THE OVERVIEW OF MINING AND QUARRY MINING



  Mining generally is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or (coal) seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, raw salt and potash. Any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory is usually mined. Mining in a wider sense comprises extraction of any non-renewable resource (eg. Petroleum, natural gas, or even water).

           
Quarry mining and metal have been done since prehistoric times. Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore bodies, analysis of the profit potential of a proposed mine, extraction of the desired materials and finally reclamation of the land to prepare it for other  uses once the mine is closed. The nature of mining processes creates a potential negative impact on the environment both during the mining operations and for years after the mine is closed (West 1970; Lankton 1991; Vaden and provost 2000; Heiss and Oeggl 2008). This impact has led to most of the world’s nations adopting regulations to moderate the negative  effects of mining operations for safety .
           
Since the beginning of civilization people have used stone, ceramics and later metals found on or close to the earth’s surface to manufacture early tools and weapons, for instance, high quality flint found in Northern France and southern England were used to create flint tools (Hartman, 1992). The oldest known mine on archaeological record is the “Lion” Cave” in Swaziland, which by radiocarbon, date about 43,000 years , of which Paleolithic humans mined mineral hematite, which contained iron and was grinded to produce the red pigment Ochre (Swaziland Natural Trust Commission, 2007). Mines of a similar age in Hungary are believed to be sites where Neanderthals may have mined flint for weapons and tools .Ancient Egyptians mined malachite at Maadi (Shaw, 2000). 
           
Mining in Europe has a very long pedigree, example including the silver mines of laurium, which helped support the Greek city state of Athens. However Romans developed large scale mining methods, especially the use of large volumes of water brought to  the mine head by numerous aqueducts ( Wilsdorf, 1970) . The water was used for a variety of purposes, including using it to remove overburden and rock debris, called hydraulic mining as well as washing crushed ores, and driving simple machinery. They used hydraulic mining methods on a large scale to prospect for the veins of ore, especially a now obsolete form of mining known as hushing. It involved building numerous aqueducts to supply water to  the mine head where it was stored in large reservoirs and tanks. When a full tank was opened, the wave of water sluiced away the overburden to expose the bedrock underneath and any gold veins. The rock was then attacked by fire-setting to heat the rock which would be quenched with a stream of water. The thermal shock cracked the rock, enabling it to be removed, aided by further streams of water from the overhead tanks. They used similar methods to work cassiterite deposits in Cornwall and lead ore in the peinnines. The methods had  been developed by the Romans in 25 AD to exploit large alluvial gold deposits, the largest site being at Las Meduas, where seven long aqueducts were built to tap local rivers and to sluice the deposits. Mining in the Medieval period is best known through the work of De Re Metallica in 1556 of George Agricola, who described many different mining methods then used in German and Saxon mines ( Agricola, 1556).
Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - MARTINS LIBRARY

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE