Negative Effects Of Mining On The Environment – Mining is the extraction of minerals and other geological materials of economic value from deposits on Earth. Mining adversely affects the environment by causing loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and contamination of surface water, groundwater and soil. Mining can also trigger the formation of sinkholes. The leakage of chemicals from mining sites may also have harmful effects on the health of the population living in or around the mining site.

In some countries, mining companies are expected to adhere to rehabilitation and environmental codes to ensure that the mined area is eventually returned to its original state. However, violations of such rules are quite common.

Negative Effects Of Mining On The Environment

Air quality is adversely affected by mining operations. Unrefined materials are released when mineral deposits are exposed at the surface through mining. Wind erosion and nearby vehicular traffic cause such materials to become airborne. Lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic elements are often found in such particles. These pollutants may harm the health of people living near the mining site. Respiratory diseases and allergies can be triggered by inhaling such airborne particles.

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Mining also causes water pollution which includes metal pollution, an increase in sediment levels in streams and drainage from acid mines. Pollutants released from processing plants, tailings ponds, underground mines, waste disposal areas, active or abandoned surface or haulage roads, etc., serve as the top sources of water pollution. Sediment released through soil erosion causes silting or choking of stream channels. This adversely affects irrigation, swimming, fishing, domestic water supply and other activities that depend on such water bodies. High concentrations of toxic chemicals in water bodies pose a survival threat to aquatic flora and fauna and terrestrial species that depend on them for food. The acidic water released from metal mines or coal mines also drains into surface water or seeps underground to oxidize groundwater. The loss of the proper pH of the water can have disastrous effects on the life caused by such water.

The creation of landscape blemishes such as open pits and piles of waste rock due to mining operations can lead to physical destruction of the soil at the mining site. Such disturbances can contribute to the deterioration of the flora and fauna of the area. There is also a huge possibility that many of the terrain features that existed before the mining activities cannot be replaced after the process is over. Removing the layers of soil and digging deep underground may destabilize the soil, which threatens the future of the roads and buildings in the area. For example, lead ore mining in Galena, Kansas between 1980 and 1985 caused approximately 500 subsidence collapse features that led to the abandonment of mines in the area. The entire mining site was later restored between 1994 and 1995.

Often, the worst effects of mining activity are observed after the mining process has ceased. Destruction or drastic change of the previously known landscape could have a catastrophic effect on the biodiversity of that area. Mining leads to a massive loss of habitat for a variety of animals and plants, from soil microorganisms to large mammals. Endemic species are hit the hardest because even the slightest disturbance in their habitat can cause extinction or put them at high risk of being wiped out. Toxins released through mining can wipe out entire populations of sensitive species.

A landscape affected by mining can take a long time to recover. Sometimes it never recovers. Restoration efforts do not always guarantee restoration of the area’s biodiversity. Species may be lost forever. In the burnt and dusty southern Congo, thousands of miners scour underground tunnels in search of cobalt. Many of them work by hand. This is why they are known as creuseurs – French for diggers.

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They don’t use power tools. They don’t wear face masks and often don’t have gloves. They do this because they live in one of the poorest countries in the world, and cobalt is valuable. The mineral is essential to the lithium-ion batteries found in smartphones and many electric vehicles. Most of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Congo region. These cobalt-laden lumps of rock leave the country destined for refineries in Europe and China, where they enter the complex supply chains of some of the largest technology and automotive companies.

Creuseurs know their work is physically dangerous. Death and injury from tunnel collapses are not uncommon. Children sometimes join their older brothers and fathers in the mines.

But what is less understood are the environmental health risks associated with extensive mining. In southern Congo there are not only huge deposits of cobalt and copper but also uranium. Scientists have documented alarming levels of radioactivity in certain mining areas. Mining waste often pollutes rivers and drinking water. The dust from the decomposed rock is known to cause breathing problems. The toxic fallout from the mining industry is only now being studied by researchers, mainly in Lubbock, the country’s mining capital.

The mines provide much-needed work to the region’s millions of mostly poor residents. But the price of land labor and corpses is seen by many as devastating.

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Last year Lena Moka, 34, a German photojournalist, met with people who were directly affected by the mining activities in the area. She met with mothers who had abortions and photographed babies born with defects whose fathers worked in the mines.

Cobalt is mined all over the world, but 60 percent comes from the Congo. As Mucha told In Sight, “We all use cobalt…it’s hard not to use it, but it’s important to let people know the story behind it.”

This project was produced with the support of the African Great Lakes Reporting Fellowship of the International Women’s Media Foundation.

In Sight is The Washington Post’s photo blog for visual narrative. This platform features engaging and diverse images from staff and freelance photographers, news agencies and archives. Gold has been a popular and valuable component in jewelry for centuries, but what is the environmental impact of gold mining? The gold is resistant to solvents, does not tarnish and is incredibly flexible, so it can be shaped relatively easily. Although its price fluctuates, gold regularly sells for more than $1,000 an ounce. Gold nuggets are popular with collectors but rare; Most gold is found as small particles buried in gold ore. However, mining 20 tons of solid waste and significant mercury and cyanide contamination of only 20 tons of gold.

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Some gold can be found by washing in rivers; Heavy gold will remain in the pan, while less dense rocks and minerals float out. This small-scale form of gold mining has little impact on the water body, but the large-scale practice of ore gold mining can have enormous negative impacts on water quality.

Gold usually sits in ores and sediments that contain toxins such as mercury. When rivers are dredged to mine large gold deposits, these toxins float downstream and enter the food web, as they did in California’s South Yuba River, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Water pollution adversely affects not only wildlife populations but also human populations. Two open-pit gold mines in Montana closed in 1998 but continue to cost state taxpayers millions of dollars in restoration and water treatment efforts.

Cyanide used in these mines to leach gold from ore has resulted in such high levels of contamination that people cannot use nearby water resources until they have undergone extensive and expensive treatment and purification. The restoration efforts in the former mines are expected to continue indefinitely.

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Most forms of gold mining involve moving massive amounts of soil and rock, which can harm the surrounding wildlife habitat. The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that a proposed gold and copper mine development in Alaska’s Bristol Bay would destroy at least 15 miles of streams that support the world’s largest salmon fishery.

Thousands of acres of wetlands and ponds would also be destroyed by the daily operations of the proposed mine. Local communities are heavily dependent on this fish and will be affected by the destruction of this habitat.

Current activity in gold mines negatively affects the environment in several ways. For example, running large mining equipment requires fuel and results in greenhouse gas emissions. However, mine accidents and potential spills pose an even greater threat to nearby land and water resources.

Must be stored behind a dam; Failure of such a structure will result in a widespread release of toxins. Mines must operate wastewater treatment plants to remove cyanide, mercury, and other toxins from the water used for mining, and failure of treatment plants can also cause catastrophic contamination of the surrounding landscape.

How Can Mining Become More Environmentally Sustainable?

Unfortunately, mercury used in artificial and small-scale gold mining operations can become airborne and contaminate both air and water. Mercury-free gold mining methods are developed and promoted to reduce the amount of mercury pollution created in gold mining.

Also, sodium cyanide is often used in gold mining operations to extract gold from ore. Sodium cyanide is another chemical compound that can pollute the air and water when it is not properly contained.

The machines used to mine the earth

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