Balancing Mining Opportunities With Protection Of The Environment

Issues relating to mining operations always seem to cause the public to be up in arms in Vietnam, be it irresponsible dumping of mining-related toxic wastes to waterways or potential environmental impacts of large-scale bauxite mining operations as Vietnam’s advantage of mineral reserves and mineral commodities have attracted both legal international investment interest and illegal mining operations.

Due to the recent, well-publicized environmental concerns in Vietnam, our Article is written as an attempt to pinpoint the root of the problem and propose appropriate remedies through (i) discussing relevant, realistic cases of mining exploration and exploitation harming the environment with a mention of a bauxite mining case in Hungary and (ii) specifying the existing legislation regarding environmental protection and chemical usage requirements in the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Chemicals, the Mineral Law and other related decrees and circulars.

Subsequently, our Article shows the root of the issue lies within the non-compliance with the law of mine operators, rather than insufficiencies with the law itself as the regulations are clear. Therefore, the Article concludes that it is essential for mine operators to comply with the law as enforcing and complying with the existing regulatory scheme is more fitting than an outright ban on mining operations while simultaneously achieving necessary environmental protections.

The full PDF version of our Article can be read here.

Keywords: mining operations; bauxite mining; environment; environmental impacts, Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Chemicals, the Mineral Law.