Mining Policy

The POLINARES project has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007(FP7/ -2013 under Grant Agreement no 244516 Purpose: To assess and determine how the risks and criteria identified in previous POLINARES Work Packages, in particular early chapters of Work Package 4, relate to the accessibility of mineral resources and the institutions which governs such accessibility. 'Accessibility': How cooperation and collaboration towards the extraction of mineral resources is facilitated, or possibly hindered, in the current available institutional framework.

Este trabajo presenta un marco teórico para estudiar procesos de construcción de sustentabilidad ambiental. Los tres ejes del marco teórico son; la problematización e institucionalización de problemas ambientales, el reconocimiento de la diferencia y la formación de sistemas de gobernanza. Al aplicar este marco teórico al estudio del sector minero en el Ecuador podemos ver que la lucha por la institucionalización de protección ambiental efectiva y reconocimiento de derechos colectivos, han guiado la acción social frente al Estado y las empresas del sector minero en las últimas décadas. Estos procesos han logrado alguna institucionalización de las agendas de la sociedad civil y una constante reconfiguración de relaciones de poder que no logra aportar a la democratización de las relaciones sociales que caracterizan el sector minero.

Turkey has very diverse mineral deposits due to its extremely complex geology. The country is a major producer of a great many industrial minerals including boron minerals. A wide variety of primary metallic minerals and a significant amount of lignite are also produced in the country. In this study, the mining industry of Turkey has been examined. In this respect, the mineral potential and primary mineral production of the country have been reviewed. Related minerals legislation and institutional structure of the mining sector in Turkey have also been presented beside recent privatization efforts in the sector.

ÖZET: Türkiye madencilik sektörünün 1980'li yıllara kadar sürdürdüğü kamu ağırlıklı yapısı, bu tarihten sonra, gerek kamu madencilik kuruluşlarına gerekli olan yatırımların yapılmaması, gerekse kapatma ya da özelleştirmeler yoluyla özel sektör ağırlıklı bir yapıya dönüştürülmüştür. Madencilik sektöründe, kamu girişimciliğinden vazgeçilerek, kamunun elindeki işletmelerin özel sektöre devri ve bu yolla madencilik sektöründe yapısal dönüşümün sağlanması gereğini savunan görüşün, belirgin temel gerekçeleri bulunmaktadır. Politik karışmaların varlığı ve üretim maliyetlerinin düşürülmesi ya da ürün kalitesinin artırılması yönünde özendiricilerin bulunmaması nedenleriyle kamu işletmelerinin verimsizliğe neden olduğu ileri sürülmüştür. Piyasa mekanizması içerisinde kaynakların etkin kullanımının sağlanacağı iddia edilmiştir. Önerilen yapıda, yerli ve yabancı özel sektör katılımı ile rekabet sağlanacak, maliyetler ve fiyatlar düşecek, ekonomik verimlilik artacaktır. Madencilik sektörü için gerekli olan yerli ya da yabancı sermaye bu yolla temin edilebilecek, özel sektör dinamizmi ile ülkemiz madencilik sektörü hızla gelişecektir. Bu çalışmada, dönüşümün başlangıç varsayımları sorgulanmakta, gelinen nokta itibariyle söz konusu varsayımların uygulama sonuçlarıyla doğrulanıp doğrulanmadığı araştırılmaktadır.

En el presente artículo, el autor busca discutir la movilización social como órgano de control de las políticas ambientales. Para ello, toma en consideración el caso de San Carlos y como es que ello derivó en la sanción de la Ley Provincial 7722.

