Mongolia’s Economic Security: How can Economic Development Further Support Mongolian National Security through Developing its Mining Sector

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-09

MONGOLIA’S ECONOMIC SECURITY: HOW CAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FURTHER SUPPORT MONGOLIAN NATIONAL SECURITY THROUGH DEVELOPING ITS MINING SECTOR... Economic Security: How can Economic Development Further Support Mongolian National Security through Developing its Mining Sector? 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...geographic position between two political and economic powers (China and Russia) provides both opportunities and disadvantages for Mongolia’s economy

Impacts of telemation on modern society

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, A. D., III

1973-01-01

A survey study of state-of-the-art technology, major civil sector user needs, and recommendations for federal initiatives in the field of teleoperators, robotics, and remote systems is reviewed. Impending developments in the application of telemation to remote emergency medical care and to remote mining operations are speculated upon.

Using Satellite Data for Environmental Impact Analysis in Economic Growth: the Case of Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tungalag, A.; Tsolmon, R.; Ochirkhuyag, L.; Oyunjargal, J.

2016-06-01

The Mongolian economy is based on the primary and secondary economic sectors of agriculture and industry. In addition, minerals and mining become a key sector of its economy. The main mining resources are gold, copper, coal, fluorspar and steel. However, the environment and green economy is one of the big problems among most of the countries and especially for countries like Mongolia where the mining is major part of economy; it is a number one problem. The research of the work tested how environmental elements effect to current Mongolian economic growth, which is growing economy because of mining sector. The study of economic growth but the starting point for any study of economic growth is the neoclassical growth model emphasizing the role of capital accumulation. The growth is analysed either in terms of models with exogenous saving rates (the Solow-Swan model), or models where consumption and hence savings are determined by optimizing individuals. These are the so-called optimal growth or Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans. The study extends the Solow model and the Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans model, including environmental elements which are satellite data determine to degraded land and vegetation value from 1995 to 2013. In contrast, we can see the degraded land area increases from 1995 (4856 m2) to 2013 (10478 m2) and vegetation value decrease at same time. A description of the methodology of the study conducted follows together with the data collected and econometric estimations and calibration with environmental elements.

Data mining in pharma sector: benefits.

PubMed

Ranjan, Jayanthi

2009-01-01

The amount of data getting generated in any sector at present is enormous. The information flow in the pharma industry is huge. Pharma firms are progressing into increased technology-enabled products and services. Data mining, which is knowledge discovery from large sets of data, helps pharma firms to discover patterns in improving the quality of drug discovery and delivery methods. The paper aims to present how data mining is useful in the pharma industry, how its techniques can yield good results in pharma sector, and to show how data mining can really enhance in making decisions using pharmaceutical data. This conceptual paper is written based on secondary study, research and observations from magazines, reports and notes. The author has listed the types of patterns that can be discovered using data mining in pharma data. The paper shows how data mining is useful in the pharma industry and how its techniques can yield good results in pharma sector. Although much work can be produced for discovering knowledge in pharma data using data mining, the paper is limited to conceptualizing the ideas and view points at this stage; future work may include applying data mining techniques to pharma data based on primary research using the available, famous significant data mining tools. Research papers and conceptual papers related to data mining in Pharma industry are rare; this is the motivation for the paper.

Environmental impact assessment of european non-ferro mining industries through life-cycle assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hisan Farjana, Shahjadi; Huda, Nazmul; Parvez Mahmud, M. A.

2018-05-01

European mining industries are the vast industrial sector which contributes largely on their economy which constitutes of ferro and non-ferro metals and minerals industries. The non-ferro metals extraction and processing industries require focus of attention due to sustainability concerns as their manufacturing processes are highly energy intensive and impacts globally on environment. This paper analyses major environmental effects caused by European metal industries based on the life-cycle impact analysis technologies. This research work is the first work in considering the comparative environmental impact analysis of European non-ferro metal industries which will reveal their technological similarities and dissimilarities to assess their environmental loads. The life-cycle inventory datasets are collected from the EcoInvent database while the analysis is done using the CML baseline and ReCipe endpoint method using SimaPro software version 8.4. The CML and ReCipe method are chosen because they are specialized impact assessment methods for European continent. The impact categories outlined for discussion here are human health, global warming and ecotoxicity. The analysis results reveal that the gold industry is vulnerable for the environment due to waste emission and similar result retained by silver mines a little bit. But copper, lead, manganese and zinc mining processes and industries are environment friendly in terms of metal extraction technologies and waste emissions.

Multiplier Accounting of Indian Mining Industry: The Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Azhar; Karmakar, Netai Chandra

2017-10-01

In the previous paper (Hussain and Karmakar in Inst Eng India Ser, 2014. doi: 10.1007/s40033-014-0058-0), the concepts of input-output transaction matrix and multiplier were explained in detail. Input-output multipliers are indicators used for predicting the total impact on an economy due to changes in its industrial demand and output which is calculated using transaction matrix. The aim of this paper is to present an application of the concepts with respect to the mining industry, showing progress in different sectors of mining with time and explaining different outcomes from the results obtained. The analysis shows that a few mineral industries saw a significant growth in their multiplier values over the years.

Does the resources sector have higher suicide rates? A comparative analysis of suicide rates among men in the mining industry and other occupations, in Queensland (Australia).

PubMed

McPhedran, Samara

2015-06-05

Australia is one of the world's foremost mining nations. Over the past decade, the number of resources sector employees has risen steadily. It is increasingly suggested in lay press and popular discourse that mining industry employees (the majority of whom are men) face an elevated risk of suicide relative to the general population, and that suicide rates are higher among mining industry employees relative to other occupations. However, there has been no empirical evaluation of this proposal, which impedes the ability to develop appropriate policy responses. This study begins to fill knowledge gaps, by providing the first quantitative examination of suicide rates in the mining industry. Data from the Queensland Suicide Register were used to examine suicide rates in the resources sector, relative to other sectors. The mining industry was found to have lower male suicide rates relative to other occupations and the working-age male population overall. These findings do not support the view that mining industry employment is necessarily associated with elevated suicide rates. Many factors, ranging from individual personality characteristics through to workplace policies, may contribute to this observation.

Principles of adoption of the successful environmental practices used in developed countries into mining industry in developing countries.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masaitis, Alexandra

2013-04-01

The successful implementation of the environmental practices in the mining industry is of a paramount importance, as it not only prevents both local and trans-border pollution but also guarantees clean and healthy environment for the people regardless of their place of habitation. It is especially important to encourage the progress of the environmental practices implementation in developing countries because such countries have resource-oriented economy based on exploitation of nonrenewable resources. Poor environmental practices in developing countries will lead to local environmental crises that could eventually spill into surrounding countries including the most economically advanced. This abstract is a summary of a two-year research project attempted (1) to determine deficiencies of the mining sector ecological practices in developing countries and (2) to suggest substitute practices from developed countries that could be adapted to the developing countries reality. The following research methods were used: 1. The method of the system analysis, where the system is an interaction of the sets of environmental practices with the global mining sector; 2. The comparative method of inquiry, where the comparison was made between environmental protection practices as implemented in the US (developed country) and the developing countries such as RF, Mongolia mining sectors; 3. Quantitative date analysis, where date was collected from "The collection of statistic data", Russian Geographic Society Annual reports, the US EPA open reports, and the USGS Reports; The following results were obtained: Identified the systemic crisis of the ecological environmental policies and practices in the mining sector in developing countries based on the exploitation of nonrenewable resources, absence of the ecological interest by the mining companies that lack mechanisms of environmental and public health protection, the lack of insurance policy, the lack of risk assistance, and in the presence of the audit and monitoring that do not address the local conditions of the mining operations. Based on the above the following concepts were thought of to improve the environmental conditions in mining sector: 1. Was developed the Regional Environmental Management principle based on the local conditions such as physiographic region, local population, and socioeconomic conditions of the area; 2. Devised were criteria for the risk assessment for developing countries. Where the fundamental principals were public health, both near and far from the operation, environmental and biodiversity impact, waste management, long- and short- term rehabilitation plans, compliance with international standards and norms. 3. Developed was the mechanism of the economic motivation to make mining operations "environmentally friendly" that includes defrayal of expenses from both direct and indirect damages. 4. Identified were spheres of possible cooperation between mining companies, government organizations, and the NGOs. These include development of international standards for Good Neighbor Agreement, exchange of environmental information, exchange of successful environmental, health, and safety practices between mining operations from developed and developing countries. The study showed the dire necessity for the mining industry that operates in developing countries to adopt the successful environmental practices used in developed countries. To achieve this goal the Regional Environmental Management principle, the risk assessment criteria, the mechanism of the economic motivation and the principles for international cooperation can play an extremely important role.

Disaster risk management in prospect mining area Blitar district, East Java, using microtremor analysis and ANP (analytical network processing) approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parwatiningtyas, Diyan, E-mail: diane.tyas@gmail.com, E-mail: erlinunindra@gmail.com; Ambarsari, Erlin Windia, E-mail: diane.tyas@gmail.com, E-mail: erlinunindra@gmail.com; Marlina, Dwi, E-mail: diane.tyas@gmail.com, E-mail: erlinunindra@gmail.com

Indonesia has a wealth of natural assets is so large to be managed and utilized, either from its own local government and local communities, especially in the mining sector. However, mining activities can change the state of the surface layer of the earth that have a high impact disaster risk. This could threaten the safety and disrupt human life, environmental damage, loss of property, and the psychological impact, sulking to the rule of law no 24 of 2007. That's why we strive to manage and minimize the risk of mine disasters in the region, how to use the method ofmore » calculation of Amplification Factor (AF) from the analysis based microtremor sulking Kanai and Nakamura, and decision systems were tested by analysis of ANP. Based on the amplification factor and Analytical Network Processing (ANP) obtained, some points showed instability in the surface layer of a mining area include the site of the TP-7, TP-8, TP-9, TP-10, (Birowo2). If in terms of structure, location indicated unstable due to have a sloping surface layer, resulting in the occurrence of landslides and earthquake risk is high. In the meantime, other areas of the mine site can be said to be a stable area.« less

Disaster risk management in prospect mining area Blitar district, East Java, using microtremor analysis and ANP (analytical network processing) approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parwatiningtyas, Diyan; Ambarsari, Erlin Windia; Marlina, Dwi; Wiratomo, Yogi

2014-03-01

Indonesia has a wealth of natural assets is so large to be managed and utilized, either from its own local government and local communities, especially in the mining sector. However, mining activities can change the state of the surface layer of the earth that have a high impact disaster risk. This could threaten the safety and disrupt human life, environmental damage, loss of property, and the psychological impact, sulking to the rule of law no 24 of 2007. That's why we strive to manage and minimize the risk of mine disasters in the region, how to use the method of calculation of Amplification Factor (AF) from the analysis based microtremor sulking Kanai and Nakamura, and decision systems were tested by analysis of ANP. Based on the amplification factor and Analytical Network Processing (ANP) obtained, some points showed instability in the surface layer of a mining area include the site of the TP-7, TP-8, TP-9, TP-10, (Birowo2). If in terms of structure, location indicated unstable due to have a sloping surface layer, resulting in the occurrence of landslides and earthquake risk is high. In the meantime, other areas of the mine site can be said to be a stable area.

Environmental performance and financial report integrity: challenges for the mining sector in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayangsari, S.

2018-01-01

This study investigates the influence of environmental performance on the financial report integrity. The statistics used were primary data from interviews with senior members of the mining sector regarding environmental issues, as well as secondary data using Financial Report 2016. The samples were listed mining companies with semester data. Questionnaires were used to measure their perceptions of the challenges concerning climate change faced by the mining sector. The results of this research show that regulatory interventions will be critical to environmental issues. This study employed KLD as a proxy for environmental performance, correlated with other variables regarding the integrity of disclosure. The outcome indicates that environmental issues will increase the integrity of financial reports.

The Algorithm of Development the World Ocean Mining of the Industry During the Global Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyrkov, Anatoliy; Budnik, Vladislav; Sokolov, Sergei; Chernyi, Sergei

2016-08-01

In the article reviewed extraction effect of hydrocarbons on the general country's developing, under the impact of economical, demographical and technological factors, as well as it's future role in the world energy balance. Also adduced facts which designate offshore and deep water production of unconventional and conventional hydrocarbons including mining of marine mineral resources as perspective area of development in the future, despite all the difficulties of this sector. In the article considered the state and prospects of the Russian continental shelf, in consideration of its geographical location and its all existing problems.

A systematic review of lost-time injuries in the global mining industry.

PubMed

Nowrouzi-Kia, Behdin; Gohar, Basem; Casole, Jennifer; Chidu, Carla; Dumond, Jennifer; McDougall, Alicia; Nowrouzi-Kia, Behnam

2018-05-01

Mining is a hazardous occupation with elevated rates of lost-time injury and disability. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) To identify the type of lost-time injuries in the mining workforce, regardless of the kind of mining and 2) To examine the antecedent factors to the occupational injury (lost-time injuries). We identified and extracted primary papers related to lost-time injuries in the mining sector by conducting a systematic search of the electronic literature in the eight health and related databases. We critically reviewed nine articles in the mining sector that examined lost-time injuries. Musculoskeletal injuries (hand, back, limbs, fractures, lacerations and muscle contusions), slips and falls were identified as types of lost-time injuries. The review identified the following antecedent factors related to lost-time injuries: the mining work environment (underground mining), being male, age, working with mining equipment, organizational size, falling objects, disease status, job training and lack of occupational safety management teams, recovery time, social supports, access to health services, pre-injury health status and susceptibility to injury. The mining sector is a hazardous environment that increases workers' susceptibility to occupational injuries. There is a need to create and implement monitoring systems of lost-time injuries to implement prevention programs.

Submarine and deep-sea mine tailing placements: A review of current practices, environmental issues, natural analogs and knowledge gaps in Norway and internationally.

PubMed

Ramirez-Llodra, Eva; Trannum, Hilde C; Evenset, Anita; Levin, Lisa A; Andersson, Malin; Finne, Tor Erik; Hilario, Ana; Flem, Belinda; Christensen, Guttorm; Schaanning, Morten; Vanreusel, Ann

2015-08-15

The mining sector is growing in parallel with societal demands for minerals. One of the most important environmental issues and economic burdens of industrial mining on land is the safe storage of the vast amounts of waste produced. Traditionally, tailings have been stored in land dams, but the lack of land availability, potential risk of dam failure and topography in coastal areas in certain countries results in increasing disposal of tailings into marine systems. This review describes the different submarine tailing disposal methods used in the world in general and in Norway in particular, their impact on the environment (e.g. hyper-sedimentation, toxicity, processes related to changes in grain shape and size, turbidity), current legislation and need for future research. Understanding these impacts on the habitat and biota is essential to assess potential ecosystem changes and to develop best available techniques and robust management plans. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges with minimising mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector: experiences from the Guianas.

PubMed

Hilson, Gavin; Vieira, Rickford

2007-12-01

This paper examines the barriers to mitigating mercury pollution at small-scale gold mines in the Guianas (Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname), and prescribes recommendations for overcoming these obstacles. Whilst considerable attention has been paid to analysing the environmental impacts of operations in the region, minimal research has been undertaken to identify appropriate policy and educational initiatives for addressing the mounting mercury problem. Findings from recent fieldwork and selected interviews with operators from Guyanese and Surinamese gold mining regions reveal that legislative incapacity, the region's varied industry policy stances, various technological problems, and low environmental awareness on the part of communities are impeding efforts to facilitate improved mercury management at small-scale gold mines in the Guianas. Marked improvements can be achieved, however, if legislation, particularly that pertaining to mercury, is harmonised in the region; educational seminars continue to be held in important mining districts; and additional outlets for disseminating environmental equipment and mercury-free technologies are provided.

76 FR 67405 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-01

....S. Census Bureau. Title: 2012 Economic Census Covering the Mining Sector. OMB Control Number: 0607.... Needs and Uses: The 2012 Economic Census covering the Mining Sector will use a mail canvass, supplemented by data from federal administrative records, to measure the economic activity of approximately 26...

Mining industry enters a new era of AIDS prevention. Eye witness: South Africa.

PubMed

Heywood, M

1996-06-01

Miners in South Africa are now more at risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than of being in a mining accident. Some epidemiologists predict that the mines could be experiencing 12,000-40,000 deaths related to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) by 2010. In 1986, HIV infection among mineworkers was 1/3500. Gencor medical personnel now estimate that 20% of the company's employees are HIV-positive and that 30 workers are dying of AIDS each month. In August 1995, the Chamber of Mines, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) held a seminar to discuss the potential impact of the epidemic; it was followed by a workshop, "Research Needs and Priorities for the Management of HIV/AIDS Transmission in the Mining Industry," which was organized by the Epidemiology Unit in Johannesburg. Although the seminar invited no people with HIV, mineworkers, or government representatives, the workshop did; however, no representatives of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), or the Chamber of Mines, came. In spite of this, a new, holistic approach to HIV-prevention is emerging in the mining sector. A decade of education has not changed risk behaviors, so more emphasis will be placed on outreach programs to the communities, including the prostitutes, with which the miners interact, and on treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The mining sector is in a unique position to fight HIV because it already has an extensive medical infrastructure with the capacity to treat STDs effectively, a unionized workforce to provide a pool of peer educators, and recruitment agencies to extend HIV-prevention into rural areas. Obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS education include discrimination (Workers are tested for HIV without consent, and dismissed, if found to be positive, regardless of union agreements.); a psychological factor that is related to underground work and produces recklessness; poor living conditions; and illiteracy. Many myths remain about the cost of improving social conditions and introducing HIV-prevention programs.

Environmental management in North American mining sector.

PubMed

Asif, Zunaira; Chen, Zhi

2016-01-01

This paper reviews the environmental issues and management practices in the mining sector in the North America. The sustainable measures on waste management are recognized as one of the most serious environmental concerns in the mining industry. For mining activities, it will be no surprise that the metal recovery reagents and acid effluents are a threat to the ecosystem as well as hazards to human health. In addition, poor air quality and ventilation in underground mines can lead to occupational illness and death of workers. Electricity usage and fuel consumption are major factors that contribute to greenhouse gases. On the other hand, many sustainability challenges are faced in the management of tailings and disposal of waste rock. This paper aims to highlight the problems that arise due to poor air quality and acid mine drainage. The paper also addresses some of the advantages and limitations of tailing and waste rock management that still have to be studied in context of the mining sector. This paper suggests that implementation of suitable environmental management tools like life cycle assessment (LCA), cleaner production technologies (CPTs), and multicriteria decision analysis (MCD) are important as it ultimately lead to improve environmental performance and enabling a mine to focus on the next stage of sustainability.

Information and communication technology and climate change adaptation: Evidence from selected mining companies in South Africa

PubMed Central

Nhamo, Godwell

2016-01-01

The mining sector is a significant contributor to the gross domestic product of many global economies. Given the increasing trends in climate-induced disasters and the growing desire to find lasting solutions, information and communication technology (ICT) has been introduced into the climate change adaptation mix. Climate change-induced extreme weather events such as flooding, drought, excessive fog, and cyclones have compounded the environmental challenges faced by the mining sector. This article presents the adoption of ICT innovation as part of the adaptation strategies towards reducing the mining sector’s vulnerability and exposure to climate change disaster risks. Document analysis and systematic literature review were adopted as the methodology. Findings from the study reflect how ICT intervention orchestrated changes in communication patterns which are tailored towards the reduction in climate change vulnerability and exposure. The research concludes with a proposition that ICT intervention must be part of the bigger and ongoing climate change adaptation agenda in the mining sector.

Sustainability Activities In The Mining Sector: Current Status And Challenges Ahead Limestone Mining In Nusakambangan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayuningrum, Theresia Vika; Purnaweni, Hartuti

2018-02-01

Potential Karst area in Nusakambangan has an important role in maintaining the balance of nature. But with the existence of mining activities, will automatically change the environmental conditions there. In order for the utilization of resources to meet the rules of optimization between the interests of mining and sustainability of the environment so in every mining sector activities required a variety of environmental studies. The purpose of this study is to find out how the analysis of environmental management due to limestone mining activities in Nusakambangan so that it can be known the management of mining areas are optimal, wise based on ecological principles, and sustainability. In qualitative research methods, data analysis using description percentage, with the type of data collected in the form of primary data and secondary data.

76 FR 14647 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2012 Economic Census Covering the Mining Sector

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-17

... Economic Census Covering the Mining Sector AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. Economic data are the Census Bureau's primary program commitment during non-decennial census years. The economic...

Exploring the broader health and well-being outcomes of mining communities in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

PubMed

Mactaggart, Fiona; McDermott, Liane; Tynan, Anna; Whittaker, Maxine

2018-07-01

Health and well-being outcomes in communities living in proximity to mining activity may be influenced by a broad spectrum of factors including population growth, economic instability or land degradation. This review aims to synthesise broader outcomes associated with mining activity and in doing so, further explore possible determinants in communities of low- and middle-income countries. Four databases were systematically searched and articles were included if the study targeted adults residing in proximity to mining activity, and measured individual or community-level health or well-being outcomes. Narrative synthesis was conducted. Twelve articles were included. Mining was perceived to influence health behaviours, employment conditions, livelihoods and socio-political factors, which were linked to poorer health outcomes. Family relationships, mental health and community cohesion were negatively associated with mining activity. High-risk health behaviours, population growth and changes in vector ecology from environmental modification were associated with increased infectious disease prevalence. This review presents the broader health and well-being outcomes and their determinants, and strengthens the evidence to improve measurement and management of the public health implications of mining. This will support the mining sector to make sustainable investments, and support governments to maximise community development and minimise negative impacts.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: bidstrup@plan.aau.dk; Kørnøv, Lone, E-mail: lonek@plan.aau.dk; Partidário, Maria Rosário, E-mail: mariapartidario@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Cumulative effects (CE) assessment is lacking quality in impact assessment (IA) worldwide. It has been argued that the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) provides a suitable IA framework for addressing CE because it is applied to developments with broad boundaries, but few have tested this claim. Through a case study on the Danish mining sector, this article explores how plan boundaries influence the analytical boundaries applied for assessing CE in SEA. The case was studied through document analysis in combination with semi-structured group interviews of the responsible planners, who also serve as SEA practitioners. It was found that CE are tomore » some extent assessed and managed implicitly throughout the planning process. However, this is through a focus on lowering the cumulative stress of mining rather than the cumulative stress on and capacity of the receiving environment. Plan boundaries do influence CE assessment, though all boundaries are not equally influential. The geographical and time boundaries of the Danish mining plans are broad or flexible enough to accommodate a meaningful assessment of CE, but the topical boundary is restrictive. The study indicates that collaboration among planning authorities and legally appointed CE leadership may facilitate better practice on CE assessment in sector-specific SEA contexts. However, most pressing is the need for relating assessment to the receiving environment as opposed to solely the stress of a proposed plan.« less

Conflict translates environmental and social risk into business costs

PubMed Central

Franks, Daniel M.; Davis, Rachel; Bebbington, Anthony J.; Ali, Saleem H.; Kemp, Deanna; Scurrah, Martin

2014-01-01

Sustainability science has grown as a field of inquiry, but has said little about the role of large-scale private sector actors in socio-ecological systems change. However, the shaping of global trends and transitions depends greatly on the private sector and its development impact. Market-based and command-and-control policy instruments have, along with corporate citizenship, been the predominant means for bringing sustainable development priorities into private sector decision-making. This research identifies conflict as a further means through which environmental and social risks are translated into business costs and decision making. Through in-depth interviews with finance, legal, and sustainability professionals in the extractive industries, and empirical case analysis of 50 projects worldwide, this research reports on the financial value at stake when conflict erupts with local communities. Over the past decade, high commodity prices have fueled the expansion of mining and hydrocarbon extraction. These developments profoundly transform environments, communities, and economies, and frequently generate social conflict. Our analysis shows that mining and hydrocarbon companies fail to factor in the full scale of the costs of conflict. For example, as a result of conflict, a major, world-class mining project with capital expenditure of between US$3 and US$5 billion was reported to suffer roughly US$20 million per week of delayed production in net present value terms. Clear analysis of the costs of conflict provides sustainability professionals with a strengthened basis to influence corporate decision making, particularly when linked to corporate values. Perverse outcomes of overemphasizing a cost analysis are also discussed. PMID:24821758

Conflict translates environmental and social risk into business costs.

PubMed

Franks, Daniel M; Davis, Rachel; Bebbington, Anthony J; Ali, Saleem H; Kemp, Deanna; Scurrah, Martin

2014-05-27

Sustainability science has grown as a field of inquiry, but has said little about the role of large-scale private sector actors in socio-ecological systems change. However, the shaping of global trends and transitions depends greatly on the private sector and its development impact. Market-based and command-and-control policy instruments have, along with corporate citizenship, been the predominant means for bringing sustainable development priorities into private sector decision-making. This research identifies conflict as a further means through which environmental and social risks are translated into business costs and decision making. Through in-depth interviews with finance, legal, and sustainability professionals in the extractive industries, and empirical case analysis of 50 projects worldwide, this research reports on the financial value at stake when conflict erupts with local communities. Over the past decade, high commodity prices have fueled the expansion of mining and hydrocarbon extraction. These developments profoundly transform environments, communities, and economies, and frequently generate social conflict. Our analysis shows that mining and hydrocarbon companies fail to factor in the full scale of the costs of conflict. For example, as a result of conflict, a major, world-class mining project with capital expenditure of between US$3 and US$5 billion was reported to suffer roughly US$20 million per week of delayed production in net present value terms. Clear analysis of the costs of conflict provides sustainability professionals with a strengthened basis to influence corporate decision making, particularly when linked to corporate values. Perverse outcomes of overemphasizing a cost analysis are also discussed.

Developing a methodological framework for estimating water productivity indicators in water scarce regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mubako, S. T.; Fullerton, T. M.; Walke, A.; Collins, T.; Mubako, G.; Walker, W. S.

2014-12-01

Water productivity is an area of growing interest in assessing the impact of human economic activities on water resources, especially in arid regions. Indicators of water productivity can assist water users in evaluating sectoral water use efficiency, identifying sources of pressure on water resources, and in supporting water allocation rationale under scarcity conditions. This case study for the water-scarce Middle Rio Grande River Basin aims to develop an environmental-economic accounting approach for water use in arid river basins through a methodological framework that relates water use to human economic activities impacting regional water resources. Water uses are coupled to economic transactions, and the complex but mutual relations between various water using sectors estimated. A comparison is made between the calculated water productivity indicators and representative cost/price per unit volume of water for the main water use sectors. Although it contributes very little to regional economic output, preliminary results confirm that Irrigation is among the sectors with the largest direct water use intensities. High economic value and low water use intensity economic sectors in the study region include Manufacturing, Mining, and Steam Electric Power. Water accounting challenges revealed by the study include differences in water management regimes between jurisdictions, and little understanding of the impact of major economic activities on the interaction between surface and groundwater systems in this region. A more comprehensive assessment would require the incorporation of environmental and social sustainability indicators to the calculated water productivity indicators.

Effect of increases in energy-related labor forces upon retailing in Alabama

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robicheaux, R.A.

