Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H.


The mining and mineral resources disciplines involve a number of activities ranging from developing or reviewing mineral exploration programs and plans for potential financial investors, to engineering geological investigations and environmental permitting.

When disagreements arise in such projects they are usually because some aspect of the project has failed. This may be a result of an ambiguous agreement between two parties, undertaken originally for the sake of project expediency. Now, each claim is based on their interpretation of the original agreement. Often an investigation conducted to underwrite the project is later found to be allegedly flawed, and a partner wishes to withdraw from the project without financial malice or obligation. Litigation often results.

Other activities can lead to litigation: economic analyses of the ore reserves, the projected cash-flow, environmental permits, environmental impact statements (and environmental geology) for state and federal regulatory approval, mine dewatering, water-supply development or protection.

Causes for litigation often focus on the highly subjective or potentially ambiguous aspects of projects such as ore-reserve assessments, cash-flow realizations or cost estimates for environmental regulations. Disagreements over methods, interpretation of drilling data, chemical analyses or geophysical surveys can also result in litigation.

Mineral exploration and environmental investigations have many common characteristics. Both require a familiarity with the geologic literature and both involve drilling, sampling and analyzing for anomalous compounds present at or near the surface of the earth.

Mineral exploration involves the search and evaluation of concentrations of economic metals and other elements found in naturally occurring deposits at or near the surface of the earth. Mining involves the removal of earth materials and ore-grade materials to generate economic benefit. Successful mining projects consist of multidisciplinary activities such as heap-leach, precious metal projects and require a careful balance of geological, chemical, geotechnical, engineering, financial and management expertise.

In the process of producing products, waste and by-products that are produced may be improperly handled and disposed of at locations that can threaten the health and well being of humans and the environment.

Environmental investigations involve the search and evaluation of concentrations of anthropogenic waste or by-products such as metals, hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, herbicides and other industrial compounds in concentrations considered to be potentially dangerous to human health and the environment, i.e., to other fauna, flora and other natural resources.

For further information on the discipline, the Institute of Environmental Technology sponsors an Internet Resources Portal, click (here). For additional information on this discipline and associated technical support, see AEG-TX.ORG and AIPG-TX.ORG.

Note: The environmental field is multidisciplinary by nature, and ELA incorporates input from complimentary disciplines for maximum effectiveness whenever appropriate.