LEVERAGING NATURAL RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: EXAMINING BENEFICIATION IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES

Abstract

Throughout the last few decades, efforts by a myriad of governments have sought to create a better way in which to take advantage of their natural resources for sustainable development. This work focuses on the extent to which beneficiation can serve as a meaningful and efficient strategy for sustainable development and the prerequisite factors necessary to accomplish this goal. Through careful analysis of what constitutes beneficiation and case studies of natural resource development from various regions of the world, a groundwork of understanding is established to better understand methods that have had success and those that have not. It further discusses how these projects came to realization and from the various factors at play during their development. These various approaches will constitute the basis on which overall effectiveness is judged later in the conclusions portion. Finally, it looks at the overall impact of the described effort. From this a new and unique mathematical application developed specifically for this task is applied to determine the overall effectiveness and utility of the action described in the study. This analysis creates an objective review of all the various factors outlined in the earlier portion of this work as portions of the overall function of beneficiation. Such an approach affords a more simplified view of the concept. After thoughtful analysis, conclusions are drawn upon the results of the application of the model. These conclusions are compared then with the expectations of the initial description of the goals concerning the outcomes of beneficiation to determine the overall effectiveness of the strategies outlined earlier and of which would be useful to further the efforts of governments to achieve the expected results.