RT Journal Article
T1 A Socio-Environmental History of a Copper Mining Company: Rio-Tinto Company Limited (1874–1930)
A1 García Gómez, José Joaquín
A1 Pérez Cebada, Juan Diego
AB Mining activities cause serious pollution problems that affect health and theenvironment. This paper focuses on the environmental and biological effects that mining activityhad on the population living and working in the Riotinto-Nerva area in the last third of thenineteenth century and the early twentieth century, when this area accounted for approximately10% of world copper production. To do so, we explore the social, technological, and scientificresponses to environmental pollution caused by mining extraction in this area duringindustrialisation. Second, we analyse welfare indicators, such as the heights of conscripts andmortality rates, so as to examine the social effects of the mining activity. Third, municipal healthand education expenditures are examined to study the intervention made by the local authorities toaddress the welfare problems caused by the mining work and environment. Finally, we examinewhether the health policy had positive effects on the health of the population after the negativeexternal effects of copper mining in this area had been mitigated. The findings show that thenegative impacts of copper exploitation on the environment and welfare could only be diminishedusing health policies to combat this kind of urban penalty.
PB MDPI
SN 2071-1050
YR 2020
FD 2020-06
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18300
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18300
LA eng
NO García Gómez, J. J., & Pérez Cebada, J. D. (2020). A Socio-Environmental History of a Copper Mining Company: Rio-Tinto Company Limited (1874–1930). Sustainability, 12(11), 4521. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114521
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026