Upcoming Edumine Courses: ESG and sustainable mining
Sarah Gordon. Image from Resolver.
Growing up on a farm in northeastern Scotland, Sarah Gordon saw how sustainability was the key to peak agricultural production, and was always aware of the importance of the environment.
Choosing a path as an exploration geologist and recognizing the need for a better way of doing things than were being done in the coal mines of the U.K. in the 1980s and 1990s, Gordon saw the mining industry confronted with the uncomfortable question: What is more important, production, or the environment?
She set out to help find a balance. During one of her first case studies as a PhD student on location doing risk assessment at a mine in Brazil, Gordon’s team recognized that sustainability issues had to factor into calculations, and be part of the decision making table at the board level. The Imperial College PhD candidates were able to improve production, safety and sustainability so much that the co