Contributed by: Jonas Svensson, Bauhaus Capital Partners, CIO
Today more than 5.000 companies operate within the mining industry, and with the growing demand for valuable substances the number of mines which they operate is ever growing, but the operations are under mounting pressure by environmentalist to reduce the impact on the land and shareholders to produce ever higher efficiency on increasingly scarce deposits and larger demand.
Both surface and underground mining produces vast amounts of waste and change the ecological balance in the surrounding area, and in most cases the production company has to return the land to its original condition once the material or mineral has been extracted.
As for any industrial construction, the area has to be cleared and excessive materials removed so to
reach the valuable deposit on or in the ground. In many cases the valuable deposits are found in ecological sensitive areas or in remote places , which not only impact the nature by the mining itself but also because to extract the substances infrastructure such as roads, power supply etc are needed. This also changes the balance in and around the area of mining. Even areas protected as nature reserves are being prospected and in some cases the protection is lifted to allow excavation.
History shows that even a small change can affect not only the surrounding s but also represent a health problems for communities situated away from the mining area. In some cases due to minerals and toxic waste reaching the water systems and hence polluting these in others the toxic compounds enters the eco system through animals and plants and in the end humans who eat the crops or meat.
To ensure the public safety and wildlife many countries have strict rules and regulations in place EU: Directive 2006/21/EC USA: 54 FR 36592,55 FR 2322 just to show a couple. Here is a transcript from the 1st article of EUR LEX.32009D0335
Article 1
1. Member States and competent authorities shall base the calculation of the financial guarantee referred to in Article 14 of Directive 2006/21/EC on the following
(a) the likely impacts on the environment and on human health of the waste facility;
(b) the definition of the rehabilitation including the after use of the waste facility;
(c) applicable environmental standards and objectives, including physical stability of the waste facility, minimum quality standards for the soil and water resources and maximum release rates of contaminants;
(d) the technical measures needed to achieve environmental objectives, in particular measures aiming at ensuring the stability of the waste facility and limit environmental damages;
(e) the measures required to achieve objectives during and after closure, including land rehabilitation, after closure treatment and monitoring if required, and, if relevant, measures to reinstate biodiversity;
(f) the estimated time scale of impacts and required mitigation measures;
(g) an assessment of the costs necessary to ensure land rehabilitation, closure and after closure including possible after closure monitoring or treatment of contaminants.
However these regulations are being broken time and time again. Mining scandals has been in India with illegal excavation of iron ore, USA with the mountaintop removal to take out coal, EU funded a huge project which not only had elements of corruption but also illegal environmental aspects.
Even when removed and stored the mining waste ( tailings) can cause huge problems, this has happened on several occasions such as the Buffalo Creek flooding, the year 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill and the Ajka alumina plant accident all of which ended with catastrophe. As a result several studies are conducted regarding how and what to use to secure the mining waste around the world.
Why the size of the waste was named one of the fastest growing wastes of Europe and worldwide is shown in this old graph from 1996. For each kilo of ore or substance being excavated several kilos of waste are being produced.
In many cases part of the mining waste contains hazardous toxics and heavy metals. Since water is a part of most mining processes large amounts of contaminated water is produced. Some common minerals and chemical compounds include: Arsenic, Radioactive materials, Fluor, Mercury, Cyanide, Activated carbon and so on.
If the toxics leaks into the ground water systems the damage is enormous. Also rest tailings, mud and rock holds substances which represent a problem.
These stacks look like two mountains however this is mining waste produced by coal mines.
Today the mining waste problem is mostly handled by using expensive technologies in one of the following measures.
1. Removal
The waste is transported away and “stored” at a location with lower environmental impact.
Methods used today are continuum, were the waste storage company separate and stores waste depending on water content. Pond Storage were the tailings are dumped into a artificial lake to prevent spread of air born particles. Dry stacking were the waste is dried and stored above water hence preventing spread into ecosystems and ground water.
2. Cleaning and restoration
The waste gets treated and returned to location hence leaving smaller trace of the production. In for example Quebec any mining endeavor have to set aside funds equal to the cost of restoring the land on which the mining is taking place.
The cost involved to handle the waste is enormous just in the USA 12billion USD was spent in 2005 to clean and store Mining waste. However this does not solve the problem since its mostly all about storing the waste. Another issue is that the same toxics and contents with in this waste also is a resource which if it could be extracted would represent an asset.
There are companies in several countries today experimenting with possible solutions which would help solve the problem , some aimed at disarming the waste in ongoing mining operations others even extract the toxics and valuable substances from the waste which would leave only gravel which could be used as construction materials.
One thing is for sure that if nothing is done to change our view of these wastes, it will continue to be a growing problem as our demand for products containing these substances is ever increasing.
When it comes to industrial waste management, I definitely think that industrial asset recyclers are the best way to go. taking care of our environment by removing waste in a helpful way, is one of the best things people do for our planet! http://www.diproinduca.com
Posted by: Amelia Quailler | April 20, 2012 at 07:21 PM