ANP - SWOT approach to minimize environmental impacts due mining activities

The debate surrounding sustainable development in the mining industry is a drawn-out one, which has long gained considerable attention from a wide range of parties. Minimizing adverse environmental impacts is an important goal for all industries keen on contributing to sustainable development. The realization of sustainable development requires the use of different disciplinary approaches to the impact assessment of development proposals. This paper examines sustainable development in the corporate mining context, and provides some guidelines for mining companies seeking to operate more sustainably. Since mining processes have the potential to impact a diverse group of environmental entities, and are of interest to a wide range of stakeholder groups, there is ample opportunity for the industry to operate more sustainably. The present study proposes an integrated and hybrid approach based on SWOT Analysis and Analytic Network Process (ANP). The analysis prescribes policy recommendations both for the government and industry which, if adopted, could facilitate improving of environmental performance developing a framework for sustainable development indicators for the mining industry. In fact the combined use of ANP method and SWOT analysis is a promising approach in supporting strategic decision-making processes.