This document discusses nonrenewable mineral resources and the environmental impacts of mining. It defines minerals, ores, and gangue and describes the distribution of abundant and scarce metals. Mining activities can release acid mine drainage and heavy metal contamination into water sources from ore exposure. Processing chemicals and erosion from mining also pollute the environment. While recycling and new exploration methods help meet demand, mineral supply concerns remain for some resources due to increasing global consumption. The document examines specific health impacts of four persistent, bioaccumulative metals - lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic - which are released from mining and fossil fuel combustion. Regulations aim to reduce risks to humans and wildlife from exposure to these toxic heavy metals.
Environmental threats and Land Reclamation on underground mining of Gem,graph...Pabasara Gunawardane
Removal of valuable minerals from the earth by taking both people and equipment into depths from the earth’s surface is called underground mining.Unsupported openings, Supported openings and Caving methods are the three methods of underground mining. Main methods in Underground mining are drift mining, slope mining, shaft mining, borehole process and hard rock mining.Contamination of rivers, lakes and ground water, alteration of surface and ground water flow, erosion and instability, loss of soil, material contamination, improper sanitation, increased dust, loss of faunal and floral habitats, over use of timber resources and destruction of forests and savannah are the general environmental threats of mining.
Gem mining methods range from digging deep mines and adrift to shallow open mining and river bed mining. In Sri Lanka traditional gem mining is mainly found in Balangoda, Ratnapura, Opanayake, Deniyaya, Rakwana, Elahera and Matale areas. Legislation to minimise environmental damage caused by gem mining is included within the 1971 Act drawn up by the NGJA, reinforced by the Mines and Minerals Act of 1992. Damage to vegetation cover, plantations and paddy fields, damage to land and geomorphology, man-made structures, to streams and river banks, sedimentation and water pollution, damage to fauna, alteration of surface and ground water flow and adverse environmental health conditions are some threats of gem mining.
Graphite and gold mining also have a severe impact on the environment. Especially the impacts are affecting on soil and water.
Backfilling of mined sites, seeding with grasses, tree planting at backfilled sites with native species, shaping and contouring of spoil piles and replacement of top soil are some mitigatory measures to the land reclamation after the mining of gold, gem and graphite.
Environmental threats and Land Reclamation on underground mining of Gem,graph...Pabasara Gunawardane
Removal of valuable minerals from the earth by taking both people and equipment into depths from the earth’s surface is called underground mining.Unsupported openings, Supported openings and Caving methods are the three methods of underground mining. Main methods in Underground mining are drift mining, slope mining, shaft mining, borehole process and hard rock mining.Contamination of rivers, lakes and ground water, alteration of surface and ground water flow, erosion and instability, loss of soil, material contamination, improper sanitation, increased dust, loss of faunal and floral habitats, over use of timber resources and destruction of forests and savannah are the general environmental threats of mining.
Gem mining methods range from digging deep mines and adrift to shallow open mining and river bed mining. In Sri Lanka traditional gem mining is mainly found in Balangoda, Ratnapura, Opanayake, Deniyaya, Rakwana, Elahera and Matale areas. Legislation to minimise environmental damage caused by gem mining is included within the 1971 Act drawn up by the NGJA, reinforced by the Mines and Minerals Act of 1992. Damage to vegetation cover, plantations and paddy fields, damage to land and geomorphology, man-made structures, to streams and river banks, sedimentation and water pollution, damage to fauna, alteration of surface and ground water flow and adverse environmental health conditions are some threats of gem mining.
Graphite and gold mining also have a severe impact on the environment. Especially the impacts are affecting on soil and water.
Backfilling of mined sites, seeding with grasses, tree planting at backfilled sites with native species, shaping and contouring of spoil piles and replacement of top soil are some mitigatory measures to the land reclamation after the mining of gold, gem and graphite.
Mineral deposits of potential economic significance in Sinai:; Most of the metallic and non-metallic deposits are found in the Middle Western portion of South Sinai, close to the Gulf of Suez.
