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Obviously the resources of the planet are finite and this is a limiting factor to growth and development. The depletion of the resources of the planet is one of the factors which has helped create the current interest in sustainability. Nevertheless the economic system under which the world operates is predicated on an assumption that development is possible and so the concern is with acquiring the additional resources required for that development. This is perfectly in accordance with the assumptions made by Brundtland and accepted ever since. However environmentalists have been showing that the resources of the world are overused and usage is not sustainable at this level and there is starting to be a general understanding of the meaning of resource depletion. While this has been occupying the minds of people in the developed western world a number of countries have adopted a strategy of rapid growth and economic development. Principal among these have been the BRIC countries. These countries have access to a large proportion of the remaining natural resources of the world while also having large populations and therefore great scope for rapid economic growth. This leads of course to an unstable global economy as there is a looming imbalance between supply and demand, leading to problems of governance in this new environment. We consider a diagnosis and prognosis for this situation.

This chapter is concerned with the use of resources in the manufacture of products and services, both at the level of the individual firm and at the level of the market and particularly with what happens in an environment of resource depletion and as resources become scarce. The argument is that this is a new environment for the economic systems of the world which has not currently been recognised within economic planning. This new environment needs new approaches and this chapter is concerned with this situation. The aim therefore is to understand this new environment where resources are constrained by their limited availability and to develop strategies and techniques to manage in this environment.

The logic of the economic system under which the world operates is predicated on an assumption that development is possible and that the pricing system mediates the acquisition of the additional resources required for that development. The chapter investigates where those resources are and focuses particularly on the BRIC counties. These countries have access to a large proportion of the remaining natural resources of the world while also having large populations and therefore great scope for rapid economic growth. These four countries contain a significant proportion of the world’s reserves of raw materials, but they are also rapidly developing countries with that development fuelled by their raw materials. One consequence of this is that the resources available to other countries in the developed world are constrained by this rising demand, with a number of possible consequences. The discourse in the developed world is towards the conservation of resources and towards energy efficiency. This is reflected in both manufacturing resources and consumer purchasing decisions. So it is generally accepted that resource depletion will affect the economic environment. It is not yet fully recognised, however, that development in other parts of the world will exacerbate this pressure and lead to a greater need to compete for the available resources. This competition will be economic but could also become physical as the world adjusts to a new geopolitical environment. This is an important topic not being addressed elsewhere.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the economic problems associated with illegal mining of minerals, primarily gold, in Peru, such as the development of shadow business, illegal activities, income hiding, labor exploitation, disastrous environmental consequences and the results of efforts to develop a coherent policy against illegal mining in Peru.

In the article, authors use an empirical approach and a system analysis, during which the object of research (companies engaged in illegal gold mining) is considered as a system that responds to external influences (requirements, challenges, etc.) and interacts with the internal environment (legal, institutional, etc.)

Since 2016, the consolidation and deepening of the state policy to eradicate the illegal mining of metal resources, including gold, is observed in Peru. The government is developing a coherent, dynamic program to tackle this complex problem.

In the article, as a result of the analysis of the state policy to combat illegal mining, it is concluded that to achieve success in the implementation of a comprehensive program for the sustainable development of the country's mining complex, active participation of the state in this process is necessary. Government assistance with the mining complex development should range from adequate provision of affordable, timely and adequate basic services to the guarantees of legal rights protection to all parties involved in mining activities.