The impact of mining on the environment. How to avoid tragedy: ecology vs. prey

The nature of the relief, the level of occurrence of groundwater are taken into account when designing a mining system. They also affect the environmental consequences of mining: the placement of dumps, the spread of dust and gases, the formation of depression funnels, karst, the behavior of dump waters, and much more. The methods and extent of extraction of ores change over time.
Industrial mining, starting from the 18th century, was carried out with the help of vertical mine workings: deep pits (up to 10 m), mines. From a vertical working, if necessary, several horizontal workings were passed, the depth of which was determined by the level of occurrence groundwater. If they began to fill the mine, the pit, the extraction was stopped due to the lack of drainage equipment. Traces of old mine workings can be observed today in the vicinity of Plast, Kusa, Miass and many other cities and towns of the mining zone of the region. Some of them remain unclosed, not fenced off until now, which poses a certain danger. Thus, the vertical amplitude of changes in the natural environment associated with the extraction of mineral raw materials hardly exceeded 100 m until the 20th century.

With the advent of powerful pumps that carry out drainage from workings, excavators, heavy vehicles, the development of mineral resources is increasingly carried out in an open pit way.

In the Southern Urals, where most of the deposits lie at depths of up to 300 m, open pit mining prevails. Quarries produce up to 80% (by volume) of all minerals. The deepest mine working in the region is the Korkinsky coal mine. Its depth at the end of 2002 was 600 m. There are large quarries in Bakal (brown iron ore), Satka (magnesite), copper ore), Upper Ufaley (nickel), Magnitogorsk and Maly Kuibas (iron).
Very often, quarries are located in the city, on the outskirts of villages, which seriously affects their ecology. Many small quarries (several hundred) are located in countryside. Almost every large agricultural enterprise has its own quarry with an area of ​​1-10 hectares, where crushed stone, sand, clay, and limestone are mined for local needs. Typically, mining is carried out without observing any environmental standards.

Underground mine workings (mine fields) are also widespread in the region. In most of them, mining is no longer being carried out today, they have been worked out. Some of the mines are flooded with water, some are filled with waste rock lowered into them. The area of ​​worked-out mine fields in the Chelyabinsk lignite basin alone is hundreds of square kilometers.
The depth of modern mines (Kopeysk, Plast, Mezhevoy Log) reaches 700-800 m. Individual mines of Karabash have a depth of 1.4 km. Thus, the vertical amplitude of changes in the natural environment in our time, taking into account the height of dumps, waste heaps in the territory of the Southern Urals, reaches 1100-1600 m.
Alluvial gold deposits in river sands have been developed in recent decades with the help of dredges - large washing machines capable of taking loose rock from depths of up to 50 m. Mining at shallow placers is carried out hydraulically. Rocks containing gold are washed away by powerful jets of water. The result of such mining is a "man-made desert" with a washed away soil layer and a complete absence of vegetation. You will find such landscapes in the Miass Valley, south of Plast. The scale of extraction of mineral raw materials is increasing every year.

This is due not only to an increase in the consumption of certain minerals, rocks, but also to a decrease in the content of useful components in them. If earlier in the Urals, in Chelyabinsk region polymetallic ores with a content of useful elements of 4-12% were mined, now poor ores are being developed, where the content of valuable elements barely reaches 1%. In order to get a ton of copper, zinc, iron from ore, it is necessary to extract much more breed than in the past. AT mid-eighteenth centuries, the total production of mineral raw materials per year in the region was 5-10 thousand tons. At the end of the 20th century, the mining enterprises of the region processed 75-80 million tons of rock mass annually.
Any method of mining has a significant impact on the natural environment. Particularly influenced top part lithosphere. With any mining method, there is a significant excavation of rocks and their movement. The primary relief is replaced by man-made. In mountainous areas, this leads to a redistribution of surface air flows. The integrity of a certain volume of rocks is violated, their fracturing increases, large cavities and voids appear. A large mass of rocks is moved to dumps, the height of which reaches 100 m or more. Often dumps are located on fertile lands. The creation of dumps is due to the fact that the volumes of ore minerals in relation to their host rocks are small. For iron and aluminum, this is 15-30%, for polymetals - about 1-3%, for rare metals- less than 1%.

