Summaries for: Aggregates/Mining

Roadblocks to new mining; are we compromising national security?
By Christopher Hopkins Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group Numerous arguments are made for and against mining. Public debate typically focuses on mining’s impacts on the environment, the economy, the landscape, home values and impacts on communities. Virtually ignored, however, is how the decline in mining in the United States affects national security. When ...
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Skipping homework in public opinion and politics can sink quarry expansion plans
In a cover story in Rock Products magazine's November issue, Chris Hopkins writes that before breaking ground on a new quarry site, operators must be on the ground and behind the scenes at a local level. Hopkins, the senior vice president for aggregates and mining for The Saint Consulting Group, writes that developers could be making ...
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Public uproar over asphalt plant forces a mayor to back down
By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group Public anger has forced politicians in Whistler, a small British Columbia city preparing for this winter's Olympics, to rethink the location of an asphalt plant near a new housing development.  An article in Pique Newsmagazine regarding Whistler Mayor Ken Melmed sums up the effect that NIMBYs can have ...
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Gold mine permits delayed amid rising prices and falling production
By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group In a recent report, The Daily Telegraph in the UK looked at the decline of global gold production and efforts by Barrick Gold, the world's top producer, to wind down the remaining 3 million ounces of its infamous hedge book over the next 12 months, ...
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Overcoming Opposition and Building Community Acceptance: Everything is Political
(Editor's Note: Chris Hopkins, senior vice president for aggregates and mining at The Saint Consulting Group, lectures at the University of Arizona School of Mining and Geological Engineering and leads industry workshops on building strong community ties. This article appeared in the Stone, Sand & Gravel Review, September-October 2009 edition) By Christopher Hopkins Sixty-two percent of Americans say they’d ...
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Reaching out after you win quarry permit – community involvement, Part 3
(Chris Hopkins started a series for quarry owners who have won a permit on what do you do now  - Part 1 and reaching out to the community - Part 2) By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group Most companies “contribute” to the community, but are they really involved? Is it enough ...
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Reach out to community after winning quarry permits, Part 2
(Chris Hopkins started a series for quarry owners based on what do you do, now that you have won your planning permit) [caption id="attachment_3027" align="alignleft" width="85" caption="You have quarry permit, now what do you so?"][/caption]By Chris HopkinsSenior Vice President for aggregates and mining, The Saint Consulting GroupYou have received your permits and you are ready to ...
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You have your quarry permit, now what do you do?
By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President for aggregates and mining, The Saint Consulting Group You have just finished a long and bruising permitting process. Your opponents were aggressive and some were even ruthless, but in the end you prevailed, you received all of your permits and are readying to open for business.  Before you open, some community ...
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Local outcry over quarry “hell”; may reason prevail to address concerns
By Chris Hopkins,Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group More often than not, local residents overreact to news of new development, especially new quarries and mines, why? Let's look at the dismay of villagers in Oxfordshire, England, who reflect the challenges that aggregate firms must learn to meet in order to survive. ...
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Public meetings can hand momentum to opponents, mine developer learns
By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President for Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group Our first recommendation to any client is to not hold public meetings if at all possible. Our preference is to meet residents one to one and in as small of groups as possible. Why? Because public meetings can go terribly wrong and the media ...
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