Introduction
Natural resources for decades have always provided many nations with the affluent source of wealth that helps in building their economy. As such, many of the countries that majorly depend on the natural resources such as copper, oil, gold and uranium often embark on intensive mining practices to ensure their natural reserves are productive and can offer sustainability to their economies. Due to their dependency on these resources, the countries often have structures and laws that govern how they handle the resources in every stage to ensure maximization. It is important to highlight that the resources are most often common and unique to different regions respectively. Asia, for instance, is known to be rich with a wide range of minerals unique to it such as copper and gold (Rizvi and Saeed 66). Nonetheless, copper highly mined in Mongolia and Jiangxi; China stands out as one of the most common minerals in Asia. While the two nations are different in very many aspects, they both highly consider copper as being significant to the strengthening of their economy. One would, however, understand why they both regard copper highly seeing as copper is common to them. This paper will thus delve to compare the copper business in both Mongolia and China putting to perspective, various issues such as economic and social factors in the two nations.
It is important first to highlight the significance of copper as a mineral to enable the delivery of a better report on copper business in the Mongolia and China. Copper for one is revered to be among the first metals to smelted and worked into implements. The metal is known to possess a fine ductility and has a high conductivity that enables its use in both the traditional and modern society. As such its ductile nature allows it to have the capability of being made into wires while its ability to act as a perfect conductor after silver enables it to be used for electrical purposes. The metal is also malleable such that it has the capability to be hammered and molded for various purposes (Raffaella and Arosio 88). The metal is found and extracted from a wide range of minerals that are present in deposits considered large enough to be mined. Some of the minerals include azurite chalcocite, bornite, chalcopyrite, and malachite. However, most of the mined copper in the world are found in chalcopyrite. Chile is regarded as the number one producer of the mineral with the US taking the second spot. Other nations nonetheless significantly produce the metal and consider its mining a vital economic activity such as Mongolia that significantly depends on it and China that practices mining largely at Jiangxi.
Copper in Mongolia
Mongolia sitting in East Asia is a sovereign country that although landlocked boasts of being the 19th largest independent nation in the world. Like other countries that significantly consider copper as an integral part of their economy, copper mining business is the primary source of income for the nation and similarly a major industry. The copper business in the country is majorly focused on by two companies in the nation that include Erdenet Mining Corporation and Oyu Tolgoi Mine (Blunden, 16). The mineral is also one of the major exports in the nation raking in over $2.5 billion for the nation annually a fact that has led to the country export economy being ranked 104th (Mongolia Economic Retrospective 45). Copper in retrospect as of 2014 represented 42.2% of the country’s total export signaling its significance as the country’s main agent to a strong economy.
Mongolia’s copper business is significant in the world with Erdenet, the country’s third-largest city having had the largest deposits of copper in the 1950’s. Currently, the city’s copper mine is rated fourth largest in the world with the Erdenet Mining Corporation, a joint venture between the country and Russia making up for the country’s hard currency income (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 67). The Erdenet mine is credit as the largest copper producing mine in the China-Mongolia area. Most of Mongolia’s copper mines come from the region with the corporation mining about ores of about 22 million tons every year while producing over 126,000 tons of the nation’s copper that further go forth in supporting the country’s economy (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 67). One cannot underrate the significance of Erdenet since it specifically created in 1974 with the hope of exploiting the large deposits earlier found in the region in the 1950’s (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 67). The city has since lived up to its expectations serving as the bedrock of the nation’s economy.
Another significant copper mining enterprise that is significant in the copper business in Mongolia is the Oyu Tolgoi Mine. The Oyu Tolgoi mine delves to combine both open pit and underground initiatives in the effort by the Mongolian government to increase copper production. The initiative was commenced after the discovery of copper deposits in the Gobi Desert region in the Oyu Tolgoi area by a Canadian-based mining company Turquoise Hill Resources in 2001 (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 67). Its location is significant as it is highlighted to be the area in which outcropping rocks during the Genghis Khan era were smelted for the production of copper. In 2003, three years after the commencement of mining activities in the region, it was certified as the largest mining exploration project globally with 18 drill rigs for exploration. However, the region started its production of concentrates recently in 2013 being termed as a mega mine in the China-Mongolia region (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 67). The mining is the region is conducted as a result of the venture of Rio Tinto based in UK, Turquoise Hill and the government of Mongolia. Though in operation, the venture into the project is still ongoing with copper production in the mine projected to increase with the completion of the projected seeing as it is billed as the biggest project ever in the history of Mongolia.