Pumping water from quarries and mines creates extensive depression funnels, zones of lowering the level of aquifers. During quarrying, the diameters of these funnels reach 10-15 km, the area is 200-300 sq. km.

The sinking of mine shafts also leads to the connection and redistribution of water between previously separated aquifers, breakthroughs of powerful water flows into tunnels, mine faces, which greatly complicates mining.
The depletion of groundwater in the area of ​​mine workings and the drying of surface horizons strongly affect the condition of soils, vegetation cover, and the amount of surface runoff, and cause a general change in the landscape.

The creation of large quarries and mine fields is accompanied by the activation of various engineering-geological and physico-chemical processes:

There are deformations of the sides of the quarry, landslides, mudslides;

There is a subsidence of the earth's surface over the worked-out mine fields. In rocks, it can reach tens of millimeters, in weak sedimentary rocks- tens of centimeters and even meters;

In areas adjacent to mine workings, the processes of soil erosion and gully formation are intensifying;

In workings and dumps, weathering processes are activated many times over, there is an intensive oxidation of ore minerals and their leaching, many times faster than in nature, there is a migration chemical elements;

Within a radius of several hundred meters, and sometimes even kilometers, soils are contaminated with heavy metals during transportation, wind and water spread, soils are also contaminated with oil products, construction and industrial waste. Ultimately, a wasteland is created around large mine workings, on which vegetation does not survive. For example, the development of magnesites in Satka led to the death of pine forests within a radius of up to 40 km. Dust containing magnesium entered the soil and changed the alkaline-acid balance. Soils have changed from acidic to slightly alkaline. In addition, quarry dust, as it were, cemented the needles, leaves of plants, which caused their impoverishment, an increase in dead cover spaces. Ultimately, the forests perished.

Intrusion into the bowels can have a general, sometimes very tangible impact on nature. In a number of cases, agricultural land is withdrawn from use, forests are damaged, the hydrogeological regime of the regions, the terrain and the movement of air flows are changing, the surface of the earth, air and water basins are polluted with production waste.[ ...]

Vegetation, animals, soil are destroyed at the site of open pits, centuries-old geological strata are turned over, “shoveled” to a depth of hundreds of meters. Rocks brought from the depths to the surface can be not only biologically sterile, but also toxic to plants and animals. This means that large areas of the territory are turning into lifeless spaces, the so-called industrial deserts. Such lands, leaving economic use, become dangerous sources of pollution.[ ...]

Significant changes made to natural landscapes by industry often cannot be restored by nature itself in the foreseeable future. short time, especially in areas with extreme conditions (areas permafrost and dry areas).[ ...]

During the processing of minerals, the vast majority of the mined rock mass goes to dumps.[ ...]

For many years they have been preserved high level losses in the bowels of the underground method of coal mining (23.5%), including coking (20.9%), chromium ore (27.7%), potash salts (62.5%).[ ...]

The state suffers serious damage from the loss of valuable components and non-complex processing of already mined mineral raw materials. So, in the process of enrichment of ores, more than a third of tin and about a quarter of iron, tungsten, molybdenum, potassium oxides, phosphorus pentoxide from phosphorite ore are currently lost.[ ...]

Unsatisfactorily used in the production of petroleum gas, which in Russia (mainly in the Tyumen region) in 1991 alone, more than 10 billion m3 were flared.[ ...]

In many cases, the extracted mineral raw materials are used in an uncomplex way, they are not subjected to deep processing. This is especially true of valuable associated components, the reserves of which are redeemed from the bowels in proportion to the extraction of reserves of the main minerals, but their extraction from the bowels of ores lags far behind the main minerals. Losses occur mainly at the stage of ore dressing and metallurgical processing due to the imperfection of the applied or lack of necessary technologies.[ ...]

Under the influence of mining, significant changes in natural landscapes occur. In areas of mining, a specific relief is formed, represented by quarries, waste heaps, dumps, tailings and other technogenic formations. With the underground method of mining, the massif decreases rocks in the direction of the mined area, cracks, gaps, dips, funnels and subsidence of the earth's surface are formed; karst areas and in zones of large faults. Landslides, screes, landslides, mudflows and other exogenous geological processes develop with the open method of mining mineral deposits.[ ...]

