The Mining Industry
Johnny Bynum
Keiser University
September 16, 2017
Abstract
The mining industry is a billion dollar industry that has been around for years. Miners and business insiders know exactly how lucrative the business is. In calendar your 2016 a net profit of $US20 billion was the aggregated profit for global miners. Mining comes at a cost and the deaths of miners is one of the costs. One of the most disastrous mining accidents took over 1500 lives. Still over the world needs miners. To prevent accidents the mining industry has stricter safety regulations. At the same time the industry has also had technological improvements. The stricter safety regulations and technological improvements in mining are
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The mining industry is a billion dollar industry that has been around for years. In calendar your 2016 a net profit of $US20 billion was the aggregated profit for global miners. The year before, 2015, the mining industry had a record high gearing ratios, 49%. The industry took advantage of better operation conditions to pay down debt, reducing the gearing ratios to 41%. Many company front line executives took advantage to reduce debt and fortify their company balance sheets. The results of reducing company debts resulted in minimum funds for capital expenditure …show more content…
Though I will summarize most of the unethical issues with gold mining, many of the same unethical issues apply to most mining. Because it creates an enormous amount of toxic waste and is considered as one of the most environmentally destructive forms of mining, gold mining cause more than a few issues with the ecosystem. Gold mining is the leading cause of manmade global mercury pollution. Many gold mines dump their toxic waste directly in natural water bodies. When one considers that to mine gold for a 0.333 ounce ring equates to 20 tons of toxic waste, the amounts of toxic waste is massive. Companies that mine for gold and other metals dump at least 180 million tons of toxic waste in rivers, lakes, and oceans every year, 1.5 times the amount of waste U.S. cities send to landfills yearly. Another ethical issue in the mining industry is labor concerns. Labor practices in gold mines are far from responsible. Most gold miners work in dangerous conditions and earn so little money that they live in poverty. The most vulnerable gold miners are the youngest; an estimated 600,000 gold miners are children. Poverty is an issue that lies beneath gold mining labor practices. Gold mining can be a path to riches but for most miners it leads to a life of poverty. About 15million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are artisanal gold miners. Artisanal miners use simple
Mr. Flint’s comments were discussing what could happen during collective bargaining with employees’ pay and benefits, which is his opinion. Moreover, David Walsh writes, “Employers can make predictions about the likely consequences that unionization will have for the business—consequences that are objectively because of economic reality that is beyond the employer’s control.” (Walsh, 2013-2016, pg. 511) However, Mr. Flint’s comments were discussing a decrease in pay and less benefits, which could be construed as a threat.
This act dramatically changed the safety in mines
One of the biggest problems with working in a mine is the the health risks you are taking when stepping into a mine and staying there anywhere from 10-16 hours of the day. Miners of the Gilded Age, needless to say, did not live very long at all. Some of the diseases they contracted were black lung, Silicosis, and COPD. Coal Miner’s Pneumoconiosis, more commonly referred to as Black Lung, is caused by inhaling respirable coal mine dust. Silicosis is a more specific, but yet still commonly found in coal miners, version of Black Lung caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica, such as Quartz, a major component in rocks. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, is still common today in people who don’t even work in mines. COPD is a progressive disease that increases airway
According to the Case Management Society of America, case management is "a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet an individual's and family's comprehensive health needs through communication and available resources to promote quality, cost effective outcomes" (Case Management Society of America [CMSA], 2010). As a method, case management has moved to the forefront of social work practice. The social work profession, along with other fields of study, recognizes the difficulty of locating and accessing comprehensive services to meet needs. Therefore, case managers work with these
The dark side of mining was brought to the fore when the Aberfan disaster hit the community. Mike Jenkins talked about how his son ‘ran forever’ unaware of the undetected ‘tumour’ that was lurking within the mountain. He describes the danger as a ‘tumour’ like that of a tumour in a body that is undetectable until it is too late and the danger cannot be averted. The other analogy with the tumour is that it is terminal and eventually will kill the patient.
...y question, what good is a profession that destroys your home and your body? While environmental groups make the protection of people and the environment of the Appalachian region top priority, the mining companies focus on acting cheaply, not responsibly. And the policy government keeps their heads in the sand when it comes to this issue because they seek benefits of steady jobs and tax revenue of coal mining instead of seeking to guarantee clean water for Appalachians.
