Mining

Mining is a huge global industry with the power to greatly boost a country’s economy – but it can also do significant harm.

Resource wealth, poverty, and environmental impact in mining

More than 60% of people who live in poverty are living in countries that have valuable and abundant natural resources like oil, gas and minerals. But in a tragic contradiction, most of these citizens rarely share this wealth. 

Mining can provide jobs, investment in community development projects and increased economic activity, but mining processes can also harm the surrounding environment by destroying land and biodiversity, creating toxic chemicals and causing water and air pollution. Mining also contributes to climate change by producing fossil fuels, which are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.  

In recent years, Australia has profited from a global mining boom which has seen the industry expand its activities domestically and internationally. Increasingly, the Australian mining industry is active in countries where corruption is rife and conflict is an ever-present risk.  

The mining industry 

Today, Australia is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of metals and minerals, which account for nearly 70% of its total export revenue. The mining industry is one of the top contributors to the nation’s economic growth.  

Mining operations in low-income countries tell a different story. Oil and minerals are the number-one export of most low-income countries. However, people vulnerable to inequality — particularly women and indigenous people — are much less likely to benefit from resource extraction. The environmental impact of mining in low-income countries is often more severe, due to a lack of consultation with communities and weaker regulations.

Impacts of Mining

We have found mining can negatively affect people by:

Mining can impact local communities both positively and negatively. While positive impacts such as employment and community development projects are important, they do not off-set the potential negatives.

• forcing them from their homes and land
• preventing them from accessing clean land and water
• impacting on their health and livelihoods
• causing divisions in communities over who benefits from the mine and who doesn’t
• changing the social dynamics of a community
• exposing them to harassment by mine or government security

These impacts are exacerbated when local people aren’t consulted and are given no information about a planned mine. Even worse is when people are not given a say on whether or not a mine should even be developed.

The potential benefits that mining brings to a community can be undermined if secrecy surrounds the payment of mining taxes to the government or the benefits shared at the local level.

Environmental impacts of mining  

The environmental impacts of mining are significant. Establishing mining sites requires an enormous amount of construction, which often causes deforestation and loss of wildlife habitats and biodiversity.  

Surface mines, which require the use of explosives and heavy machinery to expose materials near the earth’s surface, cause massive canyon-sized holes in the land and lead to soil erosion and degradation around surrounding areas. Mountaintop removal mining, a method of coal mining, uses explosives to blast the entire top of a mountain.

Surface mines create a huge amount of waste materials. Mines release harmful substances into the air and water, and can cause serious health issues if inhaled or consumed. Mines also release acidic water, which can kill marine life and make freshwater unsuitable for drinking. Underground mining produces fewer waste materials than surface mines, but they are risky for mine workers. 

The mining industry emits carbon via transportation and energy use, and produces fossil fuels – the largest source of carbon emissions in the world.  

Even after mines are decommissioned, they continue to impact the environment. Acid mine drainage occurs after mines have been abandoned, and results in heavy metals entering water systems and harming the plants, animals and humans that consume it.

Social impacts of mining  

Mining can create employment opportunities, boost economies and provide investment for local development projects. However, mining operations that don’t respect human rights or protect the environment can cause significant harm to surrounding communities.  

Impact of mining on Indigenous communities 

The negative impacts of mining are exacerbated when local people are not consulted or given transparent information about a proposed mine. Mines often disrupt the lands and lives of Indigenous communities, who have been living on the proposed mine site for generations. For Indigenous people, free, prior and informed consent is a right under international law and is critical for protecting sacred lands and cultural identity. Mining companies ensure that the traditional owners of the land endorse the mining process, and that they have the opportunity to benefit from its operations. 

Oxfam helps communities participate meaningfully in consultations with mining companies by providing local organisations with strategic advice, financial support and technical training. 

Impact of mining on women 

Women are disproportionately impacted by mining. They are rarely consulted when companies negotiate access to land, compensation or benefits, and any benefits paid out by the mine are generally paid to men. Women are also less likely than men to benefit from the job opportunities that come with mining. If they do work in the mines, they often face discrimination, poor working conditions and unequal pay for equal work. If they don’t work in the mines, they are still impacted by the transient male workforce in their community, which can lead to social issues like increased in alcohol consumption, violence and sex workers. 

The environmental impacts of mining can undermine women’s ability to provide food and clean water for their families and can increase their workload.  

Through our international networks, Oxfam helps mobilise women’s rights organisations and amplifies demands for women to benefit equally from extractives and the transition to renewable energy. 

Resettlement of communities 

The development of large-scale mining sites often leads to local communities being displaced from their land and resettled elsewhere. While governments and project developers are responsible for ensuring that people are not worse off after resettlement, relocation can have negative outcomes – including hardship and impoverishment for affected communities. Resettlement is often involuntary, with communities being forced to relocate with little or no consultation or choice. 

Resettlement can result in loss of livelihoods and reduced access to food and water. If resettlement programs fail or are insufficient, families are left with little or no capacity to farm, or to access other income opportunities. Resettlement sites are often isolated, and can be far from towns and essential services.