Waste from mining enterprises pollute the soil, underground surface water, atmosphere, adversely affect the vegetation and animal world, exclude significant areas of land from agricultural turnover, construction and other types of economic activity. At the same time, a significant part of mining waste contains valuable components in concentrations sufficient for industrial extraction, and is a good raw material for the production of various building materials. However, their use for this purpose does not exceed 6-7%. Increasing the use of waste from mining and metallurgical industries will undoubtedly give a great economic effect.

The most important task facing all mankind is to preserve the diversity of all organisms living on Earth. All species (vegetation, animals) are closely interconnected. The destruction of even one of them leads to the disappearance of other species interconnected with it.

From the very moment when man invented tools and became more or less intelligent, his comprehensive influence on the nature of the planet began. The more a person developed, the more influence he had on environment Earth. How does man influence nature? What is positive and what is negative?

Negative points

There are pluses and minuses of human influence on nature. To begin, consider negative examples pernicious:

1. Deforestation associated with the construction of highways, etc.
2. Soil pollution occurs due to the use of fertilizers and chemicals.
3. Reducing the number of populations due to the expansion of areas for fields with the help of deforestation (animals, losing their normal habitat, die).
4. The destruction of plants and animals due to the difficulties of their adaptation to a new life, greatly changed by man, or simply their extermination by people.
5. and water by diverse and by people themselves. For example, in pacific ocean there is a "dead zone" where floats great amount garbage.

Examples of human influence on the nature of the ocean and mountains, on the state of fresh water

The change in nature under the influence of man is very significant. The flora and fauna of the Earth suffer greatly, water resources are polluted.

As a rule, light debris remains on the surface of the ocean. In this regard, the access of air (oxygen) and light to the inhabitants of these territories is hindered. Numerous species of living creatures are trying to look for new places for their habitat, which, unfortunately, not everyone succeeds.

Every year, ocean currents bring millions of tons of garbage. This is the real disaster.

Deforestation on mountain slopes also has a negative impact. They become bare, which contributes to the occurrence of erosion, as a result, loosening of the soil occurs. And this leads to destructive collapses.

Pollution occurs not only in the waters of the oceans, but also fresh water. Every day, thousands of cubic meters of sewage or industrial waste enter the rivers.
And contaminated with pesticides, chemical fertilizers.

The terrible consequences of oil spills, mining

Just one drop of oil renders approximately 25 liters of water unfit for drinking. But this is not the worst. A fairly thin film of oil covers the surface of a huge area of ​​water - about 20 m 2 of water. It is detrimental to all living things. All organisms under such a film are doomed to a slow death, because it prevents the access of oxygen to the water. This is also a direct human influence on the nature of the Earth.

People extract minerals from the bowels of the Earth, formed over several million years - oil, coal, and so on. Such industrial production Together with cars, they emit carbon dioxide in huge quantities into the atmosphere, which leads to a catastrophic decrease in the ozone layer of the atmosphere - the protector of the Earth's surface from the death-bearing ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

Over the past 50 years, the air temperature on Earth has increased by only 0.6 degrees. But this is a lot.

Such warming will lead to an increase in the temperature of the World Ocean, which will contribute to the melting of polar glaciers in the Arctic. Thus, the most global problem- the ecosystem of the Earth's poles is disturbed. Glaciers are the most important and voluminous sources of clean fresh water.

benefit of people

It should be noted that people bring some benefit, and considerable.

From this point of view, it is also necessary to note the influence of man on nature. The positive lies in the activities carried out by people to improve the ecology of the environment.

In many vast areas of the earth, different countries protected areas, reserves and parks are organized - places where everything is preserved in its original form. This is the most reasonable influence of man on nature, positive. In such protected areas, people contribute to the conservation of flora and fauna.

Thanks to their creation, many species of animals and plants have survived on Earth. Rare and already endangered species are necessarily listed in the Red Book created by man, according to which fishing and collection are prohibited.

