Mineral processing technologies have been used for decades to protect the environment and many examples of such applications are given here. The book covers four major subject areas: fundamentals; environmental pollution and its prevention; separation processes; and innovative techniques. Audience: Scientists, engineers and technologists conducting both applied and basic research into the different environmental aspects of mineral processing.
Environmental Impact of Mining and Mineral Processing: Management, Monitoring, and Auditing Strategies covers all the aspects related to mining and the environment, including environmental assessment at the early planning stages, environmental management during mine operation, and the identification of major impacts. Technologies for the treatment of mining, mineral processing, and metallurgical wastes are also covered, along with environmental management of mining wastes, including disposal options and the treatment of mining effluents. - Presents a systematic approach for environmental assessment of mining and mineral processing projects - Provides expert advice for the implementation of environmental management systems that are unique to the mining industry - Effectively addresses a number of environmental challenges, including air quality, water quality, acid mine drainage, and land and economic impacts - Explains the latest in environmental monitoring and control systems to limit the environmental impact of mining and processing operations
Winner of the 2007 E.B. Burwell, Jr. Award of the Geological Society of America Mining activity has left a legacy of hazards to the environment, such as waste, unstable ground and contamination, which can be problematic when redeveloping land. This book highlights the effects of past mining and provides information on the types of problems it may cause in both urban and rural areas. By way of example, the book also demonstrates how such problems may be anticipated, investigated, predicted, prevented and controlled. Furthermore, it shows how sites already affected by mining problems and hazards can be remediated and rehabilitated. Covering subsidence, surface mining, disposal of waste, problems resulting from mine closure and mineral processing, Mining and its Impact on the Environment is an excellent reference for practising mining and geotechnical engineers, as well as students in this field.
The history of mining is replete with controversy of which much is related to environmental damage and consequent community outrage. Over recent decades, this has led to increased pressure to improve the environmental and social performance of mining operations, particularly in developing countries. The industry has responded by embracing the ideals of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Mining and the Environment identifies and discusses the wide range of social and environmental issues pertaining to mining, with particular reference to mining in developing countries, from where many of the project examples and case studies have been selected. Following an introductory overview of pressing issues, the book illustrates how environmental and social impact assessment, such as defined in "The Equator Principles", integrates with the mining lifecycle and how environmental and social management aims to eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive mining impacts. Practical approaches are provided for managing issues ranging from land acquisition and resettlement of Indigenous peoples, to the technical aspects of acid rock drainage and mine waste management. Moreover, thorough analyses of ways and means of sharing non-transitory mining benefits with host communities are presented to allow mining to provide sustainable benefits for the affected communities. This second edition of Mining and the Environment includes new chapters on Health Impact Assessment, Biodiversity and Gender Issues, all of which have become more important since the first edition appeared a decade ago. The wide coverage of issues and the many real-life case studies make this practice-oriented book a reference and key reading. It is intended for environmental consultants, engineers, regulators and operators in the field and for students to use as a course textbook. As much of the matter applies to the extractive industries as a whole, it will also serve environmental professionals in the oil and gas industries. Karlheinz Spitz and John Trudinger both have multiple years of experience in the assessment of mining projects around the world. The combination of their expertise and knowledge about social, economic, and environmental performance of mining and mine waste management has resulted in this in-depth coverage of the requirements for responsible and sustainable mining.
"Over the past five hundred years, North Americans have increasingly turned to mining to produce many of their basic social and cultural objects. From cell phones to cars and roadways, metal pots to wall tile and even talcum powder, minerals products have become central to modern North American life. As this process has unfolded, mining has also indelibly shaped the natural world and North Americans' relationship with it. Mountains have been honeycombed, rivers poisoned, and forests leveled. The effects of these environmental transformations have fallen unevenly across North American societies. Mining North America examines these developments. Drawing on the work of scholars from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, this book explores how mining has shaped North America over the last half millennium. It covers an array of minerals and geographies while seeking to draw mining into the core debates that animate North American environmental history generally. Taken together, the authors' contributions make a powerful case for the centrality of mining in forging North American environments and societies"--Provided by publisher.
