Abstract
Mining stimulates environmental and economic impacts on the neighboring community right from the inception to the closure of its operations. The society in the neighborhood of mining gradually adopts a characteristic life-style that is highly influenced by the mining. In order to sustain the societal development beyond the mine closure, it is necessary to plan post mining activities in the area. Thus, it is essential to predict the impacts of mine closure well before the closure. Many societal and family attributes are affected by mine closure. Impact on these attributes is reflected on the overall quality of life of the neighboring community. There are no adequate indicators and/or methodology available to measure social impacts of mine closure on a neighboring community. This paper made an attempt to develop such methodology to predict the degree of adverse effects of mine closure on the quality of life of neighboring communities using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Latent Variables Interaction Model (LVM).
Highlights
Mining is a temporary business and every mining operation is bound to face closure due to resource exhaustion or change in the economics of mining
The findings of this study reveals that mine closure has a significant impact on the quality of life of the nearby comminutes
This is established through structural equation modeling and latent variable modeling based on previous research which had demonstrated that satisfaction with life in general could be predicted by objective life status
Summary
Mining is a temporary business and every mining operation is bound to face closure due to resource exhaustion or change in the economics of mining. Unplanned mine closure is associated with safety, environmental and social risks. Such an event can significantly increase the post closure liabilities and economic burden. Each stage of mining is associated with specific environmental and social impacts, which are often significant after the closure. At the development stage, mining brings a sudden change in the social structure and supply/ demand scenarios. During opening of a mine a large influx of population put strain on the existing services and business structure. Services and infrastructure such as power, sewage and housing are developed to meet increased population which often increase tax burden on the community [8]
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