Also, people create artificial water channels and irrigation systems that help maintain and increase

On a large scale, activities are also carried out for the planting of diverse vegetation.

Ways to solve emerging problems in nature

To solve problems, it is necessary and important, first of all, the active influence of man on nature (positive).

As for biological resources (animals and plants), they should be used (extracted) in such a way that individuals always remain in nature in quantities that contribute to the restoration of the previous population size.

It is also necessary to continue work on the organization of reserves and planting forests.

Carrying out all these activities to restore and improve the environment is a positive impact of man on nature. All this is necessary for the good of oneself.

After all, the well-being of human life, like all biological organisms depends on the state of nature. Now all mankind faces the most important problem - the creation of a favorable state and stability of the living environment.

In the process of mining and processing of minerals, a person affects a large geological cycle. First, a person converts mineral deposits into other forms chemical compounds. For example, a person gradually exhausts combustible minerals (oil, coal, gas, peat) and eventually converts them into carbon dioxide and carbonates. Secondly, a person distributes over the surface of the earth, dispersing, as a rule, former geological accumulations.

Currently, about 20 tons are mined annually for every inhabitant of the Earth. raw materials, of which a few percent goes into the final product, and the rest of the mass turns into waste. There are significant losses of useful components (up to 50 - 60%) during the extraction of minerals, enrichment and processing.

In underground mining, coal losses are 30-40%, in open-cast mining - 10%. In the extraction of iron ores by the open method, the losses are 3–5%, in the underground mining of tungsten-molybdenum ores, the losses reach 10–12%, and in the open method, 3–5%. During the development of mercury and gold deposits, losses can reach 30%.

Most mineral deposits are complex and contain several components that are economically viable to extract. In oil fields, associated components are gas, sulfur, iodine, bromine, boron, in gas fields - sulfur, nitrogen, helium. Non-ferrous metal ores are characterized by the greatest complexity. Deposits of potash salts usually contain sylvin, carnallite and halite. Sylvin undergoes the most intensive further processing. The loss of sylvite is 25–40%, the loss of carnallite is 70–80%, and that of halite is 90%.

Currently, there is a constant and rather significant decrease in the content of metals in mined ores. Thus, over the past 2–3 decades, the content of lead, zinc, copper in ores has decreased annually by 2–2.3%, molybdenum by almost 3%, and the content of antimony has decreased by almost 2 times over the past 10 years. The iron content in mined ores is reduced by an average of 1% (absolute) per year. Obviously, in 20–25 years, to obtain the same amount of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, it will be necessary to more than double the amount of mined and processed ore.

Mining affects all spheres of the Earth. The impact of mining on the lithosphere is manifested in the following:

1. Creation of anthropogenic forms of mesorelief: quarries, dumps (up to 100-150 m high), waste heaps (up to 300 m high), etc. More than 2,000 waste rock dumps with a height of about 50–80 m are located on the territory of Donbass. As a result open mining minerals, quarries are formed with a depth of more than 500 m.

2. Activation of geological processes (karst, landslides, talus, subsidence and displacement of rocks). During underground mining, subsidence troughs and dips are formed. In Kuzbass, a chain of sinkholes (up to 30 m deep) stretches for more than 50 km.

3. Change in physical fields, especially in permafrost regions.

4. Mechanical disturbance of soils and their chemical pollution. On average, in the Russian coal industry, the extraction of 1 million tons of fuel means the withdrawal and disturbance of 8 hectares of land, with an open method - 20-30 hectares. Worldwide, the total area of ​​land disturbed by mining operations exceeds 6 million hectares. To these lands should be added agricultural and forest lands, which are negatively affected by mining. Within a radius of 35 - 40 km from the existing quarry, crop yields are reduced by 30% compared to the average level.

Mining affects the state of the atmosphere:

1. Air pollution occurs with emissions of CH4, sulfur, carbon oxides from mine workings, as a result of burning dumps and waste heaps (release of N, C, S oxides), gas and oil fires.

2. The dust content of the atmosphere increases as a result of burning dumps and waste heaps, during explosions in quarries, which affects the amount solar radiation and temperature and rainfall.

