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11: PROJECT EVALUATION 259

returned plus a healthy profit otherwise the the needs of the present without compromising
investment will be taken elsewhere. Other the ability of future generations to meet their
necessary and associated objectives include own needs (Brundtland 1987). It involves inte-
safety and health of employees, efficient min- grating economic activity with environmental
eral extraction, care for the environment, and integrity and social concerns (MMSD 2002). It
payment of local and national taxes. The is here that the mining industry has the oppor-
government of the host country may have a tunity to enhance the contribution that mining
different order of priorities, such as continuity and metals can make to social and economic
of employment, social objectives, and taxes to development (Walker & Howard 2002).
central government for national social policies. Frequently, Environmental Impact Assess-
It gives a low order of priority to dividends to ments (EIA) are a requirement for permitting or
shareholders and repayment of loans that were regulatory approval with public consultation
used to develop the mine. In addition an inflow an underlying condition (Environment Agency
of foreign investment is sometimes disliked 2002). It is at this time that concern to the
with the thought of foreign shareholders con- NGOs can be addressed. The range of biophy-
trolling a national resource of the country. sical impacts to be considered may be quite
Thus it is essential to operate within a frame- exhaustive and include effects on air and water
work of acceptable law and, if necessary, a quality, flora and fauna, noise levels, climate,
mutually agreed contract between developer and hydrological systems. The reporting for-
and host. This may require delicate negotiation mat can be quite prescriptive, demanding
and it has to produce a true partnership other- careful attention to content, procedures, and
wise the agreement will not last, particularly if protocol (see section 17.2).
there is a change of government or leadership. Typically, an EIA would explain how the
There are known deposits with measured company will mitigate issues such as blasting
resources that have no value because of the vibrations, dust, noise, atmospheric and water
impossibility of achieving such a satisfactory pollution, and increased traffic density. With
agreement (see also section 1.4.4). Investment modern equipment and design most, if not all,
in mineral development almost ceased in of these can be overcome but at a cost. This
Zimbabwe in the late 1990s and early 2000s cost is, in effect, an added operating charge
because of Government policies relating to which may be one of the factors that has an
ownership, inflation, and fiscal policy. influence upon the value of a potential mine
(see also section 1.4.2).
In comparison with environmental concerns,
11.2.7 Sustainable development, health and legal requirements for consideration of social
safety factors
impacts may be limited to general demographic
The circumstances under which mining devel- and economic concerns. The understanding
opments are viewed and judged have changed of social risk is relatively new. Appropriate
over the last few years. Government endorse- consideration needs to be given to the social
ment is no longer the only external factor in elements. This could include changes that a
the approval process. Assessment of the social, proposed development would create in social
environmental, health, and safety implications relationships, community, people’s quality and
of project development now form an integral way of life, ritual, political/economic pro-
part of all applications in the mining lease cesses, attitudes, and values. Normally this
approval process. Potential concerns of local is combined with the EIA in the form of a
communities as well as other interested par- Social and Environmental Impact Assessment
ties such as non-governmental organizations (S&EIA) report. It would include the sustain-
(NGOs), shareholders, and investors can have able development, health and safety aspects
significant influence on a project’s viability as of a project. They also have to be managed to
well as its design and scope (see section 4.3). ensure that new projects and expansions can
The long-term implications for sustainable take place effectively. They provide an essen-
development must also be considered. Sustain- tial contribution throughout the mining cycle
able development is development that meets from the conceptual study to well beyond mine