Introduction to Mining
Definition
Mining refers the extraction of solid, non-renewable resources (be it Uranium, Gold, Coal etc) from the ground. Products of successful mining cannot be made, they HAVE to be mined.
Money Maker?
Mining is obviously profitable business. The gold, silver, and platinum you find in your jewellery have all at some point been mined from the ground. Mining is an expensive process, and thus any successful mining company has a variety of procedures in place to weigh up the pros, and cons of mining a specific area. This must take into consideration the value of the resources they will be able to excavate, the safety of employees, and the negative environmental effects.
The potential for large sums of money may sound attractive, however unfortunately the ‘start-up’ costs associated with researching, and mining an area are also extremely significant !
Sub-sectors
The mining sector is to a large extent split up. Because there is SO MUCH money to be made, you get companies that focus on actually discovering potential mines, and then separate companies which actually do the extraction.
Costs
A main aspect of Mining is essentially surveying an area before any ground is broken. This process estimates the type and amount of a resource present in an area, and from this various mathematical processes take place such as to estimate the value of mining the area. Once this is done an estimate of the cost associated with mining the area is calculated. This has to consider a lot of things: how much can actually be recovered; what engineering costs are associated with such an excavation; the market for the resource; to name but a few.
With regards to engineering, and machinery costs there is a lot to consider. Drills are needed for digging into the ground, and breaking rocks. Depending on the size and type (see below) of mining, lifts, and tram systems are often needed to enable miners to reach the resource being mined. Various other complex, and expensive pieces of machinery are also needed for actually removing, and concentrating the respective resource from the extracted rock. Converting extracted ores to metals is an expensive process in itself.
Environmental Effects
The environmental effects of mining have always been the subject of much debate. Not only do mines visually pollute, but they also contaminate water supplies, destroy habitats (and thus kill animals) amongst other things.
As mining involves use of complex extraction processes utilizing a variety of chemicals, high concentrations of some chemicals arise as a by-product. For example Sulphuric Acid, and Methane which alone can have devastating effects on plants, and animals (including humans).
In addition when some metals mix with water in significant quantities, a variety of reactions can occur which further pollute water bodies and the environment in general.
Because of this, as Mining has grown a variety of serious, and significant government regulations have been introduced so as to minimize the potential damage to the environment.
Our Reliance
The reason mining is SO profitable is because of our reliance throughout time on the products which are made from the various resources. For example many thousands of years ago flint mined from the ground was used in the production of weapons. Nowadays, Aluminium mined from the ground is used as a main component in the production of aeroplanes.
There are mines all across the world, mining all sorts of things. The oldest known mine dates back in excess of 40,000 years!
Above and Below
There are two main methods of mining: above, and below ground. These are reasonably self explanatory. Above ground essentially refers to digging a hole to the deposits, and removing them. On the other hand ‘Below Ground’ involves digging a network of tunnels down to a deposit. The deposits are then excavated and bought back to the surface.
These are very basic definitions, and there are actually sub sets of each which relate to how the tunnels are made for example.
Health and Safety
Below ground mining is the type most often associated with safety concern. Although over time mining has got increasingly safe, there are still occasionally significant accidents. The main concern is the lack of air and the presence of harmful gases underground. This relates to the old ‘Mining Canary’, whereby a canary would be sent into a mine. Should it not return, then it was deemed that levels of harmful gases were too high, and had thus killed the animal.
In recent times processes have been put in place to maintain a consistent air supply throughout the respective mine, and keep the area cool.
The other significant safety concern in ‘Cave-Ins’ whereby mines could simply collapse as rock was removed. Various processes have been introduced to brace, and support mines. Accidents however, do still occur!
Mining is big business, but it has its risks! Unfortunately those putting themselves at risk are usually not the ones getting the big bucks.