POLS 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Placer Mining, Surface Mining, Metal Toxicity
27 Sep 2017
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Ehsc 3060 lecture 8 feb 10, 2017. Components of the crust: mineral, rock igneous sedimentary. A naturally occurring solid material, which a metal or valuable mineral can be profitably extracted. Ore all ores are rocks but not all rocks are ores. Open pit dug deep to get to layer of rock/coal. Mountaintop blasting off top of mtn. issue with exposure to oxygen/rain. Placer mining of stream bed deposits for minerals - gold table. Rock face exposed to oxygen and water, releasing toxic heavy metals strip - you reconstitute the ground to the point where it can be farmland. Heap-leach extraction mining process to extract precious metals and other. Spoil banks: cause acid and sediment runoff groundwater contaminiation: drinking water and water used for agriculture when you strip mine, you have to resurface the mining area. This act was difficult to get thru congress because it made it less competitive for coal mining.