Since the mid-2000s, the world has seen an unprecedented expansion in corporate resource extraction. This global phenomenon has not been restricted to the Global South, but has also been, unexpectedly and interestingly, felt in the Global North in contexts that were considered to be ruled by political systems where the impacts of rapid resource extraction would not be felt. Between 2005 and 2010, for example, the volume of metallic ore and waste rock mining in Finland increased from fewer than 5 million tons to 46 million tons, mostly through the inauguration of four large mines in the east and north of the country. This paper examines the various explanations for the mining expansion, based on expert interviews, participant observation and a spatial analysis of the change dynamics. The importance and causalities in the control and divisions of social, physical and symbolic spaces are assessed, drawing on and interweaving the theories of Arrighi and Harvey, and conceptualizations of Moore and Bourdieu. A series of fertile conceptual tools for analysing the role of spatial dynamics in land-use changes is developed and put to work in the empirical analysis. The results are significant for the literatures on spatial dynamics and Arctic land-use change.

Mine closure is an area where the mining industry can demonstrate its commitment to the principles of sustainability. Within the minerals sector, the emphasis though has been on the need to consider strategies and activities in advance. While it is essential that planning for mine closure is done at the earliest stage possible, certain cases, particularly in many developing countries, demonstrate that this is not always possible. On the ground, there is often a relatively short duration, if at all, between preparing closure plans and the actual closure of mine operations. This paper examines a case in which the key social actors in the mine closure process – mainly a mining company and a large community – were caught up in situations where they had to adopt innovations that are expedient. The actions of the company and the responses of the community were contingent on circumstances that could not have been predicted if mine closure was planned by the company several years ago, much less many decades ago. In a convoluted way, efforts at preventing previously ‘abandoned’ mine workings from impairment is tied to the social imperative of addressing people’s need for livelihood. In turn, business viability can be ensured.
The paper contributes to understanding the complex socio-economic, political and business realities that shape the context of implementing protocols and principles of mine closure. On a higher plane, the paper demonstrates that planning for, and implementing, mine closure successfully does not simply require good legislation, financial guarantees, and mechanisms for monitoring and auditing. These are factors that indeed ensure a workable closure plan. However, an understanding of the complex institutional, economic, political and cultural milieu – within which closure principles, strategies and activities are realised – is paramount.

Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) is a contract entered into between government and a private company wishing to explore, develop and produce petroleum. This agreement contains clauses that stipulate agreed upon methods for allocation of petroleum produced and payment of royalty and taxes due to government.
This paper tries to highlight the nature of PSA and how it can promote it can promote sustainable development.

Viewed as a lawless sector and an important cause of environmental damage, precious stone mining is not the activity that contributes most to the national coffers. However, it represents a significant source of income for some territories and in the northeastern Minas Gerais state -one of the world's largest colored gemstones deposits -, public policies initiated aim to support the sustainable development of the whole regional gem industry. Measures are basically taken on two different levels: on one hand, governmental action aims to constrain a sector still deeply dependent on illegal practices; on the other hand, complementary actions are taken to foster in particular partnership between local agents. If action plan to fight illegal mining and protect the environment seems to have been partially successful, it may have been done at the expense of the sector's growth. Indeed, as a result of the pressure of authorities, mining and other local activities related to gems have declined significantly in the past decade while actions meant to strengthen local industries have been generally useless to curb the trend. Public actions impacts, either positive or negative, are probably much limited. In facts, decline of gem mining can be linked to the loss of Brazil competitiveness at international scale, and overall because of the growth of its economy. Indeed, extractive decrease can be first due to the improvement of living conditions, as the economic growth provided less dangerous or exhausti work opportunities and offering new and safer investment opportunities.

