1,106 research outputs found
Sustainable minerals operations in the developing world: introduction
No full textSustainable development requires an appropriate abalance between social, economic and environme ntal well-being, now and for the future. Since most minerals are non-renewalble resources, sustainability of supply can only be addressed by extracting, processing and distributing raw in the least environmentally damaging ways, using minerals wisely, and recycling as much as possible. However, there also is significant scope for inproved sustainability in terms of economic and social aspects.
Minerals are essential raw materials but high-quality deposits havem become depleted in many developed countries. These countries have increasingly turned to developing countries for supplies and it is in these that modt high-quality untapped futre prospect remain. for countries with limited export opportunities, minerals are often a mainstay of the domestic economy. However, low selling prices may reflect limited environmental regulation and low wages. This can lead to charges that the rich countries are exporting their environmental damage to, andexploiting, poorer countries. As more countries develop, the global demand for supplies of essential raw materials increases, and resources will be depleted more quickly. Therefore, sustainable minerals supply from the developing countries is an important global issue.
In this Special Report, general aspects of sustainable minerals operations in the developing world are reviewed by Petterson et al., Hobbs, and Richards while the remaining papers consider specific issues in more detail. Hobbs, in particular, emphasizes the need to give proper weight each to human capital, financial capital, manufactured capital, and environmental capital in any full analysis as a context for sustainable development and effective
The need and context for sustainable mineral development
No full textA special thematic conference was organized at the Geological Society of London in November 2003, aimed at bringing together experts in minerals development in the Developing Countries. Representatives of many aspects of mineral development attended, including mining companies, governments, aid agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics and consultants. The opening address to the conference is given in this paper. Mining is an ancient human activity developed through essential societal demand. As society and technology have developed, they have inevitably become ever-more materials hungry. This demand will remain for the foreseeable future. Many areas of the Developed World have depleted high-grade mineral deposits, and remaining resources are subject to strong environmental constraints. This increases pressure on the Developing World to generate the mineral commodities upon which society depends. Mineral resources are also a potential source of capital over which Developing Countries can have their own decision-making powers (in contrast to aid money for example). Sustainable mineral development is all about balance. Achieving the dynamic balance between supply and demand, equitable capital distribution, good financial and environmental management and governance, economics, and social stability is the challenge the world faces in the twenty-first century and beyond
Volcanic Environments
No full textEngineering geologists have valuable contributions to make at the boundary between volcanism and human activity. More specially their expertise may be particularly worthwhile in areas which include: assessing the commercial potential of volcanic products; harnessing geothermal power; general and specific studies of prediction, especially where these involve techniques that include remote sensing and the use of GIS; working to mitigate the effects of an eruption after it has begun, by advising on techniques such as diversion of lava and the trapping of pyroclastic materials in temporary storage sites; furnishing information to the aviation industry about the dangers of ash to aircraft structures and engines and making civil authorities aware that volcanoes are potentially dangerous even when they are not in eruption (e.g. gas flux and the risks presented by gravity-fed mass-movement processes)
MANOVA modelling of a chiropractic longitudinal study using multiple imputation
No full textThe purpose of this report is to present the detailed statistical analysis of a randomised, placebo-controlled trial comparing two different treatment modalities to an intervention of no known benefit for people with acute or subacute thoracic spine pain.
The therapy arms consist of Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) and Graston Technique (GT) and the placebo is a non-functional ultrasound. A placebo group was utilised because at present there are no proven treatments for non-specific thoracic pain. This trial is registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Ethics approval has been granted by Murdoch University Human Research and Ethics Committee, number 2007/274.
The aim of this three arm trial was to test the efficacy of SMT and GT as independent modalities compared to detuned ultrasound for the outcomes of pain and disability. The latter were measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a modified Oswestry Back Pain Disability Index. The study was conducted at the Murdoch University Chiropractic student clinic in Perth, Australia, and the protocol published in Crothers et al (2008).
