Mining and sustainable development can seem a contradiction in terms because mines deplete ore bodies which cannot be sustained in their operational form forever.

Though a specific mine has a finite life, due to technological change, society's ability to discover additional resources, to recover metals from lower grade ores, to continually recycle and reuse metals and if necessary find substitutes, means that mineral resource depletion is not an issue for the foreseeable future.

The 2002 Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) report found that the world is unlikely to face shortages of commercially important mineral commodities at a global level in the next half century, and that the greater risk to long term future mineral resource availability is likely to stem from social and environmental factors rather than global mineral resource depletion.

If done well, ore extraction can result in lasting social, human, economic and environmental capital, not only meeting current needs but providing the hardware and software to enable future generations to meet their needs. This was recognised in the official report of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. The report said: "Mining, minerals and metals are important to the economic and social development of many countries... [and] are essential for modern living."

The ongoing challenge for the mining and metals sector is to continue to deliver these lasting benefits, while also reducing and better managing any adverse social and environmental effects.

In this regard, mining uses a relatively small area compared to that used by other resource industries such as forestry, fishing or farming, to provide useful economic and social benefits over the long term. Furthermore, replacing the goods and services provided by mining with goods and services of biological origin, where this is feasible, could do much more harm to the environment than making use of minerals.

In the developing regions of the world, one of the most urgent imperatives in making the transition to sustainable development is to alleviate poverty. Few industries offer as good an opportunity as the modern metals and minerals sectors for increasing incomes rapidly, in addition to transferring skills and technology or supplying the raw materials for basic needs.

Indeed, the significant nature of the contribution of mining to the sustainable development and poverty alleviation was reinforced in the recent final report of the World Bank Group's Extractive Industries Review, which while recognising that large mineral extraction poses special challenges, stated that "if these challenges are handled well, the extractive sector can become a powerful engine for poverty alleviation."