Advantages And Disadvantages Of Pit Mining

Although mines like these can be very successful, some did lead to negative impacts on the environment. Some of these impacts where fracking, sinkholes,

For instance, transporting the materials from the mines from place to place can lead to the roads being congested, putting a strain on the roads. Evidence of this is shown in Fractured Land when Lisa is observing a high way. She writes of various trucks involved in the fracking industry creating traffic and putting wear and tear on the roads of U.S. Highway two (55). Many of these mines are in more rural areas where roads were not made with the intention of there being as much pressure on the roads as the activity with the mines creates. This means the increased activity on the roads results in them breaking down. The same goes for these trucks as it does for the movement of vehicles shipping in materials from different nations for the fracturing to take place. More congested roads also means greater odds for accidents. This is evident when Westburg, the Fractured Land author writes of an accident that occurred along U.S. Highway 2. Multiple trucks collided until one of them crashed into a tanker trailer with crude oil. This vehicle exploded and burned for many hours, resulting in the closing down of the entire highway (Westburg 141). Because the majority of these mines are built in areas where the roads are not made to suit traffic, the roads are too narrow. This ultimately leads to a rise in tragic accidents. Also, along with more goods being mined comes more products to be shipped over seas. This would inevitably lead to more pollution. For instance, "In 2013, transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air" (Union). This is tainting both the environment and human health, as the only atmosphere the world relies on is being tainted by globalization. The trucks and planes involved in shipping the metals from place to place would mean more fossil fuel

Minerals can affect society in many ways for example; Surface mining destroys vegetation across large areas, increasing erosion. Open-pit mining uses huge quantities of water. Acid mine drainage is pollution caused when dissolved toxic materials wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams. Minerals is approximately 80 percent of mined ore consists of impurities that become wastes after processing. These wastes, called tailings, are usually left in giant piles on the ground or in ponds near the processing plants (Figure 12.9). The tailings contain toxic materials such as cyanide, mercury, and sulfuric acid. Left

Things like mining too far into a wall that connects to an older mine, thus increasing the danger of a collapse, is common. Other practices include shoddy dams that contain the slurry, a mixture of water and fine particles of coal, which do not always meet structural regulations that can and have broken and flood nearby communities (Light and Light, 2006). There are other environmental issues that are associated with coal mining. Acid mine drainage is the result of sulfide minerals being exposed to oxygen. This produces sulfuric acid and can dissolve heavy metals from the waste rock, making it bioavailable. Without proper treatment, this will poison the water systems near that mine and will seep into the streams, creeks, and even ground and well water. The water turns orange and is impossible for anything to live off of the water or in it (Kirsch, 2014). Another issue of coal mining is airborne coal dust, which can result in Black Lung disease. This is caused by inhaling too much coal dust and is common in miners, but with surface mining becoming more prevalent, more coal dust is being released into the air and drifting down to the communities. More children and elderly people are having respiratory problems that many believe are because of

Open pit mining creates a hole where groundwater will collect instead of flowing naturally into the watersheds. What water will flow into those watersheds will be contaminated by mercury--from the processing of the ore into taconite pellets and sulfuric acid, causing incredible damage to the ecosystem of the rivers and Lake

However, there if there is something good there has to be a bad part as well. Even though mining is helping the technologies to grow rapidly everyday, there are side affects caused to the people live near mining areas, especially indigenous people, given that a substantial number of mining operations are on or near Indigenous land, the increase in mining investment may have extremely affected Indigenous communities. There are concerns that, in remote mining areas, the increases in house costs generated by the mining boom mean that anyone who doesn’t work in the mining industry, especially those who are 100% relied on government benefits, will find it harder to afford housing. It will not affect the current generation; however, it will have a huge impact on the future generation. For example, parents wont be able to afford money for their children to go to school, which will result in, kids started working as child labours or slaves and people will find it hard to afford foods and

My first reason States that mining will affect many jobs including farmers and fishermen. I think this because, without good water, it would be hard for farmers to get good water for irrigating

A controversial topic commonly debated among society is the construction of coal mines. Although they potentially contain great economic promise and access to more resources, they also harm the surrounding environment and increase carbon dioxide emissions.

The mining process involves many big vehicles and other technology that release huge amounts of pollution into the atmosphere speeding up global warming and causing climate change.

Strip mining is terrible for the earth.” In the US, from 1930 to 2000, coal mining altered about 2.4 million hectares (5.9 million acres) of natural landscape, most originally forest.”

Metal mining is the process of extracting ore or minerals underneath of the earth. Mining produces economic gains for countries that have plenty of metallic ore deposits, however the mining industry has a record of causing environmental disasters by releasing heavy metals such as (lead, lithium, cadmium) and other chemicals. Also mining has increased air pollution, loss of habitat for many species and the impact on the human health can be devastating.

The very first open-pit mines that were built in the world started around when men began to develop tools and constructing massive stone monuments to their gods. They were known as quarries. Quarries are open-pit mines that produce building materials and dimension stone, such as granite, marble, limestone, and other tangible rock building materials. However, these open-pit mines produced little to no pollution at all because the technology to extract every last gram of ore from rack has not been developed. The process basically involves pulverizing every rock that comes out of a mine with any trace of ore within it. This produces what is known as tailings. Tailings are one of the biggest pollutants of the world to date. They are so toxic that they have to be mixed with water to produce sludge and are pumped into ponds (known as tailings ponds) so that they are rendered “obsolete”.

With that being said here are some environmental impacts of coal you may not know about. The air pollutants cause acid rain, smog ,respiratory illnesses, cancers and toxins in the environment. Coal miners can get respiratory illnesses from the coal dust while mining. If an abandoned coal mine catches fire it puts tons of mercury into the atmosphere, this happens every year and is responsible for three percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally. The second largest contributor to

In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.