• Concentration of naturally occurring elements in/on
Earth.
• Formed over millions of yrs  non-renewable resource.

• Metallic minerals: Iron, Copper, Aluminum
• Non-metallic minerals: salt, clay, sand
• Energy minerals: coal, oil, uranium
Crushed Iron Sodium Chloride
Crystal
“Dur”rty Coal

• Rock that has metallic mineral.
• Usable stuff is the mineral
• Non-usable is called gangue
 landfill
Gold
Gangue

• Used to remove mineral from gangue in an ore  major polluters (Runescape!).

Bauxite
Most Important Aluminum Ore

Oxygen: The Most Abundant
Element in the Earth’s Crust

• Use aerial photos and satellite images to see rock formations.

• Use planes w/ Geiger meter
(uranium) or magnetometer (iron)
Geiger
Meter…Only $460!
Magnetometer…
Only $700!

• Drilling a deep well and extracting ore samples.
Exploration Drilling

• Minerals must be shallowly deposited.
• Removed rock and soil is called overburden or spoil .

Types of Surface Mining
Open Pit Mining
• Dig hole and remove ores
• Fe, Cu, and Sand

Dredging (Sand)
• Draglines scrape up underwater mineral deposits

Area Strip Mining
• Cut new strips away; spoil placed on side, mineral taken out.

Mountaintop Removal
• Use TNT, huge shovels, and large machines to remove top of a mtn and expose coal underneath.

Case Study Gold: Cyanide
Heap Leaching
• Cyanide sprayed on low grade gold ore
Heap in a giant heap
(pile).
• Gold flows down w/ cyanide and is collected at bottom of heap.

Case Study Gold: Cyanide
Heap Leaching
• Toxic to birds and mammals.
• Leach ponds can overflow
 H
2
O pollution
• Leaky liners?
Leach Liner

• Used to remove minerals deep in Earth’s surface.
• Less env.
Impact

Types of Subsurface Mining
• Room and
Pillar
• Machines are used to cut out minerals and are placed on a shuttle car.
Scraper

Types of Subsurface Mining
• Longwall Coal
Mining
• Moveable steel props support cave while machinery cut off coal onto a conveyor belt.

Environmental
Damage
• Collapse/subsidence of land from subsurface mines.
• Causes houses to tilt, sewer lines crack, gas mains break.

Environmental
Damage
• Wind/water carry away [by erosion] toxic mining waste.
• Goes in food webs and watersheds.

Environmental
Damage

My
Home!!!

Environmental
Damage
• Transportation of minerals  global warming, lung probs.

Environmental
Damage
Acid mine drainage
• Bacteria eat FeS in spoil  create
H
2
SO
4
 runs off into streams

Surface Mining
Reclamation and Control
Act
• Mining ops must reclaim area after land has been used and abused.
• Must put aside $$$ to reclaim before mining op’s begin.
• States oversee Act.
• Land put back, trees grow, no toxic runoff!