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Open in new tab Best practices in quarrying should be viewed as procedures and processes adopted by a quarrying operation that may provide a framework for the development and application of science and technology to enhance the industry’s environmental stewardship
Definite guidelines for the application of best practices do not exist, so each quarry may apply different procedures that can be termed “Best Practices” or “Sustainable Environmental Management”
A number of technical and non-technical issues that contribute to sustainable environmental management may be used as the foundation for a code of “best practices”.The concept of a “best practice” has evolved through the years, in a effort to document successful procedures and processes undertaken by operators and/or authorities and/or regulatory agencies to achieve a “good result” with respect to Sustainable Development
It is well known that no two operations are the same and conditions usually vary from quarry to quarry and from mine to mine
Hence the “best” concept has evolved where methods and procedures are given more in the form of “develop your own control plan based on state-of-the art technologies and adhere to it” than in the form of absolute numbers and formulas
- In this respect, operators and authorities should develop control plans that will cover all issues pertinent to the specific operation to ensure sustainability
- Quarrying by itself will never be a sustainable operation, since non-renewable resources are depleted. Since earth has finite resources (arable land, energy, mineral resources and pollution carrying capacity), the depletion of non-renewable resources such as minerals, there must be limit sexponential economic growth, population and pollution.
- However, if quarrying is performed by adhering to sustainable development principles and thus by applying best practices as identified for the specific operation, then quarrying can be viewed as provided the needed materials for development in a sustainable manner
2.avoid reverse impacts on society
3.provide aggregates to the market, and
4.contribute to economic growth
Environmentally, for a mine to contribute to sustainable development, it must abandon ad hoc approaches to environmental management, and adopt a more proactive, preventative stance
A mine should develop its own environmental control and social acceptance plan based on conditions termed important for the specific operation and then successfully apply this plan