historical context of sustainability report on phosphate ...€¦ · the phosphate mining industry...
TRANSCRIPT
Historical Context of Sustainability
Report on Phosphate Mining in Morocco
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. 2
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3
1 Overview of Resource/Industry ............................................................................................... 4
2 Historical Context of Sustainability Challenges ...................................................................... 9
2.1 Environmental impact of Mining ..................................................................................... 9
2.2 Social Impact of mining ................................................................................................... 9
3 Improving Suitability ............................................................................................................. 10
4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 11
5 References ............................................................................................................................. 12
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1- 2013 EU import of Phosphate Rock in Mt (Source; EU 2013)....................................... 5
Figure 2- Exporters of Phosphate by % share in Global Market .................................................... 5
Figure 3- World Population Growth (Source; EU 2015) ................................................................ 6
Figure 4- Reserves of Phosphate (Mt) (Source; The Hague Centre 2012) ..................................... 6
Figure 5- Global and Regional Per capital of food consumption (Source; WHO, 2013) ............... 7
Figure 6- PR deposits currently being mined (Source; Zapata et al. 2004) .................................... 8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As presented in the following report, the Moroccan phosphate industry is being presented with
issues for its function. The country being the largest holder of phosphate reserves and the second
largest producer for the mineral needs to re-examine its processes in order to comprehend if it
fits with principles of sustainability. In order to ensure the world that the country is producing an
ethically sound product, significant changes need to be made into the ways in which the mining
process is handled. As discussed in the report, phosphate mining has a significant impact on the
environment and the population at large.
The government of the country, led by the state owned company OCP has been taking significant
measures in order to improve its stance of competition in the world market along with promoting
sustainable phosphate mining. However, there are still various changes that need to be made to
ensure that the most in demand resource of the world is not costing significantly the environment
and the human resource that is involved in its production.
KEY WORDS
Moroccan phosphate, mining, waste disposal, environmental issues, cadmium
1 OVERVIEW OF RESOURCE/INDUSTRY
The Moroccan mining industry is dominated with the production of phosphate its chief export
product. For example;
• Phosphate from Morocco accounts for the 14% of the world’s production in 2011(Walan
and Davidsson, 2014).
• The country holds 75% of the world’s phosphate reserves (Tarradel, 2004).
• Ranked number two in the world for phosphate production (News Desk 2010).
The phosphate mining industry is dominated by Morocco and its competitors China and the
United States. Currently, China ranks top for producing 100 million tonnes (Mt) of with reserves
of 3.7 billion tonnes (Sanaa et al., 2011). Morocco; coming in second, with production of 30 Mt
of phosphate and holding 40 billion tonnes in reserve. Lastly, the United States produced 27.6 Mt
in 2015 (Rachidi et al. 2015.)
Morocco is increasingly becoming a key player in the global phosphate industry which is
hypothesised to rise by 2020 with the production of 55 million metric tonnes due to the
government’s increased investment into the sector (Carlson, 2012).
The demand for phosphate is rising around the world by 2.3% annually, with the OCP; mining
company owned by the Moroccan government, is looking to increase its share in global exports
by 30% by also capturing new demand (European Commission, 2013).
The OCP is able to extract 28 Mt of phosphate from its open-pit mines. It is used by the company
to produce 4.5 Mt of phosphate fertilizer that is used around the world to grow crops
(International Fertilizer Industry Association 2001). However, the world’s population is
expanding at an exponential rate and with it comes the rise of food needs based on consumption
trends, resulting in the demand of phosphate fertilizer to increase. Currently, world consumption
growth is outpacing that of population growth (See graphs 3 & 6).
