I'm not sure about the scruples aspect. IME companies have a whole range of very dedicated people who honestly try to achieve the best possible outcome. That tailings dam in Brazil, notwithstanding.
Agreed about planning, as you say if there are no capital projects then there is no work...
Not that BHP has form in not responding appropriately to geologist reports about unsuitable sites for tailing's dams. Nothing like the 'clever' deal with the then PNG Govt to take all liability away for effectively killing the Fly River and OK Tedi. A few millions dollars paid 'legally' and all liability went.
When it happened, an ex-BHP geologist who co-conducted the work for the EIS was working for a large Aust broker. He hosted a VERY informative lunch for institutional investors about what happened - complete with his own consulting firm's reports on it. The site for the dam chosen was not where it had been recommended but in a place that was rated 'avoid' due to the unstable geological formation. The recommended site would have added a few tens of millions more to the cost.
"...Experts have predicted that it will take 300 years to clean up the
toxic contamination."
[h=3]
Ok Tedi environmental disaster - Wikipedia, the free ...[/h]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Tedi_environmental_disaster
Wikipedia
Villagers downstream from Ok Tedi in the
Fly River system in the Middle Fly ... In 1999,
BHP reported that 90 million tons of mine waste was annually ... Experts have predicted that it will take 300 years to clean up the
toxic contamination.
The
original plans included an Environmental Impact Statement that required a tailings dam be built. This would allow heavy metals and solid particles to settle, before releasing the clean ‘high-water’ into the river system where remaining contaminants would be diluted. In 1984 an earthquake caused the half built dam to collapse. The company continued operations without the dam, initially because BHP argued that it would be too expensive to rebuild it. Subsequently, the PNG government decided a dam wasn’t necessary, in the wake of the closure of the
Panguna mine
