BHP Billiton: Sustainability In The Mining Industry

Sustainability in mining industry

Mining industry worldwide earns about $453 billion every year. Their total assets worldwide are worth more than $1.2 trillion. BHP Billiton the biggest mining company by revenue, earning $72 billion last year employs more than 120,000 people. Its profit margins have varied between the high 20 percent to a low of 10 percent last year. Its revenues have decreased from $550 billion in year 2009 to $ 453 billion last year. The variability has been due to a variety of reasons, mostly slowing demand in China and other countries due to the recession. But one of the major factor of decreasing revenues in the industry is lack of sustainable policies.

From the Indian context, problems due to mining are only set to increase with the economy expected to grow at a rate of approximately 7% in the next few years. This growth will be fueled by the infrastructure sector, the automobile sector and the manufacturing sector. This will in turn lead to demand of resources and power whose raw materials constitute minerals such as Iron Ore, Bauxite, and Coal etc. Moreover the per capita consumption of steel and alumina is about one fourth of the global average and with increasing incomes it is bound to increase. With 302 Billion tons of coal reserves, 5th largest iron ore reserves and 6th largest bauxite reserves across the

The resources being non-renewable makes the situation even less sustainable for the mining companies. But at the same time, we can look at it from the point of view that the profits generated can be used to make the local environment itself sustainable. For example, in New Guinea, the best nature reserve is owned by an Oil and Gas giant. They have maintained and protected the reserve for the last few decades and it is in a better state than other reserves under the regulation of the