The activity of mining comes with certain environmental costs which can be long lasting. These costs cannot be accurately calculated using economic measures.
Soil destruction, erosion, and the formation of sinkholes are some of the environmental impacts caused by mining. Loss of biodiversity and contamination of soil, groundwater, and/or surface water by chemicals released during mining processes can also occur. In some cases, miners clear the forests near mines to create space to store the debris and soil created. Often, miners need to use adjacent water sources to process the ore, which can lead to contamination from leakage of chemicals. This can affect the health of the local population if not properly controlled. Extreme examples of pollution from mining activities include breaking of dams containing toxic water that flood villages living downstream or contaminate waterways killing the fish and lending the water poisonous, or coal fires, which can last for years or even decades, producing massive amounts of environmental damage.
Before mining can begin, companies are required to do an environmental impact assessment to determine what effect their mining will have. They must also develop an environmental management plan detailing how they will minimize their impact and monitor their progress. Additionally, they must create a mine closure plan in case mining operations need to be ceased. However, many companies do not follow these regulations, particularly in developing countries, because it is hard to hold them accountable.
How Are Precious Gems and Metals Mined?
Mining is the act of excavating precious gemstones and metals from the ground. There are three primary mining methods: surface mining, underground mining, and deep-sea mining. All three mining types are destructive to the environment. Here is a brief overview of each mining method:
Surface Mining
Surface mining is a form of mining that removes the soil and the rock covering the mineral deposits, leaving the overlying rock behind.
This type of mining is used when the overburden (surface material covering the desired deposit) is thin and the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling.
The first step in surface mining is to remove any overburden, such as topsoil or sand, that is covering the desired minerals. This is usually done with heavy machinery like excavators. Next, large machines extract the minerals, and the waste rock is left behind in piles.
- Open Pit Mining
Method of mining whereby an area is excavated to reveal minerals or rocks. This process is also known as open-cast or open-cut mining.
- HighWall Mining
Essentially, high wall mining involves dropping into an open pit and then horizontally drilling into the sides of the pit.
- Dredging
Mining companies dredge ocean and lake bottoms to find precious metals.
- Strip Mining
Mining companies remove the outer layer of earth (overburden) and deposit it onto an already existing strip of mined earth, creating new strips that are side-by-side.
Underground Mining
Mining sites are usually thought of as underground operations, where extracting ore creates openings. Shafts with elevators carry miners down to the site, and explosives and drills are used to excavate materials.
- Room-And-Pillar Mining
In room-and-pillar mining, miners create a checkerboard of rooms and pillars. This system supports the overlying rock of the room. Then, it’s easy to extract the materials.
- Longwall Mining
The longwall mining method is a less common method of mining that involves rooms being divided into rectangular panels. Moveable hydraulic supports create a canopy, and then a cutting machine moves back and forth under the canopy to mine the materials.
Deep-Sea Mining
Mining operations conducted in the deep sea, below 200 meters, to collect precious metals like dredging.
How Do Mining Methods Affect the Environment?
Mine Waste: Tailings
Ore mills need to crush large volumes of rock to extract the ore from it, which results in piles of non-economic material, called tailings. For example, each ton of copper produces 99 tons of waste. This waste can be toxic, and is usually produced as a slurry (mixed with water), which is then dumped into ponds made from existing valleys. These ponds are secured by impoundments (dams or embankment dams). In 2000, an estimated 3,500 tailing impoundments existed, and experienced 2 to 5 major failures and 35 minor failures each year. For example, in the Marcopper mining disaster, at least 2 million tons of tailings were released into a local river.Tailings can also produce acid drainage, in addition to dam failure. Tailings ponds and waste-rock storage piles must be monitored to ensure that they are intact and that acidic and metal-rich water is not leaking out.
Acid drainage
The biggest impacts of metallic mineral mining come from the mining and processing activities themselves. This can include disturbing the land surface, covering landscapes with tailings (waste from mining activities), and increasing the rate of erosion. Many metal deposits also contain pyrite, an uneconomic sulfide mineral that is often placed on waste dumps. When pyrite is exposed to oxygen and water, it undergoes complex reactions that release metal ions and hydrogen ions, lowering the pH to highly acidic levels. If not managed properly, these reactions can result in acidification of streams and groundwater plumes that carry dissolved toxic metals.
Mines that contain limestone or minerals like calcite and dolomite are less likely to produce acid drainage because these minerals can neutralize the acids generated by sulfides. However, it is still important to keep mine dumps and tailings away from water to prevent the dissolution of pyrite and the contamination of waterways. The mining industry has made significant progress in preventing contamination in recent years, but older mining projects are still causing problems for local ecosystems.