In this report, Section 2 provides an initial exploratory analysis of the data, Section 3 outlines the statistical models used in the final analysis, Section 4 defines these models in mathematical terms, Section 5 discusses the management of missing values via multiple imputation and Section 6 presents the results of the statistical modelling and hypothesis tests. The clinical study will be published in full elsewhere
Prediction of IBD based on population history for fine gene mapping
No full textAbstract A novel multiple regression method (RM) is developed to predict identity-by-descent probabilities at a locus L (IBDL), among individuals without pedigree, given information on surrounding markers and population history. These IBDL probabilities are a function of the increase in linkage disequilibrium (LD) generated by drift in a homogeneous population over generations. Three parameters are sufficient to describe population history: effective population size (Ne), number of generations since foundation (T), and marker allele frequencies among founders (p). IBDL are used in a simulation study to map a quantitative trait locus (QTL) via variance component estimation. RM is compared to a coalescent method (CM) in terms of power and robustness of QTL detection. Differences between RM and CM are small but significant. For example, RM is more powerful than CM in dioecious populations, but not in monoecious populations. Moreover, RM is more robust than CM when marker phases are unknown or when there is complete LD among founders or Ne is wrong, and less robust when p is wrong. CM utilises all marker haplotype information, whereas RM utilises information contained in each individual marker and all possible marker pairs but not in higher order interactions. RM consists of a family of models encompassing four different population structures, and two ways of using marker information, which contrasts with the single model that must cater for all possible evolutionary scenarios in CM.</p
Introduction to <i>Stone in Historic Buildings Characterization and Performance</i>
No full textInterest in natural building stone, especially as used in historic buildings, is significant. This is demonstrated by the large number of publications that annually appear on stone, its properties, use, behaviour and treatment, and in the conferences on these subjects that are held in all parts of the world. In 2012 and 2013, the 12th International Congress on the Deterioration and Conservation of Stone (New York, USA), CRYSPOM III – Crystallization in Porous Media (Tróia, Portugal), Natural Stone Research and Heritage Stone Designation (Vienna, Austria), the EGU General Assembly Vienna 2012 Monuments under Threat and the International Conference on Built Heritage 2013: Monitoring Conservation Management (Milan, Italy) were held. Besides the proceedings, which usually result from such conferences, numerous other publications on stone and stone buildings regularly find their way into the public domain. Not least amongst these are a number of Geological Society Special Publications (SP) including SP205 Natural Stone, Weathering Phenomena, Conservation Strategies and Case Studies (Siegesmund et al. 2002), SP271 Building Stone Decay: From Diagnosis to Conservation (Přikryl & Smith 2007), SP331 Limestone in the Built Environment: Present-Day Challenges for the Preservation of the Past (Smith et al. 2010) and SP333 Natural Stone Resources for Historical Monuments (Přikryl & Török 2010). This current volume, SP391, seeks to bring to the attention of the various professionals in the field – geologists, architects, engineers, conservators and conservation scientists – recent work centred on the characterization and performance of this important resource, and its use in historic buildings. This volume has wider relevance, including to those interested in the heritage of ston
GeoSure : a bridge between geology and decision makers
No full textHow many people understand a geological map and use it to assess the ground on which they live or plan to develop? How many town planners, house owners or insurers know that geologists can identify areas prone to flooding, radon gas emissions, landslides and subsidence? Do decision-makers understand the relevance of geology? Concerned about these questions, geological and geographic information system (GIS) professionals at the British Geological Survey (BGS) have created datasets that make information about geological hazards (‘geohazards’) easy to obtain, use and understand. The term ‘geohazard’ is emotive. Many people think of natural hazards as being large-scale disasters, such as tsunami and major earthquakes. Appropriate terminology is required to explain the relevance of factors such as the potential cost and health implications of the usually less dramatic British geohazards. Using the vast data holdings and geoscientific knowledge within BGS and building on past thematic mapping activities, a series of national geohazard datasets has been developed. GIS datasets with ‘plain English’ descriptions have been created for natural gas emissions, landslides, swell–shrink clays, compressible and collapsible deposits, soluble rocks, running sands and groundwater flooding. Geological information is thus brought before a wider audience and in a form that reveals to the British public and industry how geology can be used in conjunction with other information and why it is relevant to their lives
A geological background for planning and development in the City of Bradford Metropolitan district
No full textIn 1993 the Department of the Environment commissioned
the British Geological Survey in association with Entec UK
Ltd to undertake a three year study to develop techniques
for the synthesis and presentation of earth science information in a form which can be used readily and directly by planners and developers, and by those interested in conservation, and to provide a general introduction to the geological factors most relevant to planning and development in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District (CBMD.
