Much has been written about the need to preserve the environment and the legal duties enterprises are subject to, but little has been established in terms of the environmental cost all this implies. This article attempts to show that it is possible to define economic and juridical instruments together that could bring a better balance to the system. These aspects are based on the idea that entrepreneurs' cost (polluting-payer principle) may reach an acceptable limit, beyond which the community, represented by the public power, could take on costs through negotiation. In short, that would be an introduction of the beneficiary-payer principle concept as part of this deal. Environmental costs accountancy would be then highly regarded, from project phase to operation and closure. The theoretical bases of this Environmental Economy Approach are introduced, as well as the levels that could be established and some suggestions to operate a new system upon legal-economic bases.
environmental; mining; economy; costs; pollution; impacts; rehabilitation
