Criteria for sustainable development in mining industry

¹ Ural State Mining University, 620144 Ekaterinburg, Russia

Abstract

The article considers the problem of improving the transition to sustainable development in the conditions of the economy with environmental priorities. The study’s aim is to substantiate the criteria for sustainable development in the development of resources that are consistent with the criteria stipulated by the concept of sustainable development and reflect the specific features of production activities within the framework of life cycle stages of a mining enterprise. The necessity of changing the existing vector of development is confirmed, which presumes the preservation of natural capital as far as possible while meeting the vital needs of the population. The paper offers the list of criteria for the development of subsoil resources, interrelated with the pre-production and production phases of the life cycle. At the pre-production stage, an assessment of the coordination criterion of the predicted technogenic load and assimilation capacity of the territory is required. At the stages of the production phase, it is necessary to slow down the depletion of mineral resources due to the completeness of mining reserves while increasing the reliability of geological information, improving the rationing of losses and dilution, as well as the socio-economic approach to the justification of operational conditions. The criterion regarding minimizing waste generation and maximizing their use in the context of a circular economy also requires compliance; the third criterion demands the timeliness and completeness of disturbed lands’ restoration.