Social Impacts of Copper Business in Mongolia
Both the mines in Mongolia have had significant social impacts in the country. For one, formal mining sector in the country employs above 12,000 of the country’s population while the informal sector employs even much more this number (Blunden 54). This thus highlights the fact that the countries mining industry offers the country’s population a source of employment intended at elevating their lives and social status. The fact that the mineral explorations in the Mongolia such as seen in the Oyu Tolgoi are on the increase points to the chance of more employment opportunities for the people. Nonetheless, there are cases of concern that local rural recruitment is most often not considered during employment a fact reinforced by the revelation that communities around mining development regions are often not safeguarded from harm. Mongolia, in essence, lacks the regulatory and institutional framework that guides such groups a situation that has led to communities not experiencing any meaningful benefits (Blunden 67). Mining regions have also led to the eruption of urban centers that have failed in offering adequate social services to the influx in population thus increasing the possibilities of poor conditions such as health and safety. Copper mining in the country also exhibits a high case of gender disparity in employment with many dominating the industry and women getting few opportunities.
Economic Impacts of Copper Business in Mongolia
The mining sector in which copper is a giant in Mongolia contributes significantly to the country’s economy. Mining contributes to almost a third of the nation’s GDP while accounting for a larger chunk of the country’s total exports. Copper alone contributes about 42% of the total exports in the country stating that it is the backbone of the country’s economy seeing as the country lacks proper agricultural land to carry out meaningful farming activities asides from herding. The economic influence on the economy brought about by copper mining is expected to rise with the completion of the Oyu Tolgoi project and also with the issuance of more than a thousand mining licenses by the government. The country’s economy is heavily dependent on copper mining a situation that has led to the country suffering the risk of the Dutch disease which in essence is the situation in which the rise in economic development is dependent on natural resources such that other sectors such as the agricultural sectors suffer (The Report: Mongolia 2014 pg. 89). In this regard, the Mongolian agricultural sector together with the manufacturing industry is known to experience hard times with concentration given to the mining sector. Copper mining in the region has also been instrumental in aiding the reduction of poverty in the recent years although also contributing to the inequality in the distribution of income. The industry mostly considers urban areas in employment living rural occupants in poverty.
Environmental Impact of Copper Business in Mongolia
The copper business also impacts on the country’s environment with the two mining corporation having bad records in terms of environmental management. Many of the country’s copper mining activities are conducted in a sub-optimal manner causing alarming environmental damage that proceeds to interfere with the communities surrounding mining development areas. Copper mining in the country has for instance resulted in the deterioration of the quality of water in the region through mining activities that have led to the contamination of several rivers. The business has also been reported to result in the pollution of air that is warned to lead to the health risks with possibilities of conditions such as bronchial complaints (Yamamura, Noboru and Ai 36). The Oyu Tolgoi project due to its exploration the area, considered as the driest in Mongolia also risks draining the waters in the region regarded as vital for herders. Acid rock drainage resulting from the mine’s activities such as the storage of tailings may also affect the nation's environment.
Copper Business in China
China unlike Mongolia not only produces copper but also imports the metal. The county also in East Asia mainly has copper productions in the province of Jiangxi with Jiangxi Copper being the major handler of the business. Jiangxi Copper, in essence, is the country’s largest copper producer specifically in the country’s mainland (Oleynik, Natasha and Karl 90). Jiangxi Copper is reported to manufacture more than 300,000 tons of copper every year from the mines it controls (Reuvid 41). The outfit deals in a combination of copper related activities that include mining and milling and also conducts the smelting and refining of the copper for the production of related products. The company is based at Guixi in Jiangxi, China. The company handles several mines, unlike Mongolia’s corporation that dwells on specific mines. Some of the mines the company handles include Yongping and Dexing pits and also the Wushan underground mine all in Jiangxi (Reuvid 41). Unlike in Mongolia where more than one major corporation handles the operations of the copper mining business the country, Jiangxi Copper is the major company that boasts of handling all major operations related to copper activities in the country. As such the organization also is involved in the production, manufacturing and the sale of copper products such as copper rods, cathodes and wires and any other possible copper related products. Like the Mongolian companies, however, the firm also engages in the exploration of copper and similarly delves to be involved in the exploitation of the metal. While the corporations in Mongolia mostly deal in the exploration and mining of copper, Jiangxi Copper boasts of owning both a smelter and refinery that allow for the manufacture of copper products. Another key significance in difference is that unlike mining in Mongolia which is run by joint ventures, Jiangxi Copper is solely owned by the government of Chinese and such does not engage in joint ventures in its operations. However, there exist big players in the industry in the smelting sector such as the Jinchuan Group and the Tongling Nonferrous Metals (Reuvid 41). It is imperative to highlight that the country engages in other copper related business asides from exporting and importing outsides its borders.
