Mining And Its Effects On The Environment – The mining industry has been a prominent part of the world economy for many decades. The extraction of mineral resources makes the mining sector important to many industries, from our use of metals to lithium for batteries to power our devices. While the resulting products and resources are now common, the mining process has negative environmental and social impacts.

Negative impacts of mining span all levels, from local to regional and global. It also affects humans, birds and land and water animals. In this article, we will examine the environmental impact of mining-related activities and analyze the effects of mining operations on ecological systems and natural conditions. It also delves into its impact on the world in which humans and all biota live.

Mining And Its Effects On The Environment

Mining is the extraction of useful mineral resources from the earth and sea. The business of the mining industry is to extract precious minerals and other geological materials. Extracted substances are those that we cannot obtain or produce through agricultural processes or manufacturing in a laboratory or industry.

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The extracted minerals are inorganic substances that occur in nature with specific physical properties or molecular structures and precise chemical compositions. Minerals in the earth mix with other unwanted rock minerals. However, they are only valuable in their pure forms.

The pure mineral form comes from processing and refining extracted substances to separate them from unwanted rocks and other minerals. The transformation of these extracted substances into valuable materials boosts economies where they are mined and processed.

In addition, the total amount of minerals present in a deposit is the mineral stock. On the other hand, the amount that can be mined for profit is the ore reserve.

Some examples of substances we extract are gold, iron ore, copper, coal, oil shale, limestone, rock salt and potash.

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Mining is an important industry and one of the largest contributors to the world economy. The development of mining industries has an impact on the resource acquisition potential and economic growth of a country. This makes it one of the main sources of earnings of a country rich in mineral reserves that the mining industry can exploit profitably.

Statistics show that the revenue of the top 40 global mining companies, which represent the majority of the global mining industry, amounted to 656 billion US dollars in 2020.

Furthermore, the origin of the mining industry dates back to prehistoric times. The first mineral to be mined was flint, which was ideal for scrapers, knives and arrowheads because of its natural pattern that made it easy to break into sharp shards. Also metal mining of gold, ocher and malachite – the copper mineral, dates back to prehistoric times, during the Neolithic Age or Stone Age.

The mining industry falls under two classifications of industries, either the geophysical or chemical industry. This classification depends on the characteristics of the mining industry, with the relative depth of the mineral deposit and the economic value of the mineral all playing an important role in determining the mining technique.

Mining And Its Effects On The Environment

Additionally, mining techniques have two categories. The first is the type of excavation, which consists of surface, underground or underground mining. The second is the target material category consisting of placer mining and in situ mining. Below we briefly examine the techniques of mining:

Surface mining extracts minerals near the surface of the earth. This involves removing the surface vegetation, dirt and even layers of rock. The purpose is the exploitation of buried oil deposits.

Surface mining is a broad category of mining that involves the removal of soil and overlying rock from a mineral deposit. Miners use surface mining to extract the most commonly mined minerals such as coal, iron and bauxite. This type of mining has different techniques such as strip mining, mountaintop removal mining, high wall mining, dredging and open pit mining.

Open pit mining involves digging a large area of ​​land and bringing the ore to the surface with a conveyor belt. The mining of gold, silver and copper involves this technique.

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Strip mining involves clearing vegetation and rocks on the land’s surface prior to mining. Its use is mainly for the extraction of coal and other hard minerals.

Mountaintop removal mining removes the top of the mountain and mines the ore at the depth of the mountain.

Today, surface mining is responsible for the extraction of two-thirds of the world’s solid minerals. Its use is predominant in the acquisition of gravel, crushed stone, sand, coal, phosphate, copper, iron and aluminium. In addition, many miners often prefer surface mining to underground mining because it is cheaper and has fewer complications. It is also safer in terms of electricity and water.

In contrast to surface mining, which undertakes the removal of surface terrain and overlying rock, underground mining removes mineral deposits through shafts and tunnels. The overlying rock is left in place.

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Underground or underground mining consists of excavating deep below the earth’s crust at the location of the mineral resources. This involves digging subversive tunnels and chambers below the ground surface. Miners use devices such as drills to dig through the rock and extract the oil from an already dug tunnel.

Compared to surface mining, this mining method is expensive and dangerous. As a result, miners mainly use it in situations where there is a close concentration of valuable ores such as gold.

There are different underground mining techniques when extracting valuable items such as coal, diamonds and ore. Miners use different techniques in hard and soft rock formations. A significant advantage of underground mining over surface mining is the possibility of underwater excavation.

In situ leaching (ISL), also known as in situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining, is the technique of extracting valuable minerals from ore. This extraction is done without extracting the mixture of ore and rock to the surface for processing.

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The technique involves injecting chemicals into an ore deposit to soften the metal and allow it to flow to the surface. ISR involves dissolving a mineral deposit in the ground and then processing it at the surface without excavating any rock.

In situ mining is often considered more environmentally friendly because it causes minimal noise, dust and greenhouse emissions. It also causes minimal physical disruption and is cost effective. Its use is common in the recovery of uranium, gold, silver, zinc, lead and other metals. Studies have recorded that in 2019, 57% of the world’s uranium mined occurred through in situ leaching.

The name placer comes from the Spanish word “placera”, which means “alluvial sand”. Placers are particles formed by the exposure of sedimentary rock layers at the Earth’s surface as a result of tectonic movements.

Placer is a deposit of loosely dispersed gravel that contains precious metals such as gold or other heavy metals. We can find these placers in alluvial deposits, rock, sand and gravel sediments in modern or ancient stream beds.

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Placer mining is the method of extracting valuable mineral deposits from loose river sediments. Experts use it to sift out valuable metals from sediments in river channels, beach sand or other environments.

This mining technique exploits precious metal deposits (primarily gold and gemstones) and ranges from small-scale in situ gold mining to larger-scale industrial-sized operations.

The placer mining technique is common in habitats with a natural accumulation of sediments. It is also common in river beds and sand. Examples of minerals that miners collect using placer mining include platinum, diamonds and tin. Moreover, the choice of any of these mining techniques depends on certain considerations. These considerations include the site of the mineral deposits and the economic value of the deposit. Others are the chemical composition of the deposit and also environmental considerations.

Although mining contributes significantly to the world economy, mining operations have a negative environmental impact. These impacts occur both before and after mining activity. In response, most of the world’s countries have introduced regulations to reduce the impact.

Environmental Impacts Of Mining

However, due to the constant demand for mined mineral deposits, full application of such regulation is impossible. Mining has the potential to release harmful substances into the air and water and can lead to soil damage. It also pollutes water and air, harms wildlife and nature, and permanently disrupts natural landscapes. Research shows that more than 40% of streams in Western watersheds are contaminated by acid mine drainage and heavy metals3.

Environmental impacts of mining operations occur at all levels and affect areas outside mining sites. This takes place on a local, regional and global level through direct and indirect mining techniques. These impacts lead to erosion, loss of biodiversity and sinkholes. It also causes contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water through chemical releases during the mining process.

Mining causes water pollution through acid mine drainage and increasing sediment levels in water bodies. Waste materials are environmental evidence of the role that mining plays in water pollution.

Acid leaching is the leakage of sulfuric acid formed as a result of exposure to air of sulphide from ore mined in streams. It is the primary source of groundwater pollution from mining. Acid rock drainage occurs for decades and centuries, even after mining activities have ceased. Ore-dissolving chemicals such as cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic and mercury also find their way into streams and oceans, polluting bodies of water.

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When there are increases in the concentration of toxic chemicals in streams and oceans, this poses a threat to aquatic animals. It also affects

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