Deforestation
The forests that make up our world are disappearing at an alarming rate. This deforestation contributes to global warming, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and desertification.
The mining industry is estimated to have caused a loss of approximately 12 million Forest hectares in 2020 in the Tropics alone. If these carbon emissions continue unabated, it would be the equivalent of adding 570 million cars to the roadways each year which would contribute to ongoing global warming that continues to devastate local communities and human health.
As deforestation destroys more and more natural habitats, it becomes increasingly difficult for animals to find food and shelter. This in turn affects the food chain, and ultimately has consequences for the food we eat.
Depletion of Ground and Surface Water Sources
Whether we get our water from the ground or from the surface, we’re losing it at an alarming rate to mining. Last year, we lost over a trillion gallons of clean water to mining, and that’s having a real impact on the environment and on the people who depend on those water sources for their daily living.
How does this affect our environment and our economy? Farmers use groundwater sources to irrigate their crops, while surface water sources provide drinking water for large cities across America. This affects the environment because it can lead to depletion of water resources and it also affects the economy because it can lead to higher prices for water.
When water is contaminated by mining, it can cause health problems for animals that drink it. If humans drink the same water or eat food that has been contaminated by it, they could get very sick, with diseases such as cancer and congenital disabilities.
Harmful Mining Dust Particles
Mining dust is a major environmental pollutant that is harmful to human health, especially when it comes to small particles known as PM. These particles can cause a range of pulmonary effects, including lung irritation, and can also impact visibility during periods of intense smog.
Decreased crop yields and leaf disease in plants can be caused by dust particles. To reduce the amount of dust, companies should have workers wear masks and respirators when working in dusty areas. Creating a comprehensive dust control plan is also helpful.
Can the Environmental Impacts of Mining Decrease?
Can mining have a positive environmental impact? Absolutely! There are several ways mining can have a positive environmental impact. The Environmental Protection Agency is committed to helping both individual industrial operations and cities reduce the adverse effects of mining.
The EPA recommends that cities and industrial operations work together to use cleaner energy sources, such as natural gas or renewable energy, in order to reduce the impact on the environment in terms of carbon emissions. They also recommend creating an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, and having a plan in place to reduce those emissions. There are programs available through the EPA that will assist you with creating an inventory and a management plan.
Superfund sites
There are thousands of contaminated sites in the US due to the improper management of hazardous waste. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining sites. Common contaminants include lead, asbestos, dioxin, and radiation waste.
In the late 1970s, dangerous toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Valley of the Drums became well-known when the public discovered how harmful they were to human health and the environment.
CERCLA was established in 1980 in response to Congress.
CERCLA is commonly referred to as Superfund. It gives the EPA the authority to clean up polluted sites. It also requires the parties responsible for the pollution to either clean up the site themselves or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup efforts.
Superfund provides the EPA with the funds and authority to clean up contaminated sites when there is no viable responsible party.
Superfund’s goals are to:
- Protect human health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated sites;
- Make responsible parties pay for cleanup work;
- Involve communities in the Superfund process; and
- Return Superfund sites to productive use.
How Consumers Can Make a Difference
The saying “put your money where your mouth is” means that you should support your beliefs with your actions. The best way consumers can help stop unethical diamond mining is by not buying diamonds that come from mines. Instead, they should buy diamonds that are ethically created in a lab.
How Does This Help?
Lab-made diamonds have many benefits over traditional mined diamonds. They are made in a controlled environment, so there are no ethical or environmental concerns. They are also purer and more beautiful.
Are Lab-Created Diamonds Any Different Than Natural?
The only difference between lab-created diamonds and diamonds that occur in nature is that the latter are mined using destructive processes that also mine for heavy metals.
Media. diamondgeo. Lab Created Diamonds. Lab-created diamonds are created in labs by using high-pressure and high-temperature methods, as well as chemical vapor deposition.
Rehabilitation of Mined Areas
After mining is completed, the area where the mine was located must go through a process of rehabilitation. The waste dumps from the mining are contoured to make them level and further stabilize them. If the ore that was mined contained sulfites (such as pyrite), engineers usually cover it with a layer of clay. This is done to prevent rain and oxygen from the air from coming into contact with the sulfides. If this happens, the sulfides will oxidize and produce sulfuric acid, which is known as acid mine drainage. Once the sulfides are covered with clay, soil is placed on top of it and vegetation is planted. The vegetation will help to hold the soil in place. Over time, the clay layer will start to erode. However, engineers hope that the rate at which the acid leaches will be slow enough that the environment will be able to handle the load of acid and the heavy metals that are associated with it. There are no long-term studies that have been conducted on the success of these types of covers because large-scale open pit mining has only been around for a relatively short period of time.
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