Environmental Impacts of Mining
Environmental Impacts of Mining
Environmental Impacts of Mining
II. SUMMARY
The art of mining itself comes in many different forms, and incorporates
many different styles and techniques in obtaining precious resources from the
ground. This, as a result, creates a large number of possible threats that have
the ability to bring an imbalance to an ecosystem.
Impacts on water resources
Perhaps the most significant impact of a mining project is its effects on
water quality and availability of water resources within the project area.
At modern mine sites, mine water is collected in settling ponds and tailing
dams to prevent entering the environment. However, uncontrolled discharge of
mine waters carrying dissolved minerals and particulate matter does inevitably
occur and once in contact with receiving water bodies, lakes, rivers or streams
the waters can cause undesirable results.
Many environmental impacts occur from mine waters, which is water that
has undergone compositional modifications due to mineral-water reactions at
mine sites. At modern mine sites, mine water is collected in settling ponds and
tailing dams to prevent entering the environment. However, uncontrolled
discharge of mine waters carrying dissolved minerals and particulate matter does
inevitably occur and once in contact with receiving water bodies, lakes, rivers or
streams the waters can cause undesirable results. The worst form of poor mine
water is Acid mine drainage (AMD).
There are many environmental concerns about the effects mining has on the
land. Trees need to be cut down in order to have a mine built, and whole forests
could be destroyed. Some mines make an effort to return the rock and land to its
original appearance by returning the rock and overburden to the pit that they
were taken out of. Copper mines sometimes extract ore that has very little copper
actually in it (less than 1%). Almost all of the mined ore of non-ferrous metals
becomes waste. Mining activities also may lead to erosion, which is dangerous
and bad for the land. It destroys river banks, and changes how the river flows,
where it flows, what lives in it, etc. Open-pit mining leaves behind large craters
that can be seen from outer-space.
Mining officials say that mining is the answer to the countrys poverty and
unemployment rate but a critical assessment of the literature under review
showed that much of the negative environmental and health effects of mining
activities have been documented. Mining affects and disrupts aquatic habitats,
terrestrial habitats and wetlands that contain diverse ecosystems and organisms
that rely on these areas for survival. Mining is dependent on fossil fuels, which
are nonrenewable, to generate the energy needed for its operations. Dust
released during the break up of materials causes lung problem and poses health
risks for miners and people that live in the surrounding area. Since the dawn of
time, man and environment has always clashed. With increasing developments
in modern technology, humans power to utilize the rich resources the earth can
provide is constantly expanding. The impacts from mining have been known for
many years, but the way in which the effect can be treated and the community
together can recognize and share the goal of environment protection and
conservation the needs of today can be meet without spoiling those of tomorrow.
VI. CONCLUSION
Mining activities are unsustainable not only because they exploit non-
renewable resources, but also because they leave behind them destruction of the
environment and society, which is very often irreversible. Because of its impacts,
mining is one of those activities that need to be strictly controlled at all stages,
from prospection and exploitation to transportation, processing and consumption.
Environmental quality must be sustained in areas affected by surface mining.
This requires designing and developing environmentally sensitive strategies for
extraction and land reclamation. It demands a more rigorous control of
environmental impact assessment and more attention to ensuring productive and
sustainable land restoration.
Mining and its allied activities have taken big strikes during the last century
contributing significant infrastructure development and raising the living
standards of mankind. However, they have also brought in their wake,
degeneration and degradation of natural resources, pollution, health risk and
socio-ecological instabilities. Environmental impacts of mining operation at
individual site may be local phenomena, but numerous mining sites clustered at a
particular area may eventually led to environmental problems of larger
magnitude.
VII. Bibliography
Jeff Skousen, no date, Overview of Passive Systems for Treating Acid Mine
Drainage,
West Virginia University, viewed 7th September 2010,
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/landrec/passtrt/passtrt.htm
Hughes, J 2010, Impacts of mining (pdf), course readings from ENVI1038, RMIT
University,
Melbourne, viewed 7 September 2010, RMIT University Learning Hub.
Hughes, J 2010, Gold mining (pdf), course readings from ENVI1038, RMIT
University,
Melbourne, viewed 7 September 2010, RMIT University Learning Hub.
Hughes, J 2010, Mining of Copper and Uranium (pdf), course readings from
ENVI1038, RMIT
University, Melbourne, viewed 8 September 2010, RMIT University Learning Hub.
Hughes, J 2010, AMD (pdf), course readings from ENVI1038, RMIT University,
Melbourne,
viewed 8 September 2010, RMIT University Learning Hub.