1983-06-01

The heightened mining employment that will result from increased extraction of coal from Alabama's Warrior Coal Basin will boost retail sales and employment. The Warrior Coal Basin counties (Fayette, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa and Walker) are heavily dependent upon coal mining as a source of employment and wages. Further, since the counties' economies grew increasingly dependent upon coal mining activities throughout the 1970s, it was believed that it would be possible to measure, with some acceptable level of reliability, the impact of the steadily rising mining activity upon the area's retailing sector. Therefore, a small scale econometric model was developed which representsmore » the interrelationships among income, mining and trade employment and retail sales in the four-county Warrior Coal Basin area. The results of two versions of the model are presented. In the first version, area-wide retail sales are treated in the aggregate. In the second version, retail sales are disaggregated into twelve categories (e.g., food, apparel, furniture, etc.). The models were specified using 1960 to 1976 data. The mining employment growth scenario used in this report called for steady increases in mining employment that culminated in an employment level that is 4000 above the baseline employment projections by 1985. Both versions of the model predicted that cumulative real regional income would increase by $1.39 billion over seven years with the added mining employment. The predicted impacts on trade employment and real retail sales varied between the two models, however. The aggregate model predicts the addition of 7500 trade workers and an additional $1.35 billion in real retail sales. The disaggregate model suggests that food stores, automobile dealers, general merchandise stores, gas stations and lumber and building materials retailers would enjoy the greatest positive benefits.« less

Disposal and improvement of contaminated by waste extraction of copper mining in chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naranjo Lamilla, Pedro; Blanco Fernández, David; Díaz González, Marcos; Robles Castillo, Marcelo; Decinti Weiss, Alejandra; Tapia Alvarez, Carolina; Pardo Fabregat, Francisco; Vidal, Manuel Miguel Jordan; Bech, Jaume; Roca, Nuria

2016-04-01

This project originated from the need of a mining company, which mines and processes copper ore. High purity copper is produced with an annual production of 1,113,928 tons of concentrate to a law of 32%. This mining company has generated several illegal landfills and has been forced by the government to make a management center Industrial Solid Waste (ISW). The forecast volume of waste generated is 20,000 tons / year. Chemical analysis established that the studied soil has a high copper content, caused by nature or from the spread of contaminants from mining activities. Moreover, in some sectors, soil contamination by mercury, hydrocarbons and oils and fats were detected, likely associated with the accumulation of waste. The waters are also impacted by mining industrial tasks, specifically copper ores, molybdenum, manganese, sulfates and have an acidic pH. The ISW management center dispels the pollution of soil and water and concentrating all activities in a technically suitable place. In this center the necessary guidelines for the treatment and disposal of soil contamination caused by uncontrolled landfills are given, also generating a leachate collection system and a network of fluid monitoring physicochemical water quality and soil environment. Keywords: Industrial solid waste, soil contamination, Mining waste

JPRS Report, Near East & South Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-04

per cent. About 65 per cent weightage is given to food and beverages group while computing the price index. Clearly, the impact of substantial...affected by famine; and 6 to 7 million threatened with food shortages. At the same time, the ratio of military expenditures to health and education...possible. He also advocated the estab- lishment of private banks "to compete with the public sector." Abdenour Keramane, minister of mines and industry

Occupational Health and Safety and Organizational Commitment: Evidence from the Ghanaian Mining Industry.

PubMed

Amponsah-Tawiah, Kwesi; Mensah, Justice

2016-09-01

This study seeks to examine the relationship and impact of occupational health and safety on employees' organizational commitment in Ghana's mining industry. The study explores occupational health and safety and the different dimensions of organizational commitment. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. The respondents were selected based on simple random sampling. Out of 400 questionnaires administered, 370 were returned (77.3% male and 22.7% female) and used for the study. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to determine the relationship and impact between the variables. The findings of this study revealed positive and significant relationship between occupational health and safety management, and affective, normative, and continuance commitment. Additionally, the results revealed the significant impact of occupational health and safety on affective, normative, and continuance commitment. Management within the mining sector of Ghana must recognize the fact that workers who feel healthy and safe in the performance of their duties, develop emotional attachment and have a sense of obligation to their organization and are most likely committed to the organization. Employees do not just become committed to the organization; rather, they expect management to first think about their health and safety needs by instituting good and sound policy measures. Thus, management should invest in the protection of employees' health and safety in organizations.

Mercury Enrichment in Sediments of the Coastal Area of Northern Latium, Italy.

PubMed

Scanu, Sergio; Piazzolla, Daniele; Frattarelli, Francesco Manfredi; Mancini, Emanuele; Tiralongo, Francesco; Brundo, Maria Violetta; Tibullo, Daniele; Pecoraro, Roberta; Copat, Chiara; Ferrante, Margherita; Marcelli, Marco

2016-05-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of the Hg geochemical anomaly arising in the Amiata and Tolfa complex to the coastal area of northern Latium and to examine the possible influence on this area by the Mignone River, and by the small coastal basins, which are characterized by both previous mining activities and decades of past industrial impact. The results confirm the extension of the anomaly of concentrations of Hg in the coastal area of northern Latium, with the northern sector influenced by the contributions of the Fiora and Mignone Rivers and the southern sector influenced by the contributions of minor basins. The results show high values of the Adverse Effect Index throughout the considered area and highlight the need for further investigation in order to assess the impact of human activities on the present and past values of Hg in marine sediments.

A Predictive Model of Daily Seismic Activity Induced by Mining, Developed with Data Mining Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakubowski, Jacek

2014-12-01

The article presents the development and evaluation of a predictive classification model of daily seismic energy emissions induced by longwall mining in sector XVI of the Piast coal mine in Poland. The model uses data on tremor energy, basic characteristics of the longwall face and mined output in this sector over the period from July 1987 to March 2011. The predicted binary variable is the occurrence of a daily sum of tremor seismic energies in a longwall that is greater than or equal to the threshold value of 105 J. Three data mining analytical methods were applied: logistic regression,neural networks, and stochastic gradient boosted trees. The boosted trees model was chosen as the best for the purposes of the prediction. The validation sample results showed its good predictive capability, taking the complex nature of the phenomenon into account. This may indicate the applied model's suitability for a sequential, short-term prediction of mining induced seismic activity.

Fishing for Space: Fine-Scale Multi-Sector Maritime Activities Influence Fisher Location Choice

PubMed Central

Tidd, Alex N.; Vermard, Youen; Marchal, Paul; Pinnegar, John; Blanchard, Julia L.; Milner-Gulland, E. J.

2015-01-01

The European Union and other states are moving towards Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management to balance food production and security with wider ecosystem concerns. Fishing is only one of several sectors operating within the ocean environment, competing for renewable and non-renewable resources that overlap in a limited space. Other sectors include marine mining, energy generation, recreation, transport and conservation. Trade-offs of these competing sectors are already part of the process but attempts to detail how the seas are being utilised have been primarily based on compilations of data on human activity at large spatial scales. Advances including satellite and shipping automatic tracking enable investigation of factors influencing fishers’ choice of fishing grounds at spatial scales relevant to decision-making, including the presence or avoidance of activities by other sectors. We analyse the determinants of English and Welsh scallop-dredging fleet behaviour, including competing sectors, operating in the eastern English Channel. Results indicate aggregate mining activity, maritime traffic, increased fishing costs, and the English inshore 6 and French 12 nautical mile limits negatively impact fishers’ likelihood of fishing in otherwise suitable areas. Past success, net-benefits and fishing within the 12 NM predispose fishers to use areas. Systematic conservation planning has yet to be widely applied in marine systems, and the dynamics of spatial overlap of fishing with other activities have not been studied at scales relevant to fisher decision-making. This study demonstrates fisher decision-making is indeed affected by the real-time presence of other sectors in an area, and therefore trade-offs which need to be accounted for in marine planning. As marine resource extraction demands intensify, governments will need to take a more proactive approach to resolving these trade-offs, and studies such as this will be required as the evidential foundation for future seascape planning. PMID:25625555

Fishing for space: fine-scale multi-sector maritime activities influence fisher location choice.

PubMed

Tidd, Alex N; Vermard, Youen; Marchal, Paul; Pinnegar, John; Blanchard, Julia L; Milner-Gulland, E J

2015-01-01

The European Union and other states are moving towards Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management to balance food production and security with wider ecosystem concerns. Fishing is only one of several sectors operating within the ocean environment, competing for renewable and non-renewable resources that overlap in a limited space. Other sectors include marine mining, energy generation, recreation, transport and conservation. Trade-offs of these competing sectors are already part of the process but attempts to detail how the seas are being utilised have been primarily based on compilations of data on human activity at large spatial scales. Advances including satellite and shipping automatic tracking enable investigation of factors influencing fishers' choice of fishing grounds at spatial scales relevant to decision-making, including the presence or avoidance of activities by other sectors. We analyse the determinants of English and Welsh scallop-dredging fleet behaviour, including competing sectors, operating in the eastern English Channel. Results indicate aggregate mining activity, maritime traffic, increased fishing costs, and the English inshore 6 and French 12 nautical mile limits negatively impact fishers' likelihood of fishing in otherwise suitable areas. Past success, net-benefits and fishing within the 12 NM predispose fishers to use areas. Systematic conservation planning has yet to be widely applied in marine systems, and the dynamics of spatial overlap of fishing with other activities have not been studied at scales relevant to fisher decision-making. This study demonstrates fisher decision-making is indeed affected by the real-time presence of other sectors in an area, and therefore trade-offs which need to be accounted for in marine planning. As marine resource extraction demands intensify, governments will need to take a more proactive approach to resolving these trade-offs, and studies such as this will be required as the evidential foundation for future seascape planning.

Resource Conflicts. Emerging Struggles over Strategic Commodities in Latin America

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

projects; and (2) the involvement of national 1 On the 2005 case in Ecuador , see Carla D’Nan Bass and...analyze seventeen cases of mining and hydrocarbon conflict in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador , highlighting cross- sector variation. I. RESOURCE...largely coopted or even created by the oil companies themselves, common in Ecuador . In contrast to the hydrocarbons case , in the mining sector we

Trends in Worker Hearing Loss by Industry Sector, 1981–2010

PubMed Central

Masterson, Elizabeth A.; Deddens, James A.; Themann, Christa L.; Bertke, Stephen; Calvert, Geoffrey M.

2015-01-01

Background The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of hearing loss for noise-exposed U.S. workers by industry sector and 5-year time period, covering 30 years. Methods Audiograms for 1.8 million workers from 1981–2010 were examined. Incidence and prevalence were estimated by industry sector and time period. The adjusted risk of incident hearing loss within each time period and industry sector as compared with a reference time period was also estimated. Results The adjusted risk for incident hearing loss decreased over time when all industry sectors were combined. However, the risk remained high for workers in Healthcare and Social Assistance, and the prevalence was consistently high for Mining and Construction workers. Conclusions While progress has been made in reducing the risk of incident hearing loss within most industry sectors, additional efforts are needed within Mining, Construction and Healthcare and Social Assistance. PMID:25690583

Trends in worker hearing loss by industry sector, 1981-2010.

PubMed

Masterson, Elizabeth A; Deddens, James A; Themann, Christa L; Bertke, Stephen; Calvert, Geoffrey M

2015-04-01

The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of hearing loss for noise-exposed U.S. workers by industry sector and 5-year time period, covering 30 years. Audiograms for 1.8 million workers from 1981-2010 were examined. Incidence and prevalence were estimated by industry sector and time period. The adjusted risk of incident hearing loss within each time period and industry sector as compared with a reference time period was also estimated. The adjusted risk for incident hearing loss decreased over time when all industry sectors were combined. However, the risk remained high for workers in Healthcare and Social Assistance, and the prevalence was consistently high for Mining and Construction workers. While progress has been made in reducing the risk of incident hearing loss within most industry sectors, additional efforts are needed within Mining, Construction and Healthcare and Social Assistance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Ebola virus disease outbreak and the mineral sectors of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bermúdez-Lugo, Omayra; Menzie, William D.

2015-01-01

In response to the uncertainty surrounding the status of mineral projects in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the National Minerals Information Center compiled information on the distribution of mines, mineral facilities, and mineral projects under development in the three countries. This fact sheet provides information on the role that the mineral sector plays in their respective economies, on the operating status of mining projects through yearend 2014, and on the coordinated actions by mining companies to support governments and international relief organizations in their efforts to contain the EVD outbreak.

The ecological research needs of business.

PubMed

Armsworth, Paul R; Armsworth, Anastasia N; Compton, Natalie; Cottle, Phil; Davies, Ian; Emmett, Bridget A; Fandrich, Vanessa; Foote, Matthew; Gaston, Kevin J; Gardiner, Phil; Hess, Tim; Hopkins, John; Horsley, Nick; Leaver, Natasha; Maynard, Trevor; Shannon, Delia

2010-04-01

Businesses have an unrivalled ability to mobilize human, physical and financial capital, often manage large land holdings, and draw on resources and supply products that impact a wide array of ecosystems. Businesses therefore have the potential to make a substantial contribution to arresting declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services. To realize this potential, businesses require support from researchers in applied ecology to inform how they measure and manage their impacts on, and opportunities presented to them by, biodiversity and ecosystem services.We reviewed papers in leading applied ecology journals to assess the research contribution from existing collaborations involving businesses. We reviewed applications to, and grants funded by, the UK's Natural Environment Research Council for evidence of public investment in such collaborations. To scope opportunities for expanding collaborations with businesses, we conducted workshops with three sectors (mining and quarrying, insurance and manufacturing) in which participants identified exemplar ecological research questions of interest to their sector.Ten to fifteen per cent of primary research papers in Journal of Applied Ecology and Ecological Applications evidenced business involvement, mostly focusing on traditional rural industries (farming, fisheries and forestry). The review of UK research council funding found that 35% of applications mentioned business engagement, while only 1% of awarded grants met stricter criteria of direct business involvement.Some questions identified in the workshops aim to reduce costs from businesses' impacts on the environment and others to allow businesses to exploit new opportunities. Some questions are designed to inform long-term planning undertaken by businesses, but others would have more immediate commercial applications. Finally, some research questions are designed to streamline and make more effective those environmental policies that affect businesses.Business participants were forward-looking regarding ecological questions and research. For example, representatives from mining and quarrying companies emphasized the need to move beyond biodiversity to consider how ecosystems function, while those from the insurance sector stressed the importance of ecology researchers entering into new types of interdisciplinary collaboration.Synthesis and applications. Businesses from a variety of sectors demonstrated a clear interest in managing their impacts on, and exploiting opportunities created by, ecosystem services and biodiversity. To achieve this, businesses are asking diverse ecological research questions, but publications in leading applied ecology journals and research council funding reveal limited evidence of direct engagement with businesses. This represents a missed opportunity for ecological research findings to see more widespread application.

The ecological research needs of business

PubMed Central

Armsworth, Paul R; Armsworth, Anastasia N; Compton, Natalie; Cottle, Phil; Davies, Ian; Emmett, Bridget A; Fandrich, Vanessa; Foote, Matthew; Gaston, Kevin J; Gardiner, Phil; Hess, Tim; Hopkins, John; Horsley, Nick; Leaver, Natasha; Maynard, Trevor; Shannon, Delia

2010-01-01

Businesses have an unrivalled ability to mobilize human, physical and financial capital, often manage large land holdings, and draw on resources and supply products that impact a wide array of ecosystems. Businesses therefore have the potential to make a substantial contribution to arresting declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services. To realize this potential, businesses require support from researchers in applied ecology to inform how they measure and manage their impacts on, and opportunities presented to them by, biodiversity and ecosystem services. We reviewed papers in leading applied ecology journals to assess the research contribution from existing collaborations involving businesses. We reviewed applications to, and grants funded by, the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council for evidence of public investment in such collaborations. To scope opportunities for expanding collaborations with businesses, we conducted workshops with three sectors (mining and quarrying, insurance and manufacturing) in which participants identified exemplar ecological research questions of interest to their sector. Ten to fifteen per cent of primary research papers in Journal of Applied Ecology and Ecological Applications evidenced business involvement, mostly focusing on traditional rural industries (farming, fisheries and forestry). The review of UK research council funding found that 35% of applications mentioned business engagement, while only 1% of awarded grants met stricter criteria of direct business involvement. Some questions identified in the workshops aim to reduce costs from businesses’ impacts on the environment and others to allow businesses to exploit new opportunities. Some questions are designed to inform long-term planning undertaken by businesses, but others would have more immediate commercial applications. Finally, some research questions are designed to streamline and make more effective those environmental policies that affect businesses. Business participants were forward-looking regarding ecological questions and research. For example, representatives from mining and quarrying companies emphasized the need to move beyond biodiversity to consider how ecosystems function, while those from the insurance sector stressed the importance of ecology researchers entering into new types of interdisciplinary collaboration. Synthesis and applications. Businesses from a variety of sectors demonstrated a clear interest in managing their impacts on, and exploiting opportunities created by, ecosystem services and biodiversity. To achieve this, businesses are asking diverse ecological research questions, but publications in leading applied ecology journals and research council funding reveal limited evidence of direct engagement with businesses. This represents a missed opportunity for ecological research findings to see more widespread application. PMID:20383265

Successful Coproduction in Water Management and Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaatz, L.

2017-12-01

Frequently described as the "canary in the coal mine," the water sector has been one of the first to experience and begin preparing for the impacts of climate change. Water utilities have lead the way in developing and testing climate information in practice with the end goal of building resiliency and avoiding catastrophic disasters. A key aspect of this leadership is strong, collaborative partnerships resulting in the coproduction of knowledge and actionable science. In this session we will hear from the decision-maker perspective regarding what effective partnerships in real-world applications look like using examples from the Water Utility Climate Alliances (WUCA), and the experience and outcomes of a unique decade-long partnership between Denver Water and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The lessons learned and challenges encountered in these examples of coproduction are not unique to WUCA, Denver Water nor the water sector, rather they are applicable across sectors and may inform future coproduction efforts.

The role of conflict minerals, artisanal mining, and informal trading networks in African intrastate and regional conflicts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chirico, Peter G.; Malpeli, Katherine C.

2014-01-01

The relationship between natural resources and armed conflict gained public and political attention in the 1990s, when it became evident that the mining and trading of diamonds were connected with brutal rebellions in several African nations. Easily extracted resources such as alluvial diamonds and gold have been and continue to be exploited by rebel groups to fund their activities. Artisanal and small-scale miners operating under a quasi-legal status often mine these mineral deposits. While many African countries have legalized artisanal mining and established flow chains through which production is intended to travel, informal trading networks frequently emerge in which miners seek to evade taxes and fees by selling to unauthorized buyers. These networks have the potential to become international in scope, with actors operating in multiple countries. The lack of government control over the artisanal mining sector and the prominence of informal trade networks can have severe social, political, and economic consequences. In the past, mineral extraction fuelled violent civil wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola, and it continues to do so today in several other countries. The significant influence of the informal network that surrounds artisanal mining is therefore an important security concern that can extend across borders and have far-reaching impacts.

African Mining, Gender and Local Employment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tolonen, A.; Kotsadam, A.

2014-12-01

Access to employment improves women's lives and is listed among the top five priorities for promoting gender equality in the 2012 World Development Report. This paper addresses this issue by exploring women's labor market opportunities in Africa within one very important and growing sector: extractive industries. Africa's opportunities are being transformed by new discoveries of natural resources and their rising prices, and the mining sector is the main recipient of foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whether the discovery of natural resources is a blessing or a curse to a country's citizens is a contentious issue, and natural resource dependence has been linked to negative outcomes at the national level such as environmental degradation, conflict, elite capture of rents and low female labor force participation. Natural resource extraction has been argued to be a hindrance to women's labor market participation by increasing reservation wages and by decreasing market demand for female labor. We perform the first cross-national study testing these hypotheses with micro-data. To do this we combine survey data on 500,000 women in Sub-Saharan Africa with geo-coded data on 900 large-scale mines (see Figure 1). We treat mine openings and mine closings as natural experiments to explore local labor market changes. Industrial mines generate local structural shifts. Subsistence farming becomes less important for both men and women. However, men shift to skilled manual labor, and women shift to service sector jobs. This contradicts the hypothesis that natural resource extraction is detrimental to women, by not providing them with new job opportunities. However, in support of the hypothesis, women decrease their labor market participation more than men do. A back-of-the-envelope calculation estimates that 90,000 women across Africa benefit from service sector jobs as a direct result of industrial mining in their communities, but 280,000 women leave the labor force. Further evidence using exogenous changes in world prices of minerals show that effects are stronger in boom times, but that the labor market effects are temporary and disappear with mine closing. The effects are highly spatially concentrated, and individuals living 50km away from a mine are not affected by it.

“Even if I were to consent, my family will never agree”: exploring autopsy services for posthumous occupational lung disease compensation among mineworkers in South Africa

PubMed Central

Banyini, Audrey V.; Rees, David; Gilbert, Leah

2013-01-01

Context In the South African mining sector, cardiorespiratory-specific autopsies are conducted under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA) on deceased mineworkers to determine eligibility for compensation. However, low levels of autopsy utilisation undermine the value of the service. Objective To explore enablers and barriers to consent that impact on ODMWA autopsy utilisation for posthumous monetary compensation. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with mineworkers, widows and relatives of deceased mineworkers as well as traditional healers and mine occupational health practitioners. Results A range of socio-cultural barriers to consent for an autopsy was identified. These barriers were largely related to gendered power relations, traditional and religious beliefs, and communication and trust. Understanding these barriers presents opportunities to intervene so as to increase autopsy utilisation. Conclusions Effective interventions could include engagement with healthy mine-workers and their families and re-evaluating the permanent removal of organs. The study adds to our understanding of utilisation of the autopsy services. PMID:23364088

Phosphate rock costs, prices and resources interaction.

PubMed

Mew, M C

2016-01-15

This article gives the author's views and opinions as someone who has spent his working life analyzing the international phosphate sector as an independent consultant. His career spanned two price hike events in the mid-1970's and in 2008, both of which sparked considerable popular and academic interest concerning adequacy of phosphate rock resources, the impact of rising mining costs and the ability of mankind to feed future populations. An analysis of phosphate rock production costs derived from two major industry studies performed in 1983 and 2013 shows that in nominal terms, global average cash production costs increased by 27% to $38 per tonne fob mine in the 30 year period. In real terms, the global average cost of production has fallen. Despite the lack of upward pressure from increasing costs, phosphate rock market prices have shown two major spikes in the 30 years to 2013, with periods of less volatility in between. These price spike events can be seen to be related to the escalating investment cost required by new mine capacity, and as such can be expected to be repeated in future. As such, phosphate rock price volatility is likely to have more impact on food prices than rising phosphate rock production costs. However, as mining costs rise, recycling of P will also become increasingly driven by economics rather than legislation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From awareness to action: Sudbury, mining and occupational disease in a time of change

PubMed Central

Kramer, Desre M.; Holness, D. Linn; Haynes, Emily; McMillan, Keith; Berriault, Colin; Kalenge, Sheila; Lightfoot, Nancy

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Miners work in highly hazardous environments, but surprisingly, there are more fatalities from occupational diseases, including cancers, than from fatalities from injuries. Over the last few decades, the mining environment has become safer with fewer injuries and less exposure to the toxins that lead to occupational disease. There have been improvements in working conditions, and a reduction in the number of workers exposed, together with an overall improvement in the health of miners. OBJECTIVES: This study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the impetus for change to reduce occupational exposures or toxins at the industry level. It focuses on one mining community in Sudbury, Ontario, with a high cancer rate, and its reduction in occupational exposures. It explored the level of awareness of occupational exposures from the perspective of industry and worker representatives in some of the deepest mines in the world. Although awareness may be necessary, it is often not a sufficient impetus for change, and it is this gap between awareness and change that this study explored. It examined the awareness of occupational disease as an impetus to reducing toxic exposures in the mining sector, and explores other forces of change at the industrial and global levels that have led to an impact on occupational exposures in mining. METHODS: From 2014 and 2016, 60 interviews were conducted with individuals who were part of, or witness to the changes in mining in Sudbury. From these, 12 labour and 10 industry interviews and four focus groups were chosen for further analysis to gain a deeper understanding of industry and labour’s views on the changes in mining and the impact on miners’ health from occupational exposures. The results from this subsection of the data is the focus for this paper. RESULTS: The themes that emerged told a story about Sudbury. There is awareness of occupational exposures, but this awareness is dwarfed in comparison to the attention that is given to the tragic fatal injuries from injuries and accidents. The mines are now owned by foreign multinationals with a change from an engaged, albeit paternalistic sense of responsibility for the health of the miners, to a less responsive or sympathetic workplace culture. Modernization has led to the elimination, substitution, or reduction of some of the worst toxins, and hence present-day miners are less exposed to hazards that lead to occupational disease than they were in the past. However, modernization and the drop in the price of nickel has also led to a precipitous reduction in the number of unionized miners, a decline in union power, a decline in the monitoring of present-day exposures, and an increase in non-unionized contract workers. The impact has been that miners have lost their solidarity and power to investigate, monitor or object to present-day exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Although an increase in the awareness of occupational hazards has made a contribution to the reduction in occupational exposures, the improvement in health of miners may be considered more as a “collateral benefit” of the changes in the mining sector. Multiple forces at the industrial and global level have differentially led to an improvement in the working and living environment. However, with the loss of union power, the miners have lost their major advocate for miner health. PMID:29036859

From awareness to action: Sudbury, mining and occupational disease in a time of change.

PubMed

Kramer, Desre M; Holness, D Linn; Haynes, Emily; McMillan, Keith; Berriault, Colin; Kalenge, Sheila; Lightfoot, Nancy

2017-01-01

Miners work in highly hazardous environments, but surprisingly, there are more fatalities from occupational diseases, including cancers, than from fatalities from injuries. Over the last few decades, the mining environment has become safer with fewer injuries and less exposure to the toxins that lead to occupational disease. There have been improvements in working conditions, and a reduction in the number of workers exposed, together with an overall improvement in the health of miners. This study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the impetus for change to reduce occupational exposures or toxins at the industry level. It focuses on one mining community in Sudbury, Ontario, with a high cancer rate, and its reduction in occupational exposures. It explored the level of awareness of occupational exposures from the perspective of industry and worker representatives in some of the deepest mines in the world. Although awareness may be necessary, it is often not a sufficient impetus for change, and it is this gap between awareness and change that this study explored. It examined the awareness of occupational disease as an impetus to reducing toxic exposures in the mining sector, and explores other forces of change at the industrial and global levels that have led to an impact on occupational exposures in mining. From 2014 and 2016, 60 interviews were conducted with individuals who were part of, or witness to the changes in mining in Sudbury. From these, 12 labour and 10 industry interviews and four focus groups were chosen for further analysis to gain a deeper understanding of industry and labour's views on the changes in mining and the impact on miners' health from occupational exposures. The results from this subsection of the data is the focus for this paper. The themes that emerged told a story about Sudbury. There is awareness of occupational exposures, but this awareness is dwarfed in comparison to the attention that is given to the tragic fatal injuries from injuries and accidents. The mines are now owned by foreign multinationals with a change from an engaged, albeit paternalistic sense of responsibility for the health of the miners, to a less responsive or sympathetic workplace culture. Modernization has led to the elimination, substitution, or reduction of some of the worst toxins, and hence present-day miners are less exposed to hazards that lead to occupational disease than they were in the past. However, modernization and the drop in the price of nickel has also led to a precipitous reduction in the number of unionized miners, a decline in union power, a decline in the monitoring of present-day exposures, and an increase in non-unionized contract workers. The impact has been that miners have lost their solidarity and power to investigate, monitor or object to present-day exposures. Although an increase in the awareness of occupational hazards has made a contribution to the reduction in occupational exposures, the improvement in health of miners may be considered more as a "collateral benefit" of the changes in the mining sector. Multiple forces at the industrial and global level have differentially led to an improvement in the working and living environment. However, with the loss of union power, the miners have lost their major advocate for miner health.

Employment-generating projects for the energy and minerals sectors of Honduras. Proyectos generadores de empleos para los sectores energetico y minero de Honduras (in EN;SP)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Frank, J.A.

A mission to Honduras invited by the Government of Honduras and sponsored by the Organization of American States addressed the generation of employment in various areas of interest to the country. The mission was made up of experts from numerous countries and international agencies. In the energy sector, the mission recommended consolidating the sector under a coordinating body; carrying out projects to promote reforestation, tree farms, and rational forest utilization; encouraging industrial energy conservation; developing alternative energy sources; and promoting rural electrification and expansion of the electrical grid. In the mining sector, the mission supported promotion and technical assistance formore » small gold-leaching and placer operations, the national mineral inventory, detailed exploration of promising sites, and the development of a mining school. 13 refs., 7 tabs.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Letsoalo, A.; Blignaut, J.; de Wet, T.

