The mining sector is one of the largest sources of income in South Africa, after the Agricultural sector. It has been a major supporter to the industrialization of South Africa after the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in1871, and the Witwaterstand goldfields in 1886 (Sorenses, 2012, p.22). This essay would be focusing more on the environmental and social effects mining of Coal, Gold and Uranium has on the soil in South Africa. The waste tailings from the mines are been washed away into the drainage and water system, and atmospheric sulphur, SO2, is been absorbed into the atmosphere causing acid rain. The effluent from the Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) enters surface water bodies and the groundwater increasing the pH level, resulting in the degradation of aquatic habitats and, therefore, reducing the soil quality (Davies and Mundalamo, 2010, p.661). Contact and ingestion of infected crops cause various diseases to humans.
State of Aim:
This essay focuses on giving a detailed insight on the dangerous effect on the soil and people of South Africa caused by the mining of various mineral resources (E.g. coal, gold, Uranium) and give suggestions on how to curb these effects.
Impacts of mining on the Biophysical Environment:
South Africa has an abundance of mineral resources, and has been mining for hundreds of years. Mining is referred to as the extraction of minerals such as coal, Uranium, Gold and so on. The mining of heavy metals has a long tradition in South Africa, especially in the territory surrounding Pretoria and Johannesburg (Gzik, Kuehling, Schneider & Tschochner, 2003). These metals are responsible for the alteration of the chemistry of the environment through the release of greenhouse gases such as Sulphur to the a...
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...s, 3(1), 29 - 34. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02989466
Munnik, V., Hochmann, G., Hlabane, M., & Law, S. (2010). The social and environmental consequences of coal mining in South Africa. a case study. A joint initiative of Environmental Monitoring Group, Cape Town, South Africa and Both ENDs, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Retrieved from http://www.bothends.org/uploaded_files/uploadlibraryitem/1case_study_South_Africa_updated.pdf
Sorenses, Paul. “Sustainable development in mining companies in South Africa.” International Journal of Environmental Studies 69(1)(2012): 21-40. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Weissenstein, K., and T. Sinkala. “Soil pollution with heavy metals in mine environments, impact areas of mine dumps particularly of gold- and copper mining industries in southern africa.” Arid Ecosystems 1(1) (2011): 53-58. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Throughout this mining process a byproduct is created called chat. The chat is leftover rock and waste from mining that did not contained the desired materials. The chat was left on the site because the Bureau of Indian Affairs thought it could be of value to the Quapaw tribe (1). This chat contained high levels of toxic lead and other harmful chemicals. It is estimated that there are 75 Million tons (150 billion pounds) of chat piles remaining exposed to the environment as well as numerous flotation ponds that haven’t been taken into account (4).
Objectives • To evaluate the difficulty of mining and reclamation To calculate costs, expenses, income, and profit from a hands-on mining exercise. • To evaluate the effectiveness of reclamation and its added costs to mining. To describe the increasing rarity of some non-renewable mineral resources. Introduction Minerals play an important role in our day-to-day life, but we often do not contemplate how the minerals are obtained. Minerals are scattered all over the world, just like any other resource.
The scope of the sustainable development is conceptually divided into three parts: environmental, economic and social; each of these pillars must be on an equal stage, promoting a model of growth without exclusion (social), equitable (economic) and safeguard natural (environmental) resources (MIT Press Journals, 2017). Considering the words mention above, an interesting approach we could focus on is the way the industry uses the materials to develop projects.
Coal has a very negative impact on the environment, one of the main impacts on the environment is the actual process of extracting the coal from the ground. The two ways that coal is mined, underground and surface, both have different effects on the environment. The first way that coal is mined is by digging tunnels and creating mineshafts underground and then removing the coal from th...
What comes to mind when you think of coal mining? If you're like me, coal mining means living in darkness and a cold hearted industry. Other words that come to mind are poverty and oppression. Coal mining is not a job that you dream about or get a degree for. People who are coal miners do not chose a life full of danger and repression, they get stuck with it. There are many dangers that come along with coal mining, not only for the workers, but for the environment. Coal mining and the coal industry have caused irreversible damage to our environment and has killed innocent miners.
Lins, C., & Horwitz, E. (2007). Sustainability in the Mining Sector. Retrieved November 6, 2017, from http://www.fbds.org.br/IMG/pdf/doc-295.pdf
Acid mine drainage refers to water (leachate, drainage or seepage) that has come into contact with oxidised rocks or overburden that contains sulphide material (coal, zinc, copper, lead). Keller, 2000; U.S.G.S. ; U.S.E.P.A., 2002). A common sulphide is pyrite, or iron disulfide (FeS2). Throughout this essay, it will be pyrite that will be the primary sulphide considered. Acid mine drainage is not a new phenomenon, early mining techniques utilized gravity to avoid water pooling, resulting in the water becoming polluted by acid, iron, sulphur and aluminium (U.S.E.P.A., 2002).
Though it has had many negative impacts on the environment in the past, mining is a vital industry completely necessary to our economy and lives. Nearly every item we use or encounter in our day to day lives is mined or contains mined products. Without the excavation of such materials things like computers, televisions, large building structures, electricity, and cars would not be possible. Virtually every technological and medical advance uses minded materials, without which millions would suffer. Some examples of minerals in the home include the telephone which is made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, silver, and talc. A television requires over 35 different minerals, and more than 30 minerals are needed to make a single personal computer. Without boron, copper, gold and quartz, your digital alarm clock would not work. Every American uses an average 47,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year, which is higher than all other countries with the exception of Japan, which is a staggering figure representative of our dependence and need for mined minerals. Coal makes up more than half of nation’s electricity, and will continue to be the largest electrical supplier into 2020 & accounting for some 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves – nine of every ten short-tons of coal mined in the United States is used for electricity generation. As the population of the world grows more mineral resources must be exploited through mining in order to support the rising demand for such products. Though it may present a hazard to the environment and those physically located nears the mines, the materials extracted from mines...
Coal mining can benefit humans as well as it supports the economy in many ways. Coal mining provides a lot of jobs for local communities. It provides over 7 million jobs worldwide.
Betey C. B. and Godfred E. 2013. Environmental Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development in Africa: A Critical Review. Vol. 3, No. 2. Canadian Center of Science and Education.
Mining is the process or industry of obtaining minerals from the earth. Topics in this paper I’ll be specifically discussing are pros and cons of mining, structures of a mine, mining in general, California gold rush, diamonds in Africa, and comparison of diamond and gold mines.
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.
Dilley, L.; Earle, J.; Keats, G.; Nxele, A.A. & Ravenscroft, G. (2012) Conventional energy sources and their impact on the environment. Focus Geography Grade 11. 4th edition. Cape Town, South Africa. Maskew Miller Longman. p. 263
Oelofse. C. 2001. Sustainable Development: Theoretical and conceptual issues, LA 21 Training Programme. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Natal, Durban
A very important aspect of tourism is the transport, transport consists of traveling by air, road, railway and sea. The levels of transportation have been rising at an alarming rate due to the increase in population around the world and due to the increase in traveling tourists. With the increase in the number of tourist, this comes with a consequence, as tourism is responsible for the large amount of air transmissions. These emissions, as well as those that provide the tourists with their important needs such as electricity have great and extremely harmful effects on South Africa's environment for example the wildlife, our fertile soils, the purity of the water supplies, it can even harm human lives and effect our crops. With all these important things being harmed we are risking food shortages due to chemicals effecting the crops, which over a long time can be extremely life threa...