Save the Wild U.P. is a grassroots nonprofit organization based in Marquette, Michigan with deep concerns about the economic, social, and environmental impacts of nonferrous mining. Membership is open to all who desire to help Save the Wild U.P. protect the quality of our environment and the permanent economic base of our economy by opposing experimental, historically risky, metallic sulfide or uranium mining.
There has never been a metallic sulfide mine that has failed to pollute its watershed. Once such a reaction starts, it is difficult to keep this acid drainage out of the water. When water becomes acidic, it leaches out and disperses heavy metals into lakes and streams. Heavy metals are dangerous to health, wildlife, and the environment.
Read the rest of this entry »
August 26th, 2009 by The Cleaner
Overburden is a term used in mining and archaeology to describe material that lies above an area of economic or scientific interest. For example, the rock, soil and ecosystem that lies above a coal or ore seam is called overburden. Mining companies also call this “waste,” though environmentalists might argue that it’s the overburden that actually has value. Overburden is removed during surface mining, but it’s typically not contaminated with toxic components, and therefore may be used to restore an exhausted mining site to some semblance of its appearance before mining began.
A related term is interburden, which is the material that lies between two areas of economic interest, such as the material separating coal seams.
Tailings is the material that remains after economically valuable components have been extracted. As mining techniques and the price of minerals increase, tailings are often reprocessed using new methods to recover additional minerals.
Adapted from Wikipedia
July 29th, 2009 by The Cleaner
