Environmental issues with mining
Encyclopedia
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, formation of sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
s, loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, and contamination of soil, groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
and surface water
Surface water
Surface water is water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean; it is related to water collecting as groundwater or atmospheric water....
by chemicals from mining processes. In some cases, additional forest logging is done in the vicinity of mines to increase the available room for the storage of the created debris and soil. Besides creating environmental damage, the contamination resulting from leakage of chemicals also affect the health of the local population. Mining companies in some countries are required to follow environmental and rehabilitation codes, ensuring the area mined is returned to close to its original state. Some mining methods may have significant environmental and public health effects.
Erosion of exposed hillsides, mine dumps, tailings dams and resultant siltation
Siltation
Siltation is the pollution of water by fine particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable...
of drainages, creeks and rivers can significantly impact the surrounding areas, a prime example being the giant Ok Tedi Mine
Ok Tedi Mine
The Ok Tedi Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea...
in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. In areas of wilderness mining may cause destruction and disturbance of ecosystems and habitats, and in areas of farming it may disturb or destroy productive grazing and croplands. In urbanised environments mining may produce noise pollution
Noise pollution
Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life...
, dust pollution and visual pollution
Visual pollution
Visual pollution is the term given to unattractive and man-made visual elements of a vista, a landscape, or any other thing that a person does not feel comfortable to look at. Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue, referring to the impacts of pollution that impair one's ability to enjoy a vista or...
.
Water pollution
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
, sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
, and mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
over a significant area of surface or subsurface. Runoff of mere soil or rock debris -although non-toxic- also devastates the surrounding vegetation. The dumping of the runoff in surface waters or in forests is the worst option here. Submarine tailings disposal is regarded as a better option (if the soil is pumped to a great depth). Mere land storage and refilling of the mine after it has been depleted is even better, if no forests need to be cleared for the storage of the debris. There is potential for massive contamination of the area surrounding mines due to the various chemicals used in the mining process as well as the potentially damaging compounds and metals removed from the ground with the ore. Large amounts of water produced from mine drainage, mine cooling, aqueous extraction and other mining processes increases the potential for these chemicals to contaminate ground and surface water. In well-regulated mines, hydrologists and geologists take careful measurements of water and soil to exclude any type of water contamination
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
that could be caused by the mine's operations. The reducing or eliminating of environmental degradation is enforced in modern American mining by federal and state law, by restricting operators to meet standards for protecting surface and ground water from contamination. This is best done through the use of non-toxic extraction processes as bioleaching
Bioleaching
Bioleaching is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through the use of living organisms. This is much cleaner than the traditional heap leaching using cyanide...
. If the project site becomes nonetheless polluted, mitigation techniques such as acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment...
(AMD) need to be performed.
The five principal technologies used to monitor and control water flow at mine sites are diversion systems, containment ponds, groundwater pumping systems, subsurface drainage systems, and subsurface barriers. In the case of AMD, contaminated water is generally pumped to a treatment facility that neutralizes the contaminants.
Heavy metals
Dissolution and transport of metals and heavy metalsHeavy metals
A heavy metal is a member of a loosely-defined subset of elements that exhibit metallic properties. It mainly includes the transition metals, some metalloids, lanthanides, and actinides. Many different definitions have been proposed—some based on density, some on atomic number or atomic weight,...
by run-off and ground water is another example of environmental problems with mining, such as the Britannia Mine
Britannia Beach, British Columbia
Britannia Beach is a small unincorporated community in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District located approximately 30 kilometers north of Vancouver, British Columbia on the Sea-to-Sky Highway on Howe Sound. It has a population of about 300....
, a former copper mine near Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. Tar Creek
Picher, Oklahoma
Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. Formerly a major national center of lead and zinc mining at the heart of the Tri-State Mining District, over a century of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and...
, an abandoned mining area in Picher, Oklahoma that is now an Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
superfund site, also suffers from heavy metal contamination. Water in the mine containing dissolved heavy metals such as lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and cadmium
Cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...
leaked into local groundwater, contaminating it. Long-term storage of tailings and dust can lead to additional problems, as they can be easily blown off site by wind, as occurred at Scouriotissa, an abandoned copper mine in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
.
