Abstract
The social license to operate (SLO) is an informal social contract that aims to bridge the gap among the views of the most important stakeholders involved in mining activities. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that it discusses the current situation and the future prospects of granting a SLO, mainly at the European Union (EU) level, by considering the mine of the future, in terms of deep sea and landfill mining, and the criticality of raw materials that are required by high tech products as well as by emerging and green technologies. Also, it highlights the factors that may affect the views of all involved stakeholders, focusing on the joint efforts that are required by the industry and the society as well as on the main technological, social, political and legal issues which are relevant to the process. It is believed that if trust is developed between the involved stakeholders the SLO may prove an important tool in future mining in order to safeguard the supply of raw materials, minimize the environmental footprint and improve the quality of life in the affected regions. Finally, a conceptual flowsheet involving the main steps that may be followed for granting a SLO is proposed.
Highlights
Mining impacts include among others occupation of land for mining, processing and auxiliary activities, use of large volumes of water mainly for processing of ores, development of infrastructure, disposal of waste, in some cases production of acidic leachates as well as generation of dust and noise due to blasting and traffic of heavy vehicles
This paper presents the basic methodology to assess the criticality of raw materials, discusses the main factors that affect the current trade deficit of raw materials in the European Union (EU) and highlights the main advantages of a social license to operate (SLO) at the European level
The results of the assessment should be made public in the form of a detailed report while presentations may be delivered to the local communities and regional authorities
Summary
Mining impacts include among others occupation of land for mining, processing and auxiliary activities, use of large volumes of water mainly for processing of ores, development of infrastructure, disposal of waste, in some cases production of acidic leachates as well as generation of dust and noise due to blasting and traffic of heavy vehicles. It is known that it offers some socioeconomic benefits but environmental problems, which depend on the mining method and the scale of operation, may often be devastating [31,32] In some countries, such as Ghana, artisanal and small scale mining has been recently banned and this decision has caused social unrest. The overall impact of a mining industry can be assessed after a detailed analysis and deeper understanding of other indicators including water consumption, emissions, productivity, profit, tax payments, land use, communication, transparency and community involvement All of these factors are strongly related to the SLO, and may exhibit reflections at the national level, especially if the industrial performance in Resources 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW social and environmental issues is poor. Social, political and legalthat issues that maythe affect theviews futureofviews of all involved stakeholders
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