How does Mining Affect the Environment

Mining refers to the process of extracting metals and minerals from the earth. Gold, silver, diamond, iron, coal and uranium are just a few of the vast array of metals and minerals that are obtained by this process. In fact, mining is the source of all the substances that cannot be obtained by industrial processes or through agriculture. Mining reaps huge profits for the companies that own them and provides employment to a large number of people. It is also a huge source of revenue for the government. Despite its economic importance, the question that how does mining affect the environment is a pressing environmental issue.

Effects of Mining on Environment

Effect on Land
Deforestation: Mining requires large areas of land to be cleared so that the earth could be dug into by the miners. For this reason, large scale deforestation is required to be carried out in the areas where mining has to be done. Besides clearing the mining area, vegetation in the adjoining areas also needs to be cut in order to construct roads and residential facilities for the mine workers. The human population brings along with it other activities that harm the environment.

Loss of Biodiversity: The forests that are cleared for mining purposes are home to a large number of organisms. Indiscriminate clearing of the forests lead to loss of habitat of a large number of animals. This puts the survival of a large number of animal species at stake. The cutting down of trees in itself is a big threat to a number of plants and trees growing in the forests.

Pollution: Despite measures being taken to release the chemical waste into the nearby rivers through pipes, a large amount of chemicals still leak out onto the land. This changes the chemical composition of the land. Besides this, since the chemicals are poisonous, they make the soil unsuitable for plants to grow. Also, the organisms that live in the soil find the polluted environment hostile for their survival.

Effect on Water
Pollution: Chemicals like mercury, cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic and methyl mercury are used in various stages of mining. Most of the chemicals are released into nearby water bodies that leads to water pollution. In spite of tailings (pipes) being used to dispose these chemicals into the water bodies, possibilities of leakage are always there. When the leaked chemicals slowly percolate through the layers of the earth, they reach the groundwater and pollute it. Surface run-off of just soil and rock debris, although non-toxic, can be harmful for vegetation of the surrounding areas.

Loss of Aquatic Life: Release of toxic chemicals into the water is obviously harmful for the flora and fauna of the water bodies. Besides the pollution, mining processes use water from nearby water sources. The result is that the water content of the river or lake from which water is being used gets reduced. Organisms in these water bodies do not have enough water for their survival.

River dredging is a method adopted in case of gold mining. In this method, gravel and mud is suctioned from a particular area of the river. After the gold fragments are filtered out, the remaining mud and gravel is released back into the river, although, at a location different from where they had been taken. This disrupts the natural flow of the river that may cause fishes and other organisms to die.

Spread of Diseases
Sometimes the liquid waste that is generated after the metals or minerals have been extracted is disposed in a mining pit. As the pit gets filled up by the mine tailings, they become a stagnant pool of water. This becomes the breeding ground for water-borne diseases causing insects and organisms like mosquitoes to flourish.

Although the developed countries have tight norms regarding mining, such rules can be easily flouted in countries which lack strict monitoring of the procedures being followed for mining. The effects in such cases can be devastating for the environment. Be it due to ignorance of the regulations or just a freak accident, incidents like the Guyana spill of 1995 highlights the fact that issues like how does mining affect the environment are worth some serious deliberation.