More than 70% of waste heaps in Kuzbass and 85% of dumps in Donbass are on fire. At a distance of up to several kilometers from them, the concentrations of SO2, CO2, and CO are significantly increased in the air.

In the 80s. in the Ruhr and Upper Silesian basins, for every 100 km2 of area, 2–5 kg of dust fell daily, the intensity of sunshine in Germany decreased by 20%, in Poland by 50%. The soil in the fields adjacent to quarries and mines is buried under a layer of dust up to 0.5 m thick and loses its fertility for many years.

The impact of mining on the hydrosphere is manifested in the depletion of aquifers and in the deterioration of the quality of underground and surface water; in reducing the flow of small rivers, excessive drainage of swamps. side change water regime As a result of mining, they sometimes appear on an area that is almost 10 times larger than the area disturbed by mining.

When coal is mined in the mines of the Rostov region, more than 20 m3 of formation water has to be pumped out for each ton of coal mined;

Mineral resources are minerals that form naturally in the earth's crust. They may be of organic or inorganic origin.

Over two thousand minerals have been identified, and most of them contain inorganic compounds formed by various combinations of the eight elements (O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K, and Mg) that make up 98.5% of the Earth's crust. The world industry depends on about 80 known minerals.

A mineral deposit is an accumulation of solid, liquid, or gaseous minerals in or above the earth's crust. Mineral resources are non-renewable and exhaustible natural resources and can also have metallic (eg iron, copper and aluminum) as well as non-metallic properties (eg salt, gypsum, clay, sand, phosphates).

Minerals are valuable. This is an extremely important raw material for many basic sectors of the economy, which are the main resource for development. The management of mineral resources should be closely integrated with the overall development strategy, and the exploitation of minerals should be guided by long term goals and perspectives.

Minerals provide society with everything necessary materials, as well as roads, cars, computers, fertilizers, etc. Demand for minerals is increasing worldwide as population grows, and the extraction of the earth's mineral resources is accelerating and there are environmental consequences.

Mineral Resource Classification

Mineral resources map of the world

The role of mineral resources

Mineral resources play an important role in economic development countries of the world. There are regions rich in minerals, but unable to extract them. Other regions that extract resources have the opportunity to grow economically and receive a number of advantages. The significance of mineral resources can be explained as follows:

1. Industrial development

If mineral resources can be extracted and used, the industry in which they are used will develop or expand. Petrol, diesel fuel, iron, coal, etc. needed for industry.

2. Employment of the population

The presence of mineral resources creates jobs for the population. They allow skilled and unskilled workers to have employment opportunities.

3. Development Agriculture

Some mineral resources serve as the basis for the production of modern agricultural equipment, machinery, fertilizers, etc. They can be used for the modernization and commercialization of agriculture, which help develop the agricultural sector of the economy.

4. Energy source

Exist various sources energy such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, etc. They can provide the necessary energy to industry and settlements.

5. Development of own independence

The development of the mineral resource industry allows creating more jobs with high quality products, as well as the independence of individual regions and even countries.

6. And much more

Mineral resources are a source of foreign currency, allow you to earn money on the development of transport and communications, increase exports, supplies of building materials, etc.

Mineral resources of the oceans

The oceans cover 70% of the planet's surface and are involved in a huge number of different geological processes responsible for the formation and concentration of mineral resources, as well as being a repository for many of them. Consequently, the oceans contain a huge amount of resources that are currently the basic needs of mankind. Resources are currently mined from the sea or areas that used to be within it.

Chemical analyzes have shown that sea ​​water contains about 3.5% dissolved solids and over sixty identified chemical elements. The extraction of dissolved elements, as well as the extraction of solid minerals, is almost always economically costly, since the geographical location of the object (transportation), technological limitations (the depth of ocean basins) and the process of extracting the necessary elements are taken into account.

Today, the main mineral resources obtained from the oceans are:

• Salt;
• Potassium;
• Magnesium;
• Sand and gravel;
• Limestone and gypsum;
• Ferromanganese nodules;
• Phosphorite;
• Metallic precipitation associated with volcanism and vents on the ocean floor;
• Gold, tin, titanium and diamond;
• Fresh water.

