Evaluating resource efficiency at major copper mines

Abstract Resource efficiency is both, a scientific concept in sustainability assessment and a policy concept that aims to achieve maximum extraction of resource materials from a mineral deposit at minimum waste production. Presently, established proxies for resource efficiency use weight-based measures of a system’s materials consumption However, such proxies are not directly applicable to mining operations. This study introduces a new method and associated techniques for the evaluation and quantification of resource efficiency in mining operations. This approach considers intensities in land, water, energy and mineral deposit consumption (i.e. specific resource consumption to produce one unit of output). Applying this new methodology, resource intensities have been assessed and quantified for 22 major copper mines. Results have allowed relative ranking of these mines in terms of resource efficiency. This work also demonstrates that deposit properties and its geographic location impact on resource efficiency. Consequently, political measures, needed to promote resource efficiency in mining, should focus on region-specific aspects and the properties of the mined ore deposit.

[1]  Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas,et al.  Environmental impact assessment based on group decision-making methods in mining projects , 2014 .

[2]  Nicholas Santero,et al.  Harmonization of LCA methodologies for the metal and mining industry , 2016, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[3]  Alberto Fonseca,et al.  Sustainability reporting among mining corporations: a constructive critique of the GRI approach , 2014 .

[4]  José Luiz da Veiga.  Indicadores de sustentabilidade , 2010 .

[5]  Gjalt Huppes,et al.  Weighting environmental effects: Analytic survey with operational evaluation methods and a meta-method , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[6]  Roki Fukuzawa,et al.  Climate change policy to foster pollution prevention and sustainable industrial practices – A case study of the global nickel industry , 2012 .

[7]  Harald Dyckhoff,et al.  Measuring ecological efficiency with data envelopment analysis (DEA) , 2001, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[8]  Barbara C. Lippiatt,et al.  BEES 4.0: Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability. Technical Manual and User Guide , 1998 .

[9]  G. Mudd.  The Environmental sustainability of mining in Australia: key mega-trends and looming constraints , 2010 .

[10]  Michael Lettenmeier,et al.  Integrating resource efficiency in business strategies: a mixed-method approach for environmental life cycle assessment in the single-serve coffee value chain , 2016 .

[11]  Steven De Meester,et al.  Toward a systematized framework for resource efficiency indicators , 2015 .

[12]  G. Mudd,et al.  Using sustainability reporting to assess the environmental footprint of copper mining , 2013 .

[13]  Patrick T. Hester,et al.  An Analysis of Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods , 2013 .

[14]  Kamalakanta Muduli,et al.  Developing a sustainable development framework in the context of mining industries: AHP approach , 2015 .

[15]  Gerald Steiner,et al.  Efficiency performance of the world's leading corporations in phosphate rock mining , 2015 .

[16]  Malcolm Powell,et al.  Benchmarking comminution energy consumption for the processing of copper and gold ores , 2014 .

[17]  Kenta Torihara,et al.  A Proposal on a Resource Efficiency Index for EEE , 2015 .

[18]  Jorge Castilla-Gomez,et al.  Environmental analysis of mining operations: Dynamic tools for impact assessment , 2015 .

[19]  Stefan Bringezu,et al.  Policy review on decoupling : development of indicators to assess decoupling of economic development and environmental pressure in the EU-25 and AC-3 countries , 2005 .

[20]  Thomas L. Saaty,et al.  Models, Methods, Concepts & Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process , 2012 .