1. TRANSITIONING TO A
SUSTAINABLE MINING: A
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Andres Sanabria
Regional and Rural Policy Unit
CFE-OECD
19th April 2019

2. 1. Evidence about regions with a mining specialisation
2. Challenges and opportunities in the transition to sustainable
mining
3. Areas for government support
2
Presentation outline

3. Summary of findings:
• Mining is spatially concentrated, often in
low density economies – linkages with local
economies vary considerably
• Strong productivity performance but
volatility in growth, inequalities, and local
dutch disease effects
• Place-based approaches are needed to
address these issues – land use and
housing, supply of local skills and
competencies, and linking local SMEs to
mining value chains
• Importance of multi-level governance -
alignment with revenues and institutional
capacities at a sub-national level to support
integration of mining with regional
development
3
Our work has shown that in regions specialised
in mining and extractive industries regional
development follows specific dynamics

4. 4
Mining and extractive activities are spatially
concentrated
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Locational quotient
Regional specialisation in industry (employment), select OECD countries
Source: OECD Regional Database. Industry category in this chart includes mining and extractive activities, energy and water. The
locational quotient (LQ) for is the ratio between the sector weight in employment for the region, and the weight of the same sector in
national employment. A value above 1 implies that the region is more specialised in that sector than the rest of the economy. LQ
scores for Sweden and Finland are 2012, and for other countries 2014.

5. 5
Coping with changes in external markets and
volatility in regional growth performance
GDP growth index, select OECD countries and regions, 2001-2014 (2001 = 100)
Source: OECD Regional Database. *25 regions across Australia, Canada, Hungary, Finland,
Sweden, the United States. Regions with a locational quotient higher than 2 were included in the
sample.
Standard deviation of
difference in GDP
growth (2001-2011) for
a larger sample of
OECD regions
specialised in mining
was 28.08 compared
to 13.08 for the
national level*.
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Sweden
Norrbottens County United States Wyoming

6. 6
High productivity with uneven distribution of
benefits
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Antofagasta Atacama Western Australia Newfoundland and
Labrador
Saskatchewan Alberta Northern Territory
Percentage
GVA - industry Employment - industry
Percentage of GVA and Employment, Industry*, select OECD regions (2013)
Source: OECD Regional Database. *Includes mining and extractive activities, and utilities.

7. Key issues Examples
Localised environmental
externalities
Impacts on water quality and availability, run-off and
emissions, dust and noise
Conflicts with other land
users
Residents, food producers, tourism operators, and Indigenous
peoples
Innovation and value-
chains
Adapting production techniques to local environment
conditions, local procurement and supply chain opportunities
Local workforce Skills mismatches, temporary accommodation and housing,
amenities and public services
Regional infrastructure
networks
Bottlenecks in existing transport, energy and communications
networks, opportunities for investment and shared use
Mining closure and
transition
Environmental remediation, localised transition and structural
adjustment costs
7
Mining is a global business – but regional and
local issues matter

8. 1. Evidence about regions with a mining specialisation
2. Challenges and opportunities in the transition to
sustainable mining
3. Areas for government support
8
Presentation outline

9. 9
Impacts of energy transition are
geographically located.
Occupation (ISCO name) Share of jobs at high risk of
automation, average across TL2
regions
Food preparation assistants 0.6%
Drivers and Mobile Plant Operators 3.5%
Labourers in Mining, Construction, Manufacturing and
Transport
2.2%
Stationary Plant and Machine Operators 2.6%
Refuse Workers and Other Elementary Workers 0.8%
• Automation to achieve a cleaner mining activity  can be a risk for local
economy/ jobs
• Mining closure (Coal mines)  impact on employment in mining
regions.
 Bottlenecks to find alternative sources of income (high
specialization)
 Single mining/industry town
 Just transition
Top 5 occupations in terms of jobs at risk of automation
OECD (2018[13]), Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2018: Preparing for the Future of Work, OECD Publishing,
Paris.