Accidents and problems engendered in sweatshops have caught people’s attention and more people are trying to efface them. The Real Cost of Cheap Fashion states, “After the accident, many big brands pledged to improve garment factory conditions…. trained about 2 million workers in safety procedures…. hired engineers to inspect their factories.” This claim supports that enhancing garment factory conditions can give people some time off of work, can give people better tools, to make things go faster and easier, and could also, make sure people get paid more. Also, training people in safety procedures can make sure that things like the Triangle fire never happens again. Finally, having people inspect the factories can insure that people are safe, and procedures are set in place to make sure that if anything bad happens, people know what to do. Lastly, major companies are starting to realize the dangers of cobalt mining, and therefore, they are looking into how to fix, get rid of the dangers. New York Times Upfront says, “Some tech companies promised to reexamine their cobalt suppliers. Earlier this year, Apple announced that it had stopped buying cobalt mined by hand in the DRC until could verify that the element was being collected safely” This also shows that , by limiting their products using hand mined cobalt, they are limiting the cobalt mining jobs, which limits the dangers, and health concerns. As you can see, although many people’s lives lives are put in danger, many people have started to recognize it and are taking very serious action to try and fix
First, I would like to say both of these articles make good points. But, due to the government support and research we are providing towards diamond mining, I think it should continue. Although, I will give my reasons as to why I think the argument against this industry shall stop first. Yes, i do agree that MR.McLeavitt is making valid points about the dangers and enviromental problems diamond mining is causing. But he states them in a way that gives no credit to the wildlife preservers, national parks, and government that are working hard and together to prevent the problems he complains about. Because they are protecting species near mines, studying ways to protect aqualands, AND working in closely monitored
The accidents involving machinery kill and/or hurt more coal miners in a year than any other mining accident. The machinery in mines are located in cramped spaces with little light, causing miners to have two times the chance of accidents. The accidents involving roof and rib failures can usually be averted if a mining company has a roof support plan. For a roof support plan to be made, information like entry widths, mine geometry, the number of pillars that must be left up right, and the number of bolts that must be used are needed (Cobb 3 of 5) Accumulations of gases in underground coal mines is another very serious hazard. If certain gases like methane and carbon monoxide are at or above 5% in the air they can cause violent explosions. Blasting in coal mines are the main cause for such dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
Though it has had many negative impacts on the environment in the past, mining is a vital industry completely necessary to our economy and lives. Nearly every item we use or encounter in our day to day lives is mined or contains mined products. Without the excavation of such materials things like computers, televisions, large building structures, electricity, and cars would not be possible. Virtually every technological and medical advance uses minded materials, without which millions would suffer. Some examples of minerals in the home include the telephone which is made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, silver, and talc. A television requires over 35 different minerals, and more than 30 minerals are needed to make a single personal computer. Without boron, copper, gold and quartz, your digital alarm clock would not work. Every American uses an average 47,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year, which is higher than all other countries with the exception of Japan, which is a staggering figure representative of our dependence and need for mined minerals. Coal makes up more than half of nation’s electricity, and will continue to be the largest electrical supplier into 2020 & accounting for some 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves – nine of every ten short-tons of coal mined in the United States is used for electricity generation. As the population of the world grows more mineral resources must be exploited through mining in order to support the rising demand for such products. Though it may present a hazard to the environment and those physically located nears the mines, the materials extracted from mines...
Coal mining can benefit humans as well as it supports the economy in many ways. Coal mining provides a lot of jobs for local communities. It provides over 7 million jobs worldwide.
In the early 1900s industrial accidents were commonplace in this country; for example, in 1907 over 3,200 people were killed in mining accidents. At this time legislation and public opinion all favored management. There were few protections for the worker's safety. Today's industrial employees are better off than their colleagues in the past. Their chances of being killed in an industrial accident are less than half of that of their predecessors of 60 years ago. According to National safety Council (NSC), the current death rate from work-related injuries is approximately 4 per 100,000, or less than a third of the rate of 50 years ago. Improvements in safety up to now have been the result of pressure for legislation to promote health and safety, the steadily increasing cost associated with accidents and injuries, and the professionalization of safety as an occupation. When the industrial sector began to grow in the United States, hazardous working conditions were commonplace. Following the Civil War, the seeds of the safety movement were sown in this country. Factory inspection was introduced in Massachusetts in 1867. In 1868 the first barrier safeguard was patented. In 1869 the Pennsylvania legislature passed a mine safety law requiring two exits from all mines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1869 to study industrial accidents and report pertinent information about hose accidents. The following decade saw little progress in the safety movement until 1877, when the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring safeguards for hazardous machinery. In 1877 the Employers' Liability Law was passed. In 1892, the first safety program was established in a steel plant in Illinois, in response to the explosion of a flywheel in that company.
Mining is the process or industry of obtaining minerals from the earth. Topics in this paper I’ll be specifically discussing are pros and cons of mining, structures of a mine, mining in general, California gold rush, diamonds in Africa, and comparison of diamond and gold mines.
Human resource management and the organizations in which it takes place are facing challenges from a changing environment. Hiring the proper people with the appropriate skills is an essential part of maintaining the workplace. Economic issues which include downsizing, organizational culture, productivity, ethics, demographics, and diversity plays a significant role when redesigning a company 's Human Resource Department. Success in the field of Human Resource requires an update of knowledge continually. Training, certifications, hands-on experience, and tactic knowledge helps to perform a difficult redesigning task with speed and sensitivity. Human Resource actions are comprised of but not limited to equal employment, staffing, compensation, benefits, labor relations, and safety. Ethical issues are
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.