The South African government is exploring ways to address water scarcity problems by introducing a water resource management charge on the quantity of water used in sectors such as irrigated agriculture, mining, and forestry. It is expected that a more efficient water allocation, lower use, and a positive impact on poverty can be achieved. This paper reports on the validity of these claims by applying a computable general equilibrium model to analyze the triple dividend of water consumption charges in South Africa: reduced water use, more rapid economic growth, and a more equal income distribution. It is shown that anmore » appropriate budget-neutral combination of water charges, particularly on irrigated agriculture and coal mining, and reduced indirect taxes, particularly on food, would yield triple dividends, that is, less water use, more growth, and less poverty.« less

Mapping of the dilemma of mining against forest and conservation in the Lom and Djérem Division, Cameroon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tchindjang, Mesmin; Voundi, Eric; Mbevo Fendoung, Philippes; Haman, Unusa; Saha, Frédéric; Casimir Njombissie Petcheu, Igor

2018-05-01

Mining practices in Cameroon began since the colonial period. The artisanal mining sector before independence contributed to 11-20 % of GDP. From 2000, the rich potential of the Cameroonian subsoil attract many foreign investors with over 600 research and mining permits already granted during the last decade. But, Cameroonian forests also have a long history from the colonial period to the pre-sent. However, mining activities in forest environments are governed by two different legal frameworks, including mining code i.e. Law No. 001 of 16 April 2001 organizing the mining industry and Law No. 94-01 of 20 January 1994 governing forests, wildlife and fisheries. Therefore, in the absence of detailed studies of these laws, there are conflicts of interests, rights and obligations that overlap, requiring research needs and taking appropriate decisions. The objective of this research in the Lom and Djérem division is to study, apart from the proliferation of mining li-censes and actors, the dilemma as well as the impact of the extension of mining activities on the degradation of forest cover. Using geospatial tools through multi-temporal and multisensor satellite images (Landsat from 1976 to 2015, IKONOS, GEOEYE, Google Earth) coupled with field investigations; we mapped the dynamic of different forms of land use (mining permits, FMU and protected areas of permanent forest estate) and highlighted paradoxically the conflict of land use. We came to the conclusion that the rhythm of issuing mining permits and authorizations in this forestall zone is so fast that one can wonder whether we still find a patch of forest within 50 years.

Determining Regional Sensitivity to Energy-Related Water Withdrawals in Minnesota

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCulloch, A.; Brauman, K. A.

2015-12-01

Minnesota has abundant freshwater resources, yet concerns about water-impacts of energy and mining development are increasing. Statewide, total annual water withdrawals have increased, and, in some watersheds, withdrawals make up a large fraction of available water. The energy and mining sectors play a critical role in determining water availability, as water is used to irrigate biofuel feedstock crops, cool thermoelectric plants, and process and transport fuels and iron ore. We evaluated the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Water and Reporting System (MPARS) dataset (1988-2014) to identify regions where energy and mining-related water withdrawals are high or where they are increasing. The energy and mining sectors account for over 65 percent of total water extractions in Minnesota, but this percentage is greater in some regions. In certain southern and northeastern Minnesota watersheds, these extractions account for 90 percent of total water demand. Sensitivity to these demands is not dependent on total water demand alone, and is also not uniform among watersheds. We identified and evaluated factors influencing sensitivity, including population, extraction type (surface water or groundwater), percentage of increased demand, and whether withdrawals are consumptive or not. We determined that southern Minnesota is particularly sensitive to increased water demands, because of growing biofuel and sand extraction industries (the products of which are used in hydraulic fracturing). In the last ten years, ethanol production in Minnesota has increased by 440 percent, and over fifteen refineries (each with a capacity over 1.1 billion gallons), have been built. These users primarily extract from surface water bodies within a few watersheds, compromising local supplies. As these energy-related industries continue to grow, so will the demand for freshwater resources. Determining regional sensitivity to increased demands will allow policy-makers to manage the increased competition for Minnesota's future water supplies.

Alexandra Masaitis, UNR NV, USA. PhD Grad St. Principles of Adoption of the Successful Environmental Policies and Practices Used in Developed Countries into the Russian Mining Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masaitis, A.

2012-12-01

The successful implementation of the environmental policies in the mining industry is of a paramount importance, as it not only prevents both local and trans-border pollution but also guarantees a clean and healthy environment for the people regardless of their place of habitation. It is especially important to encourage the progress of the environmental policy implementation in less regulated countries such as the Russia because such countries have resource-oriented economy based on development of nonrenewable resources. Poor environmental practices in such countries will lead to local environmental crises that could eventually spill into surrounding countries including the most economically advanced. This abstract is a summary of a two-year research project attempted (1) to determine deficiencies of the Russian mining sector ecological policies and (2) to suggest substitute policies from developed countries that could be adapted to the Russian reality. The following research methods were used: 1. The method of the system analysis, where the system is an interaction of the sets of environmental policies; 2. The comparative method of inquiry, 3. Quantitative data analysis, where data was collected from "The collection of statistic data", the US EPA open reports, and the USGS Reports; 4. Review of the Norilsk Nickel Company annual reports. The following results were obtained: Identified the systemic crisis of the ecological environmental policies in the Russian mining sector based on the development of nonrenewable resources, in the absence of the ecological interest by the mining companies that lack mechanisms of environmental and public health protection, the lack of insurance policy, the lack of risk assessment, and in the presence of the audit and monitoring that do not address the local conditions. Based on the above, the following concepts were thought of to improve the environmental conditions in the Russian mining sector: 1. Was developed the Regional Environmental Management principle based on the local conditions; 2. Devised were criteria for the risk assessment for mining operations in Russia. Where the fundamental principals were public health, environmental and biodiversity impact, long- and short- term rehabilitation plans, compliance with international standards and norms. Every criterion has grade level of probability that directly affects quarterly fees. 3. Developed was the mechanism of the economic motivation to make mining operations "environmentally friendly" that includes defrayal of expenses from both direct and indirect damages. 4. Identified were spheres of possible cooperation between mining companies, government organizations, and the NGOs. These include development of standards for Good Neighbor Agreement, exchange of environmental information, international exchange of successful environmental, health, and safety practices. The study showed the necessity for the Russian Federation mining industry to adopt the more successful environmental policies and practices used in developed countries. To achieve this goal the Regional Environmental Management principle, the risk assessment criteria, the mechanism of the economic motivation, and the principles for international cooperation can play an extremely important role.

Throttle pneumatic impact mechanism equipped with afterburner idle-stroke chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dedov, Alexey; Frantseva, Eleanor; Dmitriev, Mikhail

2017-01-01

Pneumatic impact mechanisms are widely used in construction, mining and other economic sectors of a country. Such mechanisms are a base for a wide range of machines of various types and dimensions from hand-held tools to mounted piling hammers with impact energy up to 10 000 J. This paper is aimed at creation of pneumatic impact mechanism with the improved characteristics, including operation, energy use, weight and size which is especially important in space-limited working conditions. The research methods include development of computer mathematical model that can solve equations system and test a prototype model at the experimental stand. As a result of conducted research the pneumatic impact mechanism with the improved characteristics was developed. An engineering method for calculating throttle pneumatic impact mechanisms with a preset value of impact energy from 1 to 20 000 was investigated. This method allows creating percussive machines of a wide range of application.

Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques.

PubMed

Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

2018-03-07

An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector-either surface or underground mining-based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents.

Tipping points for carbon dioxide and air pollution benefits: an energy systems analysis of natural gas verses electric technologies in the U.S. buildings sector

EPA Science Inventory

Our analysis examines emission trade-offs between electricity and natural gas use in the buildings sector at the system level, including upstream emissions from the electric sector and natural gas mining emissions.

The ISO 50001 Impact Estimator Tool (IET 50001 V1.1.4) - User Guide and Introduction to the ISO 50001 Impacts Methodology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Therkelsen, Peter L.; Rao, Prakash; Aghajanzadeh, Arian

ISO 50001-Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, is an internationally developed standard that provides organizations with a flexible framework for implementing an energy management system (EnMS) with the goal of continual energy performance improvement. The ISO 50001 standard was first published in 2011 and has since seen growth in the number of certificates issued around the world, primarily in the industrial (agriculture, manufacturing, and mining) and service (commercial) sectors. Policy makers in many regions and countries are looking to or are already using ISO 50001 as a basis for energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and other energy performancemore » improvement schemes. The Impact Estimator Tool 50001 (IET 50001 Tool) is a computational model developed to assist researchers and policy makers determine the potential impact of ISO 50001 implementation in the industrial and service (commercial) sectors for a given region or country. The IET 50001 Tool is based upon a methodology initially developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that has been improved upon and vetted by a group of international researchers. By using a commonly accepted and transparent methodology, users of the IET 50001 Tool can easily and clearly communicate the potential impact of ISO 50001 for a region or country.« less

Liberian energy consumption and sectoral distribution for 1981

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samuels, G.

1985-02-01

This report is one of a series of project papers providing background information for an assessment of energy options for Liberia, West Africa; it summarizes 1981 Liberian energy consumption data collected during 1982. Total Liberian primary energy consumption in 1981 was equivalent to 11,400,000 barrels of crude oil (BCOE) - 64% from wood, 31% from petroleum, and 5% from hydro. About 71% (8,100,000 BCOE) entered the domestic market. The difference represents exports (400,000 BCOE), refining losses (200,000 BCOE), and losses in converting wood to charcoal (2,600,000 BCOE). Of the 8,100,000 BCOE entering the domestic market, 58% was in the formmore » of wood and charcoal, 35% petroleum products, and 7% hydro. Excluding wood and charcoal, electricity generation consumed 59% of the energy entering the domestic market. The three iron ore mining companies accounted for 60% of all electricity production; the Liberia Electricity Corporation for 35%, and private organizations and individuals for 5%. The mining operations (including electricity generation and transportation uses) consumed about 60% of all petroleum products. The transportation sector consumed 30% of all petroleum of which 85% was for road transport, 12% for the railroads owned and operated by the mining companies, and 3% for sea and air transport. Nontransportation energy use in the industrial, commercial, government, and agriculture and forestry sectors is small. Together, these sectors account for less than 10% of the petroleum products consumed. Wood and charcoal were used almost entirely by the residential sector, which also consumed an additional 530,000 BCOE of other fuels. Over 90% of the 530,000 BCOE was for electricity and 290,000 (56%) was from petroleum. Over half of the petroleum (150,000 BCOE) was for generation at the mines for their associated communities. 8 references, 10 tables.« less

Occupational lung diseases and the mining industry in Mongolia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lkhasuren, O.; Takahashi, K.; Dash-Onolt, L.

Mining production has accounted for around 50% of the gross industrial product in Mongolia since 1998. Dust-induced chronic bronchitis and pneumoconiosis currently account for the largest relative share (67.8%) of occupational diseases in Mongolia, and cases are increasing annually. In 1967-2004, medically diagnosed cases of occupational diseases in Mongolia numbered 7,600. Of these, 5,154 were confirmed cases of dust-induced chronic bronchitis and pneumoconiosis. Lung diseases and other mining-sector health risks pose major challenges for Mongolia. Gold and coal mines, both formal and informal, contribute significantly to economic growth, but the prevalence of occupational lung diseases is high and access tomore » health care is limited. Rapid implementation of an effective national program of silicosis elimination and pneumoconiosis reduction is critical to ensure the health and safety of workers in this important sector of the Mongolian economy.« less

Triple dividends of water consumption charges in South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Letsoalo, Anthony; Blignaut, James; de Wet, Theuns; de Wit, Martin; Hess, Sebastiaan; Tol, Richard S. J.; van Heerden, Jan

2007-05-01

The South African government is exploring ways to address water scarcity problems by introducing a water resource management charge on the quantity of water used in sectors such as irrigated agriculture, mining, and forestry. It is expected that a more efficient water allocation, lower use, and a positive impact on poverty can be achieved. This paper reports on the validity of these claims by applying a computable general equilibrium model to analyze the triple dividend of water consumption charges in South Africa: reduced water use, more rapid economic growth, and a more equal income distribution. It is shown that an appropriate budget-neutral combination of water charges, particularly on irrigated agriculture and coal mining, and reduced indirect taxes, particularly on food, would yield triple dividends, that is, less water use, more growth, and less poverty.

Occupational respiratory diseases in the South African mining industry

PubMed Central

Nelson, Gill

2013-01-01

Background Crystalline silica and asbestos are common minerals that occur throughout South Africa, exposure to either causes respiratory disease. Most studies on silicosis in South Africa have been cross-sectional and long-term trends have not been reported. Although much research has been conducted on the health effects of silica dust and asbestos fibre in the gold-mining and asbestos-mining sectors, little is known about their health effects in other mining sectors. Objective The aims of this thesis were to describe silicosis trends in gold miners over three decades, and to explore the potential for diamond mine workers to develop asbestos-related diseases and platinum mine workers to develop silicosis. Methods Mine workers for the three sub-studies were identified from a mine worker autopsy database at the National Institute for Occupational Health. Results From 1975 to 2007, the proportions of white and black gold mine workers with silicosis increased from 18 to 22% and from 3 to 32% respectively. Cases of diamond and platinum mine workers with asbestos-related diseases and silicosis, respectively, were also identified. Conclusion The trends in silicosis in gold miners at autopsy clearly demonstrate the failure of the gold mines to adequately control dust and prevent occupational respiratory disease. The two case series of diamond and platinum mine workers contribute to the evidence for the risk of asbestos-related diseases in diamond mine workers and silicosis in platinum mine workers, respectively. The absence of reliable environmental dust measurements and incomplete work history records impedes occupational health research in South Africa because it is difficult to identify and/or validate sources of dust exposure that may be associated with occupational respiratory disease. PMID:23364097

Occupational respiratory diseases in the South African mining industry.

PubMed

Nelson, Gill

2013-01-24

Crystalline silica and asbestos are common minerals that occur throughout South Africa, exposure to either causes respiratory disease. Most studies on silicosis in South Africa have been cross-sectional and long-term trends have not been reported. Although much research has been conducted on the health effects of silica dust and asbestos fibre in the gold-mining and asbestos-mining sectors, little is known about their health effects in other mining sectors. The aims of this thesis were to describe silicosis trends in gold miners over three decades, and to explore the potential for diamond mine workers to develop asbestos-related diseases and platinum mine workers to develop silicosis. Mine workers for the three sub-studies were identified from a mine worker autopsy database at the National Institute for Occupational Health. From 1975 to 2007, the proportions of white and black gold mine workers with silicosis increased from 18 to 22% and from 3 to 32% respectively. Cases of diamond and platinum mine workers with asbestos-related diseases and silicosis, respectively, were also identified. The trends in silicosis in gold miners at autopsy clearly demonstrate the failure of the gold mines to adequately control dust and prevent occupational respiratory disease. The two case series of diamond and platinum mine workers contribute to the evidence for the risk of asbestos-related diseases in diamond mine workers and silicosis in platinum mine workers, respectively. The absence of reliable environmental dust measurements and incomplete work history records impedes occupational health research in South Africa because it is difficult to identify and/or validate sources of dust exposure that may be associated with occupational respiratory disease.

Occupational and Environmental Health Risks Associated with Informal Sector Activities-Selected Case Studies from West Africa.

PubMed

Basu, Niladri; Ayelo, Paul Ahoumènou; Djogbénou, Luc S; Kedoté, Marius; Lawin, Herve; Tohon, Honesty; Oloruntoba, Elizabeth O; Adebisi, Nurudeen A; Cazabon, Danielle; Fobil, Julius; Robins, Thomas; Fayomi, Benjamin

2016-08-01

Most in the Economic Community of West African States region are employed in the informal sector. While the informal sector plays a significant role in the region's economy, policymakers and the scientific community have long neglected it. To better understand informal-sector work conditions, the goal here is to bring together researchers to exchange findings and catalyze dialogue. The article showcases research studies on several economic systems, namely agriculture, resource extraction, transportation, and trade/commerce. Site-specific cases are provided concerning occupational health risks within artisanal and small-scale gold mining, aggregate mining, gasoline trade, farming and pesticide applications, and electronic waste recycling. These cases emphasize the vastness of the informal sector and that the majority of work activities across the region remain poorly documented, and thus no data or knowledge is available to help improve conditions and formulate policies and programs to promote and ensure decent work conditions. © The Author(s) 2016.

What's yours, mine, and ours : overcoming intellectual property rights issues : a cross-cutting study : facilitating private-sector participation and expediting deployment

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-08-01

Debate over the ownership and use of intellectual property developed jointly by the public and private sectors has caused delays in ITS deployment projects. While a fundamental business incentive of the private sector for investing in research and de...

Joint Peru/United States report on Peru/United States cooperative energy assessment. Volume 3. Annexes 2-7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-08-01

This report presents the results of a brief study of industral, mining, and agricultural sector energy demands in Peru. The study establishes current energy demands and sectoral activities, and projects future energy needs through the year 2000. With respect to energy demands, the subsectors covered are: mining and non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, cement, oil refining, petrochemicals, fertilizers, and agriculture (major crops). Total energy demands for these subsectors are developed for 1976, 1985, and 2000, assuming full-capacity operation for the majority of the plants. Potential options developed for reducing energy use in these sectors are: increased coal use, improved energymore » efficiency in the manufacturing sector, use of agricultural wastes as fuel, possible displacement of oil by hydroelectricity, use of geothermal energy, increased use of water materials for the cement and construction industries, and possible promotion of cogeneration systems (electricity/steam). (MCW)« less

What Can China Do? China's Best Alternative Outcome for Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

G. Fridley, David; Zheng, Nina; T. Aden, Nathaniel

After rapid growth in economic development and energy demand over the last three decades, China has undertaken energy efficiency improvement efforts to reduce its energy intensity under the 11th Five Year Plan (FYP). Since becoming the world's largest annual CO{sub 2} emitter in 2007, China has set reduction targets for energy and carbon intensities and committed to meeting 15% of its total 2020 energy demand with non-fossil fuel. Despite having achieved important savings in 11th FYP efficiency programs, rising per capita income and the continued economic importance of trade will drive demand for transport activity and fuel use. At themore » same time, an increasingly 'electrified' economy will drive rapid power demand growth. Greater analysis is therefore needed to understand the underlying drivers, possible trajectories and mitigation potential in the growing industrial, transport and power sectors. This study uses scenario analysis to understand the likely trajectory of China's energy and carbon emissions to 2030 in light of the current and planned portfolio of programs, policies and technology development and ongoing urbanization and demographic trends. It evaluates the potential impacts of alternative transportation and power sector development using two key scenarios, Continued Improvement Scenario (CIS) and Accelerated Improvement Scenario (AIS). CIS represents the most likely path of growth based on continuation of current policies and meeting announced targets and goals, including meeting planned appliance efficiency standard revisions, fuel economy standards, and industrial targets and moderate phase-out of subcritical coal-fired generation with additional non-fossil generation. AIS represents a more aggressive trajectory of accelerated improvement in energy intensity and decarbonized power and transport sectors. A range of sensitivity analysis and power technology scenarios are tested to evaluate the impact of additional actions such as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and integrated mine-mouth generation. The CIS and AIS results are also contextualized and compared to model scenarios in other published studies. The results of this study show that China's energy and CO{sub 2} emissions will not likely peak before 2030, although growth is expected to slow after 2020. Moreover, China will be able to meet its 2020 carbon intensity reduction target of 40 to 45% under both CIS and AIS, but only meet its 15% non-fossil fuel target by 2020 under AIS. Under both scenarios, efficiency remains a key resource and has the same, if not greater, mitigation potential as new technologies in transport and power sectors. In the transport sector, electrification will be closely linked the degree of decarbonization in the power sector and EV deployment has little or no impact on China's crude oil import demand. Rather, power generation improvements have the largest sector potential for overall emission mitigation while mine-mouth power generation and CCS have limited mitigation potential compared to fuel switching and efficiency improvements. Comparisons of this study's results with other published studies reveal that CIS and AIS are within the range of other national energy projections but alternative studies rely much more heavily on CCS for carbon reduction. The McKinsey study, in particular, has more optimistic assumptions for reductions in crude oil imports and coal demand in its abatement scenario and has much higher gasoline reduction potential for the same level of EV deployment. Despite these differences, this study's scenario analysis of both transport and power sectors illustrate the necessity for continued efficiency improvements and aggressive power sector decarbonization in flattening China's CO{sub 2} emissions.« less

77 FR 57111 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request for the Mine, Development, and Mineral...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

...: Private sector: U.S. nonfuel minerals producers and exploration operations; Public sector: State and local.... While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public...

Effects of human and organizational deficiencies on workers'safety behavior in a mining site in Iran.

PubMed

Mirzaei Aliabadi, Mostafa; Aghaei, Hamed; Kalatpour, Omid; Soltanian, Ali Reza; SeyedTabib, Maryam

2018-05-18

Mines are a dangerous workplace worldwide with a high accident rate. According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the number of occupational accidents in Iranian mines has increased in recent years. This study determined and explained human and organizational deficiencies influencing Iranian mining accidents. In this study, the data associated with 305 mining accidents were investigated. The data were analyzed based on a systems analysis approach to identify critical deficiencies in organizational influences, unsafe supervision, preconditions for unsafe acts, and workers' unsafe acts. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling [PLS-SEM] was utilized for modeling the interactions between these deficiencies. It was demonstrated that organizational deficiencies had a direct positive effect on workers' violations (path coefficient=0.16) and workers' errors (path coefficient=0.23). The effect of unsafe supervision on workers' violations and workers' errors was also significant with the path coefficients of 0.14 and 0.20. Likewise, preconditions for unsafe acts also had a significant effect on both workers' violations (path coefficient=0.16) and workers' errors (path coefficient=0.21). Moreover, organizational deficiencies had an indirect positive effect on workers' unsafe acts mediated by unsafe supervision and preconditions for unsafe acts. Among the variables examined in the current study, organizational influences had the strongest impacts on workers' unsafe acts. Organizational deficiencies are the main causes of accidents in mining sectors that affects all other aspects of system safety. For preventing occupational accidents, organizational deficiencies should be modified first.

Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: restructuring the policy and research agendas.

PubMed

Hilson, Gavin

2006-06-01

This paper critiques contemporary research and policy approaches taken toward the analysis and abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector. Unmonitored releases of mercury from gold amalgamation have caused considerable environmental contamination and human health complications in rural reaches of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Whilst these problems have caught the attention of the scientific community over the past 15-20 years, the research that has since been undertaken has failed to identify appropriate mitigation measures, and has done little to advance understanding of why contamination persists. Moreover, the strategies used to educate operators about the impacts of acute mercury exposure, and the technologies implemented to prevent further pollution, have been marginally effective at best. The mercury pollution problem will not be resolved until governments and donor agencies commit to carrying out research aimed at improving understanding of the dynamics of small scale gold mining communities. Acquisition of this knowledge is the key to designing and implementing appropriate support and abatement measures.

The 2017 Space Resources Roundtable and New Space Resources Graduate Program at Colorado School of Mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbud-Madrid, A.

2017-10-01

For eighteen years, SRR has brought together interested individuals from the space exploration community, the mining and minerals industries, and the financial sector to discuss issues related to the ISRU of lunar, asteroidal, and martian resources.

[Night work and shift work - effects on the health of workers].

PubMed

Stryjewski, Piotr J; Kuczaj, Agnieszka; Domal-Kwiatkowska, Dorota; Mazurek, Urszula; Nowalany-Kozielska, Ewa

Number of shift workers increases in developed as well as in developing countries every year and equals 15- 20% of total amount of working people in Europe, 20% of total count of workers in United States of America, 6-32% in Asian countries and 8.1% workers in Poland. This type of employment is connected with such sectors of economy as medical care, industry, mining, transportation, communication and hospitality. The literature review analyses health effects of shift work and night work in the area of gastroenterology, circulatory system, oncologic diseases, neuropsychiatric and sleep disorders. In summary shift and night work have negative impact on human health. Further investigations analyzing impact of shift and night work are needed.

Exploring the determinants of health and wellbeing in communities living in proximity to coal seam gas developments in regional Queensland.

PubMed

Mactaggart, Fiona; McDermott, Liane; Tynan, Anna; Gericke, Christian A

2017-08-03

There is some concern that coal seam gas mining may affect health and wellbeing through changes in social determinants such as living and working conditions, local economy and the environment. The onward impact of these conditions on health and wellbeing is often not monitored to the same degree as direct environmental health impacts in the mining context, but merits attention. This study reports on the findings from a recurrent theme that emerged from analysis of the qualitative component of a comprehensive Health Needs Assessment (HNA) conducted in regional Queensland: that health and wellbeing of communities was reportedly affected by nearby coal seam gas (CSG) development beyond direct environmental impacts. Qualitative analysis was initially completed using the Framework Method to explore key themes from 11 focus group discussions, 19 in-depth interviews, and 45 key informant interviews with health and wellbeing service providers and community members. A key theme emerged from the analysis that forms the basis of this paper. This study is part of a larger comprehensive HNA involving qualitative and quantitative data collection to explore the health and wellbeing needs of three communities living in proximity to CSG development in regional Queensland, Australia. Communities faced social, economic and environmental impacts from the rapid growth of CSG development, which were perceived to have direct and indirect effects on individual lifestyle factors such as alcohol and drug abuse, family relationships, social capital and mental health; and community-level factors including social connectedness, civic engagement and trust. Outer regional communities discussed the effects of mining activity on the fabric of their town and community, whereas the inner regional community that had a longer history of industrial activity discussed the impacts on families and individual health and wellbeing. The findings from this study may inform future health service planning in regions affected by CSG in the development /construction phase and provide the mining sector in regional areas with evidence from which to develop social responsibility programs that encompass health, social, economic and environmental assessments that more accurately reflect the needs of the affected communities.

Emerging issues in occupational safety and health.

PubMed

Schulte, Paul A

2006-01-01

In developed countries, changes in the nature of work and the workforce may necessitate recalibrating the vision of occupational safety and health (OSH) researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to increase the focus on the most important issues. New methods of organizing the workplace, extensive labor contracting, expansion of service and knowledge sectors, increase in small business, aging and immigrant workers, and the continued existence of traditional hazards in high-risk sectors such as construction, mining, agriculture, health care, and transportation support the need to address: 1) broader consideration of the role and impact of work, 2) relationship between work and psychological dysfunction, 3) increased surveillance basis for research and intervention, 4) overcoming barriers to the conduct and use of epidemiologic research, 5) information and knowledge transfer and application, 6) economic issues in prevention, and 7) the global interconnectedness of OSH. These issues are offered to spur thinking as new national research agendas for OSH are considered for developed countries.

Factors and competitiveness analysis in rare earth mining, new methodology: case study from Brazil.

PubMed

Silva, Gustavo A; Petter, Carlos O; Albuquerque, Nelson R

2018-03-01

Rare earths are increasingly being applied in high-tech industries, such as green energy (e.g. wind power), hybrid cars, electric cars, permanent high-performance magnets, superconductors, luminophores and many other industrial sectors involved in modern technologies. Given that China dominates this market and imposes restrictions on production and exports whenever opportunities arise, it is becoming more and more challenging to develop business ventures in this sector. Several initiatives were taken to prospect new resources and develop the production chain, including the mining of these mineral assets around the world, but some factors of uncertainties, including current low prices, increased the challenge of transforming the current resources into deposits or productive mines. Thus, analyzing the competitiveness of advanced projects becomes indispensable. This work has the objective of introducing a new methodology of competitiveness analysis, where some variables are considered as main factors that can contribute strongly to make unfeasible a mining enterprise for the use of rare earth elements (REE) with this methodology, which is quite practical and reproducible, it was possible to verify some real facts, such as: the fact that the Lynas Mount Weld CLD (AUS) Project is resilient to the uncertainties of the RE sector, at the same time as the Molycorp Project is facing major financial difficulties (under judicial reorganization). It was also possible to verify that the Araxá Project of CBMM in Brazil is one of the most competitive in this country. Thus, we contribute to the existing literature, providing a new methodology for competitiveness analysis in rare earth mining.

Self-employed persons in Sweden - mortality differentials by industrial sector and enterprise legal form: a five-year follow-up study.

