5
endangerment of species, etc. Lack of compliance with
environmental requirements can lead to fees, penalties,
community opposition, lawsuits, and even mine closure.
• Infrastructure: Unsuitable placement of resources and
facilities can increase cost, wear rate of equipment and
its components, travel time, malfunctions, insufficient
supply of energy, and more. These scenarios can lead to
frequent fixture of roads, increasing demand for water
trucks or dust suppression, adoption of alternatives to
connect stages, larger emissions of greenhouse gasses,
higher noise levels, increase in community complaints,
and surge in traffic.
• Mineral Identification: Inaccurate classification of metal-
lurgical characteristics can lead to lower financial recov-
ery rates, an increase in operational and processing costs,
and a waste of resources for a deposit that may not be
economically viable.
• Regulatory/Permitting: Not obtaining the necessary
permits and licenses can set back the project timeline,
increase the cost of materials, result in fines or legal issues,
lack of access to federal services to prevent damages (e.g.,
water and gas pipe detections), and mine closure.
• Resource Estimation: Improper monitoring, distribu-
tion, saving, and/or investing of mine resources and
finances can lead to financial losses or the development
of challenges that limit operation and production.
• Social: The absence of a community engagement plan or
establishment of methods to respect individuals’ human
rights can lead to social disagreements, resistance, and
delays.
Construction
In the construction stage, permitting and safety risks are
more prominent as this phase deals with the building of
facilities, management of heavy equipment, and the lia-
bility over worker’s well-being. This means construction
requires the hiring of consultants and engineering profes-
sionals to approve designs and practices in order to comply
with design codes. Furthermore, risks that companies can
face during this stage include:
• Economical: Lack of long-term financial planning can
lead to an increase in expenses if project delays, inflation,
material purchasing, or other challenges surface.
• Geotechnical: Improper ground stability and material
stress assessments, calculations, and monitoring can lead
to the collapse of buildings, workers’ injuries and fatali-
ties, pipeline and utility failures, erosion and cracking of
foundations, and bearing capacity failures.
• Health: Missing safety procedures and health stan-
dards can result in the exposure of workers to hazardous
materials, dust, noise levels, chemicals, and metal fumes
that can cause the development of adverse health effects.
• Machinery and Human Interaction: Inadequate training,
unfulfillment of pre-shift equipment inspections, and
human error can cause injuries and fatalities of workers,
downtime, pushback of project delivery date, and equip-
ment breakdowns.
• Permitting/Regulatory Compliance: Not acquiring nec-
essary permits in order to comply with local, state, and
federal regulations and building principles can put lives
in danger. Construction plans must be reviewed and
approved by contractors to ensure that proposed con-
struction plans meet safety and environmental standards
without a biased approach.
• Safety: Construction sites and activities involve various
dangerous tasks and safety hazards such as falls from
heights, injuries from machinery or tools, electrical haz-
ards, falls or slips, dropping of heavy material, and more.
Additionally, the lack of safety culture or communica-
tion, qualified training, and enforcement of safety pro-
cedures can lead to trauma, injuries, and even death of
workers.
• Workforce: The unavailability of skilled workers and
involved supervisors can increase the risk of bad behav-
iors, shortcuts, and project setbacks due to errors and
corrections.
Extraction and Processing
The extraction and processing stage is considered the most
dangerous period of the supply chain since safety behav-
iors and operational decisions influence environmental and
social impacts or conditions. In this stage, educational, reg-
ulatory, and leadership approaches are required to ensure a
safe working environment. It is necessary for companies to
identify and plan for the following risks:
• Closure and Reclamation: Lack of environmental com-
pliance and utilizing harmful practices can create perma-
nent damages that may prevent the fulfillment of recla-
mation goals and plans approved by the government and
local communities. This can ruin the company’s reputa-
tion, and its relationship with the community, and lead
to long-term environmental and social issues.
• Economical: Not properly planning for future expenses,
copper price fluctuations, and/or investments could lead
to financial struggles, mine closure, debt, and job losses.
• Environmental: Utilizing non-preferred methods of
extraction and processing can lead to water, air, and soil
pollution, large quantities of energy consumption, soil
erosion, disruption of biodiversity, significant changes in
landmarks, and more.
endangerment of species, etc. Lack of compliance with
environmental requirements can lead to fees, penalties,
community opposition, lawsuits, and even mine closure.
