St.

Paul University Surigao

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
8400 Surigao City, Philippines

Paul Dime I. Zaragoza 09 - 07 - 2022

Underground Mining Engr. Nathaniel Tui

Activity I

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between excavation and mining in general?

In general, the difference between excavation and mining, first excavation is an act of excavating
or removing or making a hallow by digging, cutting, or scoping out a part of a solid mass while
mining is an industry of removing valuables from the earth like gold, nickel, coal, etc.

2. When do we need to mine underground?

Underground mining is one of the oldest methods of mining. Underground can be done when an
ore body lies a considerable distance below the surface.
In general, the technique is employed when surface mining, or rather ‘strip’ mining would be
prohibitively expensive. 

3. What are the social and economic benefits of underground mining?

There are many factors of underground mining that benefit both economy and society.
The introduction of underground mining technology can easily promote the growth of new jobs
that give a vital factor in the economy and provide jobs to society.
Mining is an important industry because they extract important minerals from below the ground.
This is an important way of obtaining important resources for construction, infrastructure
projects, and more. It produces an important export for many countries, whose economies are
tied to mined materials.
4. What are the environmental effects of underground mining?
Underground mining has less of an impact on the surface. However, this doesn’t mean that
underground mining doesn’t have an effect on the environment. In fact, its environmental impact
is quite large. With this mining method, rocks and minerals are brought to the surface from
tunnels underground. There, toxic chemicals in the waste material can escape into the
environment and local waterways if not properly disposed of.
Underground mining can also sometimes lower the water table. If miners need to dig through an
aquifer or water-laden layer of earth, water will need to be pumped out of the mine for work to
continue.

5. What is the difference between responsible mining and sustainable development?

Responsible mining is mining that is responsible for the effects on the environment, community,
and economy. Having an objective social and environmental assessment is essential as it will
serve as a starting point in designing a project consistent with responsible mining.
Sustainable development is the creation of a balance between development and the environment
and is composed of three important principles of environment, community, and economy. All
three of these parameters are related to each other and the imbalance in each will upset the
balance in the other categories.

6. How will you promote responsible mining?

I will promote it by asking “ Why should mining be responsible?” the answer is Two reasons are
put forward. First, mining is apparently damaging communities and ecosystems. In the past,
mining on a large scale was acceptable because the population was then smaller and land and
water resources were vast. Back then, the human economy was minuscule.
So to avoid what happened in the past where mining damaged the environment we, the mining
company should be responsible to protect and mitigate the possible effect of mining on the
environment.

7. Does responsible mining support the concept of Sustainable Development? Justify your

answer.
Yes, because sustainable mining is the creation of a balance between development and the
environment and is composed of three important principles of environment, community, and
economy.
8. What are the impacts of underground mining on human health?
 Exposure to airborne particles has systemic toxic effects due to the absorption of lead,
manganese, cadmium, zinc, and other toxic materials Fumes emitted by chemicals being used or
by machines can trigger accidents and cause death. RSI, due to the overloading of a particular
group of muscles from repetitive use or maintenance of constrained postures, results in weakness
of affected muscles, heaviness, “Pins and needles” sensation, and numbness.
The intense heat in underground mines causes: dehydration of fluids and salty deficiency,
increased stress on the heart, heat stroke, opacity of the lens, and reduced fertility. Poor
ventilation results in a lack of oxygen – suffocation and death and 2. Brain malfunction.
Noise or irritating and hazardous sound results in hearing impairment, disruption of body
functions like blood circulation and hormone imbalance, deafness, and irreversible hearing loss,
increased blood pressure, and peptic ulcer due to increased gastrointestinal motility. Manual
lifting of heavy materials leads to back problems and acute body pain.
  The intense heat in underground mines causes: dehydration of fluids and salty deficiency,
increased stress on the heart, heat stroke, opacity of the lens, and reduced fertility. Poor
ventilation results to a lack of oxygen – suffocation and death and 2. Brain malfunction.

9. What is the difference between small-scale mining and large-scale mining?

At present, mining in the Philippines can be categorized into two major groups namely large-
scale mining and small-scale mining. Small-scale mining is the extraction of materials by the use
of manual labor with simple tools and methods without the use of heavy equipment and
explosives. This is an old method of mining that has proliferated up to this age albeit with
notable procedural improvements. Guidelines for small-scale mining in the Philippines are laid
out in the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 or Republic Act 7076.
Large-scale mining, on the other hand, is classified as an operation that is more dependent on a
number of large industrial equipment, with a large organized workforce, a large amount of daily
production, and huge investment capital. Large-scale mining operations are governed by the
Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act 7942.

10. What is your say about Illegal Mining in the Philippines?

Illegal Mining in the Philippines is very rampant. Mining has been known in the Philippines as
early as 1521. The majority of illegal miners are not responsible in terms of waste disposal,
safety, and environmental impacts that result in the devastation of the landscape and caused
serious damage such as landslides heavily contaminating and polluting the body of water.
Reference:

https://miningphils.com/2021/09/13/large-scale-and-small-scale-mining-whats-the-difference/

http://emilianohudtohan.com/impact-of-mining-on-health-and-wellbeing/