This book is a must for individuals and companies that have an interest in developing sustainable technology and systems in the complex 'Web of Metals' on a first principles, technological and economic basis, with a focus to the minerals, metals and product manufacturing industries. In this inter-, intra- and trans-disciplinary book the material/metal cycle will be central, addressing technology as the basis for achieving sustainability within the system of primary mineral and metal producing, and the consumer product material cycles, linked to nature's cycles. The following major topics (not exclusive) are discussed in a detail, which will satisfy company CEO's and students of environment, engineering, economics, and law alike: (i) industrial ecology, (ii) system engineering concepts, (iii) development of future breakthrough technology as well optimization of present technology, (iv) process fundamentals (e.g. thermodynamics, separation physics, transport processes etc.), (v) product manufacture and design (for recycling), (vi) environmental legislation and (vii) technology as a basis for achieving sustainability within our present society.The book discusses contentious issues such as the limits of recycling determined by physics, chemistry, economics and process technology, therefore providing the reader with a fundamental basis to understand and critically discuss the validity of environmental legislation. Furthermore, the 'Web of Metals' (i.e. the dynamic interconnection of metal and material cycles and product systems) will reveal that, if the application of environmental evaluation techniques such as material flow analysis, life cycle assessment etc. are not carried out on a sufficient theoretical basis, technological and economic understanding, analyses could lead to erroneous and in the end environmentally harmful conclusions.The book is illustrated with many industrial examples embracing car and electronic consumer goods manufacturing and recycling, and the production and recycling of all major metals (e.g. steel, aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, magnesium, PGM's and PM's) and to an extent plastics. A complete section of the book is devoted to the recycling of light metals. Numerous colour figures and photos, plant and reactor data as well as software and computer models (running under Matlab's Simulink® and AMPL® as well as tools based on neural net technology (CSenseTM) are provided to give the reader the opportunity to investigate the various topics addressed in this book at various levels of depth and theoretical sophistication, providing a wealth of information, share-data and industrial know-how.Finally, the book philosophically discusses how to harmonize the resource, life and technological cycles depicted by the figure on the cover to make a contribution to the sustainable use of resources and products.* Material and Metal Ecology and the various modelling aspects to quantify this * System modelling of recycling systems with applications in the automotive and consumergoods sector* Metallurgical metal recycling with applications in aluminium, supplemented with various modelling examples from thermodynamics, exergy, neural nets to CFD
Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Mining addresses sustainable mining issues based on life cycle assessment, providing a thorough guide to implementing LCAs using sustainability metrics. The book details current research on LCA methodologies related to mining, their outcomes, and how to relate sustainable mining concepts in a circular economy. It is an in-depth, foundational reference for developing ideas for technological advancement through designing reduced-emission mining equipment or processes. It includes literature reviews and theoretical concepts of life cycle assessments applied in mining industries, sustainability metrics and problems related to mining and mineral processing industries identified by the life cycle assessment results. This book will aid researchers, students and academics in the field of environmental science, mining engineering and sustainability to see LCA technology outcomes which would be useful for the future development of environmentally-friendly mining processes. - Details state-of-the-art life cycle assessment theory and practices applied in the mining and mineral processing industries - Includes in-depth, practical case studies outlined with life cycle assessment results to show future pathways for sustainability enhancement - Provides fundamental knowledge on how to measure sustainability metrics using life cycle assessment in mining industries
The research papers presented in these proceedings volumes cover the latest developments and findings in the fields of mine health, safety, energy, waste management,reclamation and rehabilitation, mine closure and environmental protection. Authors from over 20 countries with backgrounds in chemistry, engineering, technology and management, and hailing from the government, industry and academia, have contributed to this book. The contents of this book will be of interest to scientists, engineers, consultants and government personnel who are responsible for the development and implementation of innovative approaches, techniques and technologies in the minerals industries. It will also benefit academic researchers, as it addresses the latest advances in fundamental research.
As the importance and dependence of specific mineral commodities increase, so does concern about their supply. The United States is currently 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 20 mineral commodities and imports the majority of its supply of more than 50 mineral commodities. Mineral commodities that have important uses and face potential supply disruption are critical to American economic and national security. However, a mineral commodity's importance and the nature of its supply chain can change with time; a mineral commodity that may not have been considered critical 25 years ago may be critical today, and one considered critical today may not be so in the future. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced this volume to describe a select group of mineral commodities currently critical to our economy and security. For each mineral commodity covered, the authors provide a comprehensive look at (1) the commodity's use; (2) the geology and global distribution of the mineral deposit types that account for the present and possible future supply of the commodity; (3) the current status of production, reserves, and resources in the United States and globally; and (4) environmental considerations related to the commodity's production from different types of mineral deposits. The volume describes U.S. critical mineral resources in a global context, for no country can be self-sufficient for all its mineral commodity needs, and the United States will always rely on global mineral commodity supply chains. This volume provides the scientific understanding of critical mineral resources required for informed decisionmaking by those responsible for ensuring that the United States has a secure and sustainable supply of mineral commodities.
