Any alternative mining methods?

Question

In church today I learned that the water in some countries is being polluted do to the mining of hard-metals. Do you know of any alternative mining methods that would reduce the pollution to these water sources?

Answer 1

Mining is such a terrible thing.  But....everyone, even those who complain about the evils of mining......use steel, aluminum, copper and other metals in their everyday life.  These things don't just fly out of the ground miraculously.  If "god" is real, why doesn't the pastor of your church pray, and ask "god" to do something about this problem?

Answer 2

strip mining with the use of water has been illegal for years and as far as i know has not been in use for decades

Answer 3

Mining for Gold ,Silver, Diamonds keeps the lady`s Happy..   A happy women is better than a clean glass of water. so grab your pick and shovel

Answer 4

Let's see...  Your pastor was preaching about mining in church?  That doesn't really make sense.  

As it stands, most of the mining companies in the world today work to be as environmentally responsible as possible - not only during the actual extraction (mining) of the ore, but also in the processing of that ore and recovering the product they're attempting to mine, and in the restoration of the area they mined after mining operations are over.  In fact, that's usually one of the things that's included in the permitting process:  Bonds (money) is set aside to restore the area after mining operations cease.  

As for pollution to water sources, I can tell you that the mining company I work for recycles roughly 85% of the water that it uses.  They also have spent literally millions of dollars to clean up contamination from mining operations that precede their mining operations - operations from close to 100 years ago...  

It's part of being a good "corporate citizen".  

They want to maintain good relationships with the communities around their operations, as well as comply with sound environmental practices & government regulations.  Further, they also have worked to become ISO 14001 certified - which is an international environmental standard that many potential customers look for when they're buying the product.  

Here's an example:  Tiffany's - the world class jewelry maker - buys their gold from the company I work for, because of the ISO 14001 certification.  They want their supplier to be as environmentally responsible as possible.

**EDIT**

Okay - "Alternative Mining Methods" - Alternative as opposed to what?  Current mining methods include underground tunnels, underground "block caving", open pit mines, strip mines, etc.  

Underground tunneling generally is the least "disturbing" to the area around it, because miners are following an ore vein.  Tunnels can become unstable and cave in, they can also allow for the buildup of gases which can be toxic (Carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide from machinery) or explosive (methane in underground coal mines) if they aren't ventilated.  

"Block caving" is another underground method where huge caverns are opened underground - from below.  The area is blasted so that it caves in, and then the ore is extracted - from below.  Once the loose material is extracted, the cavern is again blasted - from below - causing the loosened ore to fall into the cavern where it's extracted again.  This eventually causes huge underground caverns that will eventually be collapsed in once the ore bodies are exhausted.  Of course, those caverns will sometimes collapse all the way to the surface, causing depressions on the surface, and allowing surface water to seep through the fractured rock down deep into the earth.  Those underground caverns can also allow for the same unhealthy gases to build up without ventilation.  

Open pit mining disturbs large areas of the earth's surface.  These mines are generally quite large, and the ore being extracted bears extremely small quantities (per ton) of the substance being mined, necessitating the removal of thousands of tons of ore to recover enough product to make the mining profitable.  As an example:  Copper mines are generally open pit, and the ore generally contains less than 1% copper.  One hundred tons of ore containing 1% copper, will yield one ton of copper.  Environmental impacts of open pit mines are the huge pits remaining after mining operations cease.  In Butte, Montana, the "Berkeley Pit" has backfilled with groundwater which has an extremely low pH and is loaded with dissolved minerals such as copper, arsenic, lead, etc.  In that case, there are literally millions of gallons of acidic water entering the Berkeley Pit every day.  One mitigation method being used is a water-treatment facility that uses lime neutralization - and recovers copper from the water to help offset the perpetual cost for the treatment facility.  

Strip mining is generally used for shallow coal seams.  The topsoil and fill dirt that is above the coal seam is generally removed in layers - and stored in separate piles.  The coal is then mined, and then the dirt that was above the coal seam is replaced in the layers, with the topsoil being replaced last.  The area is then graded to resemble the original landscape, and then replanted with native vegetation.  

ALL mining methods impact the environment - including groundwater and surface water sources.  

All mining operations are subject to laws which are there to mitigate/minimize those impacts.  

All mining operations are required to have "closure plans" - plans to restore the area after mining operations cease, including putting up cash to cover those restoration costs.