Types of Mining
Surface and Subsurface- Bailey L and Maleiya L
Surface Mining - Strip, Open Pit, and Mountain Top Removal
Surface Mining is in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit is removed.
Strip MIning
Strip mining is a type of surface mining where you are excavating the Earth to uncover a lens shaped mineral reserve.
Effects of Strip Mining on the environment are vegetation and top soil is removed and causes noise and dust pollution.
Open Pit Mining
Open pit mining is a mining technique where rocks are extracted from an open pit or a borrow.
Effects of Open Pit Mining on the environment are exposing rock that may contain radioactive elements and dust. These elements can get in bedrock if not contained.
Mountain Top Mining
Mountain Top Removal is a method of surface mining that destroys a mountain top or ridge-line to mine coal.
Effects of Mountain Top Mining on the environment are excess mining waste is dumped by trucks and replaces steep landscape with flatter typography
Subsurface Mining - Slope, Shaft, Drift
Subsurface Mining is the extraction of minerals and ores from underground and consisted of digging shafts into the Earth for ore.
Slope Mining
Slope mining is the method of accessing valuable material; A shaft travels downwards toward coal at an angle (slope). The effects are large amounts of hazardous acid mine drainage
Shaft Mining
Shaft mining refers to the excavating material through near-vertical tunnel; This kind of mining is when there is no access to the bottom of the tunnel. The effects are in-mine low air quality and low pH (acidic) water.
Drift Mining
Drift mining is a near-horizontal tunnel in a mine following the vein of ore. This kind of mining is done when material is on the side of a hill. The effect of drift mining are collapses of tunnels and explosions/fire.
Fracking
Process of drilling and injecting fluid in'to the ground at a high pressure in Ore to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas stored inside
Dangers of fracking
Fracking can contaminate groundwater in aquifers and this can cause sensory, respiratory and neurological damage. The waste fluid is left in open puts to release harmful VOCs into the atmosphere. Only 30%-50% of fracturing fluid is recovered, the rest of the toxin is left in the ground.