Since the mining industry is still expanding, comprehensive information on the effects of mining activities on the environment is needed. This book provides information on biological and physico-chemical treatments of mining effluents, on factors affecting human health and on environmental effects that have to be taken into account by the mining industry when aiming for sustainable development of their industry. Further regulatory guidelines and legislation relevant to the decommissioning of mining sites are reviewed. Mining industry, consulting companies, and governmental agencies alike will find a wealth of valuable information in this book.

Study carried out to assist the National Park Service and other interested agencies and individuals to adequately assess the effects of existing and future mining activities in Denali National Park and Preserve.

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

Research funded by the Centre for Resource Studies,Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

"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.

Mining and the Environment: Case studies from the Americas

Assessment, Restoration and Reclamation of Mining Influenced Soils covers processes operating in the environment as a result of mining activity, including the whole spectra of negative effects of anthropopressure and the environment, from changes in soil chemistry, changes in soil physical properties, geomechanical disturbances, and mine water discharges. Mining activity and its waste are an environmental concern. Knowledge of the fate of potentially harmful elements and their effect on plants and the food chain, and ultimately on human health, is still being understood. Therefore, there is a need for better knowledge on the origin, distribution, and management of mine waste on a global level. This book provides information on hazard assessment and remediation of the disturbed environment, including stabilization of contaminated soils and phytoremediation, and will help scientists and public authorities formulate answers to the daily challenges related to the restoration of contaminated land. - Provides a thorough overview of the processes operating on mining-devastated areas, as well as origin, distribution, and deactivation of harmful elements - Includes outcomes and recommendations of the Global Mining Initiative that are widely regarded as the code of conduct in the minerals industry - Contains global case studies that elucidate various aspects of assessment and restoration of mine-contaminated land

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.

Negative environmental events make the headlines. Mining industry examples are the recent incidents at Summitville, Colorado, US, and the cyanide leak at Cambria Resource's Omai Operation in Guyana. In this volatile atmosphere, the publication of the Mining Environmental Handbook comes at an opportune time. It presents an objective, comprehensive and integrated examination of the effects of mining on the environment, and the environmental laws that deal with mining. Though stressing activities in the United States of America, it covers all of North America.North American environmental standards are currently being exported around the world. Consequently, this handbook will be of prime interest in countries that are now coming to terms with mining environmentalism. It should benefit working engineers and environmentalists, manufacturers, legislators, regulators, financiers and journalists. It has been selected as a university textbook. Finally, it will be an indispensable reference during serious discussions about mining environmentalism.