5.5 A Note on Ethics
63
Following UNEP recommendations, independent risk assessor basing their assessment on auditable, repeatable selections of parameters has to become the new norm.
These actions foster geoethics, will deliver a more defensible stance and value to the
mining industry.
5.6 Conclusions
• The big picture of what people, the public and some international organization
want is quite clear. “Trust us” does not work.
• Decisions made by any group that do not respect stringent technical requirements,
that do not bring solid answers, and do not respect basic principles of ethics do
not work anymore.
• Documents like the Aashukan declaration or the public record from the NWT
Giant mine debate set the path for what the public requires now and in the decades
to come.
• The price to pay for those who do not follow the path will be endless difficulties,
fall of SLO and poor CSR performance.
• Fostering proper communication, with a clear language and a strictly defined
glossary is a fundamental first step in the twenty-first-century tailings dams management.
References
[AG TMH 2016] Australian Government (2016) Tailings Management: Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/
net3906/f/July%202018/document/pdf/tailings-management.pdf
[BC Guide 2016] British Columbia (2016) Guidance Document: Health, Safety and Reclamation
Code for Mines in British Columbia. Version 1.0, July 2016. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/
farming-natural-resources-and-industry/mineral-exploration-mining/documents/health-andsafety/part_10_guidance_doc_10_20july_2016.pdf
Fox WA (2006) Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment,
Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
[MAC Outreach 2015] Mining Association of Canada (2015) Towards Sustainable Mining Aboriginal and Community Outreach Protocol. MAC. http://mining.ca/towards-sustainable-mining/
protocols-frameworks/aboriginal-and-community-outreach
[MVRB 2013] MacKenzie Valley Review Board (2013) Report of Environmental Assessment and
Reasons for Decision Giant Mine Remediation Project http://reviewboard.ca/upload/project_
document/EA0809-001_Giant_Report_of_Environmental_Assessment_June_20_2013.PDF
[NASA 2002] NASA (2002) Fault Tree Handbook with Aerospace Applications. https://elibrary.
gsfc.nasa.gov/_assets/doclibBidder/tech_docs/25.%20NASA_Fault_Tree_Handbook_with_
Aerospace_Applications%20-%20Copy.pdf
Oboni CH, Oboni F (2019) Reality-Anchored Risk Landscape Support CSR And SLO, MetSoc the
58th annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2019) hosting Copper 2019, Vancouver, Canada,
August 18–21, 2019
63
Following UNEP recommendations, independent risk assessor basing their assessment on auditable, repeatable selections of parameters has to become the new norm.
These actions foster geoethics, will deliver a more defensible stance and value to the
mining industry.
5.6 Conclusions
• The big picture of what people, the public and some international organization
want is quite clear. “Trust us” does not work.
• Decisions made by any group that do not respect stringent technical requirements,
that do not bring solid answers, and do not respect basic principles of ethics do
not work anymore.
• Documents like the Aashukan declaration or the public record from the NWT
Giant mine debate set the path for what the public requires now and in the decades
to come.
• The price to pay for those who do not follow the path will be endless difficulties,
fall of SLO and poor CSR performance.
• Fostering proper communication, with a clear language and a strictly defined
glossary is a fundamental first step in the twenty-first-century tailings dams management.
References
[AG TMH 2016] Australian Government (2016) Tailings Management: Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/
net3906/f/July%202018/document/pdf/tailings-management.pdf
[BC Guide 2016] British Columbia (2016) Guidance Document: Health, Safety and Reclamation
Code for Mines in British Columbia. Version 1.0, July 2016. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/
farming-natural-resources-and-industry/mineral-exploration-mining/documents/health-andsafety/part_10_guidance_doc_10_20july_2016.pdf
Fox WA (2006) Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment,
Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
[MAC Outreach 2015] Mining Association of Canada (2015) Towards Sustainable Mining Aboriginal and Community Outreach Protocol. MAC. http://mining.ca/towards-sustainable-mining/
protocols-frameworks/aboriginal-and-community-outreach
[MVRB 2013] MacKenzie Valley Review Board (2013) Report of Environmental Assessment and
Reasons for Decision Giant Mine Remediation Project http://reviewboard.ca/upload/project_
document/EA0809-001_Giant_Report_of_Environmental_Assessment_June_20_2013.PDF
[NASA 2002] NASA (2002) Fault Tree Handbook with Aerospace Applications. https://elibrary.
gsfc.nasa.gov/_assets/doclibBidder/tech_docs/25.%20NASA_Fault_Tree_Handbook_with_
Aerospace_Applications%20-%20Copy.pdf
Oboni CH, Oboni F (2019) Reality-Anchored Risk Landscape Support CSR And SLO, MetSoc the
58th annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM 2019) hosting Copper 2019, Vancouver, Canada,
August 18–21, 2019