Which of the following are part of using mineral resources more sustainably?
We can also use mineral resources more sustainably by recycling and reusing them and by reducing unnecessary resource use and waste. These solutions apply the recycling principle of sustainability.
What are three ways to use mineral resources more sustainably?
Recycling & Reusing Valuable Metals
- Do not waste mineral resources.
- Recycle & reuse 60-80% of mineral resources.
- Include the harmful environmental costs of mining and processing minerals in the prices of items.
- Reduce mining subsidies.
- Increase subsidies for recycling, reusing, and finding substitutes.
What are five possible options when a mineral becomes economically depleted?
When the ore is no longer profitable to extract due to its lower quality, it is said to become economically depleted. At this point the five choices are: recycle, reuse, use less, waste less, find a substitute or do without it.
What are three ways to reduce the harmful environmental impacts from the mining and processing of nonrenewable mineral resources B What are three aspects of your lifestyle that contribute to these harmful impacts?
Three ways to reduce the harmful environmental impacts from mining and processing of nonrenewable mineral resources: Eliminate government subsidies and tax breaks that promote the mining and processing of these resources. Properly dispose of or recycle products that are no longer needed.
What is smelting and what are three harmful environmental effects?
Smelting is the process of heating ores to release metals. Some of the major harmful environmental effects of smelting, include: emissions of enormous quantities of air pollutants, and water pollution. Describe the conventional view of the relationship between the supply of a mineral resource and its market price.
Why is smelting bad?
Exposure to airborne pollutants from metal processing and smelting can lead to various acute and chronic diseases. Initial sudden exposure can lead to an irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. More serious and chronic effects are heart and lung problems, and even premature death.
What is the biggest environmental risk of mining?
Mine exploration, construction, operation, and maintenance may result in land-use change, and may have associated negative impacts on environments, including deforestation, erosion, contamination and alteration of soil profiles, contamination of local streams and wetlands, and an increase in noise level, dust and …
What is the main environmental impact of smelting ores?
The smelting of sulfide ores results in the emission of sulfur dioxide gas, which reacts chemically in the atmosphere to form a sulfuric acid mist. As this acid rain falls to the earth, it increases the acidity of soils, streams, and lakes, harming the health of vegetation and fish and wildlife populations.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Phytomining?
Simply put, PHYTOMINING is a form of EXTRACTION….
| ADVANTAGES | DISADVANTAGES |
|---|---|
| The process is more environmentally friendly than traditional extraction methods. | Less profit is made from bioleaching which means it is less appealing to buisness men and women. |
Which of the following is advantage of bioleaching?
Bioleaching can stabilise sulphate toxins from the mine without causing harm to the environment. Poisonous sulfur dioxide emissions harm the environment and can cause health problems for miners, and bioleaching avoids this process entirely. Bioleaching is more cost-effective than smelting processes.
What is Phytomining good for?
Plants absorb metal ions through their roots in a process called Phytomining . It removes toxic metals from contaminated soil – around old mines for example. In the future, when supplies of higher grade ores have run out, metals might be extracted by burning the plants to produce ash.
What organisms are used in Phytomining?
Biomining is a technique of extracting metals from ores and other solid materials typically using prokaryotes, fungi or plants (phytoextraction also known as phytomining or biomining).
What organisms are used in bioleaching?
Bioleaching can involve numerous ferrous iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria, including Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (formerly known as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (formerly known as Thiobacillus thiooxidans). As a general principle, Fe3+ ions are used to oxidize the ore.
What are the environmental factors of Phytomining?
Phytomining’s success is subject to the forces of nature. Unlike traditional excavation, phytomining is dependent on growing conditions such as the weather, altitude and soil quality.
How does Phytomining work?
Phytomining involves growing plants on top of low grade ores. The plants absorb copper ions through their roots The plants are then burnt to ashes containing copper ions. These ions are leached from the ash using sulfuric acid. Scrap iron can then be used to displace the copper from the leachate.
What are the stages of Phytomining?
Phytomining has several stages:
- Plants are grown in an area with low grade ores where they take in the minerals through their roots.
- The plants are then burned.
- The ash is added to water and the minerals dissolve in that water.
- Electrolysis is then used to extract the metal from the mineral.
What is produced from the bioleaching process?
Bioleaching. Certain bacteria can break down ores to produce an acidic solution containing copper(II) ions. The solution is called a leachate and the process is called bioleaching . Bioleaching does not need high temperatures, but it produces toxic substances, including sulfuric acid, which damage the environment.
What is the difference between Biomining and bioleaching?
Biomining is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through biological means, usually microorganism. Bioleaching commonly refers to biomining technology applied to base metals; whereas, biooxidation is normally applied to sulfidic-refractory gold ores and concentrates.
Why is bioleaching preferred?
Bioleaching makes those propositions not only doable but economically feasible. For tailing sites, bioleaching presents opportunities to unlock their value as well as to remediate them with the added bonus of producing no atmospheric pollution. The technique also boasts low capital and operating costs.
Which is the major problem in bioleaching?
The main disadvantage is it is a slow process, and production of toxic chemicals may be involved in the process. Table 20.1 shows the drawbacks of bioleaching existing during the process.
Where is bioleaching used?
Bioleaching is used today in commercial operations to process ores of copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc and uranium, whereas, biooxidation is used in gold processing and coal desulfurization. Bioleaching involves the use of microorganisms to catalyze the oxidation of iron sulfides to create ferric sulfate and sulfuric acid.
What is mean by leaching?
Leaching is the loss or extraction of certain materials from a carrier into a liquid (usually, but not always a solvent). and may refer to: Leaching (agriculture), the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil; or applying a small amount of excess irrigation to avoid soil salinity.
What happens to the bacteria after bioleaching?
Bioleaching. Certain bacteria can break down low-grade ores to produce an acidic solution containing copper ions. The solution is called a leachate and the process is called bioleaching .
How much does bioleaching cost?
Generally, the capital cost of a bioleaching operation is approximately 50 percent less than that of conventional smelting operation. This is mainly due to lack of infrastructural costs. The operating costs based on current technology for leaching dumps and ores are between 0.18 USD and 0.22 USD per pound of copper.
What are the disadvantages of Biomining?
There are many limitations to these processes, however. A few are the increased cost of mining and processing larger volumes of ore, the limited availability of freshwater needed to mine and process minerals, and the environmental impacts of increased land disruption, waste material, and pollution.
Which bacteria is used for copper leaching?
However, the most important role in bacterial leaching is played by T. ferrooxidans. This bacterium was first isolated in 1947 by Colmer and Hinkle [1] from acid coal mine drainage.
Why is copper found native?
What is native copper? Copper is an unreactive metal – it reacts only slowly with the atmosphere. This means that huge lumps of copper metal are found buried in the ground as nuggets. This is called native copper.