Future Transitions in the Mining Industry: Challenges, Controversies and Responses

by Tuija Mononen (Editor), Lasse Peltonen (Editor)

Overview

This volume focuses on mining and the challenges for this industry as it transitions and evolves as the demand for products and responsible and sustainable mining ever increases.

Mining is a prerequisite for modern society, yet the industry is often criticized for having many negative environmental and social impacts. The volume explores the challenges, controversies, and responses that arise when a society is reliant on the products of mining to maintain their standard of living, yet are simultaneously calling for the implementation of sustainable practices, with many communities also being resistant to mining activities taking place in their own location. Many transitions which present a solution to one problem can often lead to new issues and developments elsewhere. For example, the electrification of vehicles will help to mitigate climate change, but this will simultaneously increase the demand for minerals required for batteries. The acceptance of, or resistance to, mining varies from location to location and across different scales, with key factors relating to the social and environmental impacts, and the economic benefits. One common tension revolves around whether local communities really benefit economically from mining activities and even if they do, they could now be negatively impacted by the digitization of the industry which will naturally lead to a reduction in the number of jobs. This volume explains how transitions of these types are inextricably linked by demand, acceptance and the perception of benefits, and that as the industry evolves more tensions and controversies will develop.

This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of mining and the extractive industries, transitions, and sustainable development, as well as professionals working in natural resource management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032329840
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/18/2025
Series:	Routledge Studies of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tuija Mononen is a Senior Researcher in Environmental Policy at the University of Eastern Finland, where she is head of the Research Centre for Socially and Environmentally Responsible Mining.

Lasse Peltonen is Professor of Environmental Governance and Conflict Resolution at the University of Eastern Finland.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Mining in the era of climate politics and energy transition 2. From social license to societal acceptability through the lens of legitimacy – lessons of de- and re-legitimation in the case of Talvivaara-Terrafame in Finland 3. Four factors of the social license: A rejuvenation of the original quest 4. The role of citizen attitudes towards uranium in the energy transition: Lay normativity and the opposition and support for uranium mining in three Finnish regions 5. Collaborating beyond the concession: moving towards water stewardship in mining 6. Women miners and the blueprints for transitioning to sustainable, mining futures 7. Green energy’s buried conflict: Latin America’s mining paradox in the clean energy age 8. Reappraising innovation strategies at Africans small-scale mines: Past developments and future directions 9. Mining for sustainability, acceptance, and healthy work environments - A miner's perspective