Harvesting not exploiting:

Mining for sustainable development

by Ranga Kamaladasa

Rutile, Illmenite, Quartz and Zircon. These are but a few earth resources that lie within our own lands. Though we do not recognize the fact that these minerals even exist, the modern world's entire Advanced Ceramics industry which includes, Electronics, Communication equipment, Bio-medical applications, and the thousands of different glass and glass fibre products that are made rotates around minerals such as these.

What is it that restricts us from making use of these endowments of mother earth for the sustainable development of the country? Is it the lack of capital? Is it the lack of technology? Is it the lack of skilled-labour? Is it the infrastructure? Is it the regulations? Is it the environmental concerns? Or is it just the lack of entrepreneurial effort?

The Department of Earth Resource Engineering, University of Moratuwa on the 17th of October organized for the first time an annual conference on the theme of "Mining for Sustainable Development" where Sri Lanka's mining industrialists and academia came together and tackled the issue in a 'multi-disciplinary approach'. The conference had three main sessions and had a mixture of both industrial perspectives and academic findings.

The most prominent fact the industrialists and academia agreed on and was emphasized persistently was the fact that no value addition is done before exporting the raw materials. The added reality that the country does not have industries that use even the limited mined resources to produce goods was also seen as asignificant shortcoming.

"There are a countless number of quartz based Industries," says Prof. W. W. Fernando a senior professor of Mining Engineering. "But in Sri Lanka even with the abundance of quartz we only make glass bottles."

"What we do is just export the raw materials after a little crushing and grinding. If we can make the material even more pure by processes like acid washing, acid digestion, floatation and mica removal our export prices will grow exponentially."

The fact that Sri Lanka is rich in mineral resources beyond that of current knowledge was further strengthened by the paper presented by Mr. M. A. Wickrama on Exploration of Illmenite potential in and around Kalu and Bentara river mouths with special reference to the variation of TiO2 content along a selected stretch of the Kalu ganga. The fact that we're not exploiting our full potential was also realized by the paper presented by Mr. K. D. Kalubowila on "Quartzite mining and sand manufacturing".

Minerals are not the only gems that can be harvested from Earth. Ms. A. B. Dasanayake presented an interesting paper on the Prospective Geothermal Energy from hot water springs of Padiayatalawa, which if carried out further and implemented could become one of the solutions to the electricity crisis that the country is now facing.

One of the prime issues with projects such as the geothermal energy and even large scale mining is the environmental concerns that come with it. Many urban myths are born out of the fear that man's exploitations of earth would upset the delicate balance of the system and bring out undesirable consequences.

From the fearful tales of Easter Island to the ever constructing Norachcholai power plant the magnitude of negativity and reluctance that disables development is massive. Unfortunately these perspectives have a hard grip on the field of mining as well.

"I really don't see an environmental crisis right now," says Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi, the chairman of the Central Environmental Authority. "The stories we hear about environmental catastrophes are not always true. For example the ozone layer is not depleting anymore and the rise of sea water level due to global warming is not as serious as exaggerated."

"We have to understand and tolerate each other's professions. While environmental issues should be considered, development should not be hindered by just looking at the worst-case scenarios."

Prof. S. Wijesekara the chairman of the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau also had a similar opinion. While development is seen as harmful for the environment in the short run the counter issues that arise due to the lack of development can be much worse.

"Development is not the worst pollutant," says Prof. Wijesekara. "Poverty is. Because when people are poor and do not have necessary facilities they are more prone to do damage to the environment than when they have the power not to do so."

Indeed the worse pollutants are the human beings that infest and claim every piece of land on Earth. And ironically the most disastrous attitude towards nature is embracing nature as a whole rather than leaving it be.

"When compared with the United States and other countries, our population per square inch is very high," says Air Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody, the CEO of Lanka Quarries Pvt Ltd in his key note address. "But we, without living in skyscrapers want to have our own little house with a roof on top.

This is the real environmental tragedy, not mining which is done for the sustainable development of the country."

Therefore, the outlook and perspective on mining as an exploitation of Earth's natural resources should change to the reality that harvesting natural resources if done with proper regulation and policy is a factor for sustainable development which in turn benefits the environment.

"We have forest reserves, wildlife reserves and all sorts of other reserves," adds further Air Marshal Jayalth Weerakkody. "I think it's time that we also reserve the earth's resources we have so that future investors can access these resources without having to fight it out with all the other authorities."

The Sri Lankan soil is rich and abundant with resources that with proper technology, infrastructure and investment can turn out to be even more affluent than the oil wells in the Middle East. The industries that these raw materials can empower are the very industries such as electronics and telecommunication that drive the modern world.

Therefore, sustainable development can be achieved with the proper regulations and policies in place.

It's time that we stopped digging for gemstones and started creating our own treasures. After all, at the end of the day the food on the table is brought to us by the farmer who toils the hard earth and make things grow.