Marinelle Palada

11-OLOG

ACT#4 MINING

1. Chemicals used in processing

-Chemicals used in mining and processing minerals contaminate the land, water, and
air, causing health problems for workers and people living near mines.

-The chemicals emitted by mining processes can cause erosion, sinkholes, biodiversity
loss, and contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water. These processes also
have an impact on the atmosphere due to carbon emissions, which have an impact
on the quality of human health and biodiversity.

Cyanide- is used to separate gold from ore. In its pure form, cyanide has no color and
smells like bitter almonds. It may lose this smell when it combines with other chemicals. It
can be used in powder, liquid, or gas forms. It is often spilled into waterways during gold
mining, and when ponds filled with mine wastes burst and spill. If cyanide is spilled
underground, or if the weather is cloudy or rainy, it can remain harmful for a long time,
killing fish and plants along rivers and making water unsafe for drinking and bathing.
Cyanide is so dangerous that it has been banned in some countries.

Sulfuric acid- is a toxic chemical used in copper mining. It is also a byproduct of many
kinds of mining, mixing with water and heavy metals to form acid mine drainage.
Sulfuric acid smells like rotten eggs. sulfuric acid can cause burns, blindness, and death.

Mercury- elemental mercury is used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Mercury is
mixed with gold-containing materials, forming a mercury-gold amalgam which is then
heated, vaporizing the mercury to obtain the gold. When released into the
environment, it accumulates in water-deposited sediments, converting to toxic
methylmercury and entering the food chain. Because methylmercury easily enters the
bloodstream and affects the brain, mercury contamination is a significant public health
and environmental issue.

2. Tailings

-are a by-product of mining, consisting of the processed rock or soil left over from the
separation of the commodities of value from the rock or soil within which they occur.
Tailings can reach immense proportions, appearing in the form of large hills or
sometimes ponds on the landscape.

Slumps, Landslides-Tailing piles can be unstable, and experience landslides.

Dust-Dry tailing deposits contain small particles that are picked up by the wind,
transported, and deposited in communities. In the tailings of some silver mines, arsenic
and lead are present in the dust in high enough concentrations to cause serious health
concerns.

Leaching-When rain falls on tailings, it leaches away materials that can pollute water,
such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. Sulfuric acid can be produced when water
interacts with tailings or as a byproduct of ore processing. As a result, highly acidic
water leaks from the tailings, causing aquatic life downstream to suffer.

Wildlife exposure-Migrating waterfowl have been known to land on tailing ponds, and
in some cases with dramatic consequences. In 2008, about 1,600 ducks died after
landing on a tar sand tailing pond in Alberta, contaminated by floating bitumen, a tar-
like substance.

3. Rock waste

-It generally consists of coarse, crushed, or blocky material covering a range of sizes,
from very large boulders or blocks to fine sand-size particles and dust. It is typically
removed during mining operations along with overburden and often has little or no
practical mineral value.

-Rock waste can be a source of toxic, reactive materials, such as acid rock drainage,
and heavy metals such as arsenic. All of these can adversely impact aquatic and other
organisms, as well as surface and ground waters. It can result in soil and water
contamination by substances such as heavy metals and radioactive materials. This
affects the ecosystem around the waste disposal site; and, if the contaminants get into
the water table, it can affect areas beyond the site.

4. Mine water

-includes all water impacted by mining operations, including freshwater, process water,
process waste streams, contact water, and mine drainage because mining takes place
all year, all over the world, it is critical to carefully manage mine water to avoid deficits.

-Water from heavy metal mines enters groundwater through surface infiltration,
changes the pH value of water bodies, impairs the self-cleaning capacity of water
bodies, and causes serious pollution damage to surrounding rivers and farmlands.
Increasingly, human activities such as mining threaten the water sources on which we
all depend.

5. Barren land

-The barren ground is made up of soil that is too poor for plants to grow in. Barren
vegetation describes an area of land where plant growth contains limited
biodiversity. It causes Environmental conditions such as toxic or infertile soil, high winds,
coastal salt spray, and climatic conditions are often key factors in poor plant growth
and development.
-Its impacts can be far-reaching, including loss of soil fertility, destruction of species’
habitat and biodiversity, soil erosion, and excessive nutrient runoff into lakes. Land
degradation also has serious knock-on effects for humans, such as malnutrition, disease,
forced migration, cultural damage, and even war. Soil erosion can affect the loss of
fertile land. It can lead to an increase of pollution and sedimentation in streams and
rivers, It can clog waterways and cause declines in fish and species. degraded lands
are also often less able to hold onto water, which can worsen flooding. It can affect
humans as land is degraded and deserts expand in some places, food production is
reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more
hospitable areas.