Mineral Resource Depletion Assessment: Alternatives, Problems, Results

Abstract

The depletion of non-renewable natural resources (primarily mineral and energy resources) and its assessment is a problem that is analyzed based on the concept of sustainable development. Mineral resource depletion assessment is particularly important for resource-based economies. It provides for assessing the impact of mineral asset disposal that results from the suspension or termination of operations conducted by a mining company due to insurmountable circumstances. The results of such an event will be manifested at the national, regional, and local levels and felt by mining companies, suppliers, workers, the population of the territory, and other stakeholders. The study clarifies the attributes and essence of mineral resource depletion, analyzes the advantages and limitations of the existing tools for assessing mineral resource depletion, identifies depletion factors, describes a methodology for assessing mineral resource depletion, and contains a case study of a tin deposit. The results of the study contribute to the development of the theory on the depletion of non-renewable natural resources. They provide for assessing losses to social wellbeing that can be caused by stopping the use of profitable mineral reserves.

Criteria, Indicators, and Factors of the Sustainable Energy-Saving Economic Development: The Case of Natural Gas Consumption

“…In general, this figure ranged from 0.040 for Italy to 0.984 for Hungary. Also, there is interest to the indicator of the minimum possible duration of the sustainable energy saving by natural gas economic development in the future, which was calculated by Formula (18). For some countries it is quite high.…”

“…In addition, the need to reduce resource consumption may be related to the detrimental impact of their consumption on the environment [15,16]. Finally, an important reason justifying measures to reduce the use of non-renewable natural resources is the need to leave them for future generations [17,18].…”

Creation of Backfill Materials Based on Industrial Waste

“…Due to the development of modern societies, technological progress and the constant widening of the availability of goods, it can be concluded that along with the exponentially growing population of the Earth, the level of consumption of mineral resources is also close to exponential [1]. The consumption of goods is also growing in countries where mineral resources (raw material base) are limited [2] or close to exhaustion [3]. At the same time, growing awareness of societies and pressure from environmental organizations mean that more and more importance is attached to sustainable development [4].…”

Renewable-Resource Technologies in Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises Providing Environmental Safety

“…With an increase in consumer demand for extracted raw materials, it is necessary to increase the requirements for the completeness and complexity of the use of the mineral resource base, and to develop a new scientific and methodological approach to the broad recovery of mineral resources and their preservation [26][27][28]. It is of special importance for regions (countries) with limited resources [29][30][31].…”