Mining in Asia

Safety has long been a concern in the mining industry, especially in underground mining. There are many occupational hazards associated with mining, such as mining equipment produces considerable noise and puts miners at risk of hearing loss.[2] Although all miners have right to require a safe and healthy workplace, this right is not a reality for most of the workers. Mining industry has made a great contribution to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP), the life and health of miners are not fully respected by the whole industry. In order to effectively address the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) problems for the miners in Asia, 11 countries discussed this issue in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.[3] One of the solutions is that set up a union check inspector in all countries. They could promote institutions to improve working conditions for miners. The lack of regulation of Small-Scale Mining (SSM) results in OSH problems and child labor. The government offers a policy called ‘Fitness for Work’ which require companies be responsible for the health of miners. ‘Mine Safety and Health Convention’ (NO.176) was proposed as a core of the occupational safety and health work in 1995.[4] However, few states have ratified Convention No. 176. Philippines is the only Asian member State ratifies the Convention. Therefore, the Council decided to hold a two-day seminar in the Asian area to outline good practices for safe mining.

The main feature of Small-Scale Mining (SSM) is a family business, which means a group of families gather resources together and attempt to find precious metals from known deposits or excavated mines abandoned by large mining companies.[5] According to data statistics, 4 million workers are found to be in Asia who engaged in SSM activities out of 6 million, mostly in China, Philippines and India. The issues brought about by SSM are similar globally and locally. SSM provides a number of career opportunities for women and children who lack of educated and unskilled, most of them live in rural areas and undergo poverty.[5] Actually, they were all forced to join the SSM, driven by poverty and lack of food.

Child labor, Artisan Mining in Kailo Congo

The recent ILO’s global report confirms that there are estimated 127.3 million economically active children age from 5 to 14 in Asia. According to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics in 1995, the mining department employed about 15626 children in mining. More than 31% of children drop out of high school, and others do poorly at school.[6] Poverty is the common reason for why child labour exists. The purpose of child labor is to assist parents to subsidize their families. Their annual income accounts for 30 percent of total household income, approximately PhP36,614.[5] The majority of child labour are male, but girls are also involved. Girls are more vulnerable than boys to other forms of exploitation, such as child prostitution.[7] Children are deprived of their childhood and education by child labour and exposed to occupational hazards related to working conditions in SSM. Children work in the mine under an incredible conditions. The soil, water and the air were polluted by heavy metal, such as mercury due to environmental hazards.[8] In most of the mines, children have to work underground in darkness and airless. There is only one rope to get in and out of the mine.[8] Sometimes they will use flashlights for lighting.

On Friday, June 10, the annual meeting of the International Labour Organization held in Geneva, Switzerland. At the same time, a global initiative was launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that to eliminate child labour in SSM with the government. With regard to mining, the Asian Labour Organization has taken positive measures to combat child labour in small-scale mining, while a number of technical cooperation projects have been carried out to illustrate how to crack down child labour in the mining industries. The best way to help child laborers is to improve the survivability, environmental sustainability and safety of the SSM economy.[8]

Due to the irregular operation of mining, it has caused irreversible damage to the environment. Mining produces a lot of chemicals, causing serious pollution to air, soil and water resources.

Mineral sector and sustainable development need to be considered from four aspects: society, economy, environment and management, which as a new framework.[17] Mineral industry is an important economic activity in contemporary society. Governance systems need to be constantly developed and improved if the government departments want to promote sustainable development for demonstrate the continuously improvement of their economic, social and environmental contributions.

Minerals are a diversified sector with more than 80 mineral products, although the mineral sector exists as a relatively small one in the global economy. Some metals were discovered and used thousands of years ago, while others have only recently been used. With the improvement of automatic mechanization, the employment rate of mining industry is declining rapidly. According to the Labor Bureau, 30 million people are engaged in large-scale mining and 13 million people are involved in small-scale mining[18] activities (SSM), accounting for 1 per cent of the world's labour force.[19] Partly estimated, the number of people who dependent on mining industry as their main source of income approximately 300 million.

As an important economic activity in the world, mineral production accounts for at least 25% of commodity exports in 34 countries.[20] Moreover, mineral production activities are gradually concentrated in developing countries. In the past few centuries, the prices of some mineral commodities have fluctuated with the continuous improvement of mining technology and the different demand for mineral resources in the market. Minerals are widely used in all fields of society, and society is also highly dependent on the value of minerals. The use and production of minerals is essential for livelihood and economic development through employment and income generation.[21] With the increasing population and per capita income, the demand for mineral products is also increasing. Therefore, developing countries choose to expand mineral consumption to meet the basic needs of the population. Ecologically, most mineral resources are non-renewable resources. Even if the continued use of minerals for centuries has not led to the scarcity of minerals, there is no guarantee that they will last into the future.