skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Mining the earth

Abstract

Substances extracted from the earth - stone, iron, bronze - have been so critical to human development that historians name the ages of our past after them. But while scholars have carefully tracked human use of minerals, they have never accounted for the vast environmental damage incurred in mineral production. Few people would guess that a copper mining operation has removed a piece of Utah seven times the weight of all the material dug for the Panama Canal. Few would dream that mines and smelters take up to a tenth of all the energy used each year, or that the waste left by mining measures in the billions of tons - dwarfing the world's total accumulation of more familiar kinds of waste, such as municipal garbage. Indeed, more material is now stripped from the earth by mining than by all the natural erosion of the earth's rivers. The effects of mining operations on the environment are discussed under the following topics: minerals in the global economy, laying waste, at what cost cleaning up, and dipping out. It is concluded that in the long run, the most effective strategy for minimizing new damage is not merely to make mineral extraction cleaner,more » but to reduce the rich nations needs for virgin (non-recycled) minerals.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
6527164
Resource Type:
Book
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; MINERALS; MINING; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS; GLOBAL ASPECTS; MINERAL RESOURCES; MINERAL WASTES; RESOURCES; SOLID WASTES; WASTES; 540210* - Environment, Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)

Citation Formats

Young, J E. Mining the earth. United States: N. p., 1992. Web.
Young, J E. Mining the earth. United States.
Young, J E. 1992. "Mining the earth". United States.
@article{osti_6527164,
title = {Mining the earth},
author = {Young, J E},
abstractNote = {Substances extracted from the earth - stone, iron, bronze - have been so critical to human development that historians name the ages of our past after them. But while scholars have carefully tracked human use of minerals, they have never accounted for the vast environmental damage incurred in mineral production. Few people would guess that a copper mining operation has removed a piece of Utah seven times the weight of all the material dug for the Panama Canal. Few would dream that mines and smelters take up to a tenth of all the energy used each year, or that the waste left by mining measures in the billions of tons - dwarfing the world's total accumulation of more familiar kinds of waste, such as municipal garbage. Indeed, more material is now stripped from the earth by mining than by all the natural erosion of the earth's rivers. The effects of mining operations on the environment are discussed under the following topics: minerals in the global economy, laying waste, at what cost cleaning up, and dipping out. It is concluded that in the long run, the most effective strategy for minimizing new damage is not merely to make mineral extraction cleaner, but to reduce the rich nations needs for virgin (non-recycled) minerals.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6527164}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992},
month = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992}
}

Book:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this book.

Save / Share: