Title: Measuring sustainable development in industrial minerals mining

Authors: Jessica E. Kogel; Nikhil Trivedi; Marc A. Herpfer

Addresses: IMERYS, 380 Smyrna Church Rd, Sandersville, GA 31082, USA ' IDEKIN International, 3764 Ranee St., Easton, PA 18045, USA ' Oil-Dri Corporation of America, 777 Forest Edge Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061, USA

Abstract: This paper presents a set of SD indicators for mining with a specific focus on the extraction of industrial minerals. The proposed metrics are based on the International Council of Mining and Metals 10 SD Principles and are organised into a mining life cycle framework that includes four stages: 1) exploration and mining; 2) processing; 3) transportation and logistics; 4) markets. The goal of the proposed metric is to provide a standardised but flexible format that can be broadly applied across a range of industrial minerals. A key aspect of this approach is that it ensures a standardised framework while offering the option of tailoring the individual indicators to meet the needs of and maintain relevancy for specific minerals that may not fit a single set of indicators.

Keywords: mining industry; industrial minerals; life cycle analysis; LCA; sustainability indicators; environmental impact; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2014.058921

International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2014 Vol.5 No.1, pp.4 - 18

Published online: 04 Jun 2014 *

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