Taking a look at Mine Waste

From farm to table getting our food and produce to the consumer is a tricky task. Even with all the planning millions of food ends up wasted a year. Many steps are already taken to reduce the amount of food being wasted but are they enough? In America alone 200 to 250 pounds is wasted per person per year! According the world resources institute “32 percent of the world’s food was never consumed in 2009”.

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.

Almost all of Australia’s silver-lead-zinc mines are highly mechanised, underground operations. Underground mining is the preferred mining method of choice in the world (See appendix 7) and is generally used for areas where the mineral seam is too far underground for open cut mining to be of use. A tunnel, called a decline, is created to allow workers and machinery to reach the location

There are two types of mining – surface mining and underground mining. If coal is found near the surface then surface mining is used. Surface mining involves removing the top layer of soil and rock over a

There is the present issue of contamination from existing landfills in soil, groundwater and air. Landfill mining is not a new concept, but the costs

Alberta Mining Company extracts and processes a variety of ores and minerals. One of its operations is coal -cleaning plant that produces toxic wastes. For many years, the wastes have been properly disposed of though Canadian Disposal, an experienced company. However, disposal of the toxic wastes is becoming an economic hardship because increasing government regulations caused the cost of such disposal to quadruple in the list 6 years.

This paper reviews the environmental issues and management practices in the mining sector in the North America. The sustainable measures on waste management is recognized as one of the most serious environmental concerns in the mining industry. For mining activities, it will be no surprise that the metal recovery reagents and acid effluents are a threat to the ecosystem as well as hazards to human health. In addition, poor air quality and ventilation in underground mines can lead to occupational illness and death of workers. Electricity usage and fuel consumption are major factors that contribute to greenhouse gases. On the other hand, many sustainability challenges are faced in the management of tailings and disposal of waste rock. This paper

A significant portion of the waste generated at USAG-KA consists of construction and demolition debris. As such, a key component of the solid waste management strategy for USAG-KA are the practices utilized to collect, accumulate, store, transport classify and dispose of these waste in a manner that is protective of the environment and public safety. This section of the SWMP is responsive to UES Section 3-6.5.7(c)(6)(i)(E), including the measures USAG- KA utilizes identify and manage hazardous debris.

Large horizontal drifts are drilled (called rooms) and can be up to 60ft high and 100ft wide. The rooms are parallel to each other. Many pillars are left undrilled to hold the roof up. Once the mine reaches the end of the ore body, the pillars are mined (pillar robbing), starting from the back of the mine and working forward. Timbers support the roof until the pillars have been completely mined and the roof is allowed to collapse. This method produces the most tonnage out of any other underground mining technique and is best suited to large, flat deposits.

The Copper Group has predicted that by 2025, fifty percent of copper production will come from large tonnage underground block cave mines. In preparation for the transition from open pit to underground operations, Rio Tinto Innovation has been developing new systems to provide a step change in both safety performance and underground construction rates. The underground crusher is one of these technologies which involved

The mining industry in the United States has a long history beginning in the 1600s when iron ore was mined in Jamestown and sent overseas to England (Bolles, 1879). Often in this century it is easy to forget where the energy one is utilizing came from or where the metal which makes items people use every single day come from. Unfortunately, with obtaining necessary metals and coal comes the risk of accidents and the different ethics involved in the industry in order to keep not only workers safe but keep the environment safe as well.

A brief overview of mountaintop removal mining and mine remediation processes will be provided at the outset of the essay. Further, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) will be explained in regards to mountaintop removal mining remediation. The aforementioned is supplemented by a brief explanation of other related regulations. Lastly, judicial precedent will be used to verify the utility of the proposed amendments to SMCRA. The positive environmental impact that would result if the

Coal mining can have seriously adverse environmental and related impacts, including interference with groundwater quantity and quality, land subsidence, impacts on river flows and consequential impact on other land-uses, issues associated with mining wastes disposal, creation of geological hazards . . . and potential ecological havoc” (Bian et al., “The Impact of Disposal and Treatment of Coal Mining Wastes on Environment and Farmland” 1). Coal, a commodity that the world depends on as a vital economic player and energy resource, is extracted from the ground at a very costly price to the environment. It is a major energy source that provides about 40% of the electricity that the world consumes, and the consumption of coal has grown dramatically in recent years. Not only is coal a major energy producer, but it is also a vital player in many countries economies, employing millions across the world both directly and indirectly. Unfortunately, since coal is so important to the economy and energy production, there is often little regard for the impacts that it has on the environment when being extracted. In broad a generalization, coal mining techniques can be broken down into two categories: surface mining and underground mining (the first involving techniques that stay above ground and the latter using tunneling). Although environmental implications may vary slightly between the two methods of coal extraction, there are a number of issues that are the result of both surface

To begin with, Vulcan’s use of surface mining endangers the environment as a whole as it leaves behind sundry negative effects. Per ton of coal, around twenty-five tons of overburden is excavated (“Surface Mining”). To remove overburden, one must blast through the hard cap rock which, in turn, leaves the landscape withering. Normal organic matter is prevented from getting into the soil causing a loss in vegetation and a displacement of wildlife. The lack of vegetation also increases the rate of erosion. Mining generally encompasses spoil banks, which are long rows of coalesced soil and rock, and ultimately blocks any outflow. These banks are usually left abandoned; yet, the efforts being made to reclaim them may only result in an erosion of the soil worsening. Along with these deleterious outcomes, there also comes the pollution of

While MTM/VF is broadly categorized as surface mining and synonymous with traditional strip and contour mining, MTM is distinct in terms of its scale and management of overburden material. While surface mining for coal in Appalachia has been ongoing since the mid-20th century, it was until the 1980s primarily on the scale of areas smaller than 400 hectares. MTM in West Virgina, southwestern Virgina, eastern Kentucky, and Tennessee, by contrast, disturbs areas on the scale of thousands of hectares. While techniques for valley fill construction vary across the region and are often site-specific, the general definition involves the placement of overburden – which is the displaced minespoil created in the detonation of as much as 300m of ridge top – in adjacent valleys, burying headwaters streams and springs. In the Appalachian region it is estimated that nearly 4000 km of headwater streams have been buried under valley fills. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) was passed in 1977 as an attempt to regulate the