It is generally considered that the non-renewable nature of mineral resources will make them gradually depleted over time. However, in the perspective of development availability of mineral resources in a long-term depends not only on their currently available amounts but also on future potential mineral resources (e.g. those undiscovered and low-grade ores) and substitutive renewable resources. In addition, it is influenced by factors like technology and capital. These factors interact with each other. As a result, it is possible to make the sustainable development of mineral resources by appropriate coordination between these factors. A new concept of Degree of Sustainable Development of Mineral Resources (DSDMR) and its conceptual model are proposed in this paper in the viewpoints of system science and sustainable development to evaluate the ability of sustainable development of mineral resources for a mining city. DSDMR refers to the ability of meeting needs of present and future generations for mineral resources by their logical distribution and substitution. An indicator system and a fuzzy integrated judgment model, which involve factors of resources, economy, society, environments and intelligence, are presented. They are used to evaluate DSDMR of Huangshi city, which is the most ancient and yet one of the most important mining cities producing iron and copper in China.
Compared to renewable resources like water and lands, the scarcity and non-renewable nature of mineral resources make them gradually depleted over time. However, economy of many developing countries like China and particularly their mining cities heavily depends on mineral resources (Mikesell, 1997 and Aryee, 2001). Accordingly, it is crucial for a mining city to make sustainable use of its mineral resources. This requires evaluation of its ability of sustainable development of mineral resources.
Current evaluation theories and methods of sustainable development mainly focus on evaluation of ability of sustainable development on a national or large regional scale (Bossel, 1999, UNDSD, 1999, Bond et al., 2001, UNDESA, 2001, López-Ridaura et al., 2002, Malkina-Pykh, 2002 and Ronchi et al., 2002). Research on sustainable development of resources and especially mineral resources is still in its infancy (Santos and Zaratan, 1997 and Hilson and Murck, 2000). In the statistic sense most of the present evaluation indicators of mineral resources are either quantitative or static and are difficult to reflect the quality and trend of sustainable development of mineral resources. Economically they emphasize growth (i.e. changes in quantity (e.g. gross, size and rate)) and neglect development (i.e. change in both quantity and quality (e.g. structural change and ability improvement)) (Wang et al., 2001 and Yang and Hong, 2001). In a real evaluation of sustainable development of mineral resources, both quantity and quality are important.
In this study we propose a new concept of Degree of Sustainable Development of Mineral Resources (DSDMR) in the viewpoints of system science and sustainable development and construct a corresponding system of evaluation indicators and a fuzzy integrated judgment model. We attempt to combine factors of resources, economy, society, environments and intelligence into the system, take into account dynamic and substitutive features of DSDMR, and finally use Huangshi as an example to evaluate its DSDMR. Huangshi is the most ancient and yet one of the most important mining cities producing iron and copper in China. The results are expected to form a basis for decision-making in mineral exploration and investments on a mine of a mining city, regional planning of sustainable development of mining industries, and strategic planning of mineral resources in a nation's economy.
We propose a new concept of Degree of Sustainable Development of Mineral Resources and its conceptual model in the viewpoints of system science and sustainable development to evaluate the ability of sustainable development of mineral resources for a mining city. An indicator system and a fuzzy integrated judgment model are presented, which involve factors of resources, economy, society, environments and intelligence. They are used to evaluate DSDMR of Huangshi city. The results show that the DSDMR of Huangshi in the context of Hubei province is strong.
