Mining Magazine September 2016 | Page 8

PROFILE
IN 2004 , THE mining sector was facing a crisis – one of so many in this deeply cyclical industry . Mining companies were failing to attract the top graduates and were encountering increasing difficulties in securing land , licences and the approval of communities needed for new mine approvals .
“ Mining companies were facing increasing risks resulting from poor environmental performance and long term liabilities ,” says Caroline Digby . “ The gap between the few that benefitted , and the many who paid the long-term consequences , was growing , and growing more unacceptable .
“ Mining leaders were determined to demonstrate that they could create shared value , they could operate responsibly and that they would chart a course of action that challenged the notion of deep , dark and dangerous as the only script for mining .”
And thus , the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry ( CSMI ) was born out of the Mining , Minerals and Sustainable Development ( MMSD ) global research project , “ Breaking New Ground ”. In the report , the MMSD project explored how the mining industry could “ transition
8 September 2016