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The Mining Industry And Its Effects On The Environment

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1. INTRODUCTION
The world as we know it, is continuously evolving. With an increase in population, there exists a great deal of economic and social needs. The earth is enriched with a vast of diverse precious minerals which play a significant role in our lives. These minerals are used in many sectors such as medicine, construction, agriculture etc. To extract these precious minerals from the earth’s crust, extensive mining operations are carried out daily. These operations comprise drilling and blasting of ores to attain the minerals. During these operations great harm and damage is being done on the environment.
The mining industry is by far the most influential industry with regards to setting a country’s economy in motion. Different mines extract different minerals from coal to diamond and gold. These resources are embedded within ores which have to be drilled and blasted to be extracted. After retracting the resources the waste rock and waste that is detached from the ore during processing, is dumped away from the pit onto a surface waste dump which is commonly known as mine tailings. Mine tailings are the largest mine wastes on earth and can reach several hundred meters in elevation. This type of waste results to countless environmental effects.
Excluding water, concrete is the mostly used material on earth. It is considered as the most important material in the Building Environment due to its extensive usage in the construction industry. Concrete is primarily used

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