Influence of mining activities on biodiversity

Mining activities are also contribute to reduction of land available for human use. In many
cases, mining involves disturbance of considerable areas of land. Generally mining activities
include recovery of metal ores, minerals (e.g. clay, asbestos minerals, etc.) and fossils fuels
(coal, oil and gas) from the earth. In the recovery of minerals, metal ores and coal, mining
techniques such as open-pit mining, strip mining and underground mining are typically applied.
During open-pit mining, vegetation and layers of earth (overburden) have to be removed in
order to access the minerals deposits. Open-pit method is applicable for mineral deposits,
which exist at a considerable depth of the earth, below the groundwater table. It is considered
as among the most environmentally destructive mining methods. The aftermath of open-pit
mining is often a deep pit which may turn into a pit lake due to water filling the pit hole. Strip
mining like open-pit mining is a surface mining method. It is applied in recovery mineral
deposits, which are relocated relatively near the earths surface. This also involves removal of
vegetation and layers of earth to reach mineral deposits. Use of this method is said to account
for over 40% of worlds coal mines. In Australian, mine activities using strip mining contribute
to as high as 80%. It is considered as a highly destructive method in terms of land use. For
instance, mountainous areas can be blasted apart in order to recover the mineral deposits.
On the other hand, underground mining is used for mineral or ore deposits, which exist deeper
underground. It involves construction of tunnels and shafts in order to access the mineral
deposits. Unlike the surface mining methods, underground mining is less destructive to the
land above the mineral deposit. It is noted to generate less amount of overburden than that
observed with surface mining methods. However, underground mine activities do affect the
quality and flow of groundwater and tend disrupt the rock structure of land.
Among the general problems associated with mining activities is the physical destruction of
the original landscape, for example, formation of open pits due to open pit mining, piles of
overburden materials (excavated waste rocks) from strip mining and land subsidence due to
underground mining. The indiscriminate clearing of forests and other vegetation leads to loss
of plant and animal biodiversity in the affected areas. Animal species lose their habitat
whereas plant species are usually destroyed. Contamination of soil, groundwater, surface
water and air with toxic wastes due to leakages of chemicals used in mining. For examples
acid mine drainage problems are known to cause long-term contamination of water streams
and destruction of biodiversity especially aquatic life. Furthermore, toxic chemicals such as
cyanide (commonly applied in gold mining) and heavy metals often end up into the ecosystem
leading to loss of biodiversity. Generation of liquid-solid waste also lead to further utilization of
land for waste disposal and handling. Depending on the type of mining activities, this may
include creation of tailings dams, spoil tips and slag heaps. The waste generated often is toxic
to the environment due to its chemical compositions. For instance, wastes of slag heaps from
pyrometallurgical processes often contain harmful metals such as arsenic, selenium, lead and
so forth. Blasts and fire outbreaks are major problems in coal and natural gas mines. It has
been noted that a fire outbreak in a coal mine may last several years leading to formation of
undesirable coal ash and destruction of the environment. Dust is also a major as far as mining
activities are concerned. Deposition of dust may lead to retardation of plant growth and human
health is at risk.
Considering the width of the mining sector, there are several measures can be taken to
minimize the negative effects of mining activities towards the environment. Some of these
measures are highlighted here. Reclamation of old mine sites by transplanting and culturing
of the plant species originally found on the mine site. In other words, restoration of the
topography and vegetation cover of the old mine site so that it can be reused in future. Another
aspect is planning mines based on the existing infrastructure where applicable. This way,
unnecessary destruction of ecosystem can be prevented. Minimization of waste generated
during mining and mineral processing by employing cleaner production techniques. Here, the
use of wastes as raw materials would be helpful. Furthermore, process re-engineering and
application of waste management methods with minimum water requirement can make a
positive impact. Treatment of mine wastewaters for example by recovery of mineral acids and

metals would minimize the effect of acid mine drainage problem often associated with mining
activities. The use of toxic reagents such as cyanide can avoided by development of ecofriendly reagents as substitutes. However, development of such reagents would require
extensive scientific research work. Moreover, instead of focusing mainly of mining, recycling
of scrap materials should be intensified. For example, electronic materials like mobile phones
contain significant amounts of gold, silver, base metals and platinum group metals. It has been
noted that gold recovery from a ton of electronic waste would be more than that obtained from
17 tons of ore. As far as use of fossil fuels such as coal is concerned, alternative sources of
renewable energy sources need to further developed. Today some of the potential renewable
energy sources are solar and wind power energy.

Recycling of materials such as scrap metal and electronic waste