Litigation could also result in international projects and within groups of multi-national corporations. Disagreements in methods, interpretation of drilling data, chemical analyses , and geophysical surveys often result in litigation. Mineral exploration and environmental investigations have many common characteristics. Both require a familiarity with the geologic literature and both involve drilling, sampling, and analyzing for anomalous compounds present at or near the surface of the earth. Mineral exploration involves the search and evaluation of concentrations of economic metals and other elements found in naturally-occurring deposits at or near the surface of the earth.
Mining involves the removal of earth materials and ore-grade materials to generate economic benefit.
Value is created by mining a mineral or commodity for use by society in making a product of value to society. In the process of making a product, waste and by-products are produced which have historically been improperly handled and disposed of at locations that often threaten the health and well being of humans and the environment. Environmental investigations involve the search and evaluation of concentrations of anthropogenic waste or by-products such as metals, hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, herbicides, and other industrial coumpounds found in and around industrial centers in concentrations considered, in many cases, to be potentially dangerous to human health and the environment, i.e., to other fauna, flora and other natural resources. In general, mining and mineral resources are directly linked to the environmental field. The former is the first stage of supplying society with its building blocks while the latter is the last stage of cleaning up after society's needs have been met.