Figure 1- 2013 EU import of Phosphate Rock in Mt (Source; EU 2013)
Figure 2- Exporters of Phosphate by % share in Global Market
Figure 3- World Population Growth (Source; EU 2015)
Figure 4- Reserves of Phosphate (Mt) (Source; The Hague Centre 2012)
Figure 5- Global and Regional Per capital of food consumption (Source; WHO, 2013)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
1964-1966 1974-1976 1984-1986 1997-1999 2015 2030
(kca
l pe
r ca
pit
a p
er
day
)
Year
Global and regional per capital food consumption
World Developing Countries Near East and North Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America and the Carribean East Asia
South Asia Industrialised countries Transition countries
Figure 6- PR deposits currently being mined (Source; Zapata et al. 2004)
2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES
2.1 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINING
The mining industry has been a key factor in the economic growth of Morocco. However, over
the years there have been many mining sites that have been abandoned over the years with
rehabilitation resulting in the major devastating environmental and socio-economic issues.
Historically Moroccan mining industry has caused much of the following;
• Impact of mining industry on the environment (Zapata et al. 2004).
• Harmful material extraction from mine (White, 2015).
• Harmful disposal of waste from mine (Walan et al., 2014).
• Destruction of natural habitats and soil pollution (The Hague Centre, 2012)
• Runoff and ground water pollution (The Hague Centre, 2012).
• Visual impact on landscape of country (The Hague Centre, 2012).
To address these various issues in the mining industry the government has implemented various
policies whose objective is to integrate the mining process with sustainable development. A new
procedure is enacted using the country’s laws related to environmental protection.
However, other issues have persisted in the country including the number one problem affecting
the country being desertification which is the root cause of other environmental and health
problems. It is caused by the increased salinisation of the soil resulting in increased irrigation and
depletion of water resources ultimately leading to drying out the wetlands of the country
(Carlson 2012). Water shortage is a high concern in the country since 90% of the fresh water
sources are used for agriculture with the available drinking water being polluted by sewage,
waste, and mining by products (Carlson 2012).
2.2 SOCIAL IMPACT OF MINING
There are very few studies on the work-related illnesses or issues of Moroccan mine workers
especially those in the phosphate mining industry. However, studies by Greenpeace and World
Nuclear Assocaited have argued that Moroccan phosphate is seen to be particularly high in
cadmium and uranium, heavy metals that are associated with illnesses like cancer, kidney failure,
and various bone diseases (Bouchbika et al., 2013).. The radioactive by-product associated from
mining phosphate, phosphogypsum is generated from fertiliser production (Bouchbika et al.,
2013). The by-product is simply released into the Atlantic, not only putting at risk the
environment but humans as well. Based on an early study from Rodier (1955) it was found that
150 miners had reported neurological symptoms, muscular weakness, paraplegia and
pneumonopathies (as cited in Landsdown, 2014). Lastly, mining villagers face the lack of
integration into sustainable development projects leaving behind socio-economic issues to spring
up.
3 IMPROVING SUITABILITY
To tackle the various environmental and socio-economic problems in order to promote
sustainability it is necessary the OCP and the Moroccan government implement the following
recommendations;
• Adopt a policy that aims to integrate the mining process into social, societal,
environmental and economic sustainable development.
• Improve agricultural efficiency in Morocco and around the world through optimising
land use and ensuring that good soil quality is maintained.
• Countries within the EU who are most dependent on the resource are to promote the
efficient use of phosphate.
• Reduce the use of or substitute the use of phosphorous in products if alternatives are
available.
o In agriculture there is no substitute for fertilisers without phosphorus.
o In laundry and kitchen detergents phosphate content can be reduced using
appropriate legislation.
• Promote the recovery of phosphate and enable the creation of sustainable markets for
recycled phosphate.
• Leave the mine site in a stable and safe condition on mine closure;
o Rehabilitation, sealing shafts, removing plant and equipment.
o Social impact on the workforce and community associated with the closure of the
mine may mean perusing developmental projects such as infrastructure repair,
education, and health through corporate social responsibility.
• Improved waste disposal methods;
o Discharge of wastes in water bodies need to be accompanied by treatment to
remove contaminants
o Stacking of wastes using sand tailing and salt tailing.
4 CONCLUSION
The Moroccan mining industry for phosphate will seeing a significant boom in its production in
order to compete with the world demand for phosphate products, particularly fertiliser. However,
it is important that the government, OCP and other mining companies, communities, and
environmentalists come together to develop methods by which mining as an industry in the
country can become sustainable.
5 REFERENCES
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