Bioleaching of Gold Ore

* Plants can remove metals from low grade ores. The metal can be recovered by processing the ash from burning the plants.

Although a downside to this is that it is an extremely pollutant method now that cyanide is very toxic and is not always discarded the proper way.The Merrill Crowe process is on the more expensive side but as been one of the first methods to be used for the extraction of gold, and has worked well ever since. Now some advantages fromt the Yanacocha mines is how it has invested 8 million dollars annually in the communities surrounding the mines to help repair for damages the mine as created. Although the mine did pollute their main source of water

Once these mines were abandoned water slowly began to fill these mines. The water came in contact with all of the leftover minerals, including sulfide, and chemicals began to dissolve into the water. This process of dissolving chemicals into the water essentially turned the water into acid (1). Once the mines finally filled, water began to pour out of the mines into the surrounding area, mostly into a body of water now known as “Tar Creek” (1). This creek then spread the contaminated water throughout the community and into numerous water sources.

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal in power plants and is composed mainly of aluminum and silicon oxides. This ash is commonly stored away in dump sites, only to leach out solutions of concentrated toxic heavy metals. Such issues are detrimental to the health of water systems, posing both a human and environmental health risk. However, there are solutions to this problem. Coal ash possesses unique chemical properties that allow for the remediation of other environmental concerns, such as the treatment of soil polluted with heavy metals, the removal of nutrients from wastewater, and the remediation of acid mine drainage in streams.

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

Morocco is rich in mineral deposits and the third largest phosphate rock producers. Morocco has vast reserves of phosphate rocks, copper, cobalt, anthracite coal, silver, gold, iron ore, zinc, manganese etc. The quality of water in the areas surrounding mining sites is compromised during and after the mining with harmful agents such as Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), Zinc(Zn) etc.Due to this water pollution and the fact that water resources are limited, a large number of people and livestock in villages close to the mining sites are affected with serious life threatening diseases. In such areas thirty percent of the wastewater that is untreated is discharged directly into natural water bodies. As an example, the Sebou basin that constitutes

The Gold King Mine is also known as the as one of the biggest disaster, that has occurred within the waters of the United States, and is located in Silverton Colorado. This mountain wasn’t even being an ideal site for mining. It was just noticed by a miner, named Olaf Nelson, and he wasn’t even sure that this would even be the ideal site. This was around 1887, and wasn’t until 1894 a mine manager known as Will Z. Kenney discovered a location that contained minerals and decided to go for it. Eventually they ran out of minerals to find, and was discontinued around the 1900’s due to underground mine workings, waste rock dumps, piles of mine tailing, and open mine pit mining operations were discontinued including the fact that it was untreated. Thus eventually the Gold King Mine turned into one of the largest source of water pollution in the United States, once something or someone would mess with it. Ultimately a

The gold mine was founded in 1887, in 1918 mine bought out by another company, which operated till 1922. Operation estimated a product, “…shipped 711,144 tons of gold and silver ore while in operation” (Environmental Protection Agency). United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are still around 400 abandon mines in area and all are inactive near Animas and Cement creek. Makes people wonder of how much of those mines have toxic waste water stored away, just waiting for the day it erupts into the environment. EPA also says, “The watershed consists of three main streams, the Animas, Cement Creek and Mineral Creek all of which drain the Silverton Caldera” (Environmental Protection Agency). Now that is a lot of toxic waste that can really have an environmental impact on the future of the San Juan River. Gold King Mine also, “…estimated 23,000 abandoned mines dotting the state of Colorado. Of these abandoned mines, 6,127 have been made safe by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety” (Environmental Protection Agency). These mines have been change from one company to the next, empting the profit and let the other company deal with the cleanup. There is also history of breaches that happen 40 years ago, which about 50,000 tons of waste water also ran to the Animas River. So there is Environmental Protection Agency history behind this San Juan River environmental disaster, not has this happen once but there are so many times before the 2015 San Juan River

Colorado has over 23,000 deserted mines throughout the state, many of which leak hazardous materials into the environment. These mines are the remnants of mining operations of the 1800s when regulation was scant and environmental concerns were nonexistent. On August 5, workers from the Environmental Protection Agency were conducting an investigation of the Gold King Mine site. The mine was releasing 300 gallons of contaminated water into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River, every minute. Unfortunately, the EPA workers accidentally disrupted a debris wall in the mine, which caused approximately 3 million gallons of water laden with heavy metals and other pollutants to spill into the creek. This toxic solution is quite acidic, with

After watching the Black Gold film by Nick Francis I realized how hard these third world countries have it and are used and exploited by wealthy corporation for their own profit while leaving the farmers and producers without any means to survive. Throughout the film at times it was hard to watch as these corporation grew and profited by the coffee beans produced in Africa, the farmer and families were living in extreme poverty and not even enough money to feed their own families. Coffee being the second most traded commodity and also referred to as black gold I would think that they would profit and have improved qualities of life and developing, instead of becoming less developed and not even have the means and resources to survive(Francis, 2006). Overall after watching this it just goes to show that we live in a messed up world and people are more worried about business and profits instead of the well being of other and the overall well being of the world.

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.

Phytoremediation is the process by which plants and trees are used to remove or stabilize hazardous pollutants that exist in soil, sediments, surface water or groundwater. The EPA (environmental protection agency) estimates that more than 30,000 sites in the U.S. are in need of environmental treatment, and a great number of these sites are contaminated with highly toxic metals. Abandoned or under-used commercial and industrial facilities, termed as “brownfields,” are a major contributor to this environment concern. “Brownfields” pose significant health risks to nearby residential populations and threaten the plant and animal life close to them. Phytoremediation provides a very

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.

1School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; and 2Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry

For processing samples taken from the environmental media (air, water, soil, and biota) both from the environment as well as from sources disposing into the environment (industries, domestic and agriculture sources, automobiles etc.).