An examination of environmental performance and eco-efficiency in the North American gold mining industry

grantor: University of TorontoThis paper provides a historical account--since the advent of major environmental legislation circa-1970--of the changes in environmental performance in the North American gold mining industry, and provides an overview of eco-efficiency at North American gold mines. The paper begins with an examination and critique of various pieces of literature in an attempt to clarify how corporate environmental "best practice" has evolved in North America over the past three decades, and to illustrate the basic types of corporate environmental management strategies that exist today. From this review, a model of different corporate environmental management approaches--here called the "Corporate Environmental and Social Performance Spectrum (CESPS)"--is developed for use in the sections to follow. The remainder of the paper is devoted to illustrating trends of environmental performance in the North American gold mining industry, namely the changes that have occurred over the past three decades, and what environmental direction the industry is moving in today. Specific environmental data and complementary qualitative analysis contained in various sources are used for the historical assessment of environmental performance, and results from a questionnaire that had been distributed to the industry are used to show what types of management strategies and technologies are being employed to deal with sector-specific environmental problems today. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)M.A