A mineral resource is the concentration of materials that are of economic interest in or on the crust of the Earth. Almost all minerals found on Earth are used in one way or another for economic benefit. Examples of minerals include gold, gravel, sand, aluminum, copper, limestone, clay and diamond.
Gold is a transitional metal. In its purest form have reddish yellow color, soft, malleable, and ductile metal.
Atomic number : 79
Atomic mass : 196.9 u
Density : 19.32 g/cm3
Melting point : 1,064 °C
Boiling point : 2,700 °C
Founded in different form associated with different rock type in different tectonic setting.
Discovered from earlier time and used for multi purposes.
Formation of gold
The saying among prospectors that "gold is where you find it" suggests its occurrence is unpredictable, but there is some certain geological environments for the formation.
Because gold is very stable over a range of conditions, it is very widespread in the earth’s crust.
Gold dissolved in warm to hot salty water, the fluids are generated in huge volumes deep in the Earth’s crust as water-bearing minerals dehydrate during metamorphism.
Any gold present in the rocks being heated and squeezed is sweated out and goes into solution as complex ions.
In this form, dissolved gold, along with other elements such as silicon, iron and sulphur, migrates wherever fractures in the rocks allow the fluids to pass.
The direction is generally upwards, to cooler regions at lower pressures nearer the Earth’s surface.
Gold eventually becomes insoluble and begins to crystallize, most often enveloped by quartz.
The association of gold and quartz vein forms one of the most common types of "primary gold deposits".
India
In India, gold mineralization of economic importance is mainly restricted to Archean greenstone terranes of the Dharwar Craton (DC).
The eastern block of the DC has a high favorability for hosting major gold deposits such as Kolar, Hutti, and Ramagiri, whereas the western block hosts only a few smaller deposits such as Gadag, Ajjahanahalli, and Kempinkote.
Gold also discoverrd by GSI in the Singbhum Craton, Aravalli Craton, Bastar Craton and Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT).
India is the second-largest consumer of gold after China.
India currently holds about 558 tones of gold, representing 6.6% of its reserves, (World Gold Council, October 2016).
Kolar Gold Field, Hutti Gold Field and Ramgiri Gold Field are the most important gold fields.
Gold Demand and Use
The largest source of demand is the jewelry industry Gold’s workability, unique beauty, and universal appeal make this rare precious metal the favorite of jewelers all over the world.
Besides jewelry, gold has many applications in a variety of industries including aerospace, medicine, dentistry, and electronics for the manufacture of computers, telephones, televisions...
The third source of gold demand is governments and central banks that buy gold to increase their official reserves.
Private investors there are private investors. Depending upon market circumstances, the investment component of demand can vary substantially from year to year.
MANGANESE ORE DEPOSITS, Sedimentary Manganese Deposits, Types of Sedimentary Manganese, Classification, Manganese Nodules, EGYPTIAN MANGANESE ORE DEPOSITS , IRON ORE DEPOSITS, Cycle of Iron , Ironstone (Sedimentary iron) Ore Deposits, Bog Iron Ore Deposits, Principal iron-bearing minerals, Geochemical stability of iron-rich minerals, World Resources Iron Deposit, EGYPTIAN IRON ORE DEPOSITS, Iron ore deposit of sedimentary nature, Sinai: Gabal Halal iron ore deposit, Aswan iron Ore Deposits, Bahariya iron Ore Deposits
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits which forms the mineralized package of economic interest to the miner.
Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Mineral deposits of potential economic significance in Sinai:; Most of the metallic and non-metallic deposits are found in the Middle Western portion of South Sinai, close to the Gulf of Suez.
A mineral resource is the concentration of materials that are of economic interest in or on the crust of the Earth. Almost all minerals found on Earth are used in one way or another for economic benefit. Examples of minerals include gold, gravel, sand, aluminum, copper, limestone, clay and diamond.
Gold is a transitional metal. In its purest form have reddish yellow color, soft, malleable, and ductile metal.
