ABSTRACT
Processes and outcomes in mining are invariably and inevitably shaped by markets, even when occurring in nationalized or socialist, centralized economies. The market’s limitations manifest in different ways across different types of economic activities, including mining. Mining often aggravates the market’s limitations, thereby making it that much more important to be attentive to what development ethics has to offer. This essay examines six of the more significant market limitations prevalent in the mining sector and considers what extra-market remedies are needed (development ethics) and what Catholic social thought and praxis have to offer. It is a contribution to what can be called mining development ethics, that is, the extra-market interventions and oversight that are needed to put mining sector processes and outcomes in the service of peace and the common good.
