Resource conservation as a condition for preserving non-renewable natural capital

¹ Ural State Mining University, Research laboratory of reclamation of disturbed lands and man-made objects, 620144 Kuybysheva st., 30, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Abstract

The article overviews the problem of slowing down the rates of natural non-renewable sources depletion in the process of resources development. The goal of the presented research is to justify the implementation of the most appropriate method of carrying out a complete resource development process by incorporating the mining and raw material extraction facilities available in the country. The study provides scientific evidence of a large-scale harmful impact caused by the raw materials development to all the elements of the biosphere and their interdependence. The presented research also demonstrates that solving the problem of resource-conservation is a first-hand priority due to the fact that there is in a close interconnection between the levels of environmental pollution and the levels of natural resources extraction. The solution to the problem of natural resources conservation is based on the concept of implementing environmentally clean technology (ECT); this technology gives an opportunity for developing a concept of the best available technology (BAT) and the concept of a closed-loop supply, the latter of which has become widely-used as a form of circular economy. The authors of the article have also suggested a systematic range of techniques aimed at extracting following resources in full capacity: commercial resources, non¬commercial resources, overburden rocks and man-made mineral formations. The authors of the article suggest the necessity for enlarging the scope of available mineral resources by ensuring governmental support and developing small deposits, first and foremost focusing on the territories with a developed infrastructure and which had previously been developed. The ideas presented in the article express and support the necessity for prospective implementation of the mining factories waste products as a reserve for mineral and raw materials resources; as well as the necessity for increasing their production rates from the circular economy perspective. Some measures which would help to accelerate this process are: improving the legislative system, developing mechanisms for economic incentive and providing various forms of state-business co¬operation.