1. Mining Overview

2. The General Mining Act (GMA, 1872) Signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Allowed miners who claimed minerals on federal public land to decide where, when, and how to mine. They had absolute right to mine without standards in place for prudent mine operations, mine site cleanup, reclamation or restoration, or financial responsibility. Put in place to promote development and settlement of public owned land in the Western U.S. Due to the impact on the environment, mining is the most heavily regulated industry in the US.

3. Subsurface Deposits ~100m Underground/mine shafts Surface Open Pit Strip Mining Mountaintop Removal Placer Which of these do you think have the greatest impact on human health? Environmental health? Subsurface vs. Surface Mining Determined by the resource location and formation

4. Subsurface Deposits ~100m Underground/mine shafts *Largest Impact on Human Health Surface Open Pit Strip Mining Mountaintop Removal Placer *Largest Impact on Environmental Health

5. Mining Methods Determined by the resource location and formation

6. Subsurface mining Mine shafts drilled down to ore deposit

7. Fisher Creek Mine, MT Acid Mine Drainage

8. Bingham UT Cu Mine Open Pit- Aerial View

9. Bingham UT Cu Mine Deepest Open Pit in World- Overhead Aerial View

10. Terraces to expand the mine- make a series of holes with a sticks of dynamite

11. Trucks load up ore and carry it away for processing

12. Dr. Walsh next to one of the massive trucks

13. Ore milling- crush the tailings to increase SA and extract ore (w/acid)

14. Waste tailings slurry into pond storage

15. Anaconda Cu Mine, NV Manmade holding pond with acid Cu waste

16. Remediation Pump wet waste slurry through limestone CaCO3 gravel sleuce channel. Neutralized waste emptied into artificial wetlands.

17. Artificial wetlands Plants that take up Cu and other metals Plants then have to be disposed as hazardous waste

18. Big Sky Mine, MT Strip mining Coal

19. Victoria, Il Old Coal Strip Mine- Aerial View Closed prior to enactment of SMCRA

20. Limestone coal mine, Ca Mountaintop Removal

21. Limestone mine, Ca Terraces into hillside

22. California Gold Rush 1848-1855

23. Reprocessing Au mine tailings to recover “microgold” that has become profitable to extract

24. Tailings reprocessing machine Artificial pond- dump in tailings; has a large panning machine; pulls in slurry at one end, dumps out waste at the other end.

25. Large microgold panning machine

26. Biggest Human Impacts Subsurface Mining

27. Surface Mines Big Environmental Impacts! Removal of topsoil and vegetation Displacement of wildlife Disruption of groundwater and surface water flow Contamination of soil, water, air Noise pollution

28. Mining Regulations The Clean Water Act (CWA, 1972) &The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA, 1974 ) – Regulates discharge of pollutants and quality standards of surface waters in the U.S. – Ensures the quality of drinking water The Comprehensive Response Compensation and Liability Act (CRCLA, 1980) – Regulates the release of hazardous substances into air, soil, & water The Endangered Species Act (ESP, 1973) – Protects threatened & endangered species and their habitats

29. The Surface Mining control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA, 1977) Signed by President Jimmy Carter Ensured reclaiming of the land- returning it to its original or better condition after mining. Billions of dollars are spent to clean up abandoned mines. – Set standards to minimize the effects of coal mining on environment – Established funds used to reclaim land and water resources adversely affected by mining

30. Mine Reclamation Before After

31. Before After

32. Mining Methods Determined by the resource location and formation