What are the environmental impacts of mining and processing salts?

Answer 1

Deforestation (logging) of area to create the mine and roads to transport the mined products. That can result in loss of wildlife and or extinction of species. Chemicals and/or vapours that are produced in smelting get placed in the atmosphere. Not to mention all the resources like metal, electricity and oil/petroleum to buid a mine and support an active mine. Emissions from vehcles or tranport to transport it. The salt bit I'm not so sure about apart from the vapours and chemicals that are dispersed into the atmosphere. I guess it contributes to global warming. And as far as oil goes there is also the burn off of oil that cannot be used or isn't the appropriate grade.

Answer 2

Most of what is dug up when mining is harmful to the environment. Most common problems are:

• the by-products of on-site extraction of the compound of interest
• excess soil and ground water acidity,
• choking of fisheries by silt,
• subsidence.
• it disturbs the ecological balance
• it harms living things by getting rain forests torn down for space and tearing down trees from other types of forests
• Soil deterioration
• Animal extinction
• Land loss
• lack of land
• death

Let's use coal as an example.

• After it is mined the coal will be burned for fuel releasing carbon dioxide and other chemicals in the air.
• open cast mining leaves large scars on the earth which may never heal.
• Machinery digging out and transporting uses fuel that polutes the atmosphere.
• Underground mining creates large spoil heaps on the surface of the earth destroying as many acres on top as has been mined underneath.
• Many many industries have to be created to make products available to mining using the product that mining makes available.
• It is a vicious circle of man having to destroy his environment in order to support himself in that environment.
• It could throw dust containing what you are mining for into the air--coal, lead, gold.

What REALLY affects the environment is what you do with the mined minerals.

• Coal we all know about, but metal mining can be worse.
• Gold is removed from its ore by leaching it in a cyanide solution.
• Silver comes from lead ore; lead when heated will vaporize. (North Idaho, where lead was smelted for about a hundred years, has lead in its soil at least a foot below the surface and our waterways all have lead-lined bottoms.)

Answer 3

It tears up land is the main enviornemntal concern.

Land is sometimes opened specifically for it because you can't change here the dimands and resources are. The land suffers long-term damage as of its habitat and vegtation.

Answer 4

Mining metals and minerals has a very bad impact on environment as in mining the earth is being dig and it makes a hollow space under the land.and if there will be an big earthquake then that whole area will go down.

Answer 5

everything

Answer 6

pollution