Environmental risk of mining - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 128

- planning and preparing sustainable mine tailings caps;
- preventing and treating acid rock drainage;
- remediation of mine waste and contaminated land immediately after they occur;
- phytoremediation of mine waste and bare areas associated with mining;
- long-term assessment of environmental impacts;
- assessing short- and long-term health risks from contaminated water and air in
urban environments near mining operations;
- assessing environmental risks associated with mining;
- green engineering for environmentally responsible new mine developments;
- assessing socioeconomic risks and benefits of mining activities;
- thorough assessment of the socio-economic and environmental impacts in support
of decision making on new mine opening.
Management of abandoned mining sites involves additional tasks, such as prepa-
ration of a national inventory, clarification of ownership and fund-raising for the
complex management.
The environmental performance of the mining industry has greatly improved over
the last few decades, but as in every industry, more can be done. To reduce the footprint
created by mining activities and to sustain a pristine environment and a competitive
sector, green mining innovation is especially vital in countries where the mining sector
is an important part of the economy. A good example is Canada, where Natural
Resources Canada (NRCa, 2013) adopted the Green Mining Initiative in 2009 to
make the mining industry more sustainable. The Green Mining Initiative recommends
a holistic approach with which to address all the steps of the mining process, from
designing new mines and minimizing the environmental footprint to exploring green
mining innovation and technologies in particular, and ensuring long-term maintenance
(Canadian Geographic, 2013).
Some of the engineering efforts to make mining more sustainable are listed below:

- Minimizing the amount of waste rock during mineral extraction by under-

ground and open-pit mining using explosives-free (thermal) rock breaking methods
(Thermal Fragmentation, 2013).

- Development of portable rigs which are significantly smaller than conventional

ones and have less impact on the ecosystem. They eliminate the need of further
tracks to haul vehicles. Portable rigs reduce carbon emissions, save time and money
and make it easier to restore the landscape after mine operations (Mine, 2013).

- Developing eco- and cost-efficient mining equipment, such as the Hybrid Diesel

electric loader (Mine, 2013). Loaders are used in many underground metal mines.
Because they are diesel-fueled, they pollute the underground atmosphere which
needs to be counteracted with sufficient ventilation. The hybrid engine reduces
noxious gas emission by 40-70%. This could result in a 20-40% reduction in the
energy required to ventilate the mine.

- Innovation in waste disposal i.e. using paste technology: instead of pumping

untreated tailings from the concentrator into tailing ponds, the sand is dewa-
tered to a point when it does not segregate as a deposit, and which is a far more
environmentally friendly process (Jewell & Fourie, 2006; Meggyes & Debreczeni,
2007; Meggyes et al. , 2008; Jewell et al. , 2013; Environmental Protection, 2013).