impacts of mineral exploitation

• around 1 percent of the earths land surface has been explored
• impacts of mining can spread further through drainage water, atmospheric pollution, impacts of mineral processing and infrastructural developments such as transport syustems
• land take is an impact: mineral extraction may cause conflict with other land users
• minerals can only be exploited where they are deposited, this increases land use conflict as limited locations can be exploited
• the land area required for mining is often greater than the area of mine void, this is because land is required for buildings, access routes, overburden dumping, spoil dumping or a buffer zone
• open cast mining causes more habitat loss than deep mining
• habitat loss is an impact: loss of species where the mineral is deposited is unavoidable as surface habitat must be removed
• to prevent habitat loss, some species have been captured and relocated, however this is often unacceptable as habitat conditions are difficult to replicate, species can also be hard to catch
• loss of amenity is an impact: mining changes the landscape and can create aesthetic problems for local communities
• loss of amenity can be reduced by landscaping and tree planting, when a mine closes it can be turned into a community resource so long term amenity may even be greater than prior to mining
• dust can be an impact: mine vehicles and rock blasting create dust which is lifted into the atmosphere
• water sprays limit dust by causing dust particles to become heavier, allowing them to settle by wetting them they now clump together
• noise is an imoact: mine vehicles and blasting are major noise sources
• embankments or 'baffle mounds' are built around mines to help absorb and deflect noise
• disturbance of blasting can also be mitigated by blasting at set times, and by limiting to daylight hours or use
• turbid drainage water is an impact: suspended solid particles in mine drainage water can reduce light penetration into rivers and lakes, sediments can also cover and kill organisms
• turbidity of drainage water can be reduced using sedimentation lagoons: water stands still for long enough that solids sink and outflow of water has reduced turbidity
• spoil disposal is an impact: spoil is the solid waste material left behind by mining
• spoil disposal issues can include: aesthetics, stability and leachate
• leachate: rainwater percolating through spoil can dissolve toxic metals and sulphides producing acidic leachate solutions
• to prevent leachate: mine drainage water can be passed through a filter bed of crushed limestone to immobilise the metal preventing it being carried to rivers
• landscaping may reduce gradients by adding soil and nutrients
• mine site restoration involves new uses for previous mining sites
• mine site restoration depends on location, access, topography of the site
• some mine site restoration may include flooding sites to be developed as wetland wildlife or being used agriculturally