Transcript Mining of natural resources from the earth…..

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
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The earth’s crust is composed of rocks
and minerals (see p. 332-338 for some basic
geology)
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Element composition: http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/Hbase/tables/elabund.html
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mineral = solid element or non C containing
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mica is a mineral….
compound, with regular, internal crystalline
structure & specific chemical
composition…Ag, Au, C, S, NaCl, quartz….
http://www.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/1Minerals/1IgneousMineralz/
Micas.html
Rocks are solid combinations of
1 or more minerals

Limestone = CaCO3 (sedimentary)
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Quartzite = SiO2 (metamorphic)
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http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=quartzite&um=1&ie=UTF8&sa=N&tab=wi
Granite =SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3,
Fe2O3, etc. (igneous)
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http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=granite&btnG=Sear
ch+Images&aq=f&oq=
What else do we mine out of the
ground?
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Salt, clay, phosphates, sand, soil, bauxite
Coal, oil, natural gas, U
Renewable or nonrenewable?
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What else?
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How do we know where to mine?
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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
Indiana
Illinois
•Most mining in U.S.
•“Overburden” is stripped
away
•Wastes are “spoils” or
“tailings”.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/reclamation/protect_resources/bats/surface_mining.html
http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/servs/pubs/geobits-pub/geobit12/gb12b.htm
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/courtrules-in-favor-of-m_n_166856.html
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http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/archives/archive_by_
id.php?id=288&category_id=4
Subsurface mining
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What’s good about
subsurface mining?
What’s bad about it?
Kentucky coal mine: longwall mining
More pixs:
http://66.113.204.26/mining/coal/room_pill.htm
http://www.coaleducation.org/Ky_Coal_Facts/types_of_mining.htm
http://rogerphilpot.homestead.com/CoalEducation.ht
ml
Subsurface Mining
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Advantages
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Only way to
access some
resources
Disturbs less
than 1/10th as
much land as
surface mining
Usually
produces less
waste material
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Disadvantages
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Dangerous
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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
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At Wind Mountain
Read about
ZortmanLandusky
mine
http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/slides/mmo/24.htm
More on ZL
http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/ftbelknap/environment
al.html
Why do these problems persist?
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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?
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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)