ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

mining

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• COST TO– FIND– EXTRACT– PROCESS

What are some usable products from mining?

• Coal• Aluminum• Iron• Gold• Silver• Copper

What are some ways mineral deposits are removed from the earth?

• Surface mining overburden and spoils (spoil banks) open pit mining strip mining Area strip mining Countour strip mining Mountain top removal

AREA STRIP MININGOCCURS ON FLAT GRADES OF LAND

Contour strip mining

HIGHWALL and RUNNOFF

Subsurface mining

• Advantages of subsurface mining-• Less impact on the environment, 1/10 or so when

compared to strip mining.

• disadvantages of subsurface mining-– Uses dangerous explosives and there is a possibility of cave

ins, fires, build up of dangerous gas.

• -subsidence-– Black lung

Surface Mining Control and reclamation ACT of 1977

• Requires mining companies to restore most surface mined land by grading and replanting it.

Environmental Impacts of Mining

• Scarring and disruption of the land surface. See book!

• Subsidence-• Toxin laced mining waste

OK, How do you get the desired mineral from the ore?

• Ore mineral-contains the desired mineral and waste material.

• Gangue “gang”• Tailings-large piles of solid waste Smelting- roast” ores to release metals.

Remember physical properties of substances?

Mining of low grade ore

• In 1900 the average copper mined in the United States was 5%. Currently it is around 0.5%.

• Problems with mining low grade ores:• Increase cost of mining and processing low

grade ores.• Availability of water especially in arid and

semiarid areas.• Land disruption is increased due to having to

remove larger volumes of the earth.

• Cyanide heap extraction- allows mining companies to level mountains to obtain low grade gold ore.

• - cyanide leach beds and and collecting ponds may overflow or leak.

• -Birds and mammals may be drawn to the ponds for a source of water to drink.

Summitville Gold Mine Colorado

“Summitville is a “superfund site”CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response Control and Liability Act

Cyanide heap extraction

1-4 stongest earthquakes since 1900

• 1. In 2011 a magnitude 8.9 quake struck this country?

• 2. In December 2004 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered this related event that killed 230,000 or so souls.

• 3. Largest recorded earthquake in the United States occurred in this US state. (Magnitude 9.2)

cont

• 4. In May 1960 a magnitude 9.5 earthquake struck this not so cold South American country.

5

• What region of the United States is the most low sulfur coal mined?

6

• QUESTION: When two plates collide, a continental/continental boundary is an example.

• ANSWER:

7

• QUESTION: What instrument measures the shock waves of an earthquake?

• ANSWER:

8

• Theory that plates move due to convection currents. What is___________ _________

9

• large supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago.

10

• 10. Term for the process of plates moving away from each other allowing thermal energy to escape.

11

• A _________________is a person who shovels broken ore or waste rock into orecars or orebuckets.

12-15• 12. Found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures

and some ceramic glazes.• 13. Composed of fibers known to cause lung

disease.• 14. Flammable gas that may ignite in coal

mines• 15. Colorless, orderless gas that is natrually

occurring decay product of uranium• Asbestos Methane Ether Lead Radon

16-19• 16. The most abundant element in the Earth’s

crust.• 17. The most abundant element in the Earth’s

atmosphere.• 18. The most abundant element in the Earth’s

core.• 19. The element commercially extracted from

bauxite• Neon Oxygen Aluminum Iron Nitrogen Argon

20

The world wide population using coal as a power source is growing at a rate of 5 percent per year, the number of years required for the the use of coal to double (assuming the current rate) is closest to

a. 5 b. 10 c. 15 d. 25 e. 35 UNIT years

21

• Which of the following natural events would most likely contribute to the cooling of the Earth’s atmosphere

• A. Hurricane B. Monsoon C. Earthquake• D. Tsunami E. Volcanism

22

• Name the act enacted in 1977 that required coal companies to grade, level and plant vegetation to reclaim the land that was mined.

23-25

• tiebreakers