Environmental Benefits Of Small Scale Mining
Small scale mining is when a group of people come together with an idea to search for an area rich in minerals to mine it (Hilson, 2001). Small-scale mining brings several benefits to some countries mainly in the form of employment and revenue but at the same time impacts negatively on the natural environment. Small-scale mining is usually common. e.g., in areas that are rich in gold, bauxite and diamonds. However, Ntibrey (2015) found out that most small-scale miners popularly engage in gold mining. Gold is one of the world’s most cherished and expensive minerals; Gold is a product of the natural environment and hence people use any means to extract it. This has become a major environmental issue in areas which are rich with these minerals …show more content…
The land degradation occurs when this process creates pits and deep holes in the mine sites (Ntiamoah, 2000). One major environmental impact of small scale mining is land degradation (Hilson, 2002). This is mainly due to the method used in the operation. According to (Aryee et al., 2003; Hilson, 2002) the method involves ploughing trenches, upturning of vegetation and clearing of huge expanses of forest, these activities leaves the land bare which can leads to land erosion. The potential mine sites are mostly stripped bare of the vegetation and topsoil (Kessey et al., …show more content…
Water is essential for life (drinking, washing, cooking and crop irrigation). Illegal small-scale mining has been identified as a major factor affecting the availability of quality water through the discharge of mercury and other substances into streams and rivers, this has led to the coloration of such waters. Other studies (Aryee et al., 2015; Maponga & Ngonma, 2003) suggests that, the reckless use of the mercury has contributed extremely to the pollution of rivers and streams within these areas thus rending them unusable for domestic and aquatic life. Again, most small-scale miners usually operate along the banks of rivers thus destroying the river banks and making them prone to overflows after heavy rains (Aryee et al., 2015). The drainage system in many small-scale mining areas is adversely affected by such
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882 Words | 4 PagesWith coal mining comes the stripping of mountains, also called mountaintop removal. This is the act of blasting and stripping miles of mountain and forest to gather enough coal for the coal plants. One form of energy that could prevent the landscape from suffering is using Hydroelectric power. Hydraulic power or Hydropower uses the energy from water when the H2o moves the turbines to create the electric energy that is then sent to power grids and then homes or workplaces. Hydropower is made when the water being held in a reservoir is passed through turbines turning the kinetic energy of the water into mechanical energy when the water's force moves the turbines.
Case Study: The Ok Tedi Copper Mine
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