Nisan 2003 ÖZET 1980'li yıllardan itibaren, "ekonomi yönetiminde kamusal mekanizmaların yerine piyasa mekanizmalarının konulması gerektiği, verimlilik ve refahın bu yolla sağlanacağı" şeklindeki politikaların Türkiye'ye yansımaları gecikmemiş ve bu doğrultuda önce planlı dönem üzerine bir sünger çekilmiştir. Bu süreçte, dış ticaretin serbestleştirilmesinden özelleştirmeye, tarımsal destekleme politikalarından enerji politikalarına kadar çok geniş bir alan, uluslararası kuruluşlar ile yapılan çeşitli kredi anlaşmalarında yer alan taahhütler doğrultusunda biçimlendirilmiştir. Söz konusu gelişmelerin Türkiye madencilik sektörüne yansımaları, özellikle 1990'lardan itibaren hız kazanmıştır. Bu süreçte, madencilik sektöründe öne çıkan söylem "kamu madencilik kuruluşlarının özelleştirilmesi" olmuş, bu amaçla söz konusu kuruluşlarda gerekli olan yatırımlar yapılmamıştır. Türkiye madencilik sektöründe mülkiyet ve yönetim değişikliklerini gerçekleştirmeye yönelik olarak çeşitli kamu kurumlarında sektörel bölünme, ticarileştirme, şirketleştirme ve özelleştirmeye yönelik uygulamalar birbirini izlemiş, tüm bu faaliyetlerin sonucunda, gerek maden aramaları gerekse üretimler büyük ölçüde sekteye uğratılmış, Etibank, Maden Tetkik Arama Enstitüsü, Türkiye Kömür İşletmeleri ve Türkiye Taşkömürü Kurumu gibi uzun yılların birikimini ve potansiyelini içlerinde taşıyan kamu madencilik kuruluşları tek tek birer enkaz yığını haline getirilirken yerlerine de hiç birşey konulamamıştır. Anahtar Sözcükler : Madencilik politikaları, küreselleşme, liberalizasyon, çok uluslu şirketler.

A B S T R A C T In this paper, we analyse the critique that has accompanied sustained efforts made in recent years by the Government of Sweden to facilitate global investment in the country's mining sector. The minerals market in the 21st century has been characterized by increasing global prices. In Sweden, the largest mining nation within the EU, this has led to what has been identified as a mining boom. The governmental mining policy, aimed at attracting an increasing part of the global venture capital seeking to profit from the volatile but lucrative minerals market, has been met with growing domestic resistance, fuelled by what has been perceived as dangers and side effects of a rapidly expanding Swedish mining industry. This resistance has largely focused on the mineral strategy launched by the government in 2013, as it crystallized the neoliberal ideas judged by critics to severely jeopardize social, cultural, economic and environmental values. After a critical analysis of the mineral strategy, we go on to analyse the mining-critical discourse, concluding with a discussion where we highlight the main implications of the analysis and identify a possible path for compromise between proponents and opponents of the mineral strategy.

The presentation consisted of an overview of the direction that emerging trends in mining administration and regulation seems to be following.  The presentation was further illustrated with a selection of contemporary regulatory challenges, including mineral rights and titles; dispute resolution; corruption and transparency; and environmental concerns and mine closure.

In the last 25 years, the mining sector has become an important field of investigation and controversy for anthropologists. As an object, the ‘mine’ itself poses specific problems that make it particularly fertile ground for the exploration of inextricably linked theoretical, methodological, ethical, and political issues. In this paper, I explore the issue of the positionality of anthropologists within the mining arena. The analysis of positionality is taken beyond an individual perspective focusing on ethics, engagement and
responsibility, to additionally include discussions of networking, alliance-building and institutionalising processes. I shall begin by dealing with the problems posed by the anthropology of mining and the various perspectives that respond to it. In the second section, I narrow the focus to the case of New Caledonia. In the third section, I present
the context and challenges associated with the discussed cases. I portray the cases in question and, in particular, the new arena represented by the National Centre for Technological Research (CNRT) ‘Nickel and its Environment’, an agency established in 2008 to fund research on nickel in New Caledonia. The analysis in terms of a ‘hybrid’ forum of this arena will be complemented by the consideration of the social demand for the anthropology of mining. In the concluding section, the paper outlines options for further research while stressing the need for a balanced, ‘symmetrical’ approach of the multiple actors’ agendas constitutive of the mining arena.