Deforestation
With open cast mining the overburden, which may be covered in forest, must be removed before the mining can commence. Although the deforestationDeforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
due to mining may be small compared to the total amount it may lead to species extinction if there is a high level of local endemism.
Subsidence
Mitigation
To ensure completion of reclamationLand reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
, or restoring mine land for future use, many governments and regulatory authorities around the world require that mining companies post a bond to be held in escrow until productivity of reclaimed land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
has been convincingly demonstrated, although if cleanup procedures are more expensive than the size of the bond, the bond may simply be abandoned. Since 1978 the mining industry has reclaimed more than 2 million acres (8,000 km²) of land in the United States alone. This reclaimed land has renewed vegetation and wildlife in previous mining lands and can even be used for farming and ranching.
Specific sites
- Appalachian MountainsAppalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
in the United States - Tui mineTui mineThe Tui mine is an abandoned mine on the western slopes of Mount Te Aroha in the Kaimai Range of New Zealand. It is considered to be the most contaminated site in the country, following the clean up of the former Fruitgrowers Chemical Company site at Mapua, Nelson.-History:In the 1960s, the Tui...
in New Zealand - Stockton mineStockton MineStockton Mine, on the Stockton Coal Field, is New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation. The entrance to the mine is at the former settlement of Stockton....
in New Zealand - Northland MineNorthland MineThe Northland Mine, also called the Northland Pyrite Mine and Harris Mine, is an abandoned underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the southwestern shore of James Lake in Best Township of Temagami. It was operated by the Northland Mining Company during the early 1900s with the...
in Temagami, Ontario, Canada - Sherman MineSherman MineSherman Mine is a large abandoned open pit mine in Temagami, Ontario, Canada. It was a major producer of iron ore. The mine was the source of a multi-ton boulder of banded iron formation and was mined from 1967 until 1990 by Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company...
in Temagami, Ontario, Canada - Ok Tedi MineOk Tedi MineThe Ok Tedi Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea...
in Western Province, Papua New Guinea - Some examples of areas affected by acid mine drainageAcid mine drainageAcid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment...
are the Berkeley PitBerkeley PitThe Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, United States. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of . It is filled to a depth of about with water that is heavily acidic , about the acidity of cola or lemon juice...
, and the Wheal Jane MineWheal JaneWheal Jane is a disused tin mine near Baldhu and Chacewater in West Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The area itself consisted of a large number of mines.-History:Wheal Jane was probably seriously worked for tin from the mid-18th century...
s.
Film and literature
- Tar CreekTar CreekTar Creek is a feature-length environmental documentary about the Tar Creek Superfund Site, which at one time was considered the worst environmental disaster in the United States. The land within the perimeters of this environmental disaster was bad enough that the federal government bought out the...
- Coal RiverCoal River (book)Coal River: How a Few Brave Americans Took on a Powerful Company–and the Federal Government–to Save the Land They Love is a book by Michael Shnayerson....
- Burning the Future: Coal in AmericaBurning the Future: Coal in AmericaBurning the Future: Coal in America is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by David Novack. The film focuses on the impacts of mountaintop mining in the Appalachians, where mountain ridges are scraped away by heavy machinery to access coal seams below, a process that is cheaper and faster...
- Mountain Top RemovalMountain Top Removal (film)Mountain Top Removal is a 2007 documentary film directed by Michael O'Connell. The film explores how Mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia has affected local communities...
- Moving Mountains: How One Woman and Her Community Won Justice From Big CoalMoving Mountains: How One Woman and Her Community Won Justice From Big CoalMoving Mountains: How One Woman and Her Community Won Justice From Big Coal is a 2007 book published by the University of Kentucky Press. The award-winning book is written by Virginia resident Penny Loeb, a former senior editor at U.S...
- The Devil's Miner (film)http://www.thedevilsminer.com/index_new.html
- Altiplano (film)Altiplano (film)Altiplano is a film by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth starring Magaly Solier, Jasmin Tabatabai and Olivier Gourmet. It takes places on three continents in five different languages...
http://www.altiplano.info/
See also
- List of environmental issues
- I Love MountainsI Love MountainsI Love Mountains, also known as iLoveMountains.org, is an environmental website against mountaintop removal coal mining.It is a self-described 'action and resource center' that attempts "to use cutting edge technology to inform and involve Americans in their efforts to save the mountains." It is...
, a lobby group in the United States