Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 1.4
Consumption of Metals Compared with
Population by Region for Selected
Countries, 2000
% of total
45
40
The US and Western Europe are
generally the highest minerals consum-
ers per capita.
Source:
MMSD 2002
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
China
and
India
Africa,
Middle
East, and
Other
Asia
Latin
America
Other
SE
Asia
Western
Europe
Former
Soviet
Union
United
States
Japan
South
Korea
Canada
Australia
Aluminium
Copper
Lead
Steel
Gold
% of world propulation
capita, as shown in Figure 1.4 . The contrary is found in many developing countries, where
the economies often depend on primary production industries such as mining, along with
agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.
Path of Minerals and Associated Environmental Impacts
The entire life-cycle of mineral resources can give rise to environmental impacts, from
extraction, transportation, through use in the production and consumption of goods and
services, to final disposal as waste. Each phase presents its own environmental challenges,
affecting different localities. In fact, the consumption of metals and the resources used in
their production exemplify the degree to which international trade flows determine the
extent and location of environmental pressures. For example, iron ore mined in Western
Australia may be converted to steel in Korea using coal mined in Indonesia. Korean steel
plate may then be used to build a ship in Japan, which after a lifespan of say 20 years will
be beached and disassembled for scrap in India or Bangladesh, with the scrap steel sold to
Germany, and so on…
Extraction processes are often very damaging to landscapes. As will be discussed in sub-
sequent chapters of this topic, a number of metals, such as gold, nickel, and copper are
extracted with environmentally-intrusive mining technologies, resulting in large quanti-
ties of mine wastes, potential contamination of soils, landscape destruction, and negative
impacts on natural water cycles. Environmental impacts in the later stages of processing
will differ, i.e. concentrating and refining crude metal ore, smelting, or forming, but all
are energy-intensive activities. They all require other non-renewable resources (e.g. fossil
The entire life-cycle of mineral
resources can give rise to
environmental impacts.
 
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