The main objectives of the study were to:
collect and collate earth science information of relevance
to planners, developers, engineers and conservation
interests;
produce a set of thematic maps on applied geological
topics which will assist planning of land use,
development and conservation in the study area;
produce a summary map showing the main earth science
factors relevant to planning and development in the area;
provide two reports, one for non-specialists and the other
for those with specific technical knowledge in the fields
of geology, hydrogeology, engineering geology and
mineral resources
The Gold Ridge Mine, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands' first gold mine : a case study in stakeholder consultation
No full textThe Pacific small island state of Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978. Solomon Islands has a population of around 400 000 mainly Melanesian people distributed across six moderately sized islands and hundreds of smaller islands. The traditional economy has been based on hunter-gatherer and small-scale farming activities, with the bulk of the population residing in self-sufficient rainforest and coastal villages. Melanesians have a particularly strong cultural attachment to land, which is considered to be within the custodianship of the community at large. Individual land ownership in the Western economic sense is largely unknown. Melanesian society and culture is strong and complex. Colonial and post-independence Solomon Islands has had to face the challenges of a transition from a traditional society to a partially urbanized society and a rapidly increasing population and changing economic drivers and dynamics. Mining and mineral development is one area of economic activity that holds the promise of generating hard currency quickly to develop the country, but that needs to be achieved in a sustainable manner. Gold Ridge is situated in Central Guadalcanal, some 22 km southeast of the country’s capital town, Honiara. Gold Ridge hosts around 1.4 million ounces of epithermal volcanic-hosted gold. Ross Mining NL began the construction of Solomon Islands’ first gold mine in 1997 and operated a highly successful gold mine between 1997 and 2000, when ethnic tensions (unrelated to the mine) closed the operations. This paper documents the painstaking negotiations and planning that took place from 1993 and particularly from 1995 – 1996 which paved the way forward for the development of a gold mine within a fragile tropical rainforest environment among traditional Melanesian people who had little prior knowledge of modern mining activities
Capacity building of developing country public sector institutions in the natural resource sector
No full textThe natural resources of developing countries, particularly in a post-conflict situation, are the key to creating wealth, getting people back to work, and to improving security. However, public sector institutions like geological surveys, and government departments such as mines, energy and water ministries often need help in their vision to promote and sustainably develop their natural capital, as well as to protect the lives and livelihoods of people affected by development. Some have few physical resources, and a poorly trained and motivated workforce; others may be housed in buildings that have borne the brunt of prolonged fighting and a long period of neglect. In many developing countries, such institutions have a rather inward-facing colonial-style civil service culture that lacks the ability to liaise and engage with modern multinational investors. Unfortunately, donor organizations that seek to build the capacities of institutions do not build sufficient ‘project ownership’ and fail to incorporate into their plans the culture of the organization, or fail to integrate parts of multidisciplinary projects. Development projects supported are often perceived to reflect donor agendas rather than the needs of the recipient institution. Using experience in a number of developing country and post-conflict contexts, a methodology to plan and integrate capacity building has been developed, to help employees and management, and donor organizations, deal with these difficulties. Through training tuned to business need, institutions will develop appropriate IT and communication skills, while at the same time developing corporate understanding of the private sector, which is needed to interact successfully with it. Stakeholder analysis gauges the organization’s strengths and weaknesses and ensures coordination of aid, which takes account of the local social, political and business context. The methodology will also establish a system allowing regular cyclical business/training review, so that the institutions can adapt to further change
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