Taconite mining has become more popular ever since the rock has become rare. Taconite was once considered “waste rock,” but is currently really valuable. Since the Gogebic Iron Range has about three-fourths of all the taconite in the nation people from all over the country want to take over and start mining. Although taconite mining would do some good for the community, such as creating tons of jobs and boosting the economy for awhile, there are too many risks. Taconite mining has a negative effect on the environment and health.
The Gogebic Range could potentially become the largest open-pit iron-ore mine in the world. In the United States taconite was starting to be thought of as a waste rock. But, as the supply of taconite was slowly decreasing, the mining industry suddenly began viewing taconite as a significant and valuable resource. A lot of people don’t exactly know what taconite is or what it’s used for. Taconite is a low-grade magnetic iron ore that is used to make steel (Iron Mining in the Lake Superior Basin.). Geologists say about 20% of the nation’s remaining iron is all buried in the Gogebic Range (Ron.). There will be a lot of “phases” or steps just to mine all of the taconite located in the Northland. Phase one of the site will be a functional mine of a 4 to 4.5 mile long open pit that will be around .3 to 1.5 miles wide. The mine will trail along the linear alignment of the iron formation. The first phase of this mining project will last around 35 years (Wagner). There are also many steps used in taconite mining;
First, the miners blast the taconite. Taconite needs to be blasted by small explosives since it’s such a hard rock (MDNR,). These blasts would be happening at least once a week. Usuall...
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...end up in lakes, streams, groundwater, for the city to drink, and in the air (Wisconsin Governor Walker signs iron ore mining law). Materials that cause “acid mine drainage” are found in the mine waste as well as hazards such as mercury and arsenic (Gogebic Taconite Mine). All around, Taconite mining will be absolutely terrible for human health.
Even though many people feel that taconite mining will be good for the economy, community, and jobs, it will really only cause a lot of harm to the community. Taconite mining has a bad effect on the environment and health. Mining will cause community members to have cancer, such as mesothelioma. It will create a huge impact on the environment, in the water, air, and to living organisms. Wild rice beds may become extinct in the area. Overall it would just create a huge mess that may never be able to be cleaned up.
The Making of a Hardrock Miner written by Stephen M. Voynick, describes his own personal experiences as a hardrock miner in four different underground mines in the western United States, the Climax molybdenum mine in Colorado, Hecla Lakeshore Project a copper mine in Arizona, and two uranium mines in Wyoming. Rather than a book telling of the fortunes gained and lost, this book was about the relationships gained, but then also lost through mining. Stephen M. Voynick’s direct words and simple writing style provided a book that was an easy read and educational about mine work and safety.
...f towns and cities that still exist today. In addition, the opening of mines created jobs which had a positive impact on the economy while the decline of mines led to a sharp decrease in population due to the lack of job opportunities. The era of copper mining also shows the powerful alliance that had formed between Michigan and Boston. Both Michigan mine operators and Boston investors had different kinds of resources that the other lacked. It can be seen that Michigan would not be the way it is today without outside influence from investors and interested prospectors.
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
Mountain Top Removal is an American tragedy, the process in which mining companies remove forests and topsoil then explode the mountain apart level by level to get to coal layer. It is estimated that the explosives are equivalent of the Hiroshima bomb. A lot of the mining waste is discarded into valleys and streams; the water runoff is high in silt, ion, and sulfur compounds, which in turn pollute water downstream. Even with chemical treatments, vegetation has a hard time growing on the infertile and highly acidic soil. Mountain top removal occurs in eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia, and east Tennessee. Virtually 1.2 million acres of land has been surface mined and more than 500 mountains have been ruined by mountaintop removal mining.
The opposition to this project is increasing because the people living in those areas are already feeling negative consequences. The large communities living in Boreal Forest and other Natives lands are being affected by the extraction and process of tar sands. Not only this people are being rushed away from their lands, but also, the rate of cancer, renal failure, lupus, hyperthyroidism and other decease, are higher than ever. This health conditions increased because of the air pollution and the high quantities of metals and chemicals in the drinking water. Yet, lots of precautions are being taken by the company, oil spills keep happening over and over. The external metal corrosion caused by extreme temperatures and the corrosive acid components of the bitumen are factors that contribute to accidents like explosions and oil
...sumption, creates emission of greenhouse gases and other harmful chemical materials. Once released into the air, it can cause environmental problems, which in turn threatens not only the environment, but also the health of the people who live in it. In order to reduce the use of energy to help protect our planet and our health, the diamond mining industry has implemented renewable energy programs to monitor energy and carbon emission. Since its beginning, mining company PHP Billiton program has saved an equivalent of one million liters of diesel fuel per year at their Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The health of the environment and the health of humanity are as one. Whatever we do to our planet, we do to ourselves. Reducing energy consumption of diamond mining not only helps protect our planet, but also helps protect the health of our people.
From the above discussion, it is obvious that the geology of the Superstition mountain and the adjacent areas is complex. Most parts of the mountain express a diverse geological formation. Although the areas surrounding the mountains are believed to be rich in minerals, dead-seated deposits of minerals still seem elusive to the modern mineral prospectors. This explains the absence of mining companies in the area for a long time.
...graphy." Mining Techniques of the Sierra Nevada and Gold Country. N.p., n.d. 16 May 2014. .
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2005). Mountain Top Mining Valley Fills In Appalachia Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from .
Certain and precise conditions must be met for this mineral to even exist; yet we are able to replicate it and understand its environment. This environment being the transition zone of the mantle that scientist only dream of reaching. In studying this mineral, a lot can be inferred about this area even before it is physically met. This zone from about 410 and 660 is defined by wadsleyite, encompasses pressures reaching 19 gigapascals and temperatures of 2000 degrees Celsius. This transition zone of the mantle is also highly likely to be a water reservoir concluded by all the studies done by the properties of wadsleyite. This is an extremely important find as more pieces of the puzzle come together to paint a better picture of how Earth
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.
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...
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.
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.