On the Hazards of Mining Giancarlo Racanelli

½ of world’s salmon Footprint of 37-57km2 Calculated threats Dam failure Truck accident Pipeline failure

Mining in the Ancient world Electrum (Strabo 3.2.8-10) When this is boiled down--it is a mixture of silver and gold flexible and stone-like use of chaff to separate it

“Up to this time no gold, silver, copper, or iron of such quality has been discovered anywhere in the world (Strabo 3.2.8-10)” Abandoned mines in Attica due to lack of profits

Strabon of Amaseia 64 BC- 24 AD Geographer Broad descriptions of sites Rome, Alexandria, Nusa, Athens 17 book work on the Oikomene Broad descriptions of sites Topographical, botanical, zoological

Methods Pliny the Elder (Natural History 33.66-78) Placer Deposits (talutium) Shaft mines (channel or trench) Archimedes Screw (Diodorus- History 3.12-13.1) Hollowed mountains (arrugia) Multiple support arches Problem of flint Quarries Dredging

Gold mining ants of India animals no smaller than foxes that dig in the ground in winter and pile it up at the mouths- Strabo 15.1.44 Tanuki Pika Fennec Fox Himalayan Marmot Asian mole shrew

Hazards Rock falls Overworking Suffocation Poisonous fumes “more than 200 workmen are continually used up by disease and death” (Strabo 12.3.40) Suffocation Fire setting in mines (Theophrastus -concerning fire 70) Poisonous fumes Pliny (natural history 31.49): Burning lamps to test for Sulphur or alum fumes Ventilation through digging additional shafts/ linen cloths

Ecological impacts: Habitat loss Bioaccumulation -biomagnification “silver furnaces are built high, so that the smoke from the ore is removed high into the air, for it is heavy and deadly” -Strabo 3.2.8-10 Ecological impacts: Habitat loss Bioaccumulation -biomagnification Pollution Erosion Acid rain

References Diodorus- History 3.12-13.1 Strabo 3.2.8-10 15.1.44 Pliny the Elder -Natural History 33.66-78 Natural History 31.49 Theophrastus -concerning fire 70 “Sulfur Dioxide Basics.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 16 Aug. 2016, www.epa.gov/so2-pollution/sulfur-dioxide-basics. “What is Acid Rain?” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 1 Mar. 2017, www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain.