Mineral Resource Economy 2

Florian Fizaine is Assistant Professor in economics at the University Savoie Mont Blanc and Visiting Professor at the IFP School and Mines ParisTech in France. Xavier Galiegue is Associate Professor in economics at the University of Orléans and a member of the Orléans Laboratory of Economics (LEO) in France.

Introduction xi
Florian FIZAINE and Xavier GALIÈGUE

Part 1. Stakes 1

Chapter 1. Toward a New Geopolitics of Raw Materials in the Energy Transition 3
Emmanuel HACHE, Gondia SOKHNA SECK, Charlène BARNET, Samuel CARCANAGUE and Fernanda GUEDES

1.1. Introduction 3

1.2. Measuring the criticality of raw materials and geopolitical risk 5

1.2.1. Criticality, strategic materials and risks 5

1.2.2. The absence of a homogeneous theoretical framework 6

1.2.3. Criticality matrices 7

1.3. The geopolitics and geo-economics of raw materials in the energy transition 11

1.3.1. From measuring pressures on reserves to taking geopolitics into account in measuring criticality 12

1.3.2. Fear of cartelization or monopoly in commodity markets 13

1.4. How can we manage strategic materials supply risk? 24

1.4.1. The role of public policies 25

1.4.2. The issue of strategic stocks 27

1.4.3. Foreign investment through national companies 28

1.4.4. The logic of the Chinese barter 30

1.5. Conclusion: toward a new resource nationalism? 30

1.6. References 32

Chapter 2. Legal Issues Regarding the Sustainable Management of Territorial and Extraterritorial Mineral Resources 39
Stephanie REICHE-DE VIGAN

2.1. National law regarding territorial mineral resources: the decisive issue of ownership 42

2.1.1. Ownership over mineral resources at the core of mineral law 42

2.1.2. A form of mineral ownership that may limit the government’s capacity to regulate the extractive sector for environmental reasons 47

2.2. International law regarding territorial mineral resources: the central role of state sovereignty 52

2.2.1. The principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources for the benefit of international trade 52

2.2.2. A principle challenged by indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources 55

2.3. International law regarding extraterritorial mineral resources: exploitation “for the benefit of mankind as a whole” 56

2.3.1. The legal status of the seabed and the subsoil, determined by states’ interests in the exploitation of mineral resources 57

2.3.2. The legal framework for the exploitation of Antarctic mineral resources, determined by ecological considerations 63

2.4. For a sustainable management of mineral resources 65

2.5. References 68

Chapter 3. Mining and Societies 71
Michel DESHAIES

3.1. Introduction 71

3.2. Mines as a factor of settlement and landscape transformation 72

3.2.1. Mining and the population 72

3.2.2. Mines, landscapes and the environment in pre-industrial times 74

3.3. Mining in the Industrial Age 76

3.3.1. The transformations of the industrial energy system 76

3.3.2. Birth and development of coalfields 78

3.3.3. Conquest and development of new metal deposits 79

3.4. Contemporary mining transformations and challenges 81

3.4.1. Geographic trends in mining 81

3.4.2. Decline and changes in former mining regions 82

3.4.3. Extraction boom and risks in new mining regions 85

3.4.4. The limits of “responsible” mining 92

3.5. Conclusion 95

3.6. References 96

Part 2. Action Levers 101

Chapter 4. Maintaining or Even Developing the Mining of Mineral Resources in Europe: The Case of Wallonia (Belgium) 103
Johan YANS

4.1. Introduction 103

4.2. Geological resources in Wallonia 104

4.2.1. Extraction of mineral materials other than metals 104

4.2.2. Metal extraction: a problem on several spatiotemporal scales 105

4.3. Extension of sites/quantity of mining? 106

4.3.1. Exploit existing and well-characterized metal resources/reserves 106

4.3.2. Promoting a short circuit 107

4.3.3. Promoting alternatives to the sometimes deplorable extraction conditions in some regions of the world 108

4.3.4. Stimulating the local economy/employment 108

4.3.5. (Re)discovering a degree of supply independence for the industry 108

4.3.6. Creating the “substitution threat”: knowing that local potential exists 109

4.4. Decrease in sites/quantity of operations 109

4.4.1. Lack of local skills (being addressed) 109

4.4.2. NIMBY syndrome 110

4.5. Some levers for action 115

4.5.1. Responsible extraction 115

4.5.2. Popularizing 115

4.5.3. Strengthening the administration and defining a clear public strategy 116

4.5.4. Consulting 117

4.5.5. Collaborating (private–public) 118

4.6. Conclusion 118

4.7. References 119

Chapter 5. Substitution: Promises, Principles and Main Constraints 121
Florian FIZAINE

5.1. Introduction 121

5.2. Main economic foundations of substitution 122

5.2.1. The demand curve 123

5.2.2. The horizons of substitution: short, medium and long term 124

5.2.3. The shortcomings of the classical demand curve 125

5.3. Elements, components, systems: what are we really substituting? 125

5.3.1. Altenpohl hierarchy and principal forms of technical substitution 126

5.3.2. Normative substitution: what to substitute for? 127

5.4. The main obstacles to substitution 129

5.4.1. Technical obstacles 129

5.4.2. Economic obstacles 130

5.4.3. Barriers related to the physical availability of the resource 131

5.4.4. Cultural and historical barriers 132

5.4.5. Regulatory barriers 133

5.5. Other aspects to be taken into account 134

5.5.1. Impact of competition and industrial strategies 134

5.5.2. Is economic substitution also an ecological substitution? 135

5.6. References 136

Chapter 6. Resource Consumption and Decoupling 139
Thierry LEFÈVRE

6.1. Introduction 139

6.2. Global use of resources 142

6.3. Material consumption indicators 145

6.4. Decoupling the economy from resource consumption 149

6.4.1. Evidence of decoupling 149

6.4.2. Saturation of resource use 152

6.5. Responsibility for resource consumption 154

6.6. Conclusion 156

6.7. References 159

Chapter 7. The Economics of Recycling: Ambitions, Myths and Constraints 163
Alain GELDRON

7.1. The recycling economy, an ancient history 163

7.2. Geological and urban mines, similarities and differences in logic 165

7.3. Understand the definitions and indicators of recycling in order to express its performance 167

7.4. A limited deposit because we can only recycle what we have consumed 170

7.5. Multiple factors influencing recycling and its effectiveness 173

7.6. The technical constraints of metal recycling 176

7.6.1. Preparation of materials 177

7.6.2. Recycling of base metals 178

7.6.3. Recycling of specialty metals 179

7.7. Environmental benefits of recycling 181

7.8. Conclusion 182

7.9. References 183

Chapter 8. Low-tech: A Path Toward the Necessary Metallic Sobriety? 187
Philippe BIHOUIX

8.1. Cornucopians versus doomsdayers 187

8.2. The circular economy, mission impossible? 190

8.2.1. Invisible dematerialization 191

8.2.2. The systemic issue between energy and resources 193

8.2.3. The constraints of recycling 194

8.3. Toward a metallic frugality 195

8.3.1. Sobriety above all 196

8.3.2. “Advanced” eco-design 198

8.3.3. Moderate mechanization 199

8.4. A possible and desirable transition 200

8.4.1. The role of the public authority, at all scales 200

8.4.2. Finding the right scale 202

8.4.3. Humans, the key to “repairability” and optimal recycling 203

8.4.4. Positive impacts 204

8.4.5. A “happy” transition or nothing 205

8.5. References 206

Conclusion 209
Florian FIZAINE and Xavier GALIÈGUE

List of Authors 221

Index 223