PubMed

Toivanen, Susanna; Mellner, Christin; Vinberg, Stig

2015-01-01

This study investigated mortality differentials between self-employed persons in Sweden, considering industrial sector, enterprise characteristics and socio-demographic factors. Data on 321,274 self-employed persons were obtained from population registers in Sweden. Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare all-cause and cause-specific mortality rate ratios by industrial sector and enterprise legal form, adjusted for confounders. All-cause mortality was 10-32% higher in self-employed persons in Manufacturing and Mining, Trade and Communication, and Not Specified and Other sectors than in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing. Mortality from cardiovascular disease was 23% higher in Trade and Communication, and from neoplasms 17-51% higher in Manufacturing and Mining, Not Specified, and Other. Mortality from suicide was 45-60% lower in Personal and Cultural Services, and in Not Specified. Mortality was 8-16% higher in sole proprietorship than limited partnership. Further research of working conditions is warranted, considering industry and enterprise legal form. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Overcoming Obstacles to Peace: Local Factors in Nation-Building

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

institutional barriers to private investment remained, and Bosnia had no commercial banking sector .15 The war largely destroyed the economy but not...World Bank worked to improve the management of state finances, reform the mining sector , and improve the civil service. Some bilateral assistance...present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors . All RAND reports undergo rigorous

Perfection Of Methods Of Mathematical Analysis For Increasing The Completeness Of Subsoil Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fokina, Mariya

2017-11-01

The economy of Russia is based around the mineral-raw material complex to the highest degree. The mining industry is a prioritized and important area. Given the high competitiveness of businesses in this sector, increasing the efficiency of completed work and manufactured products will become a central issue. Improvement of planning and management in this sector should be based on multivariant study and the optimization of planning decisions, the appraisal of their immediate and long-term results, taking the dynamic of economic development into account. All of this requires the use of economic mathematic models and methodsApplying an economic-mathematic model to determine optimal ore mine production capacity, we receive a figure of 4,712,000 tons. The production capacity of the Uchalinsky ore mine is 1560 thousand tons, and the Uzelginsky ore mine - 3650 thousand. Conducting a corresponding analysis of the production of OAO "Uchalinsky Gok", an optimal production plan was received: the optimal production of copper - 77961,4 rubles; the optimal production of zinc - 17975.66 rubles. The residual production volume of the two main ore mines of OAO "UGOK" is 160 million tons of ore.

Identification of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Mining

PubMed Central

Weston, Eric; Pollard, Jonisha P.

2016-01-01

Work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) prevention measures have been studied in great depth throughout various industries. While the nature and causes of these disorders have been characterized in many industries, WMSDs occurring in the U.S. mining sector have not been characterized for several years. In this report, MSHA accident/injury/illness data from 2009 to 2013 were characterized to determine the most frequently reported WMSDs in the U.S. mining sector. WMSDs were most frequently reported in workers with less than 5 years or more than 20 years of mining experience. The number of days lost from work was the highest for shoulder and knee injuries and was found to increase with worker age. Underground and surface coal, surface stone and stone processing plants experienced the greatest number of WMSDs over the period studied. WMSDs were most commonly caused by an employee suffering from an overexertion, falls or being struck by an object while performing materials handling, maintenance and repair tasks, getting on or off equipment or machines, and walking or running. The injury trends presented should be used to help determine the focus of future WMSD prevention research in mining. PMID:27294012

77 FR 38322 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Training...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-27

... Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health Administration sponsored information... significant safety regulations affecting this industry sector. Training informs miners of safety and health... production demands; and increased demand for contractors who may be less familiar with the dangers on mine...

Use of data mining at the Food and Drug Administration.

PubMed

Duggirala, Hesha J; Tonning, Joseph M; Smith, Ella; Bright, Roselie A; Baker, John D; Ball, Robert; Bell, Carlos; Bright-Ponte, Susan J; Botsis, Taxiarchis; Bouri, Khaled; Boyer, Marc; Burkhart, Keith; Condrey, G Steven; Chen, James J; Chirtel, Stuart; Filice, Ross W; Francis, Henry; Jiang, Hongying; Levine, Jonathan; Martin, David; Oladipo, Taiye; O'Neill, Rene; Palmer, Lee Anne M; Paredes, Antonio; Rochester, George; Sholtes, Deborah; Szarfman, Ana; Wong, Hui-Lee; Xu, Zhiheng; Kass-Hout, Taha

2016-03-01

This article summarizes past and current data mining activities at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We address data miners in all sectors, anyone interested in the safety of products regulated by the FDA (predominantly medical products, food, veterinary products and nutrition, and tobacco products), and those interested in FDA activities. Topics include routine and developmental data mining activities, short descriptions of mined FDA data, advantages and challenges of data mining at the FDA, and future directions of data mining at the FDA. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Graduation, retention and job market needs in Earth Science in Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosters, E. C.; Raeside, R.; Eaton, D. W.

2011-12-01

Ca. 40 Canadian university departments offer a range of Earth Science degree programs. Most departments participate in the Council of Chairs of Canadian Earth Science Departments, which has collected statistics since 1974. Ca. 5,000 students are currently enrolled in these programs, ca. 75% in BSc programs. Enrollment figures are cyclical, peaking in the early 1980`s and late 1990`s. Graduation figures and graduation-to-enrollment proportions suggest that retention averages about 90%. This figure is probably a bit flattered by students entering laterally after their second year. The % of women students in all BSc programs combined has remained more-or-less constant at 40% since data became available (1995), but the % of women students in MSc and PhD programs during this period rose significantly from <30% & <15% to ca. 40% & 35%, resp. The job market in Canada is largely resource-driven. Expected growth in mining and environmental/geotechnical (E/G) sectors outpaces those in petroleum, government and academia. Mining and E/G job opportunities are partly coupled as the mining sector increasingly employs E/G specialists. The petroleum industry is increasingly focused on unconventional plays, requiring re-examination and adaptation of traditional programs to ensure relevance. In addition, the aging petroleum industry infrastructure requires increasing numbers of environmental graduates. A 2007 CFES employer survey indicated that personnel in all Canadian sectors are aging, the E/G sector the least so, suggesting that the next generation is more motivated for E/G careers than for careers in resource extraction. Exceptions to this trend exist, mostly in regions where resource industries are prominent. The Canadian petroleum sector has traditionally largely recruited BSc-level graduates. The desire to upgrade educational credentials for greater international mobility within this sector is creating demand for graduate-degree upgrades. A different challenge characterizes the mining industry, which employs at least twice as many temporary workers than any other sector. Summer employment is an important career entry for students. Summer job recruitment in the private sector is poorly coordinated, as companies compete for the brightest students with an eye on their own future. Students perceive this practice as a problem, resulting in an increasing uptake in university-coordinated co op programs. Field-based summer jobs are largely with mining and E/G companies and geological surveys and many departments trust that such programs give their students necessary field training. Government cut backs and changing practices have drastically reduced these opportunities, leading to gaps in training and experience. Canada cannot rely on intensifying recruitment of 18-yr olds alone to satisfy its near-future employment needs and thus must turn to immigration, as also pointed out by other agencies. The government has recently relaxed immigration requirements for a number of professions, but earth scientists are not among these.

Reuse and Securing of Mining Waste : Need of the hour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehta, Neha; Dino, Giovanna; Ajmone-Marsan, Franco; De Luca, Domenico Antonio

2016-04-01

With recent advancements in technology and rising standards of living the demand for minerals has increased drastically. Increased reliance on mining industry has led to unmanageable challenges of Mining waste generated out of Mining and Quarrying activities. According to Statistics from EuroStat Mining and Quarrying generated 734 million Tons in Europe in 2012 which accounted for 29.19 % of the total waste, becoming second most important sector in terms of waste generation after Construction Industry. Mining waste can be voluminous and/ or chemically active and can cause environmental threats like groundwater pollution due to leaching of pollutants, surface water pollution due to runoffs during rainy season, river and ocean pollution due to intentional dumping of tailings by mining companies. Most of the big mining companies have not adopted policies against dumping of tailings in rivers and oceans. Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) is creating havoc in remote and pristine environment of deep-sea beds e.g. Bismarck Sea. Furthermore, mining waste is contaminating soil in nearby areas by disturbing soil microbial activity and other physio-chemical and biological properties of soil (e.g. Barruecopardo village - Spain). Mining waste stored in heaps and dams has led to many accidents and on an average, worldwide, there is one major accident in a year involving tailings dams (e.g. Myanmar, Brazil, 2015). Pollution due to tailings is causing local residents to relocate and become 'ecological migrants'. The above issues linked to mining waste makes reuse and securing of mining waste one of the urgent challenge to deal with. The studies done previously on mining show that most of the researches linked with mining waste reuse and securing are very site specific. For instance, the type of recovery method should not only provide environmental clean-up but also economic benefits to promise sustainability of the method. Environmental risk assessment of using mining waste as agricultural soils can depend on Bio-accumulation factor, Translocation factor of heavy metals, species of plant grown and type of the natural biota of the surroundings and effect of different exposure routes. This also leads to the fact that more research is required in this area. Accordingly the same problem statement was chosen as part of a PhD research Project. The PhD research is part of REMEDIATE project (A Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Initial Training Network for Improved decision making in contaminated land site investigation and risk assessment, Grant Agreement No. 643087). In this project the researcher will select a mining site in Italy to find possible solutions to the environmental impact of mining waste collected there. The project will focus on 1) physical and chemical characterization of waste 2)environmental risk assessment study of the mining waste 3) impact of mining waste on water bodies and soil 4) to discover possible routes of reuse and recovery of minerals from the waste. Thus project focuses on environmental sustainability of mining waste reuse and clean up. Keywords : Mining waste ; environmental risk assessment ;reuse and recovery.

Sampling and monitoring for closure

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLemore, V.T.; Russell, C.C.; Smith, K.S.

2004-01-01

The Metals Mining Sector of the Acid Drainage Technology Initiative (ADTI-MMS) addresses technical drainage-quality issues related to metal mining and related metallurgical operations, for future and active mines, as well as, for historical mines and mining districts. One of the first projects of ADTI-MMS is to develop a handbook describing the best sampling, monitoring, predicting, mitigating, and modeling of drainage from metal mines, pit lakes and related metallurgical facilities based upon current scientific and engineering practices. One of the important aspects of planning a new mine in today's regulatory environment is the philosophy of designing a new or existing mine or expansion of operations for ultimate closure. The holistic philosophy taken in the ADTI-MMS handbook maintains that sampling and monitoring programs should be designed to take into account all aspects of the mine-life cycle. Data required for the closure of the operation are obtained throughout the mine-life cycle, from exploration through post-closure.

Identifying Catchment-Scale Predictors of Coal Mining Impacts on New Zealand Stream Communities.

PubMed

Clapcott, Joanne E; Goodwin, Eric O; Harding, Jon S

2016-03-01

Coal mining activities can have severe and long-term impacts on freshwater ecosystems. At the individual stream scale, these impacts have been well studied; however, few attempts have been made to determine the predictors of mine impacts at a regional scale. We investigated whether catchment-scale measures of mining impacts could be used to predict biological responses. We collated data from multiple studies and analyzed algae, benthic invertebrate, and fish community data from 186 stream sites, including un-mined streams, and those associated with 620 mines on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Algal, invertebrate, and fish richness responded to mine impacts and were significantly higher in un-mined compared to mine-impacted streams. Changes in community composition toward more acid- and metal-tolerant species were evident for algae and invertebrates, whereas changes in fish communities were significant and driven by a loss of nonmigratory native species. Consistent catchment-scale predictors of mining activities affecting biota included the time post mining (years), mining density (the number of mines upstream per catchment area), and mining intensity (tons of coal production per catchment area). Mining was associated with a decline in stream biodiversity irrespective of catchment size, and recovery was not evident until at least 30 years after mining activities have ceased. These catchment-scale predictors can provide managers and regulators with practical metrics to focus on management and remediation decisions.

Identifying Catchment-Scale Predictors of Coal Mining Impacts on New Zealand Stream Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clapcott, Joanne E.; Goodwin, Eric O.; Harding, Jon S.

2016-03-01

Coal mining activities can have severe and long-term impacts on freshwater ecosystems. At the individual stream scale, these impacts have been well studied; however, few attempts have been made to determine the predictors of mine impacts at a regional scale. We investigated whether catchment-scale measures of mining impacts could be used to predict biological responses. We collated data from multiple studies and analyzed algae, benthic invertebrate, and fish community data from 186 stream sites, including un-mined streams, and those associated with 620 mines on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Algal, invertebrate, and fish richness responded to mine impacts and were significantly higher in un-mined compared to mine-impacted streams. Changes in community composition toward more acid- and metal-tolerant species were evident for algae and invertebrates, whereas changes in fish communities were significant and driven by a loss of nonmigratory native species. Consistent catchment-scale predictors of mining activities affecting biota included the time post mining (years), mining density (the number of mines upstream per catchment area), and mining intensity (tons of coal production per catchment area). Mining was associated with a decline in stream biodiversity irrespective of catchment size, and recovery was not evident until at least 30 years after mining activities have ceased. These catchment-scale predictors can provide managers and regulators with practical metrics to focus on management and remediation decisions.

The UK waste input-output table: Linking waste generation to the UK economy.

PubMed

Salemdeeb, Ramy; Al-Tabbaa, Abir; Reynolds, Christian

2016-10-01

In order to achieve a circular economy, there must be a greater understanding of the links between economic activity and waste generation. This study introduces the first version of the UK waste input-output table that could be used to quantify both direct and indirect waste arisings across the supply chain. The proposed waste input-output table features 21 industrial sectors and 34 waste types and is for the 2010 time-period. Using the waste input-output table, the study results quantitatively confirm that sectors with a long supply chain (i.e. manufacturing and services sectors) have higher indirect waste generation rates compared with industrial primary sectors (e.g. mining and quarrying) and sectors with a shorter supply chain (e.g. construction). Results also reveal that the construction, mining and quarrying sectors have the highest waste generation rates, 742 and 694 tonne per £1m of final demand, respectively. Owing to the aggregated format of the first version of the waste input-output, the model does not address the relationship between waste generation and recycling activities. Therefore, an updated version of the waste input-output table is expected be developed considering this issue. Consequently, the expanded model would lead to a better understanding of waste and resource flows in the supply chain. © The Author(s) 2016.

ADA Title I allegations and the Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas Extraction industry.

PubMed

Van Wieren, Todd A; Rhoades, Laura; McMahon, Brian T

2017-01-01

The majority of research about employment discrimination in the U.S. Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas (MQOGE) industries has concentrated on gender and race, while little attention has focused on disability. To explore allegations of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I discrimination made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by individuals with disabilities against MQOGE employers. Key data available to this study included demographic characteristics of charging parties, size of employers, types of allegations, and case outcomes. Using descriptive analysis, allegation profiles were developed for MQOGE's three main sectors (i.e., Oil/Gas Extraction, Mining except Oil/Gas, and Support Activities). These three profiles where then comparatively analyzed. Lastly, regression analysis explored whether some of the available data could partially predict MQOGE case outcomes. The predominant characteristics of MQOGE allegations were found to be quite similar to the allegation profile of U.S. private-sector industry as a whole, and fairly representative of MQOGE's workforce demographics. Significant differences between MQOGE's three main sector profiles were noted on some important characteristics. Lastly, it was found that MQOGE case outcomes could be partially predicted via some of the available variables. The study's limitations were presented and recommendations were offered for further research.

Cooperative partnerships and the role of private landowners

Treesearch

T. Bently Wigley; James M. Sweeney

1993-01-01

Because most land, including forest land, in the United States is privately owned, it is clear the private sector should be a major cooperator in "Partners in Flight" efforts to conserve neotropical migratory birds. The "private sector" is more than forest landowners, whether corporate or noncorporate; it includes agricultural landowners, mining...

The Australian Way: Competency-Based Training in the Corporate Sector.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellie, Deborah

1999-01-01

Examples from road construction, mining, and other Australian industries show that the corporate sector has responded slowly to the introduction of a national framework for competency-based training. As industry bears more of the costs of training, it has yet to see returns in terms of productivity gains. (SK)

Is the Societal burden of fatal occupational injury different among NORA industry sectors?

PubMed Central

Biddle, Elyce Anne

2015-01-01

Problem Since the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety and health in the work environment has seen marked improvement. Although these improvements are laudable, workplace hazards continue to plague the American worker. Understanding the economic burden of fatalities by industry sector is important to setting broad occupational safety and health research priorities. Cost estimates provide additional information about how fatal injuries affect society and hence can improve injury prevention program planning, policy analysis, evaluation, and advocacy. Method This study estimated the total, mean, and median societal costs by worker and case characteristic in 2003–2006 for the industry sectors identified in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Analyses were conducted with restricted access to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data. These data exclude military personnel, decedents with unknown age or sex, and fatalities occurring in New York City. Societal costs were estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an fatal occupational injury. Results During this period, the cost of the 22,197 fatal occupational injuries exceeded $21 billion. The mean and median costs of these fatalities were $960,000 and $944,000 respectively. Total societal costs by NORA sector ranged from a high of $5.8 billion in Services to a low of $530 million in Healthcare and Social Assistance with mean costs ranging from the nearly $800,000 in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing to almost $1.1 million in Mining. Discussion The societal costs—total, mean, and median costs—of case and worker characteristics for occupational fatal injuries varied within each NORA sector. Impact on Industry To have the greatest societal impact, these costs can be used to target resources for public and private sector research by industry. PMID:23398699

Systematic review: Lost-time injuries in the US mining industry.

PubMed

Nowrouzi-Kia, B; Sharma, B; Dignard, C; Kerekes, Z; Dumond, J; Li, A; Larivière, M

2017-08-01

The mining industry is associated with high levels of accidents, injuries and illnesses. Lost-time injuries are useful measures of health and safety in mines, and the effectiveness of its safety programmes. To identify the type of lost-time injuries in the US mining workforce and to examine predictors of these occupational injuries. Primary papers on lost-time injuries in the US mining sector were identified through a literature search in eight health, geology and mining databases, using a systematic review protocol tailored to each database. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP), Framework of Quality Assurance for Administrative Data Source and the Cochrane Collaboration 'Risk of bias' assessment tools were used to assess study quality. A total of 1736 articles were retrieved before duplicates were removed. Fifteen articles were ultimately included with a CASP mean score of 6.33 (SD 0.62) out of 10. Predictors of lost-time injuries included slips and falls, electric injuries, use of mining equipment, working in underground mining, worker's age and occupational experience. This is the first systematic review of lost-time injuries in the US mining sector. The results support the need for further research on factors that contribute to workplace lost-time injuries as there is limited literature on the topic. Safety analytics should also be applied to uncover new trends and predict the likelihood of future incidents before they occur. New insights will allow employers to prevent injuries and foster a safer workplace environment by implementing successful occupational health and safety programmes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Sampling and monitoring for closure

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLemore, Virginia T.; Smith, Kathleen S.; Russell, Carol C.

2007-01-01

An important aspect of planning a new mine or mine expansion within the modern regulatory framework is to design for ultimate closure. Sampling and monitoring for closure is a form of environmental risk management. By implementing a sampling and monitoring program early in the life of the mining operation, major costs can be avoided or minimized. The costs for treating mine drainage in perpetuity are staggering, especially if they are unanticipated. The Metal Mining Sector of the Acid Drainage Technology Initiative (ADTI-MMS), a cooperative government-industry-academia organization, was established to address drainage-quality technologies of metal mining and metallurgical operations. ADTI-MMS recommends that sampling and monitoring programs consider the entire mine-life cycle and that data needed for closure of an operation be collected from exploration through postclosure.

2500 years of changing shoreline accretion rates at the mouths of the Mekong River delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besset, Manon; Tamura, Toru; Anthony, Edward; Brunier, Guillaume; Saito, Yoshiki; Dussouillez, Philippe; Lap Nguyen, Van; Ta, Oahn

2016-04-01

The Mekong River delta prograded rapidly in a relatively sheltered bight in the South China Sea under the influence of high fluvial sediment supply 5300 to 3500 years ago, developing from an estuary into a delta. This >200 km seaward growth resulted in increasing exposure of the delta to ocean waves that led to a more wave-influenced mode of progradation characterized by the construction of numerous sets of beach ridges in the eastern sector of the delta, which shows a system of multiple distributary mouths. The growth pattern of this river-mouth sector over the last 2500 years has been determined from OSL dating of these beach-ridge deposits, while the most up-to-date trends (1950-2014) have been highlighted from the analysis of maps and satellite images. The OSL ages show that the area of the delta in the mouths sector remained nearly constant till about 500 yr BP, following which significant accretion occurred, possibly in response to changes in catchment land-use and monsoon rainfall and attendant river water and sediment discharge. A fine-tuned analysis of changes since 1950 shows dominant but fluctuating accretion, with two periods of erosion. The first (1965-1973) occurred in the course of the second Indochina war, and the second more recently from 2003 to 2011, followed by mild recovery between 2011 and 2014. These fluctuations most likely reflect changes in sediment supply caused by the vicissitudes of war and its effect on vegetation cover, as well as variations in monsoon rainfall and discharge, and, for the most recent period, massive sand mining in the river and deltaic channels. Accretion of the mouths sector has gone apace, over the same recent multi-decadal period, with large-scale erosion of the muddy shores of the delta in the western South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, thus suggesting that the mouths sector may be increasingly sequestering sediment to the detriment of the rest of the delta shoreline. The accretion in the mouths sector is likely to be further impacted in the coming years by large-scale channel bed sand mining and by sediment trapping by recent dams in China. The overall current status of the entire Mekong delta shoreline, dominated by land loss, highlights increasing vulnerability to perturbations in sediment supply driven by human activities over the last few decades.

Mineral resources accounting: A technique formonitoring the Philippine mining industry for sustainable development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Teodoro M.; Zaratan, May L.

Mining which extracts exhaustible mineral resources has been condemned by certain sectors as promoting social inequity and underdevelopment. This is so because once a tonne of copper, say, is mined it is forever lost to the future generation. Such perception translates into policies that are usually disadvantageous or even hostile to the industry. Despite this adverse criticism, recent developments in natural resources accounting indicate that mining can truly contribute to the sustainable economic development of a society. True worth of mining in economic development can be assessed and monitored on a continuing basis through an appropriate system of natural accounts (SNA). If the industry is found deficient, such SNA can also point out how the industry can be made to constribute to sustainable growth. The prevailing SNA is criticized as having failed to capture the adverse effects on the welfare of society of producing a nonrenewable resource such as minerals. For instance, the production of copper for a particular year registers an increase in gross national product equivalent to its monetary value. However, the concomitant depletion of the country's natural wealth due to such production is nowhere recorded in the SNA. This faulty accounting gives rise to policies that result in nonsustainable economic growth. In order to address the preceding problem, this paper presents an accounting formula applicable to any nonrenewable resource whereby revenue is decomposed into income and capital components. To achieve sustainable economic growth, it states that the capital component must be invested to generate future incomes. However, investments need not be confined to the same sector. Application of the accounting scheme to the Philippine copper and gold sectors during the 1980-1990 period leads to the following conclusions: (a) by and large, gold and copper mining operations have indeed contributed positively to national income, contrary to allegations of certain sectors of society; (b) level of reserves, metal prices, level of production and interest rates are the major determinants of mineral depletion; as (c) given the results of the accounting exercise, policies can be formulated to enhance sustainable growth. One important constraint of the exercise is the failure to include the environmental effects which are usually considered (though not necessarily so) detrimental to society's welfare mainly because they are not being monitored.

>From the benefits of micro to the threats of nano for the ore-mining and ore-refining sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Loon, A. J.

2002-07-01

Nanotechnology is developing fast, with much impact on a wide variety of industries. It is likely that current and future developments will result in the possibility to economically manipulate materials on a nanoscale. This will bring advantages on the one hand, as a further step forward after the development of technologies on a microscale, but it may also result in developments that make several now economically important activities largely, if not entirely, superfluous. The present-day progress in the field of recycling waste, in combination with developments that may make energy available in sufficient quantities at an acceptable price level, might result in technologies that isolate valuable compounds from waste at a nanoscale, thus, taking over the role of the mining industry as a provider of raw materials. It is suggested that the mining industry becomes strongly involved in nanoscale research, in order to combine their knowledge of ore properties and extraction methods with the knowledge of nanotechnological engineers about how to manipulate individual compounds. This may provide a chance for the present-day ore-mining and ore-refining companies to survive in a world that would otherwise probably not manage to supply sufficient raw materials for the Earth's growing population, which also will strive for a rise in the average standard of living.

Optimization and application of blasting parameters based on the "pushing-wall" mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Feng-yu; Sow, Thierno Amadou Mouctar; He, Rong-xing; Liu, Xin-rui

2012-10-01

The large structure parameter of a sublevel caving method was used in Beiminghe iron mine. The ores were generally lower than the medium hardness and easy to be drilled and blasted. However, the questions of boulder yield, "pushing-wall" accident rate, and brow damage rate were not effectively controlled in practical blasting. The model test of a similar material shows that the charge concentration of bottom blastholes in the sector is too high; the pushing wall is the fundamental reason for the poor blasting effect. One of the main methods to adjust the explosive distribution is to increase the length of charged blastholes. Therefore, the field tests with respect to increasing the length of uncharged blastholes were made in 12# stope of -95 subsection and 6# stope of Beiminghe iron mine. This paper took the test result of 12# stope as an example to analyze the impact of charge structure on blasting effect and design an appropriate blasting parameter that is to similar to No.12 stope.

Appraising the Corporate Sustainability Reports - Text Mining and Multi-Discriminatory Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Modapothala, J. R.; Issac, B.; Jayamani, E.

The voluntary disclosure of the sustainability reports by the companies attracts wider stakeholder groups. Diversity in these reports poses challenge to the users of information and regulators. This study appraises the corporate sustainability reports as per GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines (the most widely accepted and used) across all industrial sectors. Text mining is adopted to carry out the initial analysis with a large sample size of 2650 reports. Statistical analyses were performed for further investigation. The results indicate that the disclosures made by the companies differ across the industrial sectors. Multivariate Discriminant Analysis (MDA) shows that the environmental variable is a greater significant contributing factor towards explanation of sustainability report.

Implementation plan for Bolivian Mineral Exploration Fund

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirkemo, Harold

1978-01-01

Bolivia ranks second among world producers of tin and antimony, and first in bismuth production. Mineral exports in 1975 were valued at $314.2 million, nearly 60 percent of the value of all exports, and petroleum product exports totalled nearly $157 million, or 30 percent of the total. Tin accounted for 58 percent of the total value of metallic mineral exports. The central government derived about 19 percent of its total tax revenues in 1975 from the mining sector. The mining sector consists of the large, medium, and small mining subsectors, a classification established by the government. Individual operations are referred to as large, medium, or small depending upon the subsector into which they are classified. All large mining enterprises are owned and operated by a government corporation, COMIBOL; the medium and small operations are privately owned. COMIBOL's exports in 1975 were valued at $171.8 million or 70 percent of the total mineral exports; the medium mines accounted for $55.5 million or 23 percent, and the small mines for $17.5 million or 7 percent of the total. The combination of high operating costs, low productivity, inadequate ore reserves, and insufficient risk capital for exploration and development has led to the realization that there is an urgent need to improve the situation for mining in Bolivia. Proposals are being studied to revise the tax code, a program is underway to evaluate selected mineral deposits for possible exploration and development, and programs are under consideration to encourage minerals exploration. A minerals exploration plan is proposed which would offer technical and financial aid to various segments in the minerals field. A program, estimated to cost between $2 million and $2.5 million annually, and to be operated by a new agency in the Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy, is outlined.

The Anatomy of the Resource Curse: Predatory Investment in Africa’s Extractive Industries

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

in the natural resource sector . The $3 billion loan in 2005 to China Sonangol from numerous prominent international banks arranged by the London...exception, Africa’s resource-rich states also exhibit high levels of public sector corruption. States heavily reliant on the export of oil and minerals...support for the security sector , Queensway has been able to gain access to major oil and mining concessions across Africa. Starting in Angola in 2003

Chinese Engagement in Africa: Drivers, Reactions, and Implications for U.S. Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

downstream oil sectors in countries such as Sudan, Angola, and Nigeria . Africa also presents a huge untapped market for Chinese goods. Africa’s collective... Nigeria , and it’s oil, oil, nothing but oil. But the Chinese come and they are interested in every sector of our economy.”30 The dearth of Western...mining, engineering, and construction sectors .49 The Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) in Nigeria , a joint venture between Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited

Mining Deployment Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Čech, Jozef

2016-09-01

The deployment problem, researched primarily in the military sector, is emerging in some other industries, mining included. The principal decision is how to deploy some activities in space and time to achieve desired outcome while complying with certain requirements or limits. Requirements and limits are on the side constraints, while minimizing costs or maximizing some benefits are on the side of objectives. A model with application to mining of polymetallic deposit is presented. To obtain quick and immediate decision solutions for a mining engineer with experimental possibilities is the main intention of a computer-based tool. The task is to determine strategic deployment of mining activities on a deposit, meeting planned output from the mine and at the same time complying with limited reserves and haulage capacities. Priorities and benefits can be formulated by the planner.

