What are the downsides to mining?

Answer 1

Holes, gigantic f***ing holes!

Answer 2

I assume you mean versus other options such as recycling.

Money
Both mining and recycling are expensive, with mining probably coming out a little cheaper.

Environmental concerns.
Deforestation of strip mining, When mining land is reclaimed (holes filled etc.) often top soil is not replaced and the land takes years to vegetate. Not all removed material is usable ore and some of it is toxic. It has been exposed to the atmosphere and releases these toxins to receptors such as fish. The area surrounding mines can suffer long term effects from pollution.

Politics
Many people are against mining when it occurs near a residential area. Minerals are not all evenly distributed in the ground and sometimes some of the best locations for a quarry are near a subdivision. People hate the dust, the dirt on the road, the large trucks driving through the neighborhoods where their kids play, blasting, and various other activities associated with mining.

Risks
Mining can be risky because of safety concerns and there is always the possibility that there will be less ore than there is money to extract it. Your job is on the line on every quarry.

Answer 3

It depends on what type of mining you mean. Strip mining destroys surface vegetation and the animals that feed on it. Some coal mining is done underground and as sections are mined out, they are collapsed, with structures above them suffering. All mining can release toxic amounts of elements normally found in low levels in low levels in the environment. These are some of the downsides, and there are probably more.

Answer 4

1. You get very dirty.
2. Inhaled rock dust can cause respiratory diseases.
3. Depending on the ore being mined, dust from the ore can poison you.
4. Slag, or unwanted rock from the mine kills local vegetation and is not very fertile.
5. Unless the mine is an open pit mine, it can cave in, burying the ore vein, and sometimes a shift of miners.
6. There is at least one recorded incident of a mine under part of a city collapsing and destroying an area of housing.
7. Mine owners seem to have a history of ignoring environmental , safety, and miner welfare concerns.
8. Mines are a last resort to get to materials needed or otherwise valued by societies, i. e. no one starts to mine until above-ground resources are depleted locally.

Answer 5

I have a test on this tomorrow...

1) hurts the environment (carbon dioxide causes global warming, sulferic oxide causes acid rain, releases toxic chemicals that can kill people [black lung disease])
2) causes political problems
3) not good to transport

Answer 6

long work hours,choking dust,the chance of a cave in.but the money is good :)

Answer 7

that u wanna do that