Adventure Tourism and Adventure Sports Injury: the New Zealand experience

The primary aims of this study were to establish a client injury baseline for the New Zealand adventure tourism and adventure sport sector, and to examine patterns and trends in claims for injury during participation in adventure activities. Content analysis of narrative text data for compensated injuries occurring in a place for recreation and sport over a 12-month period produced over 15,000 cases involving adventure tourism and adventure sport. As found in previous studies in New Zealand, highest claims counts were observed for activities that are often undertaken independently, rather than commercially. Horse riding, tramping, surfing and mountain biking were found to have highest claims counts, while hang gliding/paragliding/parasailing and jet boating injuries had highest claims costs, suggesting greatest injury severity. Highest claims incidence was observed for horse riding, with female claimants over-represented for this activity. Younger male claimants comprised the largest proportion of adventure injuries, and falls were the most common injury mechanism

Status of specific energy intensity of copper: Insights from the review of sustainability reports

There are a range of major industry factors placing upward pressure on the energy intensity of primary copper production. Copper ore grades are declining, mines are becoming deeper and deposits are becoming more complex. However, at the same time the individual processes employed during mining, mineral processing and metal production are becoming more efficient. Given these competing trends, a good question to ask: has the rate of innovation by engineers and the research community been exceeding the upward pressure on energy intensity created by trends at the mine-sites

Transparency on greenhouse gas emissions from mining to enable climate change mitigation

The climate change impacts of mining are often not fully accounted for, although the environmental impact of mineral extraction more generally is widely studied. Copper mining can serve as a case study to analyse the measurable pathways by which mining contributes to climate change through direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. For example, mining, processing and transportation require fuel and electricity, and the decomposition of carbonate minerals, employed to reduce environmental impacts, also releases carbon dioxide. Overall, we estimate that greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary mineral and metal production was equivalent to approximately 10% of the total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. For copper mining, fuel consumption increased by 130% and electricity consumption increased by 32% per unit of mined copper in Chile from 2001 to 2017, largely due to decreasing ore grade. This trend of increasing energy demand to produce the same quantity of some metals compounds the problems of increased metal demand due to the pressures of new technologies and increasing population. For green technologies to be implemented effectively, it is necessary that the mining industry and regulators accurately and transparently account for greenhouse gas emissions to implement mitigation strategies

Sustainable water management and improved corporate reporting in mining

The advent of corporate sustainability reporting and water accounting standards has resulted in increased disclosure of water use by mining companies. However, there has been limited compilation and analysis of these disclosures. To address this, we compiled a database of 8314 data points from 359 mining company reports, classified according to mining industry water accounting guidelines. The quality of disclosures is shown to have improved considerably over time. Although, opportunities still exist to improve reporting practices, such as by ensuring that all relevant water flows are reported and to explicitly state non-existent flows (e.g. discharges). Initial data analysis reveals considerable variability in water withdrawals, use efficiency and discharges between mining operations. Further work to improve industry coverage and to analyse the influence of mine specific factors such as ore processing methods and local climate will provide insights into the interactions of mining and water resources at a global scale. Keywords: Mining, Corporate sustainability reporting, Water withdrawals, Water consumption, Water recycling, Water discharg

Global-scale remote sensing of mine areas and analysis of factors explaining their extent

