Mining usually tears up large areas of the countryside. A lot of effort goes into recovery of sites, and this costs in terms of dollars, energy and time. Mining, particularly underground mining, is a dangerous business. Many miners are killed or injured every year in accidents (particularly in China). Additionally, mining is conducted to recover ore or aggregates. Processing ore to recover metal takes energy and creates lots of opportunities for pollution. Pollution from the recovery of metal from ore is a serious issue.
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Minnasota Mining
Catastrophic impacts.
How do you minimize the harmful effects of mining?
Surface Miningeasier than subsurface miningdoes more damage to environmentcreates more of a messSubsurface Miningit is very dangerousyou retrieve minerals from undergroundyou have very little air underground
Modern mining techniques are highly mechanized. Huge earthmoving equipment scoops up ore materials and places them in giant haulers to be transported to mechanized processing facilities. Computers control much of the operation from start to finish. Explosives are used to break up rock in manageable chunks for extraction. Underground mining is more labor intense due the close quarters environment, but can still be highly mechanized.