Atomic number : 79
Atomic mass : 196.9 u
Density : 19.32 g/cm3
Melting point : 1,064 °C
Boiling point : 2,700 °C
Founded in different form associated with different rock type in different tectonic setting.
Discovered from earlier time and used for multi purposes.
Formation of gold
The saying among prospectors that "gold is where you find it" suggests its occurrence is unpredictable, but there is some certain geological environments for the formation.
Because gold is very stable over a range of conditions, it is very widespread in the earth’s crust.
Gold dissolved in warm to hot salty water, the fluids are generated in huge volumes deep in the Earth’s crust as water-bearing minerals dehydrate during metamorphism.
Any gold present in the rocks being heated and squeezed is sweated out and goes into solution as complex ions.
In this form, dissolved gold, along with other elements such as silicon, iron and sulphur, migrates wherever fractures in the rocks allow the fluids to pass.
The direction is generally upwards, to cooler regions at lower pressures nearer the Earth’s surface.
Gold eventually becomes insoluble and begins to crystallize, most often enveloped by quartz.
The association of gold and quartz vein forms one of the most common types of "primary gold deposits".
India
In India, gold mineralization of economic importance is mainly restricted to Archean greenstone terranes of the Dharwar Craton (DC).
The eastern block of the DC has a high favorability for hosting major gold deposits such as Kolar, Hutti, and Ramagiri, whereas the western block hosts only a few smaller deposits such as Gadag, Ajjahanahalli, and Kempinkote.
Gold also discoverrd by GSI in the Singbhum Craton, Aravalli Craton, Bastar Craton and Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT).
India is the second-largest consumer of gold after China.
India currently holds about 558 tones of gold, representing 6.6% of its reserves, (World Gold Council, October 2016).
Kolar Gold Field, Hutti Gold Field and Ramgiri Gold Field are the most important gold fields.
Gold Demand and Use
The largest source of demand is the jewelry industry Gold’s workability, unique beauty, and universal appeal make this rare precious metal the favorite of jewelers all over the world.
Besides jewelry, gold has many applications in a variety of industries including aerospace, medicine, dentistry, and electronics for the manufacture of computers, telephones, televisions...
The third source of gold demand is governments and central banks that buy gold to increase their official reserves.
Private investors there are private investors. Depending upon market circumstances, the investment component of demand can vary substantially from year to year.
MANGANESE ORE DEPOSITS, Sedimentary Manganese Deposits, Types of Sedimentary Manganese, Classification, Manganese Nodules, EGYPTIAN MANGANESE ORE DEPOSITS , IRON ORE DEPOSITS, Cycle of Iron , Ironstone (Sedimentary iron) Ore Deposits, Bog Iron Ore Deposits, Principal iron-bearing minerals, Geochemical stability of iron-rich minerals, World Resources Iron Deposit, EGYPTIAN IRON ORE DEPOSITS, Iron ore deposit of sedimentary nature, Sinai: Gabal Halal iron ore deposit, Aswan iron Ore Deposits, Bahariya iron Ore Deposits
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits which forms the mineralized package of economic interest to the miner.
Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Safety glasses protect eyes from bits of rock that may fly out of the mortar, and gloves reduce hand weakness and protect against blisters. A classifier or flour sifter is ideal for separating the panning dust from larger particles, and a towel keeps the rock pieces in one place when they break. Choose a large, heavy hammer to break large rocks.
Mineral Resources
1. Use and over exploitation
2. Minerals and their ores extraction
3. Mine Safety
4. Case Study
5. Environmental Problems
The environmental damage caused by mining activities are as follows:
1. Devegetation and defacing of landscape
2. Subsidence of land
3. Groundwater contamination
4. Surface water pollution
5. Air pollution
6. Occupational health hazard
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
Slack (or Teams) Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Soluti...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on the notifications, alerts, and approval requests using Slack for Bonterra Impact Management. The solutions covered in this webinar can also be deployed for Microsoft Teams.
Interested in deploying notification automations for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
Software Delivery At the Speed of AI: Inflectra Invests In AI-Powered QualityInflectra
In this insightful webinar, Inflectra explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming software development and testing. Discover how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and monitoring.
