Mining
From Envirowiki
Mining is the act of digging minerals up from the ground. Most often these days, the minerals are intended for industrial processing to turn them into consumer crap. Mining can be done in a number of ways, nearly all of which are in some way harmful to social justice, or the environment.
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[edit] 1 Benefits of mining
The benefits of mining are:
- easy access to a vast number of useful resources
- lots of profit for bosses and shareholders
- a few high-paying jobs for mine workers, or a lot of low paying jobs for mineworkers (depending on which part of the world the mine is in, and how strict the relevant labour laws and how strong the unions are).
[edit] 2 Problems with mining
Mining can have extremely large negative environmental and social impacts, and unless there are strong restrictions one what kind of activity a company can undertake, it often does.
[edit] 2.1 toxics
Mining often requires toxic chemicals for the processes involved - i.e. cyanide is used in gold and copper mining. These chemical are difficult to dispose of, and in a lot of third world areas, such as Papua New Guinea, it is economically rational to simply chuck the chemicals in the river, and this often happens. This can have immediate and disastrous effects on life downstream, with fish and other aquatic life dying, or becoming sick, as well as mammals and birds which drink river water, including humans.
[edit] 2.2 dust
Mining often kicks up large amounts of dust, especially in dry places, which can lead to increased frequency and intensity of respiratory illnesses in the local area.
[edit] 2.3 water
Mines require a lot of water, both to wash the ores, and to keep down dust. This water is often taken from rivers, restricting the water supply to those downstream. This affects both human populations and ecosystems, especially fragile wetlands and swamps. Water used for washing is sometimes release back into water courses, increasing nutrient loads, toxics chemicals, and turbidity.
Undergroung mining can crack river and stream beds, draining the water, and completely destroying local ecosystems, and irrigation systems.
[edit] 2.4 Social justice
Mining is first and foremost an economic activity - pursued by corporations for profit. Like any other activity where profit is the main goal, it's best to keep costs low. In terms of work, this means destroying worker's rights, and forcing them to work long hours for no pay. Where this can't be achieved - ie. in places with strong unions, costs can be kept low by maximising automation, and minimising work that needs to be done by humans - machines don't need paying.
Usually, the people living in the area of the mine have little or no say in whether it should go ahead, nor how it should operate, even in wealthy countries, such as Australia. This is obvious from cases like Anvil Hill, which has huge amounts of public opposition, and has been shown in the court system to have been wrongly approved (downstream CO2 emissions not counted).
[edit] 3 Reclamation by Native Species
Sites disturbed by mining operations often lack the vast majority of the biodiversity present on that land prior to such total disruption. However, reclamation of previously mined sites by native plants and animal species does occur.
The reclamation of these sites by the native species previously inhabiting them is becoming more common due to the attention from ecologists. Findings point to the eventual reclamation of these degraded areas by the previous inhabitants. If given enough time, these sites are believed to be able to reach general similarity to the surrounding undisturbed ecosystems [1]. While there may be some disparities in the dispersal of relatively rare species into the reclaimed land, the majority of native species have been found to spread onto the land some time after the mining operation is finished.
There are greater concerns as to how the policies regarding the measurement of progress in reclamation by natural species detracts from the reclamation of the land by those native species. Policies often lack an ecologically informed approach to the situation, assessing the type and extent of reclamation within human time scales. Such an approach may lead to superficial reclamation of the site with non-native species, as those responsible for taking care of the site may not be able to meet certain deadlines and requirements were they to allow the process of reclamation to occur as it would naturally[1]. Thus, non-native species may be introduced to the ecosystem in order to meet certain growth requirements. This situation may serve the needs of those who have an interest in the measurement of the extent of reclamation on these sites; however, this can delay progress towards full, natural reclamation.