Economic Impacts of Copper Business in China
Unlike Mongolia copper business which is encouraged by the need to strengthen the economy through exports, China’s copper business is driven by the increase in manufacturing activities in the nation. China contrastingly does not export much of its copper choosing to be usually tiny in amount compared to the Mongolian copper exports. This is because China’s economy does not mainly depend on the exports of copper like its counterpart. Instead, the country usually chooses to practice stockpiling with stockpiles believed to be near record highs suggesting that it could pass past many countries as the top exporting country should it choose to export its stockpiles. The countries major consumers of copper, the construction and manufacturing industries have recently been faced with challenges thus leading to the millions of tons of stockpiles of copper in the nation.
China is known to be a consumer of roughly any metal due to its manufacturing and construction industry with copper being one of the major metals consumed by the industry. In retrospect, China is regarded as the largest consumer of copper thus underlining the fact that copper has contributed largely to the building of the country’s economy. China consumes more than 40% of the copper and copper products in the world which goes on to reflect on the country’s economy through the construction of infrastructure that helps build the economy (Guo, Hao and Luc 101). The fact that copper is a significant component in the manufacture of various products such as cell phones and many electronic household items suggests its power in building the country’s economy. The recently slowdown in the countries major industries, however, threatens the value of copper in the industry. One despite this cannot rule the significance of the metal in the country compared to Mongolia seeing as Mongolia is not a heavy consumer compared to China.
Social Impacts of Copper Business in China
The social impacts of China’s impacts are not only local but are also global unlike in Mongolia where the social impacts are felt locally. This is because China engages in Copper mining even outside its borders. Regardless, despite attempting to elevate the lives of people, mine workers in China are exposed to various occupational hazards in terms of health and safety especially during extraction. Communities near the mining environments are often affected by noise and also the high levels of noise involved in the extraction. Similarly, as witnessed earlier, communities living near the Mongolian mining centers experience such noises. The two countries also exhibit an unfair consideration of gender in the copper business sector with China registering a low number of women in the industry. The disposal stage also brings with it negative social effects such as the possible contamination of the environment with workers being exposed to organic compounds from the recycling of e-waste and also exposure to heavy metals. China, unlike Mongolia, however, attempts to engage in positive waste management practices. The copper business in China nonetheless has seen more positive social impacts in the country compared to Mongolia. While Mongolia mainly mines and exports the mineral, China uses for various purposes especially for industrial purposes and making of consumer appliances. Over 60% of the country’s copper is used in the manufacture of electrical appliances and also electrical cables and line (Moak and Miles 123). This thus leads to the boosting of the country’s social welfare and the overall well-being of the population a fact not witnessed in Mongolia.
Environmental Impacts of Copper in China
Like Mongolia, China’s copper business also exhibits a wide range of environmental impacts with the effects almost being similar. For example, China’s copper mining results to the release of toxic chemicals seeing as the mining of copper lead to the generation of significant volumes of waste rock that if exposed to air can cause drainage of acid rocks. Copper refining in the country also results in the pollution of air a phenomenon prevalently common in Mongolia. However, China’s air pollution is also made possible by smelting operations that encourage the release of large quantities of possible toxic airborne gasses. Extraction and Exploration also lead to the degradation of land like in Mongolia symbolizing the presence of similar impacts in the countries. There, however, exist notable differences in positive environmental impacts seeing as China is more developed compared to Mongolia. For one, the existence of electrical appliances such as power cables and solar panels made possible by copper encourages the preservation of energy. China also engages in the recycling of copper scraps that goes further to avoid the pollution of the environment by excessive copper products.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mongolia and China are both giants in the production of copper, but the two countries are set apart in how they use copper and also in the impacts of the copper business. While Mongolia for instance delves to engage in the intense exportation of copper, China chooses to stockpile its copper while also importing extra copper. China also heavily consumes the mineral a fact encouraged by its many manufacturing and construction industries Mongolia lacks. Copper to the two counties also has different economic values seeing as the copper business is Mongolia’s primary contributor to the economy with copper exports significantly boosting the country’s economy. China on the side though a high a high consumer of the metal indirectly depends on copper to necessitate the growth of its economy through copper products and infrastructure. However, all the countries are heavily impacted with the production of copper with a difference in how they are impacted existing to some extent. For example, whole copper has enabled the production of many appliances in China leading to the improvement of social well-being; same cannot be said of Mongolia. As such, one can be justified to highlight that Mongolia and China experience the benefits and negative impacts of copper production differently and at different levels.
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