Learn about:
• The Future of Testing: How AI is shifting testing towards verification, analysis, and higher-level skills, while reducing repetitive tasks.
• Test Automation: How AI-powered test case generation, optimization, and self-healing tests are making testing more efficient and effective.
• Visual Testing: Explore the emerging capabilities of AI in visual testing and how it's set to revolutionize UI verification.
• Inflectra's AI Solutions: See demonstrations of Inflectra's cutting-edge AI tools like the ChatGPT plugin and Azure Open AI platform, designed to streamline your testing process.
Whether you're a developer, tester, or QA professional, this webinar will give you valuable insights into how AI is shaping the future of software delivery.
2. Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
• Earth crust = Minerals + rock
Minerals –inorganic compound that occurs
naturally in the earth’s crust
– Solid
– Regular internal crystalline structure.
• Rock – solid combination of 1 or more
minerals.
3. • Mineral Resource: Any mineral useful to humans
– Metallic Minerals: Iron Oxide, Gold
– Non-metallic mineral: Limestone, sand
– Fossil Fuel; Coal, Petroleum
• Ore: A rock that can be profitably mined for a
mineral (often a metal) or for minerals (metals)
– High Grade Ore; has high concentration of the mineral
– Low Grade Ore: smaller concentration
• Gangue: Minerals other than ore present in a rock
4. Types of Metals
• Abundant Metals: concentration >0.1% in the
earth’s crust
– Iron, Aluminum, Silicon, Magnesium, Titatnium,
Manganese
• Scarce Metals: <0.01% in the crust
– Ferro-alloys: Nickel, Chromium
– Base Metals: Copper, Lead, Zinc
– Precious or Noble Metals: Gold, Silver, Platinum
– Special Metals: Gallium, Arsenic, Germanium, Rare
earths, Berrylium, Scandium etc..
5. • PBT = Persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic.
– 5 nutrient metals: Cu, Cr, Ni, Al, Zn
– 6 non-nutrient metals: Sb, As, Be, Cd, Pb, Hg
• Metals cannot be banned and are present in
nature, in soil, in food and in water
• Pb, Cd, As and Hg pose special problem
6. Highly Uneven Distribution
S Africa 50% Gold
75% Chromium
90% Platinum Group
USA 50% Molybdenum
15% Lead
Chile 30% Copper
Cuba 40% Nickel
Guinea and Australia 25% each of Aluminum
Zaire 50% cobalt
7. Mineral Supply and Demand
• World Scenario:
– Assumptions:
• Present demand = present production
• Future projection is based on constant 1995 figures
• Unrestricted distribution
– Iron, Aluminum, Chromium, Cobalt and Platinum will
last centuries
– Copper, Lead, Zinc, Gold and Silver will last several
decades only
– Ditto for phosphates and sulfur
• Alleviating Factors:
– More exploration
– Better technology
– Reclassification of sub-economic resources to reserve
8. Other options
• Reduce consumptions
– Smaller households, more leisure and travel, convenience,
status etc. make it unlikely even in developed economies
– New technology adds to the existing needs e.g., cellular
phones, computers, microwave oven
– In the US, population grew by 65% and consumption grew by
130% between 1950-1990
– Great demand for resources in the developing countries
where there is a genuine need and where the great majority
lives
• If demand cannot be reduced, supplies must be
increased or extended
9. New Methods in Exploration
• Geophysics
• Geochemistry
• Remote sensing: Landsat
• Better understanding of geology
• Marine Mineral Resources
– sea water, placers, hydrothermal deposits (Red Sea Mud),
– Manganese Nodules(Mn, Cu, Ni, Co, Pt)
– International Law of the Sea Conference
10. Conservation
• Substitution
– Increases consumption of the substituting metal or nonmetal
(often petroleum) which itself might be limited in amount
• Recycling
