Some Mines of Interest - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 60

ALMADEN
The mercury deposits at Almaden, about 200 km south of Madrid, account for the largest
mercury production in the world. Its total production from historical times to date totals
to about 250,000 metric tons, about one third of the total quantity of mercury produced in
recorded history. Almaden is the only known deposit to contain as much as 30 percent of
the world's reserves of a single mineral.
ARGYLE
The Argyle Diamond Mine, discovered in 1979 and now the world largest diamond pro-
ducing mine, is located in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. It produces over
one third of the world's diamonds every year.
BAIA MARE
The tailings storage facility at Baia Mare, Hungary, designed for 'zero discharge', became
one of the most publicized tailings spill events to date. In early 2000, a section of the tail-
ings embankment overtopped, washing out a breach 25 m long. An estimated 100,000 m 3 of
mud and wastewater with a 126 mg/liter cyanide load entered into the Lapus River, a trib-
utary to the Szamos River and from there into the Tisza River and the Danube upstream
of Belgrade, before i nally entering the Black Sea. The Hungarian authorities estimated
the total i sh kill to have been in excess of one thousand tons.
BATU HIJAU
Mining of this major porphyry copper ore body commenced in 1999. The mine is located
in a remote, mountainous area in southwest Sumbawa, Indonesia. Development included
construction of major infrastructure including a port and coal-i red power station at
Benete Bay. The operations utilize Deep Sea Tailings Placement with tailings depositing
on the seabed at depths around 4 km. Also notable is the use of sea water for the process
which produces a copper concentrate.
BINGHAM CANYON
The Bingham Canyon mine, near Salt Lake City in the USA which has operated since
1906, is considered to be the world largest excavation. The mine is 4 km in diameter. From
bottom to top the mine reaches close to 1,000 vertical meters and, like other large open Pit
mines, it has its own climate zones. Operated by the Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation,
the mine has produced more than 17 million tons of copper from about 5 billion tons of
copper ore (worth around $ 120 billion at today's copper price), and 23 million ounces of
gold (worth around $ 21 billion at today's gold price).