Analysis for Green Mine (phosphate) performance of China: An evaluation index system

Green Mine has become a common plan of Green Mining in China since 2003. Phosphate mining is noticeably important for agriculture. Despite mining technologies made a great progress, resources depletion and mining produced environmental problems are still very severe in many developing countries. Green Mine construction can be a feasible choice to arouse the enthusiasm of Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR) and widely facilitate the Green Mining. Thus, the pith of Green Mine is introduced, which is a critical part of recourses policy for Green Mining. Focusing on demonstration projects, field research and questionnaires are carried out to pick up experts' opinions all over the typical phosphate mining areas. Then as an unprecedented trial, evaluation index system for Green Mine (phosphate) is presented. And it profoundly fosters the basic Green Mine connotation by measuring mining efficiency, Research and Development (R&D), Cleaner Production, corporation management, environment quality and social benefits performance. The proposed evaluation model is characterized by a combination method of Delphi, AHP and Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. On this basis, special evaluation case studies are subsequently available and findings reflect a common performance of both open-pit and underground mines. However, Green Mine policy is a difficult choice for the Chinese government and mining industry. And a stronger need for interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary to bring the Green Mine a bright future. Further research may be the application of other hybrid approaches with the fuzzy analysis of the Green Mine.