– In USA 60% of lead, 40% of copper, 1/3rd of nickel and almost ¼
of Al, Cr, Co and Zn is recycled
– Recycled Al requires 20 times less energy than new Al
– Difficult to do with finished products like cars or fridges
– Special problem with alloys
– Road salt, fertilizers, lead in gasoline gets too disperse
– Reduces waste disposal problem
13. Mining Hazards
• Most hazardous activity in the US:
Activity Deaths per 100,000
workers (1989)
Mining 43
Agriculture 40
Construction 32
14. Conversion
to product
Surface
mining
Metal ore Separation
of ore from
gangue
Smelting Melting
metal
Discarding
of product
Recycling
Life Cycle of a Metal Resource
Smelting – heating to release metals but creating air polluting by-products
Chemical removal processes such as using cyanide to remove gold can
create Toxic holding ponds
15. Surface Mines
• Open pit mines
– Where large 3D ore body lies close to the surface
– Leaves a large exposed hole on the surface
– Exposed rocks prone to weathering and polluting
• Strip mines
– Mostly for coal where minerals occur in layers paralleling
the surface
– Waste rocks dumped back as spoil banks
– Newer regulations require reclamation involving grading,
restoring, and replanting
– Can cause changes in topography and drainage
16. Extracting Mineral Deposits
• Surface mining - shallow deposits
in US extracts 90% of non-fuel minerals and rocks and
60% of the coal.
– Overburden – soil and rock overlying deposit.
– Spoils – discarded overburden
Open-pit Mining Area Strip Mining
19. Extracting Mineral Deposits
• Subsurface mining - deposits that are too deep
for surface mining
– Disturbs less
– produces less waste
– but also less effective and dangerous.
20. Underground Mines
• Generally less disruptive than surface mines
• Tunnels closely follow the ore body
• Some waste rock on the surface
• Shallow abandoned mines can cause collapse
21.
22. Sources of Metal Pollution
• Mining
– Air
– Water
– Land
• Fossil Fuel Combustion
– Air
– Water
– Land
• Other sources
• Natural Sources
23. Harmful Environmental Effects of Mining
• Acid Mine Drainage
(AMD)
• Heavy Metal
Contamination
• Processing chemical
pollution
• Erosion and
Sedimentation
25. • Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)
– Sulfur in ores react with water and oxygen to form
sulfuric acid which leaks out from the mine
– Thiobacillus ferroxidans bacteria in acid water
hastens the process
– Acid is carried off the mine site by rainwater or
surface drainage and deposited into nearby
streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater. AMD
severely degrades water quality, and can kill
aquatic life and make water virtually unusable.
27. • 2. Heavy Metal Contamination & Leaching
– Heavy metal pollution is caused when such metals
as arsenic, cobalt, copper, cadmium, lead, silver
and zinc contained in excavated rock or exposed
in an underground mine come in contact with
water.
– Metals are leached out and carried downstream
as water washes over the rock surface.
– leaching is particularly accelerated in the low pH
conditions such as are created by Acid Mine
Drainage.
28. • 3. Processing Chemicals Pollution
– occurs when chemical agents (such as cyanide or
sulphuric acid used by mining companies to separate the
target mineral from the ore) spill, leak, or leach from the
mine site into nearby water bodies. These chemicals can
be highly toxic to humans and wildlife.
• 4. Erosion and Sedimentation
– Mineral development disturbs soil and rock in the course
of constructing and maintaining roads, open pits, and
waste impoundments.
– erosion of the exposed earth may carry substantial
amounts of sediment into streams, rivers and lakes.
– Excessive sediment can clog riverbeds and smother
watershed vegetation, wildlife habitat and aquatic
organisms.
