Earth Observation Technologies for a Sustainable Mining Sector: A Social Study

Abstract

Meeting the growing societal demands and achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals heavily relies on mineral extraction as a fundamental source of raw materials. However, numerous challenges hinder the sector's expansion to meet rising demands. Factors such as ore characteristics and environmental regulations, request innovative solutions throughout the mining supply chain and lifecycle (Steen et al., 2019). The emerging interest in earth observation (EO) technologies, coupled with significant technological advancements, presents opportunities for the mining industry to improve efficiency. Benefits include enhanced time and cost efficiency, adaptability to harsh conditions, and effective data acquisition. Nevertheless, the integration of remote sensing techniques in the extractive industry remains limited, highlighting the need for further systematic practices and advancements in this field. Despite the essential role of mining in societal progress, there is widespread opposition to extraction activities, particularly regarding new exploration and extraction projects (Ivanović et al., 2023). Well established relations between the community and actors alongside with concern for environmental and social issues, potentially being addressed through innovative solutions consist of the most important aspects for the social responsibility and credibility in mining (Rodrigues et al., 2022). Multiple social studies try to map the opinion of citizens regarding mining, perceived impacts (mostly social and environmental) by assessing the opinion and concerns of the local society, specialists, stakeholders, miners, firm representatives and policy makers (Paat et al., 2021; Seloa & Ngole-Jeme, 2022; Tseer et al., 2024; van der Plank et al., 2016). Another study outlined the differences between the social acceptance of two mining firms in Peru and concluded in the importance of the socioeconomic conditions, the engagement and the communication between the firm and society, and additionally the role of the government (Sícoli Pósleman & Sallan, 2019). Musetsho et al. (2021) compared the perceived impacts and influences for land-use/land-cover changes from interviews with EO data evidence