAIRINEN AND DANIEL HOLM

2 From social licence to societal acceptability through the lens of legitimacy: Lessons of de- and relegitimation in the case of Talvivaara- Terrafame in Finland 31

LASSE PELTONEN

3 Four factors of the social licence: A rejuvenation of the original quest 53

ROBERT G. BOUTILIER AND IAN THOMSON

4 The role of citizen attitudes towards uranium in the energy transition: Lay normativity and the opposition and support for uranium mining in three Finnish regions 75

TUIJA JARTTI

5 Collaborating beyond the concession: Moving towards water stewardship in mining 99

JUHA M. KOTILAINEN AND JOCELYN FRASER

6 Women miners and the blueprints for transitioning to sustainable mining futures 118

DORIS BUSS AND BLAIR RUTHERFORD

7 Green energy’s buried conflict: Latin America’s mining paradox in the clean energy age 135

RAJIV MAHER, DIEGO GÁLVEZ PINO AND JULIETA GODFRID

8 Reappraising innovation strategies at African small- scale mines: Past developments and future directions 154

EKOW BARTELS AND GAVIN HILSON

9 Mining for sustainability, acceptance and healthy work environments: A miner’s perspective 188

JOEL LÖÖW, LENA ABRAHAMSSON, ERIK LUND, ERIK SUNDSTRÖM AND JAN JOHANSSON