economic diversification and empowerment of the poor." Aside from creating jobs, implementing community development programs and implementing environmental management and enhancement programs, mining also tangibly contributes to the national and local economy through various taxes and royalties. In the Philippines, companies are required to pay an excise tax equal to 2 % of revenue and corporate income tax equal to 30 % of net income, on top of many other local and national taxes. The taxes and fees collected from mining amounted to around $ 450 million in 2014. 40 % of this fund goes to the local government while 60 % are kept by the national government. In Brazil, 3 % of the net income arising from sales of mineral products constitute the Financial Compensation for the Exploration of Mineral Resources( CFEM). The CFEM is distributed to the states, municipalities and federal government directly affected by the mining industry. Mining contributes to society by providing jobs that can add wealth to the communities, by implementing social and environmental programs using best practices, and by paying various taxes and fees to the national and local governments.
Science and technology also advances through mining.
The challenges encountered in mining encourage creative thinking to develop innovative solutions to overcome those challenges. Such solutions can propagate to other industries and to our daily lives. Take for example the the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Europe and paved the way to the modern combustion engine. This technology was initially used to quickly and cheaply pump water out of British underground coal mines in the 17th century-- replacing horses traditionally used in dewatering systems. Because of the challenge of dewatering the mine, some people came up with inventions to effectively and cheaply drain the mines, starting with a man named Savery who invented the first steam engine for water pumping. The steam engine design was further improved by others, most notably Watt, who coined the term " horsepower " when he was calculating the number of horses replaced by one steam engine. In the 1800s, the steam engine became portable enough to be used in the first steam-powered locomotive in Britain. The use of the steam engine for locomotive was then followed by the use of steam engine to propel ships in the United States. Initially used as a water pump to drain water from coal mines, the steam engine quickly gained popularity in other industries, especially in transportation, which quickened the trade of goods and propelled the industrial revolution. Mining opens opportunities to gather information about underground regions of the Earth ' s crust either through drilling or through excavation. Such information can help us better understand how the world works. For example, geologic data can help improve our
understanding of how magmas move and cool or how minerals are deposited in the Earth ' s crust. Exciting archeological and paleontological findings are sometimes unearthed because of mining operations. In 2011, a three-dimensionally preserved fossil of an armored marine dinosaur( either plesiosaur or ichthyosaur) was discovered in the Millennium Mine in Australia while an excavator was digging oil-rich sand. And just this year, Namdeb Diamond Corporation in Namibia unearthed a gold-laden Portuguese ship that sank around 500 years ago by draining the part of the sea where the ship was submerged-- a feat made possible because of the mine ' s access to large equipment. Mining can contribute to science and technology by imposing challenges that encourage innovation, by opening up opportunities to study the Earth, and by sometimes excavating artifacts and fossils that can help archeological and paleontological research. Besides agriculture, mining is arguably a foundation of modern human society. We depend on its products to maintain and advance our quality of life. Since the stone age, we have been
Photo by PhilippineLifestyleNews
relying on mining to acquire raw materials that we need to make the products that we use. vIn the modern world we live in, our demand for raw materials is ever increasing. We need to mine for materials to make our tools, weapons, gadgets, appliances, vehicles, and communication infrastructure, among others. Mining also contributes to the local and national economies by generating jobs and paying taxes and royalties. Beyond these contributions, mining advances science and technology by encouraging innovation and by aiding geological, archeological, and paleontological research. We can expect society to continue to depend on mining for years to come, with more mines opening up to meet the world ' s demands. The vision then is a much more responsible mining industry that is increasingly disposed to ensure mitigated impacts and sustainable enhancement programs in the communities and the environment around it; supported by fair and effectively implemented government regulations.
Do you think we can rise to the challenge?
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NOVEMBER 2016 Mining Engineering and Its Importance