From all the news and information about the environmental impacts that mining can cause, you may be thinking if mining is worth it with all the detrimental effects they come along with. Acid mine drainage, deforestation, erosion, and pollution are all examples of what mining can cause if the process is not tightly environmentally regulated. However, some companies are willing to take that extra step and approach mining in an environmental, sustainable way. One example is the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), an NGO based in Vancouver, B.C. (hurray for local initiatives), and they develop standards for environmental and responsible mining.
However, one of the biggest problems out there is the fact that most mining companies still use smelting as a method of purifying metals. In short, this method melts the desired metal out of its ore. This requires a lot of energy, as if we were to purify iron, it would have to heat it to 1250°C. If the mining plant is using fossil fuel as an energy source, this would be a huge problem and an extreme waste of energy. Also smelting produces a lot of waste unsuitable for release into the environment, such as SO2 gas and waste water. SO2 is highly responsible for acid rain formation and the waste water, high in dissolved toxic metals, would be destructive to environments.
There is a better alternative out there instead of smelting. During my Co-op placement, I have had the opportunity to work for Teck Resources, a Canadian mining company that focuses on environmental sustainability and safety. Instead of smelting, they use hydrometallurgy and different methods to extract metals out of ores. Instead of boring you with specifics how the process works, there are some key highlights that make this much more environmentally viable. Hydrometallurgy does not produce harmful products that are detrimental to the environment. All of its waste can be easily isolated, contained, and properly disposed of. Also, it is highly energy efficient compared to smelting. Because hydrometallurgy relies on aqueous reactions, hence the hydro prefix in hydrometallurgy, some reactions only require up to 130°C to carry through.
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Copper plate, a final product of hydrometallurgy
Image taken from www.metchem.com.pk
I hope by reading this blog has given you some incite about the situation of mining right now. With all the news about environmental damage caused by mining and destroyed environments because of it, many companies have already taken the initiative to carry out their processes environmentally, while some still have not. In due time, the method of smelting will be replaced and mining all over the world will be approached in an environmentally friendly way.
Derrick Lee
