Effects Of Coal Mining On The Environment – Can mining ever be sustainable? It is a crucial question if we want to use our planet’s limited resources more sustainably. Find out here.

Can mining ever be sustainable? It is a crucial question if we want to use our planet’s limited resources more sustainably. The argument that mining provides the natural resources needed for the green revolution (Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt and other battery metals) is convincing, but the wider question of how this will be managed is the long term is still being discussed.

Effects Of Coal Mining On The Environment

Extracting minerals is essentially extracting a non-renewable resource, so finding ways to make this sustainable for future generations is complex and multifaceted.

Coal Mining: Fueling The Revolution: Coal Mining And Industrialization

If we want to make mining more sustainable, we need to know which areas have the greatest impact so that we can alleviate and mitigate them at source. According to the NGO “Alaskans for Responsible Mining” speaking at the Western Mining Action Network (WMAN), mining activities can damage soil, pollute air and drinking water as well as affect wildlife, habitats, and can scar ecosystems permanently.

There is still much to be done on the ground to make the mining life cycle safer and more sustainable. Let’s look at the main areas of impact at the moment:

With mining relying heavily on fossil fuels to power its activities, carbon emissions are a major issue for the sector to address. In order to tackle these emissions, some nations have enacted regulations that require the use of emission credits. Yet, many countries still lack codes that address carbon output. In places like China and Russia environmental standards are minimal and sometimes non-existent, which is a big problem as China continues to increase its mining activities.

The mining industry produces between 1.9 and 5.1 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to a report by consultants McKinsey. The majority of emissions come from underground operations. Carbon emissions from mining, like emissions from any other industry, are the main causes of climate change.

Mining’s Impact On Water Polliution

The emissions can cause respiratory health problems for local communities as seen in The majority of carbon emissions in mining come from coalbed methane. Not only that, a United Nations study states that the primary extraction and processing of metals and other minerals is responsible for 20% of the health effects of air pollution and 26% of total global carbon emissions.

Molycorp is a great example of a company that took over a mine and adapted its activities to more sustainable operating standards, what MIT simply calls “environmentally sensitive mining”.

Mountain Pass is a mine in the Clark Mountain Range in California, United States of America. It was owned by Chevron at the time, and was shut down in 2002 for various reasons, including competition from China. It had previously produced most of the world’s supply of rare earth metals. In 2008 it was taken over by Molycorp. The company implemented changes including new tailings storage methods to reduce volatility and water recycling, as well as using waste heat from operations for steam and power to help reduce on-site carbon emissions.

Mining usually involves cutting materials to obtain minerals or other metals. This creates dust which can have many effects on people’s health, especially as a result of coal mining. Dust from Riebeckite, an asbestos-like mineral dust can be absorbed by human and animal lungs causing pneumoconiosis and silicosis, better known as “Black Lung”. Coal mine flues can also produce dust.

Harmful Impacts Of Mining

When mining for Fluorine, flue output can contain fluorine dust (8.5 kg of fluorine per tonne of flue dust), which is also harmful to human health if consumed in high concentrations, as they are associated with the skeletal condition fluorosis.

When mining for radioactive minerals such as Uranium there is the potential for these radioactive chemicals to be leached into the environment. These chemicals are called radionuclides and can contaminate waterways near these mines.

Although some studies of rivers in Portugal (a region rich in Uranium) suggest that concentrations of these chemicals are within acceptable ranges, there are cases when leachate becomes very dangerous. For example, acid and metal runoff from the Zortman Landusky mine in Montana damaged biological life in a dozen streams in the Little Rockies. The mine has experienced over a dozen cyanide spills, including one spill that released 50,000 gallons of cyanide solution and contaminated a community drinking water supply.

In metal mines, the ore that is extracted (such as gold, silver, copper, etc.) is often rich in sulphide minerals. The mining process exposes these sulphides to water and air, and together they react to form sulfuric acid. Acid mine drainage can be released from mines anywhere sulphides are exposed to air and water. This includes waste rock piles, open pit tailings, leach pads and underground tunnels. This has a major impact on fish, animals and plants. Many affected streams can have a pH of 4 or below – the same pH as battery acid.

Does Lithium Mining Have Consequences?

Robinson Dam in Randfontein, South Africa contaminated and highly radioactive with uranium and iron pyrite from years of acid mine drainage.

To extract metals from oxidized minerals, cyanide is often used. Yet the Cyanide in leachate ponds is known to cause wildlife deaths. In California for example, between 1980 and 1989 7, 613 animals died from contact with Cyanide from leaching ponds in the state and Nevada and Arizona.

These problems don’t all come from currently active mines either, old mines can leave a legacy of significant environmental damage that can last decades and even centuries. Acid mine drainage is particularly harmful because it can continue indefinitely.

This can be from the release of Cyanide and Mercury into watercourses for example, or simply the disruption of natural wildlife corridors. This is a huge problem with Gold mining in particular. For example, the Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea discharges more than 5 million tonnes of toxic waste into the Pacific Ocean every year. This destroys corals and other ocean life and contaminates waterways locally and further downstream.

What Is Mining?

Mining can also affect people’s health. The release of toxic chemicals into local food chains can lead to health problems and even cancer in some cases. Coal dust still affects many people due to black lung disease and mining for other materials can cause a host of other health issues for mine workers and those who live nearby. There are thousands of deaths due to mining accidents and health problems every year. Of course, the mining industry has made a concerted effort in the last decade to address these issues but there is still much to do.

The worst impacts on environmental and human health come from strip mining (also known as open pit mining), which still accounts for 80% of mining in Australia and 40% globally. Strip mining erodes topsoil due to runoff (resulting in chemical discharge into waterways) and can degrade local forests, habitats and landscapes. Its effects on human health are also significant such as respiratory problems related to dust and water contamination and shortages in vulnerable communities.

The majority of mining activity worldwide is underground mining. It may cause less environmental problems on the surface, but the indirect effects are also great. Underground mining displaces large amounts of soil to the surface, which requires a large amount of energy to mine, which of course adds to energy-related carbon emissions. It can also lead to overhead subsidence which can be a risk to buildings and people above.

The volume of waste brought to the surface can also contain a cocktail of toxic waste that can harm the health of nearby populations through drinking water or air pollution and contamination. Mining can also lower local and even national water tables due to the large volumes of water required to filter through the material to obtain metals and other mineable resources. This pressure on water capital is called “Water Stress”, with water scarcity being one of the biggest sustainability issues in metals and mining, says Fitch Ratings.

Why Trump Just Killed A Rule Restricting Coal Companies From Dumping Waste In Streams

Methane gas released from underground coal mining is another issue to contend with. Methane is twenty times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Although much of this is currently collected for use in power generation, there are many cases such as in China where methane has been accidentally released in large quantities due to unsustainable mining practices. Although methane can be used as a power source, its effects on climate change are significant, if not captured. This also has indirect effects on human health due to respiratory conditions caused by higher greenhouse gas emissions.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s also the issue of underground coal fires that can burn for centuries, adding smoke full of carbon monoxide. This smoke can also contain carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides as well as ash. All of these add to climate change emissions which affect environmental resilience in the poorest communities as well as causing health problems.

The International Journal of Coal Geology states that proximity to the source of coal fire pollution and smoldering combustion increases the risk of local communities being exposed to high concentrations of known toxins such as aerosolized particles. The Journal says

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