Mining projects have been economic and social disruptors long before the term gained currency with the onset of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Economically exploitable ore deposits are increasingly located in remote, under-developed corners of the earth. This is largely a function of the deposits located more centrally being either mined out or production ceasing for socio-environmental reasons. Countries with short (or no) histories of industrial scale mining are becoming the focus of junior companies hoping to develop new mines. However, this can pose a number of challenges exacerbated by jurisdictions less familiar with the regulation of mining projects. This paper focusses on two of these and how they have been addressed at the Dugbe project in Liberia.
Some of the remote areas of interest may have high levels of largely intact biodiversity that may provide key habitat for the survival of endangered species and global ecosystem services (like carbon sequestration), whilst also supporting the livelihoods of local communities. To manage the impacts of new projects on these fragile landscapes, biodiversity offsets become critical. Paying for the creation of these and maintaining their integrity in the medium to long term requires novel partnerships and concepts. Sustainable Forestry and the sale of carbon credits provide two opportunities for communities to monetise their forest assets sustainably.
This approach can be challenging where established communities rely on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) to supplement (or entirely provide) their livelihoods, stressing the system through ongoing environmental impacts from river dredging and de-forestation. ASM brings short-term, often more lucrative, gains than the longer-term Sustainable Forestry approach. The arrival of an industrial scale project offers both threats and opportunities: loss of access to ore resources and displacement; formal job opportunities; and social development. Avoidance, mitigation and in some cases offsetting of impacts are required to limit the social and environmental costs of new mine development in remote, under-developed settings.