10. These challenges can accelerate
demographic changes in rural areas.
10 20 30 40 50
TUN
ROU
BGR
ISR
LUX
MEX
TUR
CHL
SVK
ISL
IRL
POL
USA
OECD
BEL
NZL
KOR
HUN
SVN
AUT
CZE
NOR
CAN
AUS
LTU
LVA
CHE
EST
DEU
DNK
ITA
FIN
FRA
GBR
SWE
GRC
PRT
NLD
ESP
JPN
Urban Rural
%
Dependency ratios in 2017
Elderly dependency ratios by type of
region (2017)
Change in the share of population by type of region (TL3)
from 2000 to 20017

11. • Hunter Valley (Aus): Using expertise on exports
– One of the highest concentration of coal mines in the world. The biggest export coal facility. Mining
employs directly 9,000 workers
– Economic diversification Plan to leverage on regional advantage
– Foster growing renewable energy capacities by working with private sector
• Verdal (NO) or Latrobe Valley (Aus)– transition to renewable energies
– Verdal: Inter-firm networks and extra-local linkages to new markets  Wind- cluster Mid-Norway
project.
– Latrobe: Plan to become a Hub of Solar water-heating manufacturing  Infrastructure to promote
new ventures, training and agglomeration of existing firms.
• Outokumpu (FIN)- hub on mining manufacutirng
– Old mining company created Outotec- Big player on mining machinery
– Next plan is to create cluster to support green mining in Finland
– Can benefit from deposits of new minerals (cobalt)
• Iberian Cluster of Sustainable Mining: Connect different stakeholders to support
next industrial revolution  material for 3D printers and batteries
11
The transition can offer an opportunity to
diversify the economy and support renewable
technologies

12. 1. Evidence about regions with a mining specialisation
2. Challenges and opportunities in the transition to sustainable
mining
3. Areas for government support
12
Presentation outline

13. Skills and human capital
Diversification of income
(non-farming activities, policy
complementarities)
Agriculture/extractive
sector
Traditional
approach
Territories – subnational entities
Accessibility and ICT
infrastructure (external links)
Institutions at different
levels of government
(future proof developing plans,
measures)
Integrated
multidimensional
approach
• Metropolitan areas
• Rural close to cities
• Rural remote
An integrated view on regional development will
support a sustainable regional growth

14. Developing policy at right scale: different
types of rural areas
 Rural within FUA – part of the catchment area
• Challenges with matching of skills, land use policies, environmental costs
 Rural close to cities – attract new residents, tend to have good industrial mix
• Challenges to balance economic and social diversity and competition for
land and landscape
 Rural Remote – primary activities play a relevant role in the regional economy
• Challenges to mobilise areas of absolute advantage, improving provision
of essential services

15. Acknowledge right drivers of productivity
growth in rural areas
 Tradable activities are key for rural close to cities and remote rural
 A minimum level of density is key for economies of scale/scope and delivery of
goods and services.

16. 16
OECD Mining Regions and Cities Initiative
1. Develop global tool-box with
recommendations and evidence to
benchmark and inform regional development in
a mining and extractives industry context for the
mining industry, for national and sub-national
governments, and non-government organisations
to cooperate on addressing shared challenges.
2. Produce a series of case studies that deliver
regional specific recommendations and support
for regions and cities to implement better regional
development policies
3. Develop a global platform for mining
regions and cities through events and peer-
review that enable knowledge sharing, advocacy
and dialogue between public/private sectors and
local communities on better policies to enhance
regional productivity and wellbeing.

17. 17
3RD OECD Meeting of Mining Regions and Cities
11th June Pre-Conference in Partnership with MIREU
• Bring together 30-40 key regional and industry stakeholders from the EU, Chile, Australia, and
Canada
• Objective: Shape the quality of life priority of the OECD Mining Regions and Cities Initiative
– Mega-trends and future drivers of change (Demographics, Digitalization, Climate Change etc.)
– Policy Lessons and Levers
– Defining progress and indicators (including alignment with SDGs e.g. affordable and clean energy, gender equality,
and no poverty)
12-13th June 2019, Conference, Skellefteå, Region Västerbotten - Sweden
• Thematic Focus: Regional development in the Arctic & enhancing quality of life for regions and
cities with a specialization in mining and resources.

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
ANDRES.SANABRIA@OECD.ORG
MININGREGIONS@OECD.ORG
WWW.OECD.ORG/CFE/REGIONAL-POLICY/MINING-
REGIONS.HTM
18