Tidal Analysis and Arrival Process Mining Using Automatic Identification System (AIS) Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

elevation at the time of vessel movement and calculating the tidal dependence (TD) parameter to 23 U.S. port areas for the years 2012– 2014. Tidal prediction...predictions, obtained from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, are used to rank relative tidal dependence for arriving cargo and...sector traffic percentages and tidal dependence metric ............................. 11 Arrival process mining

Selected indicators and determinants of women's health in the vicinity of a copper mine development in northwestern Zambia.

PubMed

Knoblauch, Astrid M; Divall, Mark J; Owuor, Milka; Musunka, Gertrude; Pascall, Anna; Nduna, Kennedy; Ng'uni, Harrison; Utzinger, Jürg; Winkler, Mirko S

2018-05-01

Large projects in the extractive industry sector can affect people's health and wellbeing. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), women's health is of particular concern in such contexts due to potential educational and economic disadvantages, vulnerability to transactional sex and unsafe sex practices. At the same time, community health interventions and development initiatives present opportunities for women's and maternal health. Within the frame of the health impact assessment (HIA) of the Trident copper mining project in Zambia, two health surveys were conducted (baseline in 2011 and follow-up in 2015) in order to monitor health and health-related indicators. Emphasis was placed on women residing in the mining area and, for comparison, in settings not impacted by the project. All measured indicators improved over time, regardless of whether communities were affected by the project or not. Additionally, the percentage of mothers giving birth in a health facility, the percentage of women who acknowledge that HIV cannot be transmitted by witchcraft or other supernatural means and the percentage of women having ever tested for HIV showed a significant increase in the impacted sites but not in the comparison communities. In 2015, better health, behavioural and knowledge outcomes in women were associated with employment by the project (or a sub-contractor thereof), migration background, increased wealth and higher educational attainment. Our study reveals that natural resource development projects can positively impact women's health, particularly if health risks are adequately anticipated and managed. Hence, the conduct of a comprehensive HIA should be a requirement at the feasibility stage of any large infrastructure project, particularly in LMICs. Continued monitoring of health outcomes and wider determinants of health after the initial assessment is crucial to judge the project's influence on health and for reducing inequalities over time.

Local perspectives of the ability of HIA stakeholder engagement to capture and reflect factors that impact Alaska Native health.

PubMed

Jones, Jen; Nix, Nancy A; Snyder, Elizabeth Hodges

2014-01-01

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a process used to inform planning and decision making in a range of sectors by identifying potential positive and negative health effects of proposed projects, programs, or policies. Stakeholder engagement is an integral component of HIA and requires careful consideration of participant diversity and appropriate methodologies. Ensuring that the engagement process is able to capture and address Indigenous worldviews and definitions of health is important where Indigenous populations are impacted, particularly in northern regions experiencing increases in natural resource development activities on Indigenous lands. Investigate local participant perspectives of an HIA of a proposed Alaska coal mine, with a focus on the ability of the HIA process to capture, reflect, and address health concerns communicated by Alaska Native participants. A qualitative approach guided by semi-structured interviews with purposeful sampling to select key informants who participated in the coal mine HIA stakeholder engagement process. QUALITATIVE DATA IDENTIFIED THREE KEY THEMES AS IMPORTANT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ALASKA NATIVE PARTICIPANTS IN THE ALASKA COAL MINE HIA STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PROCESS: (i) the inability of the engagement process to recognize an Indigenous way of sharing or gathering information; (ii) the lack of recognizing traditional knowledge and its use for identifying health impacts and status; and (iii) the inability of the engagement process to register the relationship Indigenous people have with the environment in which they live. Issues of trust in the HIA process and of the HIA findings were expressed within each theme. Recommendations derived from the research identify the need to acknowledge and incorporate the history of colonialism and assimilation policies in an HIA when assessing health impacts of resource development on or near Indigenous lands. These historical contexts must be included in baseline conditions to understand particular vulnerabilities and potential health risks and impacts. Further, HIA practitioners should recognize the range of definitions for "health" and demonstrate this recognition throughout the stakeholder engagement process, as well as in the HIA recommendations and suggested mitigations.

Local perspectives of the ability of HIA stakeholder engagement to capture and reflect factors that impact Alaska Native health

PubMed Central

Jones, Jen; Nix, Nancy A.; Snyder, Elizabeth Hodges

2014-01-01

Background Health impact assessment (HIA) is a process used to inform planning and decision making in a range of sectors by identifying potential positive and negative health effects of proposed projects, programs, or policies. Stakeholder engagement is an integral component of HIA and requires careful consideration of participant diversity and appropriate methodologies. Ensuring that the engagement process is able to capture and address Indigenous worldviews and definitions of health is important where Indigenous populations are impacted, particularly in northern regions experiencing increases in natural resource development activities on Indigenous lands. Objective Investigate local participant perspectives of an HIA of a proposed Alaska coal mine, with a focus on the ability of the HIA process to capture, reflect, and address health concerns communicated by Alaska Native participants. Design A qualitative approach guided by semi-structured interviews with purposeful sampling to select key informants who participated in the coal mine HIA stakeholder engagement process. Results Qualitative data identified three key themes as important from the perspective of Alaska Native participants in the Alaska coal mine HIA stakeholder engagement process: (i) the inability of the engagement process to recognize an Indigenous way of sharing or gathering information; (ii) the lack of recognizing traditional knowledge and its use for identifying health impacts and status; and (iii) the inability of the engagement process to register the relationship Indigenous people have with the environment in which they live. Issues of trust in the HIA process and of the HIA findings were expressed within each theme. Conclusions Recommendations derived from the research identify the need to acknowledge and incorporate the history of colonialism and assimilation policies in an HIA when assessing health impacts of resource development on or near Indigenous lands. These historical contexts must be included in baseline conditions to understand particular vulnerabilities and potential health risks and impacts. Further, HIA practitioners should recognize the range of definitions for “health” and demonstrate this recognition throughout the stakeholder engagement process, as well as in the HIA recommendations and suggested mitigations. PMID:24936478

M-X Environmental Technical Report. Alternative Potential Operating Base Locations, Milford.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-22

ordinances also give similar direction to subdivision developments , building construction, etc. Rural Land Use Oil/gas leases exist southwest of Milford...2.2.9 Effects on Mining and Geology 2-63 ii .A LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.i.1-1 Total employment and percent share by major economic sectors for...selected counties in Utah, 1977 1-3 1.1.1-2 Employment growth by sector , selected counties in Utah, 1967-1977 1-4 1.1.1-3 Earnings by economi sector

Report of activities, 1997, Resident Geologist program, southern Ontario regional Resident Geologist`s report: Southeastern and Southwestern districts, Mines and Minerals Information Centre, and Petroleum Resources Centre. Ontario Geological Survey open file report number 5974

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sangster, P.J.

1998-10-01

This report reviews activities in the Southeastern and Southwestern Ontario Resident Geologist districts for the year, including mining and exploration activity, mineral property examinations, recommendations for exploration, and Ontario Geological Survey activities and research by others. It also reviews activities at the Ontario Geological Survey Mines and Minerals Information Centre and exploration and development activity in the province`s oil and gas sector.

Coal supply and cost under technological and environmental uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Melissa

This thesis estimates available coal resources, recoverability, mining costs, environmental impacts, and environmental control costs for the United States under technological and environmental uncertainty. It argues for a comprehensive, well-planned research program that will resolve resource uncertainty, and innovate new technologies to improve recovery and environmental performance. A stochastic process and cost (constant 2005) model for longwall, continuous, and surface mines based on current technology and mining practice data was constructed. It estimates production and cost ranges within 5-11 percent of 2006 prices and production rates. The model was applied to the National Coal Resource Assessment. Assuming the cheapest mining method is chosen to extract coal, 250-320 billion tons are recoverable. Two-thirds to all coal resource can be mined at a cost less than 4/mmBTU. If U.S. coal demand substantially increases, as projected by alternate Energy Information Administration (EIA), resources might not last more than 100 years. By scheduling cost to meet EIA projected demand, estimated cost uncertainty increases over time. It costs less than 15/ton to mine in the first 10 years of a 100 year time period, 10-30/ton in the following 50 years, and 15-$90/ton thereafter. Environmental impacts assessed are subsidence from underground mines, surface mine pit area, erosion, acid mine drainage, air pollutant and methane emissions. The analysis reveals that environmental impacts are significant and increasing as coal demand increases. Control technologies recommended to reduce these impacts are backfilling underground mines, surface pit reclamation, substitution of robotic underground mining systems for surface pit mining, soil replacement for erosion, placing barriers between exposed coal and the elements to avoid acid formation, and coalbed methane development to avoid methane emissions during mining. The costs to apply these technologies to meet more stringent environmental regulation scenarios are estimated. The results show that the cost of meeting these regulatory scenarios could increase mining costs two to six times the business as usual cost, which could significantly affect the cost of coal-powered electricity generation. This thesis provides a first estimate of resource availability, mining cost, and environmental impact assessment and cost analysis. Available resource is not completely reported, so the available estimate is lower than actual resource. Mining costs are optimized, so provide a low estimate of potential costs. Environmental impact estimates are on the high end of potential impact that may be incurred because it is assumed that impact is unavoidable. Control costs vary. Estimated cost to control subsidence and surface mine pit impacts are suitable estimates of the cost to reduce land impacts. Erosion control and robotic mining system costs are lower, and methane and acid mine drainage control costs are higher, than they may be in the case that these impacts must be reduced.

(Findings of the Costa Rica power sector efficiency study)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Waddle, D.B.

To present findings of the Costa Rica Power Sector Efficiency Study to the Instituto Costarricense de Electridad, and to the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Mining. To discuss the progress and plans for the Central American Rural Electrification Project with US Agency for International Development (USAID)/Regional Office Central American Program (ROCAP). I traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica to present the findings of the Costa Rica Power Sector Efficiency Study to our counterparts in the utility and the Ministry of Energy. Discussions were held with line level managers at Instituto Costarricensede Electricidad (ICE) and Ministry of Energy Mines andmore » Natural Resources (MIRENEM), as well as a plan of action set for the final stage of the project. Discussions were held for a one day period with both the bilateral Agency for International Development (AID) and the regional AID mission regarding the need for a similar study in Guatemala and matters directly pertaining to the Central American Rural Electrification Study (CARES) project.« less

Relationship of Optical Anomalies, Zoning, and Microtopography in Vesuvianite from Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Varina Campbell

The role of growth steps in inducing disequilibrium is investigated in crystals of vesuvianite from the Jeffrey mine, Asbestos, Quebec, using optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The selective uptake of elements Fe and Al by asymmetric growth-steps on three crystallographic forms, {100}, {110}, and {121}, is documented. The prisms {100} and {110} show hillocks that display kinetically controlled oscillatory zoning along growth steps parallel to <010> and <11¯1>, but not on vicinal faces defined by [001] steps. Sector-specific zoning of extinction angles and 2V angles indicate different degrees of optical dissymmetrization in crystals spanning a range of growth habits. Unit-cell parameters and the presence of violating reflections confirm sectoral deviations from P4/nnc symmetry in the prismatic sectors. The partial loss of three glide planes follows the pattern expected from order of the cations Al and Fe induced by tangential selectivity at the edge of non-equivalent steps during layer-by-layer growth.

The enviornmental assessment of a contemporary coal mining system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dutzi, E. J.; Sullivan, P. J.; Hutchinson, C. F.; Stevens, C. M.

1980-01-01

A contemporary underground coal mine in eastern Kentucky was assessed in order to determine potential off-site and on-site environmental impacts associated with the mining system in the given environmental setting. A 4 section, continuous room and pillor mine plan was developed for an appropriate site in eastern Kentucky. Potential environmental impacts were identified, and mitigation costs determined. The major potential environmental impacts were determined to be: acid water drainage from the mine and refuse site, uneven subsidence of the surface as a result of mining activity, and alteration of ground water aquifers in the subsidence zone. In the specific case examined, the costs of environmental impact mitigation to levels prescribed by regulations would not exceed $1/ton of coal mined, and post mining land values would not be affected.

Geochemistry of rare earth elements in minesoils from São Domingos mining district (Iberian Pyrite Belt)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado, Joaquin; Perez-Lopez, Rafael; Nieto, Jose Miguel; Ayora, Carles

2010-05-01

The São Domingos mine is one of the most emblematic mining districts in the lower part of the Guadiana River Basin (SW of Iberian Peninsula). It is located in Portugal (about 5 km from the Spanish border), in the northern sector of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), one of the largest metallogenetic provinces of massive sulphides in the world. Although mining activity has ceased at present, the large-scale exploitation of this deposit between the second half of the XIX century and the first half of the XX century, has favoured the production of enormous waste dumps, where oxidation of pyrite and associated sulphides is resulting in the production of acid mine drainage (AMD). Mining wastes, minesoils, and acid mine drainage have been analyzed for their major ions and rare earth elements (REE) with the aim of understanding the REE mobility during sulphide weathering so that lanthanoid series can be used both as a proxy for the extent of water-rock interaction and as a tool for identifying impacts of AMD on natural ecosystems. Chemical speciation of REE in extracts from minesoils indicates that REE sulphate complexes (mainly LnSO4+) are the primary aqueous form (60-90%), and free ionic species (Ln3+, 10-40%) are the next most abundant form of soil water-soluble fraction and controls the REE speciation model. The REE from this fraction have NASC-normalized patterns with middle-REE (MREE) enriched signature compared to the light-REE (LREE) and heavy-REE (HREE), showing convex MREE-signatures and convexity index values of +1.29 +/- 1.13. These results are consistent with the typical REE fractionation patterns reported for AMD. Poorly crystalline iron oxyhydroxysulphates act as a source of labile MREE by dissolution and/or desorption processes and could explain the MREE-enriched signatures in solution.

Application of electrical resistivity tomography techniques for mapping man-made sinkholes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rey, J.; Martínez, J.; Hidalgo, C.; Dueñas, J.

2012-04-01

The suitability of the geophysical prospecting by electrical resistivity tomography to detect and map man-made subsurface cavities and related sinkholes has been studied in the Linares abandoned mining district (Spain). We have selected for this study four mined sectors constituted of different lithologies: granite and phyllites of Paleozoic age, and Triassic shales and sandstones. In three of these sectors, detail underground topographic surveys were carried out to chart the position and dimensions of the mining voids (galleries and chamber), in order to analyze the resolution of this methodology to characterize these cavities by using different electrode arrays. The results are variable, depending on the depth and diameter of the void, the selected electrode array, the spacing between electrodes, geological complexity and data density. These results also indicate that when the cavity is empty, an anomaly with a steep gradient and high resistivity values is registered, because the air that fills the mining void is dielectric, while when the cavities are filled with fine grain sediments, frequently saturated in water, the electrical resistance is lower. In relation with the three different multi-electrode arrays tested, the Wenner-Schlumberger array has resulted to offer the maximum resolution in all these cases, with lower and more stable values for the RMS than the other arrays. Therefore, this electrode array has been applied in the fourth studied sector, a former mine near the city centre of Linares, in an area of urban expansion in which there are problems of subsidence. Two sets of four electrical tomography profiles have been carried out, perpendicular to each other, and which have allowed reaching depths of research between 30-35 m. This net-array allowed the identification of two shallow anomalies of low resistivity values, interpreted as old mining galleries filled with fine material saturated in water. It also allows detecting two fractures, correlated in the profiles and which can be mapped to more than 25 m in depth. As showed by this case study, electrical resistivity tomography can be a suitable tool in sub-surface cavities detection and man-made sinkhole investigations.

78 FR 34093 - An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-06

... scientific and technical information presented in the report, the realistic mining scenario used, the data... Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency... document titled, ``An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska...

Surface-structure-controlled sectoral zoning of the rare earth elements in fluorite from Long Lake, New York, and Bingham, New Mexico, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosze, Stephanie; Rakovan, John

2002-03-01

The concentration and distribution of rare earth elements (REE) in sectorally zoned fluorite crystals from Long Lake, New York, and the Hansonburg Mining District, Bingham, New Mexico, have been studied using cathodoluminescence and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microanalysis (SXRFMA). In cubo-octahedral samples from Long Lake, New York, Ce, Nd, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm are preferentially partitioned into the |111| sector relative to the |100| sector. Partition coefficients (K d = concentration in |111| sector/concentration in |100| sector) range between 3.5 for Ce, to 1.4 for Tm, with a general decrease in K d as elements deviated from the ionic radius of Ca 2+, for which REE substitute in fluorite. Diffusion of the REE has occurred, as evidenced by gradual changes in composition over distances of 0.2 to 0.3 mm at sector boundaries. In Bingham samples, three different partition coefficients were determined for Dy: K d|100|/|111| = 2.83, K d |100|/|110| = 1.77, and K d |110|/|111| = 1.60. These are mean K d values for a 95% confidence interval. In another sample from the same deposit, Dy, Er, and Gd were found to be preferentially incorporated into the |100| sector relative to the |210| sector with average K d |100|/|210| of 3.1, 2.4, and 2.9, respectively. In a third sample, Nd was found to be preferentially incorporated into the |110| sector relative to the |321| sector with an average K d |110|/|321| value of 2.3. Compositional heterogeneities in a given sector (concentric zoning) have been resolved using SXRFMA but are significantly less than the concentration difference across sector boundaries. Often fluorite exists in a wide variety of morphologies, as is the case in the Hansonburg Mining District of Bingham. We suggest caution when using the REE as petrogenetic indicators because fluorite trace element chemistry can vary greatly among crystals within a deposit depending on the internal morphology of a particular crystal.

Cumulative impacts of mountaintop mining on an Appalachian watershed

PubMed Central

Lindberg, T. Ty; Bernhardt, Emily S.; Bier, Raven; Helton, A. M.; Merola, R. Brittany; Vengosh, Avner; Di Giulio, Richard T.

2011-01-01

Mountaintop mining is the dominant form of coal mining and the largest driver of land cover change in the central Appalachians. The waste rock from these surface mines is disposed of in the adjacent river valleys, leading to a burial of headwater streams and dramatic increases in salinity and trace metal concentrations immediately downstream. In this synoptic study we document the cumulative impact of more than 100 mining discharge outlets and approximately 28 km2 of active and reclaimed surface coal mines on the Upper Mud River of West Virginia. We measured the concentrations of major and trace elements within the tributaries and the mainstem and found that upstream of the mines water quality was equivalent to state reference sites. However, as eight separate mining-impacted tributaries contributed their flow, conductivity and the concentrations of selenium, sulfate, magnesium, and other inorganic solutes increased at a rate directly proportional to the upstream areal extent of mining. We found strong linear correlations between the concentrations of these contaminants in the river and the proportion of the contributing watershed in surface mines. All tributaries draining mountaintop-mining-impacted catchments were characterized by high conductivity and increased sulfate concentration, while concentrations of some solutes such as Se, Sr, and N were lower in the two tributaries draining reclaimed mines. Our results demonstrate the cumulative impact of multiple mines within a single catchment and provide evidence that mines reclaimed nearly two decades ago continue to contribute significantly to water quality degradation within this watershed. PMID:22160676

Environmental Reconnaissance of Shivee-Ovoo Coal Mine, Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battogtokh, B.; Woo, N. C.; Nemer, B.

2011-12-01

Mining sector is one of most rapidly developing industries in Mongolia for the last several decades. However, environmental monitoring and protection measures have been left out. An exploratory investigation was conducted to evaluate potential impacts of the mining activities on the soil and water environment at the Shivee-Ovoo surface coal mine. Water samples were collected from the mine dewatering boreholes, discharge lakes and drinking water sources around the mine area. High levels of electrical conductivity, ranging from 325μS/cm to 2,909μS/cm, indicate significant contents of dissolved solids in water. In general, Mg, Fe, F and EC levels in drinking water exceed the level of Mongolian and WHO guidelines for drinking water, and they appear to result from water-rock interaction along the groundwater flow paths. Hierarchical cluster analysis implies that the waters from the mine area and those from public water-supply wells be originated from the same aquifer. However, the water from the spring, dug well and artesian well are grouped separately, indicating different geological effects due to the shallow groundwater system with relatively short period of water-rock interaction. Groundwater dewatering for open-pit mine excavation causes significant water-level decline, and subsequently, the residents nearby areas happen to be provided with water from the deeper aquifer, which has with higher dissolved solids probably through longer period of water-rock interaction. Soil samples were collected from the top, middle and lower soil layers of excavation bench, mine-waste dump sites, topsoil and subsoil from nearby area of the mine. To evaluate potential of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), samples were analyzed for chemical composition using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results show 0.36% of sulfur in only one sample, collected from waste dumping site of low quality coal. Since sulfur component were not detected in other samples, there appear no apparent threat of ARD for this mine at present. In addition, particle size distribution (PSD) analysis and fractal dimensions of PSD were performed to evaluate desertification degree. Fractal dimensions (Dm) show the high sensitivity to the coarsening of the soil samples, and values decrease with increasing content of the sand. The soil samples from nearby area of the mine contained high percentage of sand, indicating desertification prone- area. Based on active and increased number of mining operation in Mongolia, we suggest that this kind of environmental study and continuous monitoring be performed at each mine area.

Causes of Coal Mine Accidents in the World and Turkey.

PubMed

Küçük, Filiz Çağla Uyanusta; Ilgaz, Aslıhan

2015-04-01

Occupational accidents and occupational diseases are common in the mining sector in Turkey and throughout the world. The most common causes of accidents in coal mining are firedamp and dust explosions, landslips, mine fires, and technical failures related to transport and mechanization. An analysis of occupational accidents in the consideration of social and economic factors will let understand the real causes behind these accidents, which are said to happen inevitably due to technical deficiencies or failures. Irregular working conditions, based on profit maximization and cost minimization, are related to strategic operational preferences and public policies. Proving that accidents in mines, where occupational health and safety measures are not implemented and inspections are not done properly or at all, are caused by the fact that production is imposed to be carried out in the fastest, cheapest, and most profitable way will allow us to take steps to prevent further mine accidents.

Causes of Coal Mine Accidents in the World and Turkey

PubMed Central

Küçük, Filiz Çağla Uyanusta; Ilgaz, Aslıhan

2015-01-01

Occupational accidents and occupational diseases are common in the mining sector in Turkey and throughout the world. The most common causes of accidents in coal mining are firedamp and dust explosions, landslips, mine fires, and technical failures related to transport and mechanization. An analysis of occupational accidents in the consideration of social and economic factors will let understand the real causes behind these accidents, which are said to happen inevitably due to technical deficiencies or failures. Irregular working conditions, based on profit maximization and cost minimization, are related to strategic operational preferences and public policies. Proving that accidents in mines, where occupational health and safety measures are not implemented and inspections are not done properly or at all, are caused by the fact that production is imposed to be carried out in the fastest, cheapest, and most profitable way will allow us to take steps to prevent further mine accidents. PMID:29404108

A spatial assessment framework for evaluating flood risk under extreme climates.

PubMed

Chen, Yun; Liu, Rui; Barrett, Damian; Gao, Lei; Zhou, Mingwei; Renzullo, Luigi; Emelyanova, Irina

2015-12-15

Australian coal mines have been facing a major challenge of increasing risk of flooding caused by intensive rainfall events in recent years. In light of growing climate change concerns and the predicted escalation of flooding, estimating flood inundation risk becomes essential for understanding sustainable mine water management in the Australian mining sector. This research develops a spatial multi-criteria decision making prototype for the evaluation of flooding risk at a regional scale using the Bowen Basin and its surroundings in Queensland as a case study. Spatial gridded data, including climate, hydrology, topography, vegetation and soils, were collected and processed in ArcGIS. Several indices were derived based on time series of observations and spatial modeling taking account of extreme rainfall, evapotranspiration, stream flow, potential soil water retention, elevation and slope generated from a digital elevation model (DEM), as well as drainage density and proximity extracted from a river network. These spatial indices were weighted using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and integrated in an AHP-based suitability assessment (AHP-SA) model under the spatial risk evaluation framework. A regional flooding risk map was delineated to represent likely impacts of criterion indices at different risk levels, which was verified using the maximum inundation extent detectable by a time series of remote sensing imagery. The result provides baseline information to help Bowen Basin coal mines identify and assess flooding risk when making adaptation strategies and implementing mitigation measures in future. The framework and methodology developed in this research offers the Australian mining industry, and social and environmental studies around the world, an effective way to produce reliable assessment on flood risk for managing uncertainty in water availability under climate change. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Space assets for demining assistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruijff, Michiel; Eriksson, Daniel; Bouvet, Thomas; Griffiths, Alexander; Craig, Matthew; Sahli, Hichem; González-Rosón, Fernando Valcarce; Willekens, Philippe; Ginati, Amnon

2013-02-01

Populations emerging from armed conflicts often remain threatened by landmines and explosive remnants of war. The international mine action community is concerned with the relief of this threat. The Space Assets for Demining Assistance (SADA) undertaking is a set of activities that aim at developing new services to improve the socio-economic impact of mine action activities, primarily focused on the release of land thought to be contaminated, a process described as land release. SADA was originally initiated by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). It has been implemented under the Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) program of the European Space Agency (ESA). Land release in mine action is the process whereby the demining community identifies, surveys and prioritizes suspected hazardous areas for more detailed investigation, which eventually results in the clearance of landmines and other explosives, thereby releasing land to the local population. SADA has a broad scope, covering activities, such as planning (risk and impact analysis, prioritization, and resource management), field operations and reporting. SADA services are developed in two phases: feasibility studies followed by demonstration projects. Three parallel feasibility studies have been performed. They aimed at defining an integrated set of space enabled services to support the land release process in mine action, and at analyzing their added value, viability and sustainability. The needs of the mine action sector have been assessed and the potential contribution of space assets has been identified. Support services have been formulated. To test their fieldability, proofs of concept involving mine action end users in various operational field settings have been performed by each of the study teams. The economic viability has also been assessed. Whenever relevant and cost-effective, SADA aims at integrating Earth observation data, GNSS navigation and SatCom technologies with existing mine action tools and procedures, as well as with novel aerial survey technologies. Such conformity with existing user processes, as well as available budgets and appropriateness of technology based solutions given the field level operational setting are important conditions for success. The studies have demonstrated that Earth observation data, satellite navigation solutions and in some cases, satellite communication, indeed can provide added value to mine action activities if properly tailored based on close user interaction and provided through a suitable channel. Such added value for example includes easy and sustained access to Earth observation data for general purpose mapping, land use assessment for post-release progress reporting, and multi-source data fusion algorithms to help quantify risks and socio-economic impact for prioritization and planning purposes. The environment and boundaries of a hazardous area can also be better specified to support the land release process including detailed survey and clearance operations. Satellite communication can help to provide relevant data to remote locations, but is not regarded as strongly user driven. Finally, satellite navigation can support more precise non-technical surveys, as well as aerial observation with small planes or hand-launched UAV's. To ensure the activity is genuinely user driven, the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) plays an important role as ESA's external advisor. ESA is furthermore supported by a representative field operator, the Swiss Foundation of Mine Action (FSD), providing ESA with a direct connection to the field level end users. Specifically FSD has provided a shared user needs baseline to the three study teams. To ensure solutions meet with end user requirements, the study teams themselves include mine action representatives and have interacted closely with their pre-existing and newly established contacts within the mine action community.

Lithium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ober, J.

1998-01-01

The lithium industry can be divided into two sectors: ore concentrate producers and chemical producers. Ore concentrate producers mine lithium minerals. They beneficiate the ores to produce material for use in ceramics and glass manufacturing.

ASEAN Mineral Database and Information System (AMDIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okubo, Y.; Ohno, T.; Bandibas, J. C.; Wakita, K.; Oki, Y.; Takahashi, Y.

2014-12-01

AMDIS has lunched officially since the Fourth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals on 28 November 2013. In cooperation with Geological Survey of Japan, the web-based GIS was developed using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards. The system is composed of the local databases and the centralized GIS. The local databases created and updated using the centralized GIS are accessible from the portal site. The system introduces distinct advantages over traditional GIS. Those are a global reach, a large number of users, better cross-platform capability, charge free for users, charge free for provider, easy to use, and unified updates. Raising transparency of mineral information to mining companies and to the public, AMDIS shows that mineral resources are abundant throughout the ASEAN region; however, there are many datum vacancies. We understand that such problems occur because of insufficient governance of mineral resources. Mineral governance we refer to is a concept that enforces and maximizes the capacity and systems of government institutions that manages minerals sector. The elements of mineral governance include a) strengthening of information infrastructure facility, b) technological and legal capacities of state-owned mining companies to fully-engage with mining sponsors, c) government-led management of mining projects by supporting the project implementation units, d) government capacity in mineral management such as the control and monitoring of mining operations, and e) facilitation of regional and local development plans and its implementation with the private sector.