The extraction of many mineral resources from the depths of the oceans is too costly. However, population growth and the depletion of readily available terrestrial resources will undoubtedly lead to greater exploitation of ancient deposits and increased extraction directly from the waters of the oceans and ocean basins.

Extraction of mineral resources

The purpose of the extraction of mineral resources is to obtain minerals. Modern processes The mining industry includes prospecting for minerals, analysis of potential profits, method selection, direct extraction and processing of resources, and final land reclamation upon completion of work.

Mining operations typically create negative environmental impacts, both during and after mining operations. Consequently, most countries in the world have adopted regulations aimed at reducing harmful effects. Occupational safety has long been a priority, and modern methods have significantly reduced the number of accidents.

Features of mineral resources

The first and most basic characteristic of all minerals is that they occur naturally. Minerals are not produced under the influence of human activity. However, some minerals, such as diamonds, can be manufactured by humans (these are called synthesized diamonds). However, these man-made diamonds are classified as minerals because they meet their main five characteristics.

In addition to being formed through natural processes, solid minerals stable at room temperature. This means that all solid minerals that are found on the surface of the Earth do not change in shape at normal temperature and pressure. This characteristic excludes water in its liquid state, but includes its solid form - ice - as a mineral.

Minerals are also featured chemical composition or the structure of atoms. The atoms that are contained in minerals are arranged in a certain order.

All minerals have a fixed or variable chemical composition. Most minerals are made up of compounds or various combinations of oxygen, aluminum, silicon, sodium, potassium, iron, chlorine, and magnesium.

The formation of minerals is a continuous process, however, it is very long (the level of resource consumption exceeds the rate of formation) and requires the presence of many factors. Therefore, mineral resources are non-renewable and exhaustible.

The distribution of mineral resources is uneven throughout the world. This is explained geological processes and the history of the formation of the earth's crust.

Problems of using mineral resources

mining industry

1. Dust generated during the mining process is harmful to health and causes lung diseases.

2. The extraction of certain toxic or radioactive minerals threatens human life.

3. The explosion of dynamite in mining is very risky, as the gases released are extremely poisonous.

4. Underground mining is more dangerous than surface mining because there is a high probability of accidents due to landslides, flooding, insufficient ventilation, etc.

Rapid depletion of minerals

Increasing demand for mineral resources is forcing the extraction of all large quantity mineral. As a result, the demand for energy increases and more waste is generated.

Destruction of soil and vegetation

The soil is the most valuable. Mining contributes to the complete destruction of soil and vegetation. In addition, after extraction (obtaining minerals), all waste is dumped on the ground, which also entails degradation.

Ecological problems

The use of mineral resources has led to many environmental problem, among which:

1. Transformation of productive lands into mountainous and industrial areas.

2. The mining of minerals and the extraction process are among the main sources of air, water and soil pollution.

3. Mining includes huge consumption of energy resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, etc., which in turn are non-renewable energy sources.

Rational use of mineral resources

It is no secret that the reserves of mineral resources on Earth are rapidly declining, so it is necessary to rationally use the existing gifts of nature. People can save mineral resources by using renewable resources. For example, by using hydroelectric power and solar energy as an energy source, minerals such as coal can be conserved. Mineral resources can also be saved through recycling. good example is scrap metal recycling. In addition, the use of new technological mining methods and the training of miners conserves mineral resources and saves people's lives.

Unlike others natural resources, mineral resources are non-renewable and they are unevenly distributed across the planet. They take thousands of years to form. One important way to conserve some minerals is to replace scarce resources with abundant ones. Minerals that require a large number of energy must be recycled.

The extraction of mineral resources has an adverse impact on the environment, including destroying the habitats of many living organisms, polluting the soil, air and water. These Negative consequences can be minimized by preserving the mineral resource base. Minerals are increasingly affecting international relationships. In those countries where mineral resources have been discovered, their economies have improved significantly. For example, oil-producing countries in Africa (UAE, Nigeria, etc.) are considered rich because of the profits received from oil and its products.

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