What can you say about the place of Turkey's mining industry in the world? Turkey which is among the richest countries in the world in terms of mineral diversity produces over 70 minerals. The most outstanding mineral resource of our country is the boron mine. Turkey has about 60 percent of the world boron reserves and realizes close to 80 percent of global production. According to US Geological Survey data; the largest perlite and graphite reserves in the world are in our country. Our barite reserves are second in the world, trona reserves are third, magnesite and chromium reserves are fourth. Except those; diatomite, feldspar, mica, molybdenum, marble and natural stone, pumice, feldspar, bentonite, thorium, vermiculite, zeolite and sepiolite reserves are among the world's largest reserves. According to the same source, Turkey in 2016; second in chrome, perlite, bentonite production, fourth in graphite, sand-gravel and gypsum production, fifth in zeolite and mica production, sixth in kaolin production and seventh in antimony and barite production. Our production of clay, molybdenum, salt, marble and lignite is also on the world scale. Despite all these production levels, it cannot be said that Turkey is a developed country in the mining industry. The vast majority of the approximately 6,000 mines are run by small-scale companies. These companies have often weak capital structures with low levels of institutionalization, low mining experience, low engineering qualities, limited project experience and capabilities. These firms often regard investments in exploration, research and development, human resources, occupational safety and environmental protection as unnecessary cost-enhancing factors. There is no doubt that there are qualified public or private organizations operating in the sector. However, the presence of these organizations, whose numbers are too small to be shown, is not enough to change the overall picture of the industry. In the resulting structure, private capital is away from the explorations awaiting new resources largely from the public. The production is far from the scale economics and the required efficiency levels. There is a weakness at the point of producing higher added value by converting the produced minerals to end products. Valuable ores are exported raw, and the same ores are converted into finished or semi-finished goods, returning to our country at much higher prices. Besides, the use of advanced technology in the sector is limited. The mining sector in Turkey has become an area where the public sector has been operating up to 90 percent until the end of the 1990s. However, especially in the new century and at a time that can be considered quite short, this time it has turned into a structure where the private sector operates at the level of 90 percent. Today, the public is drawn from all other mines except for boron mines and to some extent coal. However, the transformation mentioned above did not lead to a significant change in the table presented above, and the contribution of the sector to our economy did not show any improvement.

This paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of EU non-energy raw materials policy and subsequent attempts by the EU to address risks and challenges in order to increase the potential for long-term enhancement.  Previous POLINARES Workpackages had identified certain risks and challenges to the EU accessibility of natural resources, with security of supply identified as a significant threat to continued EU competitiveness.  This paper builds upon these findings by examining the reasons for its evolvement into its current state, and investigating existing EU institutional capabilities (or lack thereof), specifically with regard to non-energy raw materials policy.  The paper further examines the policy responses that aims to address those challenges, and the proposed introduction of a common EU mineral Policy.  Active internal relations between the EU Member States, as well as active external relations with certain strategic raw material producing regions, is emphasized as crucial prerequisites for the successful implementation of such a policy initiative.  Mechanisms, such as regional development cooperation and collaboration are briefly reviewed as to lay a foundation for further detailed discussions in the subsequent case studies in Chapter 5.

Libro completo descargable (ESP) en: https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/2515

BASTIDA, Elizabeth; BUSTOS, Luis. Towards Regimes for Sustainable Mineral Resource Management - Constitutional Reform, Law and Judicial Decisions in Latin America En: CARBONNIER, Gilles; CAMPODÓNICO; Humberto; TEZANOS, Sergio. Alternative Pathways to Sustainable Development: Lessons from Latin America, International Development Policy series. No.9. Publicado por: Geneva, Boston: Graduate Institute Publications, Brill-Nijhoff. (2017). pp. 235-268.

