Putting theory into practice: How has the gold mining industry interpreted the concept of sustainable development?

There is a now a burgeoning literature that attempts to explain how sustainable development applies in the mining context. Little research, however, has been commissioned to examine exactly how mining companies are interpreting the concept. To help bridge this major gap in the literature, a study was conducted in which the environmental and socioeconomic initiatives undertaken by the world's 20 largest gold mining companies - the operations of which produce some 51.8% of the world's gold - were examined and analysed. The primary information and data used in the study were obtained from company websites, annual reports, specific corporate environmental and socioeconomic literature, and a follow-up questionnaire sent to the attention of each company's chief presiding environmental officer. Results show that the industry, generally, has taken a proactive stance toward environmental issues and to a lesser extent, socioeconomic and community matters. The study more importantly confirmed that the gold mining segment of the industry has embraced the concept of sustainable development to varying degrees, a pattern that interestingly parallels that of the relevant theoretical literature.