WORKSHOP ON: MINING-IMPACTED NATIVE AMERICAN LANDS

EPA Science Inventory

Mining waste which is generated from both active and inactive mining sites continues to be a problem for human health and ecosystems. Recent scoping studies show significant environmental impacts from mining activities primarily in the Western States. Approximately, 85% of this...

Coronary heart disease prevalence and occupational structure in U.S. metropolitan areas: a multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Michimi, Akihiko; Ellis-Griffith, Gregory; Nagy, Christine; Peterson, Tina

2013-05-01

This research explored the link between coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence and metropolitan-area level occupational structure among 137 metropolitan/micropolitan statistical areas (MMSA) in the United States. Using data from the 2006-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and 2007 County Business Patterns, logistic mixed models were developed to estimate CHD prevalence between MMSAs controlling for individual-level socioeconomic characteristics and various types of occupational structure. Results showed that CHD prevalence was lower in MMSAs where their economy was dominated by 'tourism and resort' and 'the quaternary sector' and higher in MMSAs dominated by 'manufacturing', 'transportation and warehousing', and 'mining'. MMSA-level effects on CHD were found in 'tourism and resort' and 'the quaternary sector' having lower risk and 'mining' having higher risk of CHD. Although these effects prevailed in many MMSAs, some MMSAs did not fit into these effects. Additional analysis indicated a possible link between metropolitan population loss and higher CHD prevalence especially in the coal mining region of the Appalachian Mountains. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discovering amino acid patterns on binding sites in protein complexes

PubMed Central

Kuo, Huang-Cheng; Ong, Ping-Lin; Lin, Jung-Chang; Huang, Jen-Peng

2011-01-01

Discovering amino acid (AA) patterns on protein binding sites has recently become popular. We propose a method to discover the association relationship among AAs on binding sites. Such knowledge of binding sites is very helpful in predicting protein-protein interactions. In this paper, we focus on protein complexes which have protein-protein recognition. The association rule mining technique is used to discover geographically adjacent amino acids on a binding site of a protein complex. When mining, instead of treating all AAs of binding sites as a transaction, we geographically partition AAs of binding sites in a protein complex. AAs in a partition are treated as a transaction. For the partition process, AAs on a binding site are projected from three-dimensional to two-dimensional. And then, assisted with a circular grid, AAs on the binding site are placed into grid cells. A circular grid has ten rings: a central ring, the second ring with 6 sectors, the third ring with 12 sectors, and later rings are added to four sectors in order. As for the radius of each ring, we examined the complexes and found that 10Å is a suitable range, which can be set by the user. After placing these recognition complexes on the circular grid, we obtain mining records (i.e. transactions) from each sector. A sector is regarded as a record. Finally, we use the association rule to mine these records for frequent AA patterns. If the support of an AA pattern is larger than the predetermined minimum support (i.e. threshold), it is called a frequent pattern. With these discovered patterns, we offer the biologists a novel point of view, which will improve the prediction accuracy of protein-protein recognition. In our experiments, we produced the AA patterns by data mining. As a result, we found that arginine (arg) most frequently appears on the binding sites of two proteins in the recognition protein complexes, while cysteine (cys) appears the fewest. In addition, if we discriminate the shape of binding sites between concave and convex further, we discover that patterns {arg, glu, asp} and {arg, ser, asp} on the concave shape of binding sites in a protein more frequently (i.e. higher probability) make contact with {lys} or {arg} on the convex shape of binding sites in another protein. Thus, we can confidently achieve a rate of at least 78%. On the other hand {val, gly, lys} on the convex surface of binding sites in proteins is more frequently in contact with {asp} on the concave site of another protein, and the confidence achieved is over 81%. Applying data mining in biology can reveal more facts that may otherwise be ignored or not easily discovered by the naked eye. Furthermore, we can discover more relationships among AAs on binding sites by appropriately rotating these residues on binding sites from a three-dimension to two-dimension perspective. We designed a circular grid to deposit the data, which total to 463 records consisting of AAs. Then we used the association rules to mine these records for discovering relationships. The proposed method in this paper provides an insight into the characteristics of binding sites for recognition complexes. PMID:21464838

Liberian macroeconomy and simulation of sectoral energy demand: 1981-2000

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hill, L.J.

1984-06-01

The primary purpose of this report is to document the results of a research effort on end-use, sector energy demand in Liberia, West Africa over the 1981-2000 time horizon. The research was undertaken as one component of a much broader integrated energy assessment of Liberia. Other components of the assessment, however, focused on current energy supply and consumption together with future energy supply options for Liberia. This particular report is devoted exclusively to a discussion of Liberian energy demand. The methodology utilized to simulate Liberian sectoral energy demand over the period 1981-2000 involved the recursive interaction of a macroeconomic modelmore » and individual, econometrically-estimated sectoral demand equations. That is, given the projections for gross output in the Liberian economy from the macroeconomic model, sectoral energy demand was simulated. The individual energy demand equations were estimated on the basis of economic variables that are theorized to influence energy consumption in the respective sectors (e.g., price, output). The primary conclusion drawn from the analysis is that, besides being sensitive to changes in international economic activity, the demand for energy in Liberia over the 1981 to 2000 horizon is highly sensitive to internal production of its two primary exports: iron ore and rubber. More specifically, as characterized in the four scenarios, future growth in Liberian energy demand is contingent on the output of three companies: the Liberian American Swedish Mining Company, the Bong Mining Company, and the Firestone Rubber Company. Therefore, expansion of Liberia's energy supply capacity in the future should proceed cautiously. 16 references, 6 figures, 15 tables.« less

Mainstreaming gender and promoting intersectionality in Papua New Guinea's health policy: a triangulated analysis applying data-mining and content analytic techniques.

PubMed

Lamprell, G; Braithwaite, J

2017-04-20

Gender mainstreaming is an approach to policy and planning that emphasizes equality between the sexes. It is the stated policy for gender equity in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) health sector, as well as all other sectors, and is enshrined in the policies of its biggest aid givers. However, there is criticism that gender mainstreaming's application has too often been technocratic and lacking in conceptual clarity not only in PNG but elsewhere. In the health sector this is further exacerbated by a traditional bio-medical approach, which is often paternalistic and insufficiently patient- and family-centered. This study analyses the policy attitudes toward gender in PNG's health sector using both data-mining and a traditional, summative content analysis. Our results show that gender is rarely mentioned. When it is, it is most often mentioned in relation to programs such as maternity and childcare for women, and elsewhere is applied technocratically. For PNG to promote greater levels of equity, the focus should first be on conceptualizing gender in a way that is meaningful for Papuans, taking into account the diversity of experiences and setting. Second, there should be greater focus on activists and civil society groups as the stakeholders most likely to make a difference in gender equity.

Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Sonter, Laura J; Herrera, Diego; Barrett, Damian J; Galford, Gillian L; Moran, Chris J; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S

2017-10-18

Mining poses significant and potentially underestimated risks to tropical forests worldwide. In Brazil's Amazon, mining drives deforestation far beyond operational lease boundaries, yet the full extent of these impacts is unknown and thus neglected in environmental licensing. Here we quantify mining-induced deforestation and investigate the aspects of mining operations, which most likely contribute. We find mining significantly increased Amazon forest loss up to 70 km beyond mining lease boundaries, causing 11,670 km 2 of deforestation between 2005 and 2015. This extent represents 9% of all Amazon forest loss during this time and 12 times more deforestation than occurred within mining leases alone. Pathways leading to such impacts include mining infrastructure establishment, urban expansion to support a growing workforce, and development of mineral commodity supply chains. Mining-induced deforestation is not unique to Brazil; to mitigate adverse impacts of mining and conserve tropical forests globally, environmental assessments and licensing must considered both on- and off-lease sources of deforestation.

Greenhouse gas emissions and the interrelation of urban and forest sectors in reclaiming one hectare of land in the Pacific Northwest.

PubMed

Trlica, Andrew; Brown, Sally

2013-07-02

The interrelation between urban areas and land use options for greenhouse gas mitigation was evaluated by assessing the utility of urban residuals for soil reclamation. Long-term impacts on soil C storage for mine lands restored with urban organic residuals were quantified by sampling historic sites reclaimed both conventionally and with residuals-based amendments. Use of amendments resulted in greater C storage compared to conventional practices for all sites sampled, with increases ranging from 14.2 Mg C ha(-1) in a coalmine in WA to 38.4 Mg C ha(-1) for a copper mine in British Columbia. Expressed as Mg C per Mg amendment, effective C increases ranged from 0.03 to 0.31 Mg C per Mg amendment. Results were applied to three alternative land-use scenarios to model the net GHG balance for a site restored to forest or low-density development. The model included construction of 3.9 243 m(2)-homes, typical of urban sprawl. Emissions for home and road construction and use over a 30-year period resulted in net emissions of 1269 Mg CO2. In contrast, conventional reclamation to forestland or reclamation with 100 Mg of residuals resulted in net GHG reductions of -293 and -475 Mg CO2. Construction of an equivalent number of smaller homes in an urban core coupled with restoration of 1 ha with amendments was close to carbon neutral. These results indicate that targeted use of urban residuals for forest reclamation, coupled with high-density development, can increase GHG mitigation across both sectors.

A comparison of licensed and un-licensed artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) in terms of socio-demographics, work profiles, and injury rates.

PubMed

Calys-Tagoe, Benedict N L; Clarke, Edith; Robins, Thomas; Basu, Niladri

2017-11-06

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) represents one of the most hazardous work environments. While formalization of this sector has been suggested (e.g., Minamata Convention) as a means to improve working conditions, we are unaware of empirical evidence that supports this notion. This study aimed to compare sociodemographic profiles, work profiles, and injury rates among miners working in licensed versus un-licensed ASGM sites. In the Tarkwa mining region of Ghana, 404 small-scale miners were recruited in 2014 and interviewed regarding their occupational injury experiences over the preceding 10 years. Workers were drawn from 9 mining sites, of which 5 were licensed and 4 were not licensed. Sociodemographic characteristics of miners from the two groups were relatively similar. Those currently working in an un-licensed mine have spent more time in the ASGM sector than those currently working in a licensed mine (94 vs. 70 months). Miners working in an un-licensed site tended to experience more injury episodes (e.g., 26% vs. 8% had 3 or more injury events) and not use personal protective equipment during the time of an injury (92% indicated to not using vs. 73%) when compared to miners working in a licensed site. A total of 121 injury episodes were recorded for 2245 person years of ASGM work. The injury rate for those working in un-licensed mines was 5.9 per 100 person years (59 injuries in 995 person years) versus 5.0 (62 injuries in 1250 person-years) in the licensed mines. When focusing on the male miners, there was a significant difference in injury rates between those working in a licensed mine (4.2 per 100 person years) versus an un-licensed mine (6.1 per 100 person years). These findings advance our understanding of injuries amongst ASGM workers, and help identify important differences in socio-demographics, work profiles, and injury rates between miners working in a licensed versus and un-licensed site. The findings suggest that certain working conditions in a licensed site may be safer.

Impact of surface coal mining on soil hydraulic properties

Treesearch

X. Liu; J. Q. Wu; P. W. Conrad; S. Dun; C. S. Todd; R. L. McNearny; William Elliot; H. Rhee; P. Clark

2016-01-01

Soil erosion is strongly related to soil hydraulic properties. Understanding how surface coal mining affects these properties is therefore important in developing effective management practices to control erosion during reclamation. To determine the impact of mining activities on soil hydraulic properties, soils from undisturbed areas, areas of roughly graded mine...

Financial Structure of Mining Sector Companies During an Economic Slowdown /Struktura Finansowania Przedsiębiorstw W Sektorze Górniczym I Wydobywczym W Okresie Spowolnienia Gospodarczego

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sierpińska, Maria; Bąk, Patrycja

2012-12-01

The global economic crisis that started in 2007 in the area of finance, expanded over the subsequent years to the business sphere, and resulted in a drop of demand and production almost in any field of business activity. Access to foreign sources of finance, especially to loans, has become more difficult and expensive. In such circumstances, enterprises have had to resort more often to their own capital generated by the issue of shares, and to retained profit. Banks have limited their loans for business entities, reduced credit periods, and raised credit margins as well as their levels of collaterals. The McKinsey research into the changes that occur in the structures of sources of finance confirms that the share of equity capital in the structure of financing of non-financial enterprises has visibly grown, and their crediting scopes have been limited all over the European Union as well as in the euro zone. The global tendencies as regards directions of changes in the structure of the sources of corporate financing have also been reflected in Poland. The economic slowdown has resulted in changes in the structures of corporate financing. Mining companies have risen the shares of their equity capital in their general sources of financing. This tendency corresponds to the changes of structure of corporate financing in Poland and Europe. Enterprises have resorted to bank loans to a lesser degree than in times of better market situation. In mining, public companies have increased their crediting, while in private sector the tendency has been reverse. Enterprises tend to use more flexible debiting forms as compared to credits by way of issue of long-term corporate bonds. Mining companies have developed issue programs that are to be implemented over three-year periods. Before, only Katowicki Holding Węglowy [Katowice Mining Holding] had issued bonds. The present publication is an attempt at assessing the changes in the structure of corporate financing within the mining sector in the circumstances of economic slowdown. The changes have been assessed against the background of changes in the structure of financing of other business entities. Three problems have been identified and subjected to research. The first concerns the increasing share of equity capital in the structure of corporate financing in mining enterprises. The second issue concerns the scope of corporate crediting. And the third issue relates to the time structure of corporate debt. The said issues have been analysed in the conditions of economic slowdown

Geochemical processes controlling the distribution and concentration of metals in soils from a Patagonian (Argentina) salt marsh affected by mining residues.

PubMed

Idaszkin, Yanina L; Alvarez, María Del Pilar; Carol, Eleonora

2017-10-15

Heavy metal pollution that affects salt marshes is a major environmental concern due to its toxic nature, persistence, and potential risk to organisms and to human health. Mining waste deposits originated four decades ago, by the metallurgical extraction of heavy metals, are found near to the San Antonio salt marsh in Patagonia. The aim of the work was to determine the geochemical processes that control the distribution and concentration of Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn in the soils of this Patagonian salt marsh. A survey of the mining waste deposits was carried out where three dumps were identified. Samples were collected to determine soil texture, Eh pH, organic matter and metal contents and the soil mineralogical composition. The results shows that the soils developed over the mining waste deposits are predominantly reddish constituted mainly by iron oxide, hydroxide and highly soluble minerals such as Zn and Cu sulphates. The drainage from these deposits tends to move towards the salt marsh. Within the salt marsh, the highest concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn occur in the sectors closest to the mining wastes deposits. The sulphide oxidation and the dissolution of the Cu, Pb and Zn sulphates could be the mainly source of these metals in the drainage water. The metals in solution that reach the salt marsh, are adsorbed by the organic matter and the fine fraction of the soils. These adsorbed metals are then remobilized by tides in the lower sectors of the marsh by desorption from the cations present in the tidal flow. On the other hand, Fe tends to form non soluble oxides, hydroxides and sulphates which remain as altering material within the mining waste deposit. Finally, the heavy metal pollutants recorded in the San Antonio salt marsh shows that the mining waste deposits that were abandoned four decades ago are still a source metal contamination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Argentina to Ecuador: Highlights encompassing exploration, development, and infrastructure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aufranc, J.L.

1997-04-01

In recent years mining has expanded significantly in Argentina due to many developments, which include elimination, or reduction to reasonable levels, of a very high level of economic instability. It was a situation that lasted for many decades and that made it very difficult to plan or calculate taxes during the term of a project. Nevertheless, a very important legal security for property rights-which included mining-existed, together with the absence of expropriations. The world and regional conditions with respect to the globalization of activities changed in many ways: the international trade accords such as Mercosur, communications, transportation, the easy accessmore » to information through data processing, satellites, etc. Nationalism and the monopolistic statism-with an emotional rejection to foreign capital-have almost disappeared, especially in Argentina. It should be mentioned that the main state companies, i.e. oil, gas, airlines, coal, maritime companies, water, electricity, steel, etc., had the national colors in their logos. In this circumstance, the European concept was followed, without its efficiency and administrative culture. Now, irreversibly, the state manager disappears, and the economy opens-together with the free flow of capital to enter and leave. Convertibility and the set of rules related to mining created a framework necessary for the mining sector`s awakening and the beginning of development of important projects such as Bajo de la Alumbrera and Salar del Hombre Muerto.« less

Risk Management Interventions to Reduce Injuries and Maximize Economic Benefits in U.S. Mining.

PubMed

Griffin, Stephanie C; Bui, David P; Gowrisankaran, Gautam; Lutz, Eric A; He, Charles; Hu, Chengcheng; Burgess, Jefferey L

2018-03-01

Risk management (RM) is a cyclical process of identifying and ranking risks, implementing controls, and evaluating their effectiveness. This study aims to identify effective RM interventions in the U.S. mining industry. RM interventions were identified in four companies representing metal, aggregate, and coal mining sectors. Injury rates were determined using Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) data and changes in injury rates identified through change point analysis. Program implementation costs and associated changes in injury costs were evaluated for select interventions. Six of 20 RM interventions were associated with a decline in all injuries and one with a reduction in lost-time injuries, all with a positive return on investment. Reductions in injuries and associated costs were observed following implementation of a limited number of specific RM interventions.

The overlooked terrestrial impacts of mountaintop mining

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wickham, James; Wood, Petra Bohall; Nicholson, Matthew C.; Jenkins, William; Druckenbrod, Daniel; Suter, Glenn W.; Strager, Michael P.; Mazzarella, Christine; Galloway, Walter; Amos, John

2013-01-01

Ecological research on mountaintop mining has been focused on aquatic impacts because the overburden (i.e., the mountaintop) is disposed of in nearby valleys, which leads to a wide range of water-quality impacts on streams. There are also numerous impacts on the terrestrial environment from mountaintop mining that have been largely overlooked, even though they are no less wide ranging, severe, and multifaceted. We review the impacts of mountaintop mining on the terrestrial environment by exploring six broad themes: (1) the loss of topographic complexity, (2) forest loss and fragmentation, (3) forest succession and soil loss, (4) forest loss and carbon sequestration, (5) biodiversity, and (6) human health and well-being.

78 FR 25266 - An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-30

... information presented in the report, the realistic mining scenario used, the data and information used to... additional data or scientific or technical information about Bristol Bay resources or large-scale mining that... Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency...

Citation Mining: Integrating Text Mining and Bibliometrics for Research User Profiling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kostoff, Ronald N.; del Rio, J. Antonio; Humenik, James A.; Garcia, Esther Ofilia; Ramirez, Ana Maria

2001-01-01

Discusses the importance of identifying the users and impact of research, and describes an approach for identifying the pathways through which research can impact other research, technology development, and applications. Describes a study that used citation mining, an integration of citation bibliometrics and text mining, on articles from the…

76 FR 9560 - Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Areawide Environmental Impact Statement for Phosphate Mining...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-18

... Draft Areawide Environmental Impact Statement for Phosphate Mining Affecting Waters of the United States... Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) from phosphate mining companies in Central and Southwest Florida... determined that, when viewed collectively, the separate proposed phosphate mining-related projects have...

Potential effects of anticipated coal mining on salinity of the Price, San Rafael, and Green Rivers, Utah. Water Resources Investigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lindskov, K.L.

1986-01-01

The overall objective of the report is to describe the potential cumulative impacts of anticipated coal mining on the dissolved-solids concentrations in the Price, San Rafael, and Green Rivers. The changes considered were (1) salt loads in ground water that would be intercepted by mines and discharged to nearby streams in order to dewater the mines and (2) salt loads resulting from surface disturbance associated with the anticipated mining. The anticipated salt loads were estimated from (1) reports prepared under contract with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement--Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessments of several drainages tributary to the Pricemore » and San Rafael Rivers that may be impacted by the mining, (2) information from determinations of probable hydrologic impacts in individual permit applications submitted to the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, (3) monitoring reports for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System furnished to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and (4) other miscellaneous monitoring data for the permit areas.« less

Exploitation of multi-temporal Earth Observation imagery for monitoring land cover change in mining sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petropoulos, G.; Partsinevelos, P.; Mitraka, Z.

2012-04-01

Surface mining has been shown to cause intensive environmental degradation in terms of landscape, vegetation and biological communities. Nowadays, the commercial availability of remote sensing imagery at high spatiotemporal scales, has improved dramatically our ability to monitor surface mining activity and evaluate its impact on the environment and society. In this study we investigate the potential use of Landsat TM imagery combined with diverse classification techniques, namely artificial neural networks and support vector machines for delineating mining exploration and assessing its effect on vegetation in various surface mining sites in the Greek island of Milos. Assessment of the mining impact in the study area is validated through the analysis of available QuickBird imagery acquired nearly concurrently to the TM overpasses. Results indicate the capability of the TM sensor combined with the image analysis applied herein as a potential economically viable solution to provide rapidly and at regular time intervals information on mining activity and its impact to the local environment. KEYWORDS: mining environmental impact, remote sensing, image classification, change detection, land reclamation, support vector machines, neural networks

Mine waste management legislation. Gold mining areas in Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maftei, Raluca-Mihaela; Filipciuc, Constantina; Tudor, Elena

2014-05-01

Problems in the post-mining regions of Eastern Europe range from degraded land and landscapes, huge insecure dumps, surface cracks, soil pollution, lowering groundwater table, deforestation, and damaged cultural potentials to socio economic problems like unemployment or population decline. There is no common prescription for tackling the development of post-mining regions after mine closure nor is there a common definition of good practices or policy in this field. Key words : waste management, legislation, EU Directive, post mining Rosia Montana is a common oh 16 villages; one of them is also called Rosia Montana, a traditional mining Community, located in the Apuseni Mountains in the North-Western Romania. Beneath part of the village area lays one of the largest gold and silver deposits in Europe. In the Rosia Montana area mining had begun ever since the height of the Roman Empire. While the modern approach to mining demands careful remediation of environmental impacts, historically disused mines in this region have been abandoned, leaving widespread environmental damage. General legislative framework Strict regulations and procedures govern modern mining activity, including mitigation of all environmental impacts. Precious metals exploitation is put under GO no. 190/2000 re-published in 2004. The institutional framework was established and organized based on specific regulations, being represented by the following bodies: • The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), a public institution which develops the Government policy in the mining area, also provides the management of the public property in the mineral resources area; • The National Agency for the development and implementation of the mining Regions Reconstruction Programs (NAD), responsible with promotion of social mitigation measures and actions; • The Office for Industry Privatization, within the Education Ministry, responsible with privatization of companies under the CEM; • The National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) manages, on behalf of the state, the mineral resources. Waste management framework Nowadays, Romania, is trying to align its regulation concerning mining activity to the European legislation taking into consideration waste management and their impact on the environment. Therefore the European Waste Catalog (Commission Decision 2001/118/EC) has been updated and published in the form of HG 856/2002 Waste management inventory and approved wastes list, including dangerous wastes. The HG 349/2005 establishes the legal framework for waste storage activity as well as for the monitoring of the closing and post-closing existing deposits, taking into account the environment protection and the health of the general population. Based on Directive 2000/60/EC the Ministry of Waters Administration, Forests and Environment Protection from Romania issued the GO No 756/1997 (amended by GO 532/2002 and GO 1144/2002),"Regulations for environment pollution assessment" that contains alarm and intervention rates for soil pollution for contaminants such as metals, metalloids (Sb, Ag, As, Be, Bi, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, TI, V, Zn) and cyanides. Also GO No 756/1997 was amended and updated by Law No 310/2004 and 112/2006 in witch technical instructions concerning general framework for the use of water sources in the human activities including mining industry, are approved. Chemical compounds contained in industrial waters are fully regulated by H. G. 352/2005 concerning the contents of waste water discharged. Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the management of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC is transposed into the national law of the Romanian Government under Decision No 856/2008. The 856/2008 Decision on the management of waste from extractive industries establishes "the legal framework concerning the guidelines, measures and procedures to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment, in particular water, air, soil, fauna, flora and landscape, and any health risks to the population, arising as a result of waste management in extractive industries". Based on the Commission decision 2009/339/EC concerning the waste management facilities - classification criteria - Romanian Government issued GO 2042/2010 witch states the procedures for approving the plan of waste management in extractive industries and its applications norms. Law No. 22/2001 fallows the regulations from the Espoo Convention on assessing the impact of mining on the environment sector in a cross-border context. This work is presented within the framework of SUSMIN project.

The use of vibration monitoring to record the blasting works impact on buildings surrounding open-pit mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sołtys, Anna; Pyra, Józef; Winzer, Jan

2018-04-01

Environmental protection law and geological and mining law require the mineral mining plant to protect its surroundings from the effects of mining operations. This also applies to the negative impact of vibrations induced by blasting works on people and construction facilities. Effective protection is only possible if the level of this impact is known, therefore it is necessary to record it. The thesis formulated in this way has been and continues to be the guiding principle of the research works carried out in the AGH Laboratory of Blasting Work and Environmental Protection. As a result of these works are procedures for conducting preventive activities by open-pit mines in order to minimize the impact of blasting on facilities in the surrounding area. An important element of this activity is the monitoring of vibrations in constructions, which is a source of knowledge for excavation supervisors and engineers performing blasting works, thus contributing to raising the awareness of the responsible operation of the mining plant. Developed in the Laboratory of the Mine's Vibration Monitoring Station (KSMD), after several modernizations, it became a fully automated system for monitoring and recording the impact of blasting works on the surrounding environment. Currently, there are 30 measuring devices in 10 open-pit mines, and additional 8 devices are used to provide periodic measurement and recording services for the mines concerned.

The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI–MIP): Project framework

PubMed Central

Warszawski, Lila; Frieler, Katja; Huber, Veronika; Piontek, Franziska; Serdeczny, Olivia; Schewe, Jacob

2014-01-01

The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project offers a framework to compare climate impact projections in different sectors and at different scales. Consistent climate and socio-economic input data provide the basis for a cross-sectoral integration of impact projections. The project is designed to enable quantitative synthesis of climate change impacts at different levels of global warming. This report briefly outlines the objectives and framework of the first, fast-tracked phase of Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project, based on global impact models, and provides an overview of the participating models, input data, and scenario set-up. PMID:24344316

Deep Impact: Effects of Mountaintop Mining on Surface Topography, Bedrock Structure, and Downstream Waters.

PubMed

Ross, Matthew R V; McGlynn, Brian L; Bernhardt, Emily S

2016-02-16

Land use impacts are commonly quantified and compared using 2D maps, limiting the scale of their reported impacts to surface area estimates. Yet, nearly all land use involves disturbances below the land surface. Incorporating this third dimension into our estimates of land use impact is especially important when examining the impacts of mining. Mountaintop mining is the most common form of coal mining in the Central Appalachian ecoregion. Previous estimates suggest that active, reclaimed, or abandoned mountaintop mines cover ∼7% of Central Appalachia. While this is double the areal extent of development in the ecoregion (estimated to occupy <3% of the land area), the impacts are far more extensive than areal estimates alone can convey as the impacts of mines extend 10s to 100s of meters below the current land surface. Here, we provide the first estimates for the total volumetric and topographic disturbance associated with mining in an 11 500 km(2) region of southern West Virginia. We find that the cutting of ridges and filling of valleys has lowered the median slope of mined landscapes in the region by nearly 10 degrees while increasing their average elevation by 3 m as a result of expansive valley filling. We estimate that in southern West Virginia, more than 6.4km(3) of bedrock has been broken apart and deposited into 1544 headwater valley fills. We used NPDES monitoring datatsets available for 91 of these valley fills to explore whether fill characteristics could explain variation in the pH or selenium concentrations reported for streams draining these fills. We found that the volume of overburden in individual valley fills correlates with stream pH and selenium concentration, and suggest that a three-dimensional assessment of mountaintop mining impacts is necessary to predict both the severity and the longevity of the resulting environmental impacts.

