ENVM3305- Environmental Management in Mining
Field report- New Acland Coal Mine
Name: Sâmara Oliveira
Student number: s4338824
INTRODUCTION
The minerals are indispensable for the maintenance of industrial activity, since products such as automobiles, machinery, tractors, cement, among others, are manufactured from raw materials coming from this extraction and that these activities are often energetically dependents on certain minerals, such as coal for example.
However, the mining activity promotes direct impacts on nature, leading to environmental degradation. It is an activity that extracts resources that are on the ground or underground, from where various types of minerals (gold, silver, iron ore, tin, bauxite, and many others) are removed.
Like all exploitation of natural resources, the mining activity causes impacts on the environment both in the exploitation of natural areas and waste generation. It intensely alters the mined area and the surrounding areas, where deposits of waste and tailings are made. Furthermore, when we have the presence of harmful chemicals in the ore processing stage, this could mean a serious problem from an environmental point of view (de Freitas, 2014).
According to Souza Silva (2007), the main problems arising from the mining can be grouped into five categories: water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, land subsidence, fires caused by coal and radioactive waste.
Through this report will be made a specific of the
* Plants can remove metals from low grade ores. The metal can be recovered by processing the ash from burning the plants.
Some important things made from metals include cars, bridges, appliances, power generation, infrastructure, and obviously many more. Everything electrical needs copper, (which is mined), to function. A major concern for the mine is that it will pollute and destroy the nearby natural
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
While researching the effects of mining I thought of 3 main reasons why mining should stop. Mining can affect water quality which may loose farmers, fishermen, and boat shops to go out of business. Plus, once all the ore is mined the miners will have nowhere to go and also lose their jobs. And finally, no one would move here because no one wants to live near polluted water
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
The families that live near the mine also face being diagnosed with dangerous side effects. Since the ground becomes polluted with the chemicals, most homes in the surrounding area don’t have running water because the aquifers are polluted by said chemicals that originate from the mine. And the air becomes toxic also, toxic levels of arsenic, fluorine, mercury, and selenium is emitted by coal fires, entering the air and the food chain of those living nearby. These pollutants affect the water also, making it dangerous to any living life form. It causes deformities and creates birth defects if ingested into the body (Breitenender 2). And to an extent, causes death if the water is drunk regularly. It can go unnoticed also if people don’t check their water. And if a person is unfortunate enough to live near these areas, then he likely has no running water due to the pollution of his local aquifer. People are deprived of a vital source to live and they travel far to get water. And these areas are arid which means water is a necessary
We first start seeing power affecting Macbeth’s morals in the ending of Act I when the promise of power makes Macbeth think about killing the king. Macbeth has just finished having a nice dinner with the King and he is rethinking his plan of killing the king. We see him try to pull away from the idea of killing the king and wanting to stay an honest man. He is arguing with Lady Macbeth to not kill the king because “the king has just honored me”, “We can’t go on with this plan.” Macbeth wants to stay respectful and honest, he feels guilty to think about killing the king because the king thinks so highly of him. It is an honor to have respect from the king and Macbeth does not want to kill a good man like him. No matter what he says lady Macbeth still argues to kill the king and promises unlimited power. Macbeth finally makes the decision to kill him and begin to change from an honest and humble man to a liar and cheater. As Macbeth and lady Macbeth go forth with killing the king in Act 2 Scene 3 Macbeth freezes and Lady Macbeth tells him to dispose of the evidence but he can’t move. “I can’t go back. I’m afraid even to think about what I’ve done. I can’t stand to look at it again.” Macbeth regrets the decision and wants to go back to the honest and humble man he once was, but after killing the king he can’t turn back. He uses word choice like afraid, can’t stand to look at it again because he realizes how power has made irrational and power hungry. This new personality
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
The death penalty is a controversial issue that has caused some confrontational debates between opponents and supporters of this long existing sentence. In legal term, the death penalty is defined as a sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes. In support of death penalty, Koch, Edward, Ex- mayor of New York argues in his article “Death and Justice: How capital Punishment affirms Life” that “Life is indeed precious, and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm this fact. Had the death penalty been a real possibility in the minds of these murderers, they might well have stayed their hand” (Koch, 484). On the other hand, Bruck, David, clinical professor of law and a stanish opponent of capital punishment asserts in his article “ Death Penalty” that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned” (Bruck, 493).
ITC Ltd.’s strategy plan for compliance with the current acceptable standards or norms relative to social responsibility today is well thought out, especially for a company that sells potentially dangerous products, and try to meet and listen to all demands and laws in place since the start of their business. Even though in 2014 a new bill was passed for the majority of companies to build accountability and also have the government looking over the private sector (Banerjee, 2013). “The CSR provision requires affected companies to spend at least 2 percent of their average net profits made in the preceding three years on CSR” (Banerjee, 2013). Even though this bill has caused a lot of uproar for companies, ITC has actually already been
economic, social and environmental responsibilities, while making a positive and lasting contribution to the environment and communities in which it operates. However there is also a large amount of informal alluvial diamond digging – which is not currently regulated and therefore neither is its impact on the environment. This document, as the majority of diamond mining is formal, focuses on the environmental impact on this sector.
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.
Another perspective to look at it is that social impact mining has. Though it can be difficult to separate the economic impact from the social, because many social issues are the result of poverty. Meaning that if the mining
Mining Many of the planet's rainforests lie over rich mineral deposits. The mining process releases harmful toxins, like mercury and cyanide which are often used in the gold extraction process, into local streams and river, polluting both the waters and the surrounding lands. There is, however, good money in the mining industry and many residents are encouraged to work in the mines.
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.