Chongchong Qi ^a,^*, Andy Fourie^a, Qiusong Chen ^b

^a School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Australia.

^b School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.

^*Corresponding Author: chongchong.qi@research.uwa.edu.au (C.C. Qi)

1. Introduction

The importance of mining to the global economy through providing a diverse range of mineral commodities cannot be underestimated. These minerals are essential to our everyday life because they are vital raw materials for numerous products we use. In addition, a large number of industries depend on the provision of input from the mining industry, such as the manufacturing of drugs, glass, plastics, ceramics, electronics, etc. It is estimated that around 250-300 million people, including their dependants, rely on mining for income (Azapagic, 2004).

As we approach the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the mining industry is encountering increasing scrutiny from society due to its social and environmental impacts, i.e., high fatality ratio, acid mine drainage, deforestation, noise, dust, air and water pollution, public health impacts and a loss of livelihoods. Recycling, closing the production loop, cleaner production, zero waste, recovery of resources, are all terms frequently signaled to the mining industry. Nowadays, mining operations not only need a ‘regulatory license’ to mine, but also a ‘social license’ to operate since any tensions or disruptions arising from discontented neighbors are unaffordable. How to mitigate the impacts of mining and, at the same time, offset the increased environmental and social costs, is the essential question facing the mining industry.

Over the last decade or so, debates about the sustainable development of mining have revealed that it might be the right time for the industry to alter its attitude towards sustainability. It is widely accepted that proactive pollution prevention is far better than reactionary pollution control. The transition from a linear approach (take-make-waste) to a circular approach (production-distribution-consumption-reuse/repair-recycling) can improve the reputation of the mining industry and hence its social acceptability. Additionally, such a transition will also bring business benefits, including reduced labor and health costs by providing a safe and healthy working environment, minimized closure or post-closure costs, easier access to lenders and insurers, preferential loans and insurance rates, and higher value of goodwill on the balance sheet (Azapagic, 2004).

International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (IJMMM) has for some time been publishing articles related to the sustainable development of mining. More and more scholars from both academia and industry have chosen to publish their results and findings about mitigating the impacts of mining in IJMMM. Since sustainable development of mining is an important direction for IJMMM, a special issue on mitigating the impacts of mining in IJMMM is also necessary. This special issue will bring the journal to the attention of scholars in this area and encourage more of them to publish their research in IJMMM.

On this basis, the overall aim of this special issue is to collect state-of-the-art research findings on the latest developments, up-to-date issues, challenges and solutions in the field of mitigating the impacts of mining. Specific impacts of mining that could be addressed include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Impacts of mining on water resources, i.e. acid mine drainage, contaminant leaching, soils and mine waste erosion into surface waters, and the impacts of mine dewatering on groundwater drawdown.

2. Impacts of mining on air quality, i.e. air pollution (particulate pollution and gas emission), incidental release of mercury during gold mining, noise pollution and mining-induced vibrations.

3. Impacts of mining on global climate change, primarily greenhouse gas emissions.

4. Impacts of mining on soil quality, wildlife and the community.

5. Impacts on downstream communities due to the failure of a tailings storage facility.

Thus, high-quality research and review papers addressing the above-mentioned mining impacts, especially impacts 1-3 considering the main focus of IJMMM, are welcome in this special issue. In particular, state-of-the-art strategies (such as improved mine planning, enhanced waste management, metal production from secondary resources, energy efficiency, increased productivity by advanced internet of things technology, life cycle assessments of environmental impacts, and integrated environmental management systems) and real-world case studies from a single- or cross-country perspective are also strongly encouraged.

2. Submission format and Guidelines

Submitted papers must be prepared in suitably edited English and describe original research that has not been previously published nor is currently under review by other journals or conferences. Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, presentation, relevance and contribution to the SI topic, as well as their suitability and quality in terms of both technical contributions and written presentation. Significant extension of papers published in related conferences (e.g. Mine Closure 2019 at https://www.mineclosure2019.com/) is encouraged. Authors of submissions should clearly identify the amount of additional and different material. This information should be clearly indicated in the manuscript. The Guest Editors will check the suitability and scope of all submissions before sending out for peer review.

Author guidelines for preparation of manuscripts can be found at https://www.springer.com/materials/journal/12613. The online submission site for this journal is located at https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/ijom.To ensure that your manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion into the special issue, it is important for you to select "SI: Mitigating Impacts of Mining" when you reach the “Type” step in the submission process.

International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials is indexed, among others, by Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Scopus, Google Scholar, and many other databases. Its 2018 ISI impact factor is 1.221 and 5-year impact factor is 1.319.

3. Tentative Timeline

· First submission deadline: 25 October, 2019

· First round peer-review: 27 December, 2019.

· Final decision: 29 February, 2020

· Predicted Publication date: May 2020

· All papers will published online first upon acceptance regardless of the publication date.

4. Guest Editorial Team

Prof. Andy Fourie, The University of Western Australia, andy.fourie@uwa.edu.au.

Dr. Chongchong Qi, The University of Western Australia, chongchong.qi@research.uwa.edu.au.

Prof. Qiusong Chen, Central South University, qiusong.chen@csu.edu.cn

Ryan Veenstra, Newmont Mining Corporation, Ryan.Veenstra@newmont.com

References

Azapagic, A., 2004. Developing a framework for sustainable development indicators for the mining and minerals industry. Journal of Cleaner Production 12(6), 639-662.