29. Mineral Processing
• Crushing of ores produces tailings
• Traces of pollutants like mercury, arsenic,
cadmium and uranium may leach out of tailings
and contaminate groundwater and landfills
• Processing chemicals (e.g., Cyanide) are major
hazards (cyanide spill in Danube)
• Smelting releases toxic elements, SO2etc and
causes acid rain which can destroy vegetation
31. Four PBT Metals
• PBT: Persistent, Bio-accumulative, Toxic
• Lead
• Mercury
• Cadmium
• Arsenic
32. Lead
• Present Scenario compared to 100 yrs ago
– 4X in Antarctica Ice
– 15X greater in Coral
– 500X greater in household dusts
• Was used in
– Plumbing
– soldering
– Paint
– Gasoline
– Lead types for printing, Lead in printing ink
33. Lead; Adverse Effects
• Affects Nervous system of human fetus and
small children
• Most of the lead is stored in bones and along
with Calcium, is released in mother’s milk
• Affects IQ, causes delinquency, kidney cancer
• In adults: High BP, affects nervous system and
kidney, anemia, infertility
34. Sources of Lead
• Similar to other metals: mining, smelting, coal
burning power plants, incinerators
• Lead paints , lead contaminated soil, plumbing
– affects children in poorer households
– Made worse by poor diet low in Ca and Fe
• For people living in Lead free environment:
– Food is the major source
35. Sources of Lead
• Gasoline
– Lead level in exhausts fell 90% after banning of lead in
gasoline – the substitute, Benzene, is carcinogen
– Lead in the blood of Children fell to 4 -6 microgram/lt
(threshold: 10 micrograms/lt)
– Major problem now in China
• Incinerator:
• P2
measures: the following are banned:
– Lead in gasoline, in paint, in printing ink, in solders in
plumbing and cans, in sealing wine bottles, in toys
– Imported products can still have lead
– Car batteries still contain lead
36. Mercury
• Much of the mercury in the environment originates
as mercury vapor from coal burning power plants
and incinerators (2-3000 tons) and from natural
sources (2700 to 6000 tons)
• Elemental Mercury not as injurious as methylmercury
• Most of the mercury ends up in the ocean where
bacteria in the bottom sediments convert elemental
mercury to methylmercury
• Methylmercury biomagnifies up the food chain
– Some game fish has Hg conc. 200,000 X that of
surrounding water
– Can cause roblems to humans eating these fish,
particularly among children, old people and pregnant
women
37. Adverse effects of Mercury
• 95% of the exposure comes from eating
contaminated fish.
• Toxic to nervous system
• Minamata Tragedy:
– Chisso Corp discharged mercury in Minamata bay
from 1930
– Biomagnification in Fish upto 40 ppm (0.5 ppm safe
limit)
– 200,000 people were poisoned
– Chronic nervous system damage, miscarriages,
deformed fetus
–
38. Reducing Risk from Mercury
• Regulations: EPA has set standards for
drinking water, air-emissions and is tackling
the biggest source: coal burning power plants
• Reduce workplace exposure
• Reduce or eliminate mercury containing
products:
– In rechargeable batteries and button cells
– Remove batteries from municipal solid waste
– Green Lights program: Hg free fluorescent light
– Phase out mercury from hospital and lab products
39. Cadmium
• Discovered in 1817, heavily mined since mid-40s
• Bioaccumulates in kidney – increases with age
• Itai-itai disease among older women in Japan
• Cancer, birth defects in rats
• Sources:
– Mining and smelting of Zn, Pb, Cu
– Coal burning
– Phosphatic fertilizers, sewage sludge
– Nicad batteries: a major source in Municipal Solid
Waste
40. Cadmium…
• 90% of the exposure (of non-smokers) is
through food
– Fish, scallops and oysters
– Liver and kidneys of larger animals : beef,
venison
– Readily taken up by plants – concentrated in
Tobaccos. 90% of inhaled Cd is absorbed by the
body
• Control: EPA regulations
• Power plants still not controlled
• Nicad batteries still a major problem
41. Arsenic
• Metal smelting of Copper and Lead
• Used to be common weed killer
• Emitted by volcanoes
• Naturally present in soil
– Major environmental problem in Bangladesh
• Level in seafoods higher than in land-grown
food.
• Much of the Arsenic in Food is not bioavailable
• CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) used to treat
wood including playground equipments – can
contaminate soil
Editor's Notes
Figure 12.7: Life cycle of a metal resource. Each step in this process uses large amounts of energy and produces some pollution and waste.