El presente artículo traza un recorrido por las tendencias en materia de legislación minera en América Latina. Se centra en el análisis de la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional de Colombia en torno a la interpretación de las condiciones y procesos de toma de decisiones en la actividad en el marco del desarrollo sostenible y presenta una aproximación inicial del modelo de organización económica y de legislación sectorial adoptados en Bolivia. El capítulo vislumbra el tránsito desde regímenes sectoriales focalizados en la exploración y explotación, hacia regímenes para los procesos de toma de decisiones que integren los principios constitucionales y los marcos jurídicos aplicables a la gestión del territorio y sus recursos desde una mirada integradora e inclusiva. El énfasis está puesto en reflexionar acerca de las brechas de diseño jurídico e institucional y en los desafíos correspondientes. Entre éstos, se encuentra la necesidad de fortalecer las capacidades institucionales y de los actores que participan en los procesos de toma de decisiones a fin de avanzar los esfuerzos dirigidos a promover la gestión sostenible de los recursos minerales en la región.

"This chapter examines mining legislation trends in Latin America. It focuses on the
interpretation of the judicial decisions of the Constitutional Court of Colombia regarding conditions and processes for decision-making in the context of mining projects. The authors present an initial overview of the economic organization and the sector legislation model adopted in Bolivia. The chapter anticipates a shift from sectoral regimes, which focus on exploration and exploitation, towards regimes for decision-making processes that mainstream constitutional principles and legal frameworks that apply to managing territories and their natural resources. The emphasis lies on reflecting on gaps in legal and institutional design and on corresponding challenges. This includes the need to strengthen the capacities of institutions and the actors that participate in decision-making processes to advance efforts aimed at furthering sustainable mineral resource management in the region."

Primer encuentro de reflexión sobre las Relaciones Internacionales
"Construyendo comunidad: un balance de las RRII desde Argentina"
Asociación de Estudios de Relaciones Internacionales Argentina (AERIA)
23 y 24 de mayo de 2019
Universidad Metropolitana (UMET)
Buenos Aires, Argentina

El campo de los Estudios Internacionales se encuentra en constante proceso de expansión y crecimiento. Especialmente en los últimos años, numerosos enfoques y perspectivas han nutrido los debates de la disciplina, ampliando de manera considerable su ámbito de incidencia. Nuevos actores, procesos y escenarios intervienen de manera interconectada desafiando las estructuras e instituciones establecidas presentando nuevos interrogantes a la manera de teorizar y analizar el mundo.
En este marco es que se plantea el “Primer encuentro de reflexión sobre las Relaciones Internacionales” de la Asociación de Estudios de Relaciones Internacionales Argentina (AERIA) bajo la premisa de convocar a especialistas locales e internacionales a reflexionar sobre las principales agendas de trabajo sobre lo internacional y que permiten impulsar un diálogo entre académicos de diversas instituciones del país y de la región. Partimos de la idea de que toda la disciplina se verá enriquecida y fortalecida en tanto el intercambio sea más fluido entre todos y todas los/as miembros de la comunidad académica.

Recepción de propuestas: 15 de abril
Recepción de artículos: 15 de mayo


La inscripción y el envío de propuestas se realiza a través del siguiente FORMULARIO:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAON1LQpUlzbGC4UrdqEdUxnwhORzIWMfTh0jOGbtwOYawbQ/viewform


Coordinadores del Eje Recursos Naturales Estratégicos:
Ignacio Sabbatella - Gustavo Lahoud - Hayley Stevenson

This two day workshop is aimed at providing delegates with a concise but comprehensive overview of the mining sector and the legal agreements that govern the sector.  Delegates will be introduced to the mining industry, and the many aspects that affect the sector.  The workshop will further familiarise delegates with the various foundational aspects and terminology employed in the negotiation and administration of mining agreements, with selected case studies used throughout to illustrate particular topics.

After attending this workshop, delegates will have gained a broad understanding of the mining sector and the challenges particular thereto, and the necessary knowledge to recognise different forms of mining agreements, understand commonly used clauses, and understand the requirements for ‘good’ mining regimes.