Mines are composed of features like open cut pits, water storage ponds, milling infrastructure, waste rock dumps, and tailings storage facilities that are often associated with impacts to surrounding areas. The size and location of mine features can be determined from satellite imagery, but to date a systematic analysis of these features across commodities and countries has not been conducted. We created detailed maps of 295 mines producing copper, gold, silver, platinum group elements, molybdenum, lead-zinc, nickel, uranium or diamonds, representing the dominant share of global production of these commodities. The mapping entailed the delineation and classification of 3,736 open pits, waste rock dumps, water ponds, tailings storage facilities, heap leach pads, milling infrastructure and other features, totalling ~3,633 km2. Collectively, our maps highlight that mine areas can be highly heterogeneous in composition and diverse in form, reflecting variations in underlying geology, commodities produced, topography and mining methods. Our study therefore emphasises that distinguishing between specific mine features in satellite imagery may foster more refined assessments of mine-related impacts. We also compiled detailed annual data on the operational characteristics of 129 mines to show via regression analysis that the sum area of a mine's features is mainly explained by its cumulative production volume (cross-validated R2 of 0.73). This suggests that the extent of future mine areas can be estimated with reasonable certainty based on expected total production volume. Our research may inform environmental impact assessments of new mining proposals, or provide land use data for life cycle analyses of mined products

Mineral resources in life cycle impact assessment: part II – recommendations on application-dependent use of existing methods and on future method development needs

Purpose Assessing impacts of abiotic resource use has been a topic of persistent debate among life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method developers and a source of confusion for life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners considering the different interpretations of the safeguard subject for mineral resources and the resulting variety of LCIA methods to choose from. Based on the review and assessment of 27 existing LCIA methods, accomplished in the first part of this paper series (Sonderegger et al. 2020), this paper provides recommendations regarding the application-dependent use of existing methods and areas for future method development. Method Within the “global guidance for LCIA indicators and methods” project of the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment, 62 members of the “task force mineral resources” representing different stakeholders discussed the strengths and limitations of existing LCIA methods and developed initial conclusions. These were used by a subgroup of eight members at the Pellston Workshop® held in Valencia, Spain, to derive recommendations on the application-dependent use and future development of impact assessment methods. Results and discussion First, the safeguard subject for mineral resources within the area of protection (AoP) natural resources was defined. Subsequently, seven key questions regarding the consequences of mineral resource use were formulated, grouped into “inside-out” related questions (i.e., current resource use leading to changes in opportunities for future users to use resources) and “outside-in” related questions (i.e., potential restrictions of resource availability for current resource users). Existing LCIA methods were assigned to these questions, and seven methods (ADPultimate reserves, SOPURR, LIME2endpoint, CEENE, ADPeconomic reserves, ESSENZ, and GeoPolRisk) are recommended for use in current LCA studies at different levels of recommendation. All 27 identified LCIA methods were tested on an LCA case study of an electric vehicle, and yielded divergent results due to their modeling of impact mechanisms that address different questions related to mineral resource use. Besides method-specific recommendations, we recommend that all methods increase the number of minerals covered, regularly update their characterization factors, and consider the inclusion of secondary resources and anthropogenic stocks. Furthermore, the concept of dissipative resource use should be defined and integrated in future method developments. Conclusion In an international consensus-finding process, the current challenges of assessing impacts of resource use in LCA have been addressed by defining the safeguard subject for mineral resources, formulating key questions related to this safeguard subject, recommending existing LCIA methods in relation to these questions, and highlighting areas for future method development.ISSN:0948-3349ISSN:1614-750

SDG 6 clean water and sanitation: sustainable use of energy and water resources in the mining sector: a comparative case study of open-pit and alluvial mining technology

Environmental impacts associated with the use of water and energy resources are among the most significant problems for the mining industry, requiring the implementation of new solutions in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation. Currently, the challenge is converting mineral wealth into development opportunities while responding to the needs of future generations. This is specifically regarding the investment of nonrenewable resources in the implementation of strategies to promote the efficient use of both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. This chapter aims to evaluate the cradle-to-gate consumption of renewable (water) and nonrenewable energy sources in both open-pit and alluvial mining systems. Additionally, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed to both estimate and analyze their impact on water resources. This is extended by the presentation of opposing reductive strategies including the optimization of process efficiency and use of circular economies. This research is significant within the Colombian context as water usage is often a determining factor in the attainment of key environmental and social licenses. Furthermore, the results of this investigation clearly show how water usage and the magnitude of its related impacts differ between opposing forms of extraction