Mining of natural resources from the earth….. ….how did these resources get here? See Chapter 16, Living in the Environment, G.T. Miller Gold Mine

Mining of natural resources from

the earth…..….how did these resources get

here?

See Chapter 16, Living in the Environment, G.T. Miller

Gold Mine http://www.rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Destruction/Mining/

Minerals, rocks and fossil fuels are mined out of the

earth The earth’s crust is composed of

rocks and minerals (see p. 332-338 for some basic geology)

Element composition: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/tables/elabund.html

mineral = solid element or non C containing compound, with regular, internal crystalline structure & specific chemical composition…Ag, Au, C, S, NaCl, quartz….

mica is a mineral…. http://www.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/1Minerals/1IgneousMineralz/Micas.html

Rocks are solid combinations of

1 or more minerals Limestone = CaCO3 (sedimentary)

Quartzite = SiO2 (metamorphic) http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=quartzite&um=1&ie

=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Granite =SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3,

Fe2O3, etc. (igneous)http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=granite&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq

=

What else do we mine out of the ground?

Salt, clay, phosphates, sand, soil, bauxite Coal, oil, natural gas, U Renewable or nonrenewable?

What else?

How do we know where to mine? Exploratory Wells Aerial photos Satellite images Radiation monitoring Magnetometer Seismic surveys (use explosives, detect shock

waves) Chemical analysis of rock and water

Depending on where the resource is…

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/coal_mining.htm

Surface mining

http://www.in.gov/dnr/reclamation/protect_resources/bats/surface_mining.htmlhttp://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/servs/pubs/geobits-pub/geobit12/gb12b.htm

Indiana

Illinois

•Most mining in U.S.

•“Overburden” is stripped away

•Wastes are “spoils” or “tailings”.

Strip Mining

“Since the mid-1970s, strip-miners in Montana, as well as in other states, are required by law to remove overburden in an orderly manner, to refill the pits after mining the coal, restoring the overburden as nearly as possible to its original condition, and to replant it with the original types of vegetation. "The art and science of mine reclamation are now so highly developed," say geologists David Alt and Donald Hyndman, "that the recently worked sites are visible only to a knowing and

practiced eye."1 Some of the lignite mined here at Colstrip is used to generate electricity at the plant in the upper center. The rest is shipped to coal-fired generators in other parts of the country, via 100-car "unit" trains.”

http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=1567

Mountain top removal At least two sides to every issue…..http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/13/court-rules-in-favor-of-m_n_166856.html

http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/archives/archive_by_id.php?id=288&category_id=4

Subsurface mining

Kentucky coal mine: longwall mining

More pixs:http://66.113.204.26/mining/coal/room_pill.htm

http://rogerphilpot.homestead.com/CoalEducation.html

http://www.coaleducation.org/Ky_Coal_Facts/types_of_mining.htm

What’s good about subsurface mining? What’s bad about it?

Subsurface Mining Advantages

Only way to access some resources

Disturbs less than 1/10th as much land as surface mining

Usually produces less waste material

Disadvantages Dangerous

Collapse of roofs & walls Explosions of dust & natural gas Lung diseases from mining dust

Leaves much of the resource in the ground

Subsidence (sinking of earth that is not slope related)

Cyanide heap leaching

At Wind Mountain

http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/slides/mmo/24.htm

More on ZL http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/ftbelknap/environmental.html

Read about Zortman-Landusky mine

Why do these problems persist?

Public Land in US is cheap! U.S. General Mining Law of 1872… see text; case study

Resource developers want to use U.S. land Government subsidies ?

What can we do? Reduce consumption Reuse stuff Recycle Enforce environmental protection Look for substitutes Biomining (use bacteria to “grab” the metal) Mining seawater (high cost, who owns resource?) Nanotechnologies (research to build at atomic &

molecular level)