• Infrastructure: Unsuitable placement of resources and
facilities can increase cost, wear rate of equipment and
its components, travel time, malfunctions, insufficient
supply of energy, and more. These scenarios can lead to
frequent fixture of roads, increasing demand for water
trucks or dust suppression, adoption of alternatives to
connect stages, larger emissions of greenhouse gasses,
higher noise levels, increase in community complaints,
and surge in traffic.
• Mineral Identification: Inaccurate classification of metal-
lurgical characteristics can lead to lower financial recov-
ery rates, an increase in operational and processing costs,
and a waste of resources for a deposit that may not be
economically viable.
• Regulatory/Permitting: Not obtaining the necessary
permits and licenses can set back the project timeline,
increase the cost of materials, result in fines or legal issues,
lack of access to federal services to prevent damages (e.g.,
water and gas pipe detections), and mine closure.
• Resource Estimation: Improper monitoring, distribu-
tion, saving, and/or investing of mine resources and
finances can lead to financial losses or the development
of challenges that limit operation and production.
• Social: The absence of a community engagement plan or
establishment of methods to respect individuals’ human
rights can lead to social disagreements, resistance, and
delays.
Construction
In the construction stage, permitting and safety risks are
more prominent as this phase deals with the building of
facilities, management of heavy equipment, and the lia-
bility over worker’s well-being. This means construction
requires the hiring of consultants and engineering profes-
sionals to approve designs and practices in order to comply
with design codes. Furthermore, risks that companies can
face during this stage include:
• Economical: Lack of long-term financial planning can
lead to an increase in expenses if project delays, inflation,
material purchasing, or other challenges surface.
• Geotechnical: Improper ground stability and material
stress assessments, calculations, and monitoring can lead
to the collapse of buildings, workers’ injuries and fatali-
ties, pipeline and utility failures, erosion and cracking of
foundations, and bearing capacity failures.
• Health: Missing safety procedures and health stan-
dards can result in the exposure of workers to hazardous
materials, dust, noise levels, chemicals, and metal fumes
that can cause the development of adverse health effects.
• Machinery and Human Interaction: Inadequate training,
unfulfillment of pre-shift equipment inspections, and
human error can cause injuries and fatalities of workers,
downtime, pushback of project delivery date, and equip-
ment breakdowns.
• Permitting/Regulatory Compliance: Not acquiring nec-
essary permits in order to comply with local, state, and
federal regulations and building principles can put lives
in danger. Construction plans must be reviewed and
approved by contractors to ensure that proposed con-
struction plans meet safety and environmental standards
without a biased approach.
• Safety: Construction sites and activities involve various
dangerous tasks and safety hazards such as falls from
heights, injuries from machinery or tools, electrical haz-
ards, falls or slips, dropping of heavy material, and more.
Additionally, the lack of safety culture or communica-
tion, qualified training, and enforcement of safety pro-
cedures can lead to trauma, injuries, and even death of
workers.
• Workforce: The unavailability of skilled workers and
involved supervisors can increase the risk of bad behav-
iors, shortcuts, and project setbacks due to errors and
corrections.
Extraction and Processing
The extraction and processing stage is considered the most
dangerous period of the supply chain since safety behav-
iors and operational decisions influence environmental and
social impacts or conditions. In this stage, educational, reg-
ulatory, and leadership approaches are required to ensure a
safe working environment. It is necessary for companies to
identify and plan for the following risks:
• Closure and Reclamation: Lack of environmental com-
pliance and utilizing harmful practices can create perma-
nent damages that may prevent the fulfillment of recla-
mation goals and plans approved by the government and
local communities. This can ruin the company’s reputa-
tion, and its relationship with the community, and lead
to long-term environmental and social issues.
• Economical: Not properly planning for future expenses,
copper price fluctuations, and/or investments could lead
to financial struggles, mine closure, debt, and job losses.
• Environmental: Utilizing non-preferred methods of
extraction and processing can lead to water, air, and soil
pollution, large quantities of energy consumption, soil
erosion, disruption of biodiversity, significant changes in
landmarks, and more.