Diversity and Impacts of Mining on the Non-Volant Small Mammal Communities of Two Vegetation Types in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Ardente, Natália Carneiro; Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo; Gettinger, Donald; Leal, Pricila; Mendes-Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Martins-Hatano, Fernanda; Bergallo, Helena Godoy

2016-01-01

The Carajás National Forest contains some of the largest iron ore deposits in the world. The majority of the minerals are found below a plant community known as Savana Metalófila, or "Canga", which represents only 3% of the landscape within the Carajás National Forest (CNF). The aim of our study was to understand the diversity of community of non-volant small mammals in the two predominant vegetation types: Ombrophilous Forest and Canga, and to examine how mining impacts these communities. Sampling was conducted from January 2010 to August 2011 in 11 sampling sites divided by the total area of Canga and 12 sampling sites in the forest, totalizing 23 sites. Of these, 12 sites (Canga and Forest) were considered impacted areas located close to the mine (< 900 meters) and 11 sites (Canga and Forest), serving as controls, which were at least 7,000 meters from the mine. We recorded 28 species, 11 from the Order Didelphimorphia and 17 from the Order Rodentia. The two forest types shared 68.42% of the species found in the CNF. A gradient analysis (Non-metric multidimensional scaling) revealed that the first axis clearly separated the non-flying small mammal communities by vegetation type. Occupancy models showed that the detectability of species was affected by the distance from the mining activities. Of all the small mammals analyzed, 10 species were positively affected by the distance from mining in areas impacted (e.g. more likely to be detected farther from mining areas) and detectability was lower in impacted areas. However, three species were negatively affected by the distance from mining, with higher detectability in the impacted areas, and seven species showed no effect of their proximity to mining operations. To date, there are no studies in Brazil about the impact of mining on mammals or other vertebrates. This study reveals that the effect of mining may go beyond the forest destruction caused by the opening of the mining pits, but also may negatively affect sensitive wildlife species.

Diversity and Impacts of Mining on the Non-Volant Small Mammal Communities of Two Vegetation Types in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Ardente, Natália Carneiro; Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo; Gettinger, Donald; Leal, Pricila; Mendes-Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Martins-Hatano, Fernanda; Bergallo, Helena Godoy

2016-01-01

The Carajás National Forest contains some of the largest iron ore deposits in the world. The majority of the minerals are found below a plant community known as Savana Metalófila, or “Canga”, which represents only 3% of the landscape within the Carajás National Forest (CNF). The aim of our study was to understand the diversity of community of non-volant small mammals in the two predominant vegetation types: Ombrophilous Forest and Canga, and to examine how mining impacts these communities. Sampling was conducted from January 2010 to August 2011 in 11 sampling sites divided by the total area of Canga and 12 sampling sites in the forest, totalizing 23 sites. Of these, 12 sites (Canga and Forest) were considered impacted areas located close to the mine (<< 900 meters) and 11 sites (Canga and Forest), serving as controls, which were at least 7,000 meters from the mine. We recorded 28 species, 11 from the Order Didelphimorphia and 17 from the Order Rodentia. The two forest types shared 68.42% of the species found in the CNF. A gradient analysis (Non-metric multidimensional scaling) revealed that the first axis clearly separated the non-flying small mammal communities by vegetation type. Occupancy models showed that the detectability of species was affected by the distance from the mining activities. Of all the small mammals analyzed, 10 species were positively affected by the distance from mining in areas impacted (e.g. more likely to be detected farther from mining areas) and detectability was lower in impacted areas. However, three species were negatively affected by the distance from mining, with higher detectability in the impacted areas, and seven species showed no effect of their proximity to mining operations. To date, there are no studies in Brazil about the impact of mining on mammals or other vertebrates. This study reveals that the effect of mining may go beyond the forest destruction caused by the opening of the mining pits, but also may negatively affect sensitive wildlife species. PMID:27893798

Identification of ex-sand mining area using optical and SAR imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indriasari, Novie; Kusratmoko, Eko; Indra, Tito Latif; Julzarika, Atriyon

2018-05-01

Open mining activities in Sumedang Regency has been operated since 1984 impacted to degradation of environment due to large area of ex-mining. Therefore, identification of ex-mining area which generally been used for sand mining is crucial and important to detect and monitor recent environmental degradation impacted from the ex-mining activities. In this research, identification ex-sand mining area using optical and SAR data in Sumedang Regency will be discussed. We use Landsat 5 TM acquisition date August 01, 2009 and Landsat 8 OLI acquired on June 24, 2016 to identify location of sand mining area, processed using Tasselled Cap Trasformation (TCT), while the landform deformation approached using ALOS PALSAR in 2009 and ALOS PALSAR 2 in 2016 processed using SAR interferometry (InSAR) method. The results show that TCT and InSAR method can can be used to identify the areas of ex-sand mining clearly. In 2016 the total area of ex-mining were 352.92 Ha. The land deformation show that during 7 years period since 2009 has impacted to the deformation at 7 meters.

A Social Movements' Perspective on Human Rights Impact of Mining Liberalization in the Philippines.

PubMed

Aytin, Andrew

2016-02-01

When it comes to minerals like gold, copper, or nickel, the Philippines ranks among the world's richest countries, but it has continued to perform poorly in terms of human and economic development. In the belief that foreign investments will bring development, the government in 1995 liberalized its mining industry allowing full foreign ownership and control of the mining activities. After almost two decades of mining liberalization, the country has never achieved its goal of development but is now reeling from the adverse impacts of large-scale corporate mining on the environment and lives of mining-affected communities. Moreover, human rights violations against anti-mining activists and environmental advocates have escalated at an alarming rate making the country one of the most dangerous places for land and environmental defenders. But social movements are now taking big steps to empower the people, especially the mining-affected communities, to confront the adverse impacts of corporate mining and to reverse the current path of the mining industry to one that aims to achieve national industrialization where national development is prioritized over transnational corporations' interests. © The Author(s) 2016.

An overview of the status of industrial minerals in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barsotti, Aldo F.

1999-01-01

The production and consumption of industrial minerals in the United States traditionally have played important roles in mining and in the supply of the bulk of basic raw materials to the economy. This diverse group of minerals extracted and consumed by a variety of industries accounts, on a weight and volume basis, for most mineral-based products consumed in our economy. Industrial minerals form the bulk of the basic raw-materials feedstock for most of the construction, agricultural, and inorganic-chemical-manufacturing sectors, and a good portion of the transportation, manufacturing, organic chemical, and service sectors of the U.S. economy. In this presentation, I discuss current estimates of the amount and value of industrial minerals mined compared with all mining in 1997. I then present a summary of 1997 production of industrial minerals by several end-use industries. This is followed by a historical perspective of the consumption of industrial minerals as a subset of all basic materials, with special emphasis on the aggregates industry. The presentation concludes with a look at the geographic distribution of industrial operations in the United States and some thoughts about the future.

Life cycle assessment of metals: a scientific synthesis.

PubMed

Nuss, Philip; Eckelman, Matthew J

2014-01-01

We have assembled extensive information on the cradle-to-gate environmental burdens of 63 metals in their major use forms, and illustrated the interconnectedness of metal production systems. Related cumulative energy use, global warming potential, human health implications and ecosystem damage are estimated by metal life cycle stage (i.e., mining, purification, and refining). For some elements, these are the first life cycle estimates of environmental impacts reported in the literature. We show that, if compared on a per kilogram basis, the platinum group metals and gold display the highest environmental burdens, while many of the major industrial metals (e.g., iron, manganese, titanium) are found at the lower end of the environmental impacts scale. If compared on the basis of their global annual production in 2008, iron and aluminum display the largest impacts, and thallium and tellurium the lowest. With the exception of a few metals, environmental impacts of the majority of elements are dominated by the purification and refining stages in which metals are transformed from a concentrate into their metallic form. Out of the 63 metals investigated, 42 metals are obtained as co-products in multi output processes. We test the sensitivity of varying allocation rationales, in which the environmental burden are allocated to the various metal and mineral products, on the overall results. Monte-Carlo simulation is applied to further investigate the stability of our results. This analysis is the most comprehensive life cycle comparison of metals to date and allows for the first time a complete bottom-up estimate of life cycle impacts of the metals and mining sector globally. We estimate global direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 at 3.4 Gt CO2-eq per year and primary energy use at 49 EJ per year (9.5% of global use), and report the shares for all metals to both impact categories.

Life Cycle Assessment of Metals: A Scientific Synthesis

PubMed Central

Nuss, Philip; Eckelman, Matthew J.

2014-01-01

We have assembled extensive information on the cradle-to-gate environmental burdens of 63 metals in their major use forms, and illustrated the interconnectedness of metal production systems. Related cumulative energy use, global warming potential, human health implications and ecosystem damage are estimated by metal life cycle stage (i.e., mining, purification, and refining). For some elements, these are the first life cycle estimates of environmental impacts reported in the literature. We show that, if compared on a per kilogram basis, the platinum group metals and gold display the highest environmental burdens, while many of the major industrial metals (e.g., iron, manganese, titanium) are found at the lower end of the environmental impacts scale. If compared on the basis of their global annual production in 2008, iron and aluminum display the largest impacts, and thallium and tellurium the lowest. With the exception of a few metals, environmental impacts of the majority of elements are dominated by the purification and refining stages in which metals are transformed from a concentrate into their metallic form. Out of the 63 metals investigated, 42 metals are obtained as co-products in multi output processes. We test the sensitivity of varying allocation rationales, in which the environmental burden are allocated to the various metal and mineral products, on the overall results. Monte-Carlo simulation is applied to further investigate the stability of our results. This analysis is the most comprehensive life cycle comparison of metals to date and allows for the first time a complete bottom-up estimate of life cycle impacts of the metals and mining sector globally. We estimate global direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 at 3.4 Gt CO2-eq per year and primary energy use at 49 EJ per year (9.5% of global use), and report the shares for all metals to both impact categories. PMID:24999810

Child Labor and Environmental Health: Government Obligations and Human Rights

PubMed Central

Amon, Joseph J.; Buchanan, Jane; Cohen, Jane; Kippenberg, Juliane

2012-01-01

The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour was adopted by the International Labour Organization in 1999. 174 countries around the world have signed or ratified the convention, which requires countries to adopt laws and implement programs to prohibit and eliminate child labor that poses harms to health or safety. Nonetheless, child labor continues to be common in the agriculture and mining sectors, where safety and environmental hazards pose significant risks. Drawing upon recent human rights investigations of child labor in tobacco farming in Kazakhstan and gold mining in Mali, the role of international human rights mechanisms, advocacy with government and private sector officials, and media attention in reducing harmful environmental exposures of child workers is discussed. Human rights-based advocacy in both cases was important to raise attention and help ensure that children are protected from harm. PMID:23316246

Recuiting, Advertising and Marketing Strategies in All-Volunteer Force Nations: Case Studies of Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Vass 2007; Australian Defence Force 2011). The mining industry is considered a direct competitor, as it has experienced rapid employment growth for...military must compete with the transportation, mining , engineering, construction and health sectors (Defence Force Recruiting 2010b). The Navy met many...national team, the Opals . The sponsorship was timed to promote the launching of the defencejobs website. This effort attempted to project the ADF brand

78 FR 48713 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Ochoa Mine Project in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-09

...] Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Ochoa Mine Project in Lea County, New Mexico AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability. SUMMARY... Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Ochoa Mine Project (Project) and by this notice is...

Biological responses to disturbance from simulated deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining.

PubMed

Jones, Daniel O B; Kaiser, Stefanie; Sweetman, Andrew K; Smith, Craig R; Menot, Lenaick; Vink, Annemiek; Trueblood, Dwight; Greinert, Jens; Billett, David S M; Arbizu, Pedro Martinez; Radziejewska, Teresa; Singh, Ravail; Ingole, Baban; Stratmann, Tanja; Simon-Lledó, Erik; Durden, Jennifer M; Clark, Malcolm R

2017-01-01

Commercial-scale mining for polymetallic nodules could have a major impact on the deep-sea environment, but the effects of these mining activities on deep-sea ecosystems are very poorly known. The first commercial test mining for polymetallic nodules was carried out in 1970. Since then a number of small-scale commercial test mining or scientific disturbance studies have been carried out. Here we evaluate changes in faunal densities and diversity of benthic communities measured in response to these 11 simulated or test nodule mining disturbances using meta-analysis techniques. We find that impacts are often severe immediately after mining, with major negative changes in density and diversity of most groups occurring. However, in some cases, the mobile fauna and small-sized fauna experienced less negative impacts over the longer term. At seven sites in the Pacific, multiple surveys assessed recovery in fauna over periods of up to 26 years. Almost all studies show some recovery in faunal density and diversity for meiofauna and mobile megafauna, often within one year. However, very few faunal groups return to baseline or control conditions after two decades. The effects of polymetallic nodule mining are likely to be long term. Our analyses show considerable negative biological effects of seafloor nodule mining, even at the small scale of test mining experiments, although there is variation in sensitivity amongst organisms of different sizes and functional groups, which have important implications for ecosystem responses. Unfortunately, many past studies have limitations that reduce their effectiveness in determining responses. We provide recommendations to improve future mining impact test studies. Further research to assess the effects of test-mining activities will inform ways to improve mining practices and guide effective environmental management of mining activities.

Biological responses to disturbance from simulated deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining

PubMed Central

Kaiser, Stefanie; Sweetman, Andrew K.; Smith, Craig R.; Menot, Lenaick; Vink, Annemiek; Trueblood, Dwight; Greinert, Jens; Billett, David S. M.; Arbizu, Pedro Martinez; Radziejewska, Teresa; Singh, Ravail; Ingole, Baban; Stratmann, Tanja; Simon-Lledó, Erik; Durden, Jennifer M.; Clark, Malcolm R.

2017-01-01

Commercial-scale mining for polymetallic nodules could have a major impact on the deep-sea environment, but the effects of these mining activities on deep-sea ecosystems are very poorly known. The first commercial test mining for polymetallic nodules was carried out in 1970. Since then a number of small-scale commercial test mining or scientific disturbance studies have been carried out. Here we evaluate changes in faunal densities and diversity of benthic communities measured in response to these 11 simulated or test nodule mining disturbances using meta-analysis techniques. We find that impacts are often severe immediately after mining, with major negative changes in density and diversity of most groups occurring. However, in some cases, the mobile fauna and small-sized fauna experienced less negative impacts over the longer term. At seven sites in the Pacific, multiple surveys assessed recovery in fauna over periods of up to 26 years. Almost all studies show some recovery in faunal density and diversity for meiofauna and mobile megafauna, often within one year. However, very few faunal groups return to baseline or control conditions after two decades. The effects of polymetallic nodule mining are likely to be long term. Our analyses show considerable negative biological effects of seafloor nodule mining, even at the small scale of test mining experiments, although there is variation in sensitivity amongst organisms of different sizes and functional groups, which have important implications for ecosystem responses. Unfortunately, many past studies have limitations that reduce their effectiveness in determining responses. We provide recommendations to improve future mining impact test studies. Further research to assess the effects of test-mining activities will inform ways to improve mining practices and guide effective environmental management of mining activities. PMID:28178346

Coal Mining Machinery Development As An Ecological Factor Of Progressive Technologies Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efremenkov, A. B.; Khoreshok, A. A.; Zhironkin, S. A.; Myaskov, A. V.

2017-01-01

At present, a significant amount of energy spent for the work of mining machines and coal mining equipment on coal mines and open pits goes to the coal grinding in the process of its extraction in mining faces. Meanwhile, the increase of small fractions in mined coal does not only reduce the profitability of its production, but also causes a further negative impact on the environment and degrades labor conditions for miners. The countermeasure to the specified processes is possible with the help of coal mining equipment development. However, against the background of the technological decrease of coal mine equipment applied in Russia the negative impact on the environment is getting reinforced.

Anonymous HIV workplace surveys as an advocacy tool for affordable private health insurance in Namibia

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background With an estimated adult HIV prevalence of 15%, Namibia is in need of innovative health financing strategies that can alleviate the burden on the public sector. Affordable and private health insurances were recently developed in Namibia, and they include coverage for HIV/AIDS. This article reports on the efficacy of HIV workplace surveys as a tool to increase uptake of these insurances by employees in the Namibian formal business sector. In addition, the burden of HIV among this population was examined by sector. Methods Cross-sectional anonymous HIV prevalence surveys were conducted in 24 private companies in Namibia between November 2006 and December 2007. Non-invasive oral fluid-based HIV antibody rapid tests were used. Anonymous test results were provided to the companies in a confidential report and through presentations to their management, during which the advantages of affordable private health insurance and the available insurance products were discussed. Impact assessment was conducted in October 2008, when new health insurance uptake by these companies was evaluated. Results Of 8500 targeted employees, 6521 were screened for HIV; mean participation rate was 78.6%. Overall 15.0% (95% CI 14.2-15.9%) of employees tested HIV positive (range 3.0-23.9% across companies). The mining sector had the highest percentage of HIV-positive employees (21.0%); the information technology (IT) sector had the lowest percentage (4.0%). Out of 6205 previously uninsured employees, 61% had enrolled in private health insurance by October 2008. The majority of these new insurances (78%) covered HIV/AIDS only. Conclusion The proportion of HIV-positive formal sector employees in Namibia is in line with national prevalence estimates and varies widely by employment sector. Following the surveys, there was a considerable increase in private health insurance uptake. This suggests that anonymous HIV workplace surveys can serve as a tool to motivate private companies to provide health insurance to their workforce. Health insurance taken up by those who are able to pay the fees will alleviate the burden on the public sector.

Utilization of respondent-driven sampling among a population of child workers in the diamond-mining sector of Sierra Leone.

PubMed

Bjørkhaug, I; Hatløy, A

2009-01-01

This article describes the implementation of respondent driven sampling (RDS) in a study conducted in Kono District, Sierra Leone. RDS was used to identify children, under the age of 18 years old, working in the diamond sector of Sierra Leone. This includes children working directly as diamond miners as well as children working in the informal sector connected to the diamond field. The article seeks to postulate that RDS is a suitable method for a rapid approach to a population that is unidentified in size and demonstrate how RDS can reach a study population within a limited period.

Drivers and synergies in the management of inland fisheries: Searching for sustainable solutions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lynch, Abigail; Beard, Douglas

2015-01-01

At the 2015 Global Conference on Inland Fisheries, we convened a Drivers and Synergies panel and working group to discuss competing sectors (e.g., hydropower, transportation, agriculture, mining and oil and gas extraction, forestry, tourism and recreation, and aquaculture) and large-scale drivers which exist predominately outside of the water sectors (e.g., economic growth, diversifying economies, population growth, urbanization, and climate change).  Drivers will influence these sectors and tradeoffs will be made.  Management of sustainable inland water systems requires making informed choices emphasizing those services that will provide sustainable benefits for humans while maintaining well-functioning ecological systems.  

Mine waste disposal leads to lower coral cover, reduced species richness and a predominance of simple coral growth forms on a fringing coral reef in Papua New Guinea.

PubMed

Haywood, M D E; Dennis, D; Thomson, D P; Pillans, R D

2016-04-01

A large gold mine has been operating at the Lihir Island Group, Papua New Guinea since 1997. The mine disposes of waste rock in nearshore waters, impacting nearby coral communities. During 2010, 2012 we conducted photographic surveys at 73 sites within 40 km of the mine to document impacts of mining operations on the hard coral communities. Coral communities close to the mine (∼2 km to the north and south of the mine) were depaurperate, but surprisingly, coral cover and community composition beyond this range appeared to be relatively similar, suggesting that the mine impacts were limited spatially. In particular, we found mining operations have resulted in a significant decrease in coral cover (4.4% 1.48 km from the disposal site c.f. 66.9% 10.36 km from the disposal site), decreased species richness and a predominance of less complex growth forms within ∼2 km to the north and south of the mine waste disposal site. In contrast to the two 'snapshot' surveys of corals performed in 2010 and 2012, long term data (1999-2012) based on visual estimates of coral cover suggested that impacts on coral communities may have been more extensive than this. With global pressures on the world's coral reefs increasing, it is vital that local, direct anthropogenic pressures are reduced, in order to help offset the impacts of climate change, disease and predation. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation of the hydrogeologic effects of oil-shale mining on the neighbouring wetland water balance: case study in north-eastern Estonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marandi, Andres; Karro, Enn; Polikarpus, Maile; Jõeleht, Argo; Kohv, Marko; Hang, Tiit; Hiiemaa, Helen

2013-11-01

The water balance of wetlands plays an integral role in their function. Developments adjacent to wetlands can affect their water balance through impacts on groundwater flow and increased discharge in the area, and they can cause lowering of the wetland water table. A 430 km2 area was selected for groundwater modelling to asses the effect of underground mining on the water balance of wetlands in north-eastern Estonia. A nature conservation area (encompassing Selisoo bog) is within 3 km of an underground oil-shale mine. Two future mining scenarios with different areal extents of mining were modeled and compared to the present situation. Results show that the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the subsurface is of critical importance to potential wetland dewatering as a result of mining. Significant impact on the Selisoo bog water balance will be caused by the approaching mine but there will be only minor additional impacts from mining directly below the bog. The major impact will arise before that stage, when the underground mine extension reaches the border of the nature conservation area; since the restriction of activities in this area relates to the ground surface, the conservation area’s border is not sufficiently protective in relation to underground development.

Alluvial Diamond Resource Potential and Production Capacity Assessment of Ghana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chirico, Peter G.; Malpeli, Katherine C.; Anum, Solomon; Phillips, Emily C.

2010-01-01

In May of 2000, a meeting was convened in Kimberley, South Africa, and attended by representatives of the diamond industry and leaders of African governments to develop a certification process intended to assure that rough, exported diamonds were free of conflictual concerns. This meeting was supported later in 2000 by the United Nations in a resolution adopted by the General Assembly. By 2002, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was ratified and signed by both diamond-producing and diamond-importing countries. Over 70 countries were included as members at the end of 2007. To prevent trade in 'conflict' diamonds while protecting legitimate trade, the KPCS requires that each country set up an internal system of controls to prevent conflict diamonds from entering any imported or exported shipments of rough diamonds. Every diamond or diamond shipment must be accompanied by a Kimberley Process (KP) certificate and be contained in tamper-proof packaging. The objective of this study was to assess the alluvial diamond resource endowment and current production capacity of the alluvial diamond-mining sector in Ghana. A modified volume and grade methodology was used to estimate the remaining diamond reserves within the Birim and Bonsa diamond fields. The production capacity of the sector was estimated using a formulaic expression of the number of workers reported in the sector, their productivity, and the average grade of deposits mined. This study estimates that there are approximately 91,600,000 carats of alluvial diamonds remaining in both the Birim and Bonsa diamond fields: 89,000,000 carats in the Birim and 2,600,000 carats in the Bonsa. Production capacity is calculated to be 765,000 carats per year, based on the formula used and available data on the number of workers and worker productivity. Annual production is highly dependent on the international diamond market and prices, the numbers of seasonal workers actively mining in the sector, and environmental conditions, which influence seasonal farming.

Social license to operate: case from brazilian mining industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santiago, Ana Lúcia F.; Demajorovic, Jacques; Aledo, Antonio

2015-04-01

The approach of the Social License to Operate (SLO) emerges as an important element in academic discussions and business practices related to extractive industries. It appears that in productive activities with great potential to produce economic, social and environmental impacts, conventional approaches based on legal compliance no longer sufficient to legitimize the actions of companies and engagement stakeholders. Studies highlight the need of mining activities receiving a SLO "issued" by companies stakeholders, including society, government, non-governmental organizations, media and communities. However, local communities appears as major stakeholders in governance arrangements, by virtue of its proximity to extractive areas and ability to affect the company's results. Stakeholders with unmet expectations can generate conflicts and risks to the company, the knowledge of these expectations and an awareness of company managers of the importance of Social License to Operate (SLO), can generate strategies and mitigating actions to prevent and or minimize possible conflicts. The concept of SLO arises in engineering extractive industry, when you need to respond to social challenges, beyond the usual environmental challenges, technological and management. According to Franks and Cohen (2012) there is a tendency of engineering sectors, sustainability, environmental, safety and especially in risk mappings, treat the technological issues in a neutral manner, separating the technological research projects of social influences. I want to contribute to the advancement of the debate on stakeholder engagement and adopting as focus on the company's relationship with the community, the aim of this study was to understand how a social project held by one of the largest mining companies in Brazil contributed to the process of SLO. This methodological procedure adopted was a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory interviews with the communities located in rural areas of direct influence of the company's approach. The results show that the strategy adopted by the company contributed to the process of SLO, furthermore it is necessary adopt strong methodologies that facilitate the engagement processes of the other company's stakeholders, as well as the challenge to keep on local legitimacy earned. Key words: Mining, social license to operate (SLO), social impact, corporate social responsibility, stakeholders. References: * FRANKS, DANIEL M.; COHEN, TAMAR. Social Licence in Design: Constructive technology assessment within a mineral research and development institution. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Australia. 79 122 Technological Forecasting & Social Change. 2012.

Improving awareness of mercury pollution in small-scale gold mining communities: challenges and ways forward in rural Ghana.

PubMed

Hilson, Gavin; Hilson, Christopher J; Pardie, Sandra

2007-02-01

This paper critiques the approach taken by the Ghanaian Government to address mercury pollution in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector. Unmonitored releases of mercury-used in the gold-amalgamation process-have caused numerous environmental complications throughout rural Ghana. Certain policy, technological and educational initiatives taken to address the mounting problem, however, have proved marginally effective at best, having been designed and implemented without careful analysis of mine community dynamics, the organization of activities, operators' needs and local geological conditions. Marked improvements can only be achieved in this area through increased government-initiated dialogue with the now-ostracized illegal galamsey mining community; introducing simple, cost-effective techniques for the reduction of mercury emissions; and effecting government-sponsored participatory training exercises as mediums for communicating information about appropriate technologies and the environment.

Is the societal burden of fatal occupational injury different among NORA industry sectors?

PubMed

Biddle, Elyce Anne

2013-02-01

Since the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety and health in the work environment has seen marked improvement. Although these improvements are laudable, workplace hazards continue to plague the American worker. Understanding the economic burden of fatalities by industry sector is important to setting broad occupational safety and health research priorities. Cost estimates provide additional information about how fatal injuries affect society and hence can improve injury prevention program planning, policy analysis, evaluation, and advocacy. This study estimated the total, mean, and median societal costs by worker and case characteristic in 2003-2006 for the industry sectors identified in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Analyses were conducted with restricted access to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data. These data exclude military personnel, decedents with unknown age or sex, and fatalities occurring in New York City. Societal costs were estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an fatal occupational injury. During this period, the cost of the 22,197 fatal occupational injuries exceeded $21 billion. The mean and median costs of these fatalities were $960,000 and $944,000 respectively. Total societal costs by NORA sector ranged from a high of $5.8 billion in Services to a low of $530 million in Healthcare and Social Assistance with mean costs ranging from the nearly $800,000 in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing to almost $1.1 million in Mining. The societal costs-total, mean, and median costs-of case and worker characteristics for occupational fatal injuries varied within each NORA sector. To have the greatest societal impact, these costs can be used to target resources for public and private sector research by industry. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Trends of anthropogenic mercury emissions from 1970-2008 using the global EDGARv4 database: the role of increasing emission mitigation by the energy sector and the chlor-alkali industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muntean, M.; Janssens-Maenhout, G.; Olivier, J. G.; Guizzardi, D.; Dentener, F. J.

2012-12-01

The Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) describes time-series of emissions of man-made greenhouse gases and short-lived atmospheric pollutants from 1970-2008. EDGARv4 is continuously updated to respond to needs of both the scientific community and environmental policy makers. Mercury, a toxic pollutant with bioaccumulation properties, is included in the forthcoming EDGARv4.3 release, thereby enriching the spectrum of multi-pollutant sources. Three different forms of mercury have been distinguished: gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0), divalent mercury compounds (Hg2+) and particulate associated mercury (Hg-P). A complete inventory of mercury emission sources has been developed at country level using the EDGAR technology-based methodology together with international activity statistics, technology-specific abatement measures, and emission factors from EMEP/EEA (2009), USEPA AP 42 and the scientific literature. A comparison of the EDGAR mercury emission data to the widely used UNEP inventory shows consistent emissions across most sectors compared for the year 2005. The different shares of mercury emissions by region and by sector will be presented with special emphasis on the region-specific mercury emission mitigation potential. We provide a comprehensive ex-post analysis of the mitigation of mercury emissions by respectively end-of-pipe abatement measures in the power generation sector and technology changes in the chlor-alkali industry between 1970 and 2008. Given the local scale impacts of mercury, we have paid special attention to the spatial distribution of emissions. The default EDGAR Population proxy data was only used to distribute emissions from the residential and solid waste incineration sectors. Other sectors use point source data of power plants, industrial plants, gold and mercury mines. The 2008 mercury emission distribution will be presented, which shows emissions hot-spots on a 0.1°x0.1°resolution gridmap.

Detection of antipersonnel (AP) mines using mechatronics approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahri, Ali M.; Naghdy, Fazel

1998-09-01

At present there are approximately 110 million land-mines scattered around the world in 64 countries. The clearance of these mines takes place manually. Unfortunately, on average for every 5000 mines cleared one mine clearer is killed. A Mine Detector Arm (MDA) using mechatronics approach is under development in this work. The robot arm imitates manual hand- prodding technique for mine detection. It inserts a bayonet into the soil and models the dynamics of the manipulator and environment parameters, such as stiffness variation in the soil to control the impact caused by contacting a stiff object. An explicit impact control scheme is applied as the main control scheme, while two different intelligent control methods are designed to deal with uncertainties and varying environmental parameters. Firstly, a neuro-fuzzy adaptive gain controller (NFAGC) is designed to adapt the force gain control according to the estimated environment stiffness. Then, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy plus PID controller is employed to switch from a conventional PID controller to neuro-fuzzy impact control (NFIC), when an impact is detected. The developed control schemes are validated through computer simulation and experimental work.

Challenges facing European agriculture and possible biotechnological solutions.

PubMed

Ricroch, Agnès; Harwood, Wendy; Svobodová, Zdeňka; Sági, László; Hundleby, Penelope; Badea, Elena Marcela; Rosca, Ioan; Cruz, Gabriela; Salema Fevereiro, Manuel Pedro; Marfà Riera, Victoria; Jansson, Stefan; Morandini, Piero; Bojinov, Bojin; Cetiner, Selim; Custers, René; Schrader, Uwe; Jacobsen, Hans-Joerg; Martin-Laffon, Jacqueline; Boisron, Audrey; Kuntz, Marcel

2016-10-01

Agriculture faces many challenges to maximize yields while it is required to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. In the present study, we analyze the major agricultural challenges identified by European farmers (primarily related to biotic stresses) in 13 countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK and Turkey, for nine major crops (barley, beet, grapevine, maize, oilseed rape, olive, potato, sunflower and wheat). Most biotic stresses (BSs) are related to fungi or insects, but viral diseases, bacterial diseases and even parasitic plants have an important impact on yield and harvest quality. We examine how these challenges have been addressed by public and private research sectors, using either conventional breeding, marker-assisted selection, transgenesis, cisgenesis, RNAi technology or mutagenesis. Both national surveys and scientific literature analysis followed by text mining were employed to evaluate genetic engineering (GE) and non-GE approaches. This is the first report of text mining of the scientific literature on plant breeding and agricultural biotechnology research. For the nine major crops in Europe, 128 BS challenges were identified with 40% of these addressed neither in the scientific literature nor in recent European public research programs. We found evidence that the private sector was addressing only a few of these "neglected" challenges. Consequently, there are considerable gaps between farmer's needs and current breeding and biotechnology research. We also provide evidence that the current political situation in certain European countries is an impediment to GE research in order to address these agricultural challenges in the future. This study should also contribute to the decision-making process on future pertinent international consortia to fill the identified research gaps.

Expansion of environmental impact assessment for eco-efficiency evaluation of China's economic sectors: An economic input-output based frontier approach.

PubMed

Xing, Zhencheng; Wang, Jigan; Zhang, Jie

2018-09-01

Due to the increasing environmental burdens caused by dramatic economic expansion, eco-efficiency indicating how efficient the economic activity is with respect to its environmental impacts has become a topic of considerable interest in China. In this context, Economic Input-output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are combined to assess the environmental impacts and eco-efficiency of China's 26 economic sectors. The EIO-LCA results indicate that Electricity Production and Supply sector is the largest net exporter in energy usage, CO 2 emission and exhaust emission categories, while Construction sector is the largest net importer for five impact categories except for water withdrawal. Moreover, Construction sector is found to be the destination of the largest sector-to-sector environmental impact flows for the five impact categories and make the most contributions to the total environmental impacts. Another key finding is that Agriculture sector is both the largest net exporter and the greatest contributor for water withdrawal category. DEA results indicate that seven sectors are eco-efficient while over 70% of China's economic sectors are inefficient and require significant improvements. The average target improvements range between 23.30% and 35.06% depending on the impact category. Further sensitivity analysis reveals that the average sensitivity ratios vary from 7.7% to 15.7% among the six impact categories, which are found to be negatively correlated with their improvement potentials. Finally, several policy recommendations are made to mitigate environmental impacts of China's economic sectors and improve their eco-efficiency levels. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

TOXICITY APPROACHES TO ASSESSING MINING IMPACTS AND MINE WASTE TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA Office of Research and Development's National Exposure Research Laboratory and National Risk Management Research Laboratory have been evaluating the impact of mining sites on receiving streams and the effectiveness of waste treatment technologies in removing toxicity fo...

Integrated approach of environmental impact and risk assessment of Rosia Montana Mining Area, Romania.

PubMed

Stefănescu, Lucrina; Robu, Brînduşa Mihaela; Ozunu, Alexandru

2013-11-01

The environmental impact assessment of mining sites represents nowadays a large interest topic in Romania. Historical pollution in the Rosia Montana mining area of Romania caused extensive damage to environmental media. This paper has two goals: to investigate the environmental pollution induced by mining activities in the Rosia Montana area and to quantify the environmental impacts and associated risks by means of an integrated approach. Thus, a new method was developed and applied for quantifying the impact of mining activities, taking account of the quality of environmental media in the mining area, and used as case study in the present paper. The associated risks are a function of the environmental impacts and the probability of their occurrence. The results show that the environmental impacts and quantified risks, based on quality indicators to characterize the environmental quality, are of a higher order, and thus measures for pollution remediation and control need to be considered in the investigated area. The conclusion drawn is that an integrated approach for the assessment of environmental impact and associated risks is a valuable and more objective method, and is an important tool that can be applied in the decision-making process for national authorities in the prioritization of emergency action.

Renewed mining and reclamation: Imapacts on bats and potential mitigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, P.E.; Berry, R.D.

Historic mining created new roosting habitat for many bat species. Now the same industry has the potential to adversely impact bats. Contemporary mining operations usually occur in historic districts; consequently the old workings are destroyed by open pit operations. Occasionally, underground techniques are employed, resulting in the enlargement or destruction of the original workings. Even during exploratory operations, historic mine openings can be covered as drill roads are bulldozed, or drills can penetrate and collapse underground workings. Nearby blasting associated with mine construction and operation can disrupt roosting bats. Bats can also be disturbed by the entry of mine personnelmore » to collect ore samples or by recreational mine explorers, since the creation of roads often results in easier access. In addition to roost disturbance, other aspects of renewed mining can have adverse impacts on bat populations, and affect even those bats that do not live in mines. Open cyanide ponds, or other water in which toxic chemicals accumulate, can poison bats and other wildlife. The creation of the pits, roads and processing areas often destroys critical foraging habitat, or change drainage patterns. Finally, at the completion of mining, any historic mines still open may be sealed as part of closure and reclamation activities. The net result can be a loss of bats and bat habitat. Conversely, in some contemporary underground operations, future roosting habitat for bats can be fabricated. An experimental approach to the creation of new roosting habitat is to bury culverts or old tires beneath waste rock. Mining companies can mitigate for impacts to bats by surveying to identify bat-roosting habitat, removing bats prior to renewed mining or closure, protecting non-impacted roost sites with gates and fences, researching to identify habitat requirements and creating new artificial roosts.« less

Land Use and River Degradation Impact of Sand and Gravel Mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syah, Putra Rizal Ichsan; Hartuti, Purnaweni

2018-02-01

Sand and gravel mining is aimed at providing materials for infrastructure development, as well as providing economical source to the miners. However, the impacts of sand and gravel mining could also cause disturbances to ecological balance, since it is closely related to land use change and river degradation, besides causing conflicts in the miners, the government, and the private relationship. Therefore the government regulation and proper supervision are needed to preserve the ecological balance and decreasing the negative impacts of this mining, and therefore guarantee sustainable development.

Impacts of gold mine waste disposal on deepwater fish in a pristine tropical marine system.

PubMed

Brewer, D T; Milton, D A; Fry, G C; Dennis, D M; Heales, D S; Venables, W N

2007-03-01

Little is known about the impacts of mine waste disposal, including deep-sea tailings, on tropical marine environments and this study presents the first account of this impact on deepwater fish communities. The Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea has deposited both excavated overburden and processed tailings slurry into the coastal environment since 1997. The abundances of fish species and trace metal concentrations in their tissues were compared between sites adjacent to and away from the mine. In this study (1999-2002), 975 fish of 98 species were caught. Significantly fewer fish were caught close to the mine than in neighbouring regions; the highest numbers were in regions distant from the mine. The catch rates of nine of the 17 most abundant species were lowest, and in three species were highest, close to the mine. There appears to be limited contamination in fish tissues caused by trace metals disposed as mine waste. Although arsenic (several species) and mercury (one species) were found in concentrations above Australian food standards. However, as in the baseline (pre-mine) sampling, it appears they are accumulating these metals mostly from naturally-occurring sources rather than the mine waste.

75 FR 22723 - Stream Protection Rule; Environmental Impact Statement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-30

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 30 CFR Parts 780... of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and...

A techno-economic model for optimum regeneration of surface mined land

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhopadhyay, Manas K.; Sinha, Indra N.

2006-07-01

The recent global scenario in the mineral sector may be characterized by rising competitiveness, increasing production costs and a slump in market price. This has pushed the mineral sector in general and that in the developing countries in particular to a situation where the industry has a limited capacity to sustain unproductive costs. This, more often than not, results in a situation where the industry fails to ensure environmental safeguards during and after mineral extraction. The situation is conspicuous in the Indian coal mining industry where more than 73% production comes from surface operations. India has an ambitious power augmentation projection for the coming 10 years. A phenomenal increase in coal production is proposed from the power grade coalfields in India. One of the most likely fall-outs of land degradation due to mining in these areas would be significant reduction of agricultural and other important land-uses. Currently, backfilling costs are perceived as prohibitive and abandonment of land is the easy way out. This study attempts to provide mine planners with a mathematical model that distributes generated overburden at defined disposal options while ensuring maximization of backfilled land area at minimum direct and economic costs. Optimization has been accomplished by linear programming (LP) for optimum distribution of each year’s generated overburden. Previous year’s disposal quantity outputs are processed as one set of the inputs to the LP model for generation of current year’s disposal output. From various geo-mining inputs, site constants of the LP constraints are calculated. Arrived value of economic vectors, which guide the programming statement, decides the optimal overburden distribution in defined options. The case example (with model test run) indicates that overburden distribution is significantly sensitive to coal seam gradient. The model has universal applicability to cyclic system (shovel dumper combination) of opencast mining of stratified deposits.

Metal-contaminated potato crops and potential human health risk in Bolivian mining highlands.

PubMed

Garrido, Alan E; Strosnider, William H J; Wilson, Robin Taylor; Condori, Janette; Nairn, Robert W

2017-06-01

This study assessed metals in irrigation water, soil and potato crops impacted by mining discharges, as well as potential human health risk in the high desert near the historic mining center of Potosí, Bolivia. Metal concentrations were compared with international concentration limit guidelines. In addition, an ingested average daily dose and minimum risk level were used to determine the hazard quotient from potato consumption for adults and children. Irrigation water maximum concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in mining-impacted sites were elevated 20- to 1100-fold above international concentration limit guidelines. Agricultural soils contained total metal concentrations of As, Cd, Pb and Zn that exceeded concentration limits in agricultural soil guidelines by 22-, 9-, 3- and 12-fold, respectively. Potato tubers in mining-impacted sites had maximum concentrations of As, Cd, Pb and Zn that exceeded concentration limits in commercially sold vegetables by 9-, 10-, 16- and fourfold, respectively. Using conservative assumptions, hazard quotients (HQ) for potatoes alone were elevated for As, Cd and Pb among children (range 1.1-71.8), in nearly all of the mining-impacted areas; and for As and Cd among adults (range 1.2-34.2) in nearly all of the mining-impacted areas. Only one mining-impacted area had a Pb adult HQ for potatoes above 1 for adults. Toxic trace elements in a major regional dietary staple may be a greater concern than previously appreciated. Considering the multitude of other metal exposure routes in this region, it is likely that total HQ values for these metals may be substantially higher than our estimates.

The impact of gold mining on the Witwatersrand on the rivers and karst system of Gauteng and North West Province, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durand, J. F.

2012-06-01

The Witwatersrand has been subjected to geological exploration, mining activities, parallel industrial development and associated settlement patterns over the past century. The gold mines brought with them not only development, employment and wealth, but also the most devastating war in the history of South Africa, civil unrest, economical inequality, social uprooting, pollution, negative health impacts and ecological destruction. One of the most consistent and pressing problems caused by mining has been its impact on the water bodies in and adjacent to the Witwatersrand. The dewatering and rewatering of the karstic aquifer overlying and adjacent to the Witwatersrand Supergroup and the pollution caused by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) are some of the most serious consequences of gold mining in South Africa and will affect the lives of many South Africans.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options in ISEEM Global Energy Model: 2010-2050 Scenario Analysis for Least-Cost Carbon Reduction in Iron and Steel Sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karali, Nihan; Xu, Tengfang; Sathaye, Jayant

The goal of the modeling work carried out in this project was to quantify long-term scenarios for the future emission reduction potentials in the iron and steel sector. The main focus of the project is to examine the impacts of carbon reduction options in the U.S. iron and steel sector under a set of selected scenarios. In order to advance the understanding of carbon emission reduction potential on the national and global scales, and to evaluate the regional impacts of potential U.S. mitigation strategies (e.g., commodity and carbon trading), we also included and examined the carbon reduction scenarios in China’smore » and India’s iron and steel sectors in this project. For this purpose, a new bottom-up energy modeling framework, the Industrial Sector Energy Efficiency Modeling (ISEEM), (Karali et al. 2012) was used to provide detailed annual projections starting from 2010 through 2050. We used the ISEEM modeling framework to carry out detailed analysis, on a country-by-country basis, for the U.S., China’s, and India’s iron and steel sectors. The ISEEM model applicable to iron and steel section, called ISEEM-IS, is developed to estimate and evaluate carbon emissions scenarios under several alternative mitigation options - including policies (e.g., carbon caps), commodity trading, and carbon trading. The projections will help us to better understand emission reduction potentials with technological and economic implications. The database for input of ISEEM-IS model consists of data and information compiled from various resources such as World Steel Association (WSA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), China Steel Year Books, India Bureau of Mines (IBM), Energy Information Administration (EIA), and recent LBNL studies on bottom-up techno-economic analysis of energy efficiency measures in the iron and steel sector of the U.S., China, and India, including long-term steel production in China. In the ISEEM-IS model, production technology and manufacturing details are represented, in addition to the extensive data compiled from recent studies on bottom-up representation of efficiency measures for the sector. We also defined various mitigation scenarios including long-term production trends to project country-specific production, energy use, trading, carbon emissions, and costs of mitigation. Such analyses can provide useful information to assist policy-makers when considering and shaping future emissions mitigation strategies and policies. The technical objective is to analyze the costs of production and CO 2 emission reduction in the U.S, China, and India’s iron and steel sectors under different emission reduction scenarios, using the ISEEM-IS as a cost optimization model. The scenarios included in this project correspond to various CO 2 emission reduction targets for the iron and steel sector under different strategies such as simple CO 2 emission caps (e.g., specific reduction goals), emission reduction via commodity trading, and emission reduction via carbon trading.« less

Abandoned mines and their impact on the environment: Case studies from Franklin and Sterling Mines, NJ and Rondout Quarry, NY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolkas, M.M.; Nehru, C.E.

1995-09-01

Water logged abandoned mines have an impact on the environment. In this project we selected abandoned mines from two sets of different ore bodies to learn about their environmental impact. Franklin and Sterling Pb-Zn mines, NJ and the limestone quarry in Rondout formation, NY were selected as case study examples. In the Pb-Zn mines metalimestone is the country rock and in the Rondout quarry limestone is the country rock. Soil water samples from selected strategic locations were analyzed for toxic and related heavy metal elements such as Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr and U. The levels of concentrations of these elementsmore » varied from one location to another according to the chemistry of the ore body and the ground movement throughout the area. In particular Cd, Cr and U concentration were variable from Franklin to Sterling mine. However, in the Rondout limestone (cement) quarry, higher concentrations of Cr and lower concentrations of Pb and Zn were noted. We conclude that ore body chemistry, mine dumps and tailing contaminated ponds along with the ground water movement throughout the area have an impact on the ground water and nearby river/stream contaminant chemistry in the areas.« less

Development and application of biotechnologies in the metal mining industry.

PubMed

Johnson, D Barrie

2013-11-01

Metal mining faces a number of significant economic and environmental challenges in the twenty-first century for which established and emerging biotechnologies may, at least in part, provide the answers. Bioprocessing of mineral ores and concentrates is already used in variously engineered formats to extract base (e.g., copper, cobalt, and nickel) and precious (gold and silver) metals in mines throughout the world, though it remains a niche technology. However, current projections of an increasing future need to use low-grade primary metal ores, to reprocess mine wastes, and to develop in situ leaching technologies to extract metals from deep-buried ore bodies, all of which are economically more amenable to bioprocessing than conventional approaches (e.g., pyrometallurgy), would suggest that biomining will become more extensively utilized in the future. Recent research has also shown that bioleaching could be used to process a far wider range of metal ores (e.g., oxidized ores) than has previously been the case. Biotechnologies are also being developed to control mine-related pollution, including securing mine wastes (rocks and tailings) by using "ecological engineering" approaches, and also to remediate and recover metals from waste waters, such as acid mine drainage. This article reviews the current status of biotechnologies within the mining sector and considers how these may be developed and applied in future years.

75 FR 34666 - Stream Protection Rule; Environmental Impact Statement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-18

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 30 CFR Chapter VII RIN 1029-AC63 Stream Protection Rule; Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining... impact statement. [[Page 34667

ASSESSING THE WATER QUALITY OF MINE-IMPACTED STREAMS USING HYPERSPECTRAL DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Streoan degradation by mining activities is a wide spread problem in the eastern US. Drainage from coal and ferrous metal mines can produce large quantities of sediment and acidity, which can have a deleterious impact an receiving waters. The mineralogy of these sediments is ...

Analyzing the Long Term Cohesive Effect of Sector Specific Driving Forces.

PubMed

Berman, Yonatan; Ben-Jacob, Eshel; Zhang, Xin; Shapira, Yoash

2016-01-01

Financial markets are partially composed of sectors dominated by external driving forces, such as commodity prices, infrastructure and other indices. We characterize the statistical properties of such sectors and present a novel model for the coupling of the stock prices and their dominating driving forces, inspired by mean reverting stochastic processes. Using the model we were able to explain the market sectors' long term behavior and estimate the coupling strength between stocks in financial markets and the sector specific driving forces. Notably, the analysis was successfully applied to the shipping market, in which the Baltic dry index (BDI), an assessment of the price of transporting the major raw materials by sea, influences the shipping financial market. We also present the analysis of other sectors-the gold mining market and the food production market, for which the model was also successfully applied. The model can serve as a general tool for characterizing the coupling between external forces and affected financial variables and therefore for estimating the risk in sectors and their vulnerability to external stress.

Action without frontiers. SADC meeting.

PubMed

Klouda, T

1997-02-01

The factors which affect AIDS and the transmission of HIV transcend national, racial, cultural, religious, political, and programmatic boundaries. The European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) jointly held a conference in Lilongwe, Malawi, during December 4-6 to bring together senior officials from a wide range of development sectors in the 12 countries of the SADC region to examine the potential for regional, comprehensive action on relevant issues. Conference outcomes will be reviewed and agreed upon at a future regional ministerial meeting. Origins of the conference, innovative aspects of the conference, and regional and sectoral involvement are discussed. Employment, mining, medical drugs, education, and tourism were discussed extensively at the conference as separate sectors.

Impact of Coal Mining on Self-Rated Health among Appalachian Residents

PubMed Central

Woolley, Shannon M.; Bear, Todd M.; Balmert, Lauren C.; Talbott, Evelyn O.; Buchanich, Jeanine M.

2015-01-01

Objective. To determine the impact of coal mining, measured as the number of coal mining-related facilities nearby one's residence or employment in an occupation directly related to coal mining, on self-rated health in Appalachia. Methods. Unadjusted and adjusted ordinal logistic regression models calculated odds ratio estimates and associated 95% confidence intervals for the probability of having an excellent self-rated health response versus another response. Covariates considered in the analyses included number of coal mining-related facilities nearby one's residence and employment in an occupation directly related to coal mining, as well as potential confounders age, sex, BMI, smoking status, income, and education. Results. The number of coal mining facilities near the respondent's residence was not a statistically significant predictor of self-rated health. Employment in a coal-related occupation was a statistically significant predictor of self-rated health univariably; however, after adjusting for potential confounders, it was no longer a significant predictor. Conclusions. Self-rated health does not seem to be associated with residential proximity to coal mining facilities or employment in the coal industry. Future research should consider additional measures for the impact of coal mining. PMID:26240577

Mining review

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCartan, L.; Morse, D.E.; Plunkert, P.A.; Sibley, S.F.

2004-01-01

The average annual growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) from the third quarter of 2001 through the second quarter of 2003 in the United States was about 2.6 percent. GDP growth rates in the third and fourth quarters of 2003 were about 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively. The upward trends in many sectors of the U.S. economy in 2003, however, were shared by few of the mineral materials industries. Annual output declined in most nonfuel mining and mineral processing industries, although there was an upward turn toward yearend as prices began to increase.

Climate change impact modelling needs to include cross-sectoral interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Paula A.; Dunford, Robert W.; Holman, Ian P.; Rounsevell, Mark D. A.

2016-09-01

Climate change impact assessments often apply models of individual sectors such as agriculture, forestry and water use without considering interactions between these sectors. This is likely to lead to misrepresentation of impacts, and consequently to poor decisions about climate adaptation. However, no published research assesses the differences between impacts simulated by single-sector and integrated models. Here we compare 14 indicators derived from a set of impact models run within single-sector and integrated frameworks across a range of climate and socio-economic scenarios in Europe. We show that single-sector studies misrepresent the spatial pattern, direction and magnitude of most impacts because they omit the complex interdependencies within human and environmental systems. The discrepancies are particularly pronounced for indicators such as food production and water exploitation, which are highly influenced by other sectors through changes in demand, land suitability and resource competition. Furthermore, the discrepancies are greater under different socio-economic scenarios than different climate scenarios, and at the sub-regional rather than Europe-wide scale.

Impact of Legacy Surface Mining on Water Quality in the Lake Harris Watershed, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donahoe, R. J.; Hawkins, P. D.

2017-12-01

The Lake Harris watershed was the site of legacy surface mining of coal conducted from approximately 1969 to 1976. The mine site was abandoned and finally reclaimed in 1986. Water quality in the stream draining the mined area is still severely impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD), despite the reclamation effort. Lake Harris is used as a source of industrial water, but shows no negative water quality effects from the legacy mining activities despite receiving drainage from the AMD-impacted stream. Water samples were collected monthly between October 2016 and September 2017 from a first-order stream impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD), a nearby first-order control stream, and Lake Harris. Stream water chemistry was observed to vary both spatially and seasonally, as monitored at five sample stations in each stream over the study period. Comparison of the two streams shows the expected elevated concentrations of AMD-indicator solutes (sulfate and iron), as well as significant increases in conductivity and acidity for the stream draining the reclaimed mine site. In addition, dramatic (1-2 orders of magnitude) increases in major element (Al, Ca, Mg, K), minor element (Mn, Sr) and trace element (Co, Ni) concentrations are also observed for the AMD-impacted stream compared to the control stream. The AMD-impacted stream also shows elevated (2-4 times) levels of other stream water solutes (Cl, Na, Si, Zn), compared to the control stream. As the result of continuing AMD input, the stream draining the reclaimed mine site is essentially sterile, in contrast to the lake and control stream, which support robust aquatic ecosystems. A quantitative model, constrained by isotopic data (δD and δ18O), will be presented that seeks to explain the observed temporal differences in water quality for the AMD-impacted stream as a function of variable meteoric water, groundwater, and AMD inputs. Similar models may be developed for other AMD-impacted streams to better understand and predict temporal variations in water quality parameters and their effect on aquatic ecosystems.

Innovation, systemic appropriation and prevention in the granite mining sector: The case of humidification.

PubMed

Mendes, R W B; Pueyo, V; Béguin, P; Duarte, F J C M

2017-01-01

This research was conducted in the Brazilian granite mining sector. After epidemiological studies, it was established that professional pneumoconiosis is related to the inhalation of dust. Therefore, the Brazilian mining health and safety regulatory standard made it compulsory to provide humidification throughout the extraction and mineral treatment processes. To develop the concept of systemic appropriation of the technological innovations that aim to protect the worker's health. Until now, appropriation has usually been presented in its individual dimensions. In this article, the focus is placed on the collective and organizational aspects of this appropriation. Two methodological approaches were used: interviews with the different individuals involved in order to report the history of the implementation of technical devices which meet the humidification norm; and ergonomic analysis of the work of the operators who used these devices. The appropriation of the technical devices occurred at two distinct levels: 1) Individual, related to the direct contact of the operator with the instrument; 2) Systemic, as the effects of the innovation propagated through the system affecting interdependent tasks, adaptation of the work organization and new production strategies. The implementation of prevention norms require innovations which are necessarily accompanied by transformations in the companies' techniques, work and management.

Costs of abandoned coal mine reclamation and associated recreation benefits in Ohio.

PubMed

Mishra, Shruti K; Hitzhusen, Frederick J; Sohngen, Brent L; Guldmann, Jean-Michel

2012-06-15

Two hundred years of coal mining in Ohio have degraded land and water resources, imposing social costs on its citizens. An interdisciplinary approach employing hydrology, geographic information systems, and a recreation visitation function model, is used to estimate the damages from upstream coal mining to lakes in Ohio. The estimated recreational damages to five of the coal-mining-impacted lakes, using dissolved sulfate as coal-mining-impact indicator, amount to $21 Million per year. Post-reclamation recreational benefits from reducing sulfate concentrations by 6.5% and 15% in the five impacted lakes were estimated to range from $1.89 to $4.92 Million per year, with a net present value ranging from $14.56 Million to $37.79 Million. A benefit costs analysis (BCA) of recreational benefits and coal mine reclamation costs provides some evidence for potential Pareto improvement by investing limited resources in reclamation projects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Occupational exposure to silica dust by selected sectors of national economy in Poland based on electronic database].

PubMed

Bujak-Pietrek, Stella; Mikołajczyk, Urszula; Szadkowska-Stańczyk, Irena; Stroszejn-Mrowca, Grazyna

2008-01-01

To evaluate occupational exposure to dusts, the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź, in collaboration with the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, has developed the national database to store the results of routine dust exposure measurements performed by occupational hygiene and environmental protection laboratories in Poland in the years 2001-2005. It was assumed that the collected information will be useful in analyzing workers' exposure to free crystalline silica (WKK)-containing dusts in Poland, identyfing exceeded hygiene standards and showing relevant trends, which illustrate the dynamics of exposure in the years under study. Inhalable and respirable dust measurement using personal dosimetry were done according to polish standard PN-91/Z-04030/05 and PN-91/Z-04030/06. In total, 148 638 measurement records, provided by sanitary inspection services from all over Poland, were entered into the database. The database enables the estimation of occupational exposure to dust by the sectors of national economy, according to the Polish Classification of Activity (PKD) and by kinds of dust. The highest exposure level of inhalable and respirable dusts was found in coal mining. Also in this sector, almost 60% of surveys demonstrated exceeded current hygiene standards. High concentrations of both dust fