Mining and its Effects on the Environment

What is Mining? Does it bring such effects on the environment?

Stewart Udall once said, Mining is like a search and destroy
mission. (Kevin Richardson, 2014) The coal mining industry is
very destructive and it doesnt have to be. Mining is defined as the
extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from
the earth which forms mineralized package of economic interest to
the miner. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be
grown through agricultural processes or created artificially in
laboratory or factory. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of
any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even
water. It does not take a rocket scientist to look at the process and
immediately understand how mining affects the environment. In the
case, mining influences social aspects in deliberating some
necessities but it embarked many effects and upshots because of
some unusual causalities. Many were benefited yet many were also
disgraced because of the resultants made visible of the said
scenario. This should not be easily tolerated for the nature of
mining processes creates potential negative impacts on the
environment both during the running operations and for the years
ecosystem and environment were undoubtedly affected. Since
safety has long been a concern as well, mining should be uprightly
forbidden.
I believe that Mining catalyses severe and massive destruction
and dilemma on the environment precisely, ponderously and
obviously in the way it provokes many instances whereas natural
resources and human beings on the ambient seem to be the first
catcher of everything. So far, the Department of Health,
Environmental and Geochemical associations are taking actions
regarding with the emergence of mining consequences to the
outmost of their capability.
Although this may be true, Mining also brings several
advantages and upper hand, it provides supplies of raw materials
like metals and coal that are needed to build and maintain modern
industries and economies. Gold, diamonds and ores such as uranium

supply national governments with trading goods, and provide jobs

for millions of miners. In addition, Mining is also essential to modern
society. The computers we are using nowadays contain about 37
materials that came from this process as well as the electricity to
power it may come from coal, oil, or gas brought from underground.
On the contrary, mining has induced many environmental
impacts including erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of
biodiversity, and contamination of soil groundwater and surface
water by chemicals from mining processes. In some cases,
additional forest logging is done in the vicinity of mines to increase
the available rooms for the storage of created debris and soil.
Besides, creating environmental damage, the contamination
resulting from leakage of chemicals also affects the health of the
local population. Nuss and Eckelman (2014) provide an overview of
the life-cycle wide environmental impacts of metal production
associated with 62 metals in year 2008. Thus, in areas of
wilderness, mining may cause disturbance and annihilation of
ecosystem and habitats and in areas of farming, it may destroy
productive grazing and croplands as well as in urbanized
environment, mining may also produce noise, dust, and visual
pollution.
By all the preceding facts, mining really did bring many effects
and outcomes on the environment both advantages and
disadvantages but what I am most concern about is the side effects
of the processes. We dont need to exaggerate much just to provide
good qualities, services and materials to build modern things nor to
increase the economic credibility. What is highly important is the
safety and assurance of the natural resources and the living things
surrounding the vast universe.