1. Take out your soil lab Prepare for some notes!
APES 12/7 & 12/8
Take out your soil lab
Prepare for some notes!

2. Soil Lab Analysis Compare answers to your pre and post- lab questions
Be prepared to ask me for clarification in 5 minutes!

3. Soil Properties and Degradation by Mining

4. Particle Size Biggest  Smallest Sand, Silt, Clay
Fine particles have higher cohesion; that’s why water can’t get through clay as well
Using a soil triangle: start at clay side and go horizontally; then to silt side and go downward diagonally; finally to sand side and diagonally left.

5. Other Physical Properties
You should know porosity and permeability using the lab as the teaching tool.
Porosity = how much water soil holds; permeability = how fast water flows through

6. Chemical Properties 1. pH
2. Cation Exchange Capacity = ability of soil to absorb/release pos. charged ions (cations)
Plants need Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+
Clay has a high CEC (b/c of neg. particles)
BUT if there’s too much clay, it absorbs water and drowns plant roots
FYI, humus also has high CEC

7. Chemical Properties 3. Base Saturation = ratio of base:acid in soil
Bases are acceptors of extra H+; high ratio means lots of bases present to take in extra H+ from acids that might harm plant roots
We have lots of limestone in NW soil to counteract acids (high base saturation)

8. Soil! Now we know all about it…
Let’s see how we’re destroying it 
Method #1: Mining

9. Minerals and Ores
Earth’s crust is 88% iron, silicon, aluminum, and oxygen
Valuable, rarer elements are found in uneven clusters because of variable distribution of rock types
Mineral = naturally occurring, crystalline solid
Ore = valuable, concentrated accumulation of minerals in rocks

10. Important Ores
Metallic minerals- valuable for ability to conduct electricity, structural purposes, etc. (i.e, copper, gold, lead, rare earth metals for batteries)
Salt, sand
Fossil fuels (carbon-based)

11. MANGANESE
COAL
IRON
MICA

12. What do we mine for? Energy Metallic Non-metallic Ferrous Non-ferrous
Limestone
Coal
Iron
Gold
Nitrate
Petroleum
Manganese
Silver
Potash
Natural Gas
Chromite
Copper
Dolomite
Pyrite
Lead
Mica
Tungsten
Bauxite
Gypsum
Nickel
Tin
Cobalt
Magnesium

13. Costs of Mining
Why is mining so terrible for the soil and underlying bedrock? Let’s explore!

14. Mining Simulation Lab Materials Group Roles
Field Geologist (looks for ore)
Accountant (keeps track of $$$)
Miner (digger/transporter)
2 Process engineers (deshell ore)
2 Env. Engineers (clean up)
Bucket with your mining site
Small cup (your truck)
Forceps
Wooden skewers
Paintbrushes
Data table

15. Rules and Regulations
You are trying to mine as many ores as possible to turn a profit
You cannot touch anything directly with your fingers except for animals
We will mine for 15 days (each minute = 1 day)
a. 30 sec of daylight for mining, 30 seconds of dark for clean- up/accounting
You must keep your mine shell-free or you will be fined
At the end of the 15 days, you will do your final accounting and clean up (you will be fined $10 if you don’t follow the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 that says you must restore your land to its pre-mining state)

16. Pre-Lab Planning (15 min.)
Decide on a company name and write it on the board
Make a data table to track your profits and expenses (one only-won’t be turned in)
Sketch your pre-mined site in section 3 of your lab book
Decide on up-front expenses:
Buy a mine site for $5 or $2 + 10% final profit?
Buy a reclamation bond for $5 (insurance to avoid fine at end)?
Buy trucks and extra tools?
Remove rocks, houses, animals? (see costs)

17. Let’s Play!
Accountants: record your pre-opening expenses

18. Due Next Time….
Lab Questions 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14
Mining FRQ

19. Mining Basics How are sites selected?
consider env. cost, potential profits, amt. and stability of overburden (materials that must be removed to reach the mineral)
Types of Mining
Surface Mining (strip mining, open-pit mining, mountaintop removal, placer mining(
Subsurface mining

20. Surface Mining
Strip Mining: removal of mineral deposits in horizontal strips
Land is clear-cut and overburden is removed by explosives/heavy equipment
Mineral deposits removed by huge power shovels
Overburden is replaced
Land cannot be returned to original state, and heavy equipment compacts soil. Long-term damage.

21. Iron-Ore Mine, Liberia
Iron-ore mines like this one have altered the landscape of Liberia. The Liberian Civil War ( ) and the declining world demand for iron ore led to the complete shutdown of Liberian iron-ore mining in the early 1990s.
Coal Mine in Appalachia

22. Surface Mining 2. Mountaintop removal
Entire top of a mountain is removed by explosives, causing it to fall into surrounding valleys
Common in coal mining in Eastern U.S.
Permanently buries streams, alters topography

23. Surface Mining 3. Open-Pit Mining
A huge hole is dug using explosives and heavy equipment; ore is removed
Pit is abandoned and often fills with water
Pit becomes acidic and polluted with heavy metals due to mine waste left behind
Acid Mine Drainage: Sulfur compounds are oxidized by air, dissolve in rain water to form sulfuric acid run-off!

24. One of North America’s largest open-pit copper mines, located in Kennecott, Utah.

25. Surface Mining 4. Placer Mining
Searching for ores in river sediments (i.e. California Gold Rush of mid-1800’s
Rivers are diverted, dammed to make extraction easier
Mercury is used to chemically remove gold from ores, polluting rivers

26. Subsurface Mining
Deep, vertical shafts are drilled with horizontal branches
Less surface env. degradation, but can cause collapse, explosions (methane and coal dust)
Not just for coal!- any ore too far down to remove overburden

27. Types of Coal Mining
Often called mountaintop removal

28. Downsides of Subsurface Mining
Labor Intensive
Filling in mines after they are empty
Health of workers  Black lung disease, high rates of cancer from particulate matters
Danger of accidents

29. Major Coal Mining Accidents
China is by far the most dangerous!
2010 collapse in Chile

30. Environmental Impacts
Clear-cutting of forests
Destruction of soil horizons
Soil compaction
Stream/river destruction, diversion, pollution
Acidic and metallic waste-water pollution
Solid waste, toxic dust and emissions
75% if all solid waste in U.S. comes from mines!
This waste is called “tailings” or mining spoils- unwanted waste material

31. Animas River Spill (8/2015)

32. Important Legislation in U.S.
1. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of (SMCRA)
Land must be reclaimed after surface mining
Clean up any pollution
**Various levels of enforcement**
2. General Mining Law of 1872
Encourages exploration of mineral resources
Corporations can buy large tracts of public land for cheap!
Minor modifications, but critics argue companies aren’t paying enough taxes on royalties or cleaning up well.