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
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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