This volume provides a transdisciplinary analysis of the political, social and environmental aspects of governance and its implementation in the mining sector.
In a world profoundly shaped by the energy transition and the urgency of climate change, mining faces a dual challenge. On one hand, it is expected to play a crucial role in the shift toward a more sustainable socioeconomic model. On the other, it operates within a context marked by deep economic, social, political, and environmental tensions across multiple territories. This book offers a critical, transdisciplinary, and rigorous exploration of a key concept for understanding this dilemma: governance. Through a theoretical and practical journeyranging from colonial extractivism to current models of sustainability and corporate responsibilityit provides a comprehensive look at how formal and informal power structures, community relations, social and environmental impact assessments, and regulatory frameworks shape the present and future of mining. With a participatory approach that brings together voices from academia, government, NGOs, and the private sector, the book not only analyzes the various dimensions of mining governance but also presents practical examples and case studies to better understand its sociopolitical, environmental, and economic complexity. From the role of the Social License to Operate to mine closure and post-closure planning, and waste management, this work invites readers to rethink mining as a long-term territorial development project.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the mining and extractive industries, natural resource governance, environmental governance and sustainable development.
This volume provides a transdisciplinary analysis of the political, social and environmental aspects of governance and its implementation in the mining sector. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of the mining and extractive industries, natural resource governance, environmental governance and sustainable development.
Introduction.
1. History of Governance in Mining. The Case of Mining in
Southwestern Spain. 19th-21st Centuries
2. Governance and mining governance.
3. Governance and the Social License to Operate: A Critical Perspective
4.
Socio-Environmental Impact Assessment as a New Governance tool for mining
projects
5. Governance and social participation in mining projects.
6.
Unveiling Gender Dynamics for Inclusive Mining Governance.
7. Critical
minerals and the geopolitics of contemporary industrial mining.
8. Governance
Issues in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: Current Realities and Future
Directions.
9. Main debates in community mining politics
10. From closure to
transition: the role of governance and collaboration in post mining land use
planning.
11. Governance of mining waste: landfills, ponds, by-products
12.
Water Governance Challenges in Mongolian Gobi Desert and Steppe Forest Mining
Regions
13. Energy transitions and power in contemporary (and future) mining.
14. Conclusion
Jose Andres Dominguez Gomez is a Professor at the Universidad de Huelva, Spain. He specialises in social research methodologies applied to development projects, such as tourism, urban planning, infrastructure, energy or mining projects.
Andre Xavier is a Senior Manager for Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Development with Catalyste+, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting locally-driven solutions to enhance governance and drive economic growth. He holds an honorary professorship at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Rocķo Muńoz Moreno is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health at the University of Huelva, Spain. Her research focuses on the analysis and evaluation of urban policies, particularly sustainable and integrated urban development models, where governance plays an important role.
