The expansion of mining activities into developing and transition economies has had both positive and negative impacts. On the one side the mining sector has provided regional and national economies with export and tax revenues, employment and infrastructure development. Nevertheless, it has also created significant negative impacts on the environment (ie the degradation of natural ecosystems and depletion of natural resources) and society (ie threatening the traditional lifestyle of indigenous communities neighbouring the mining areas (Yakovleva, 2005). In turn, social conflict has spread in those areas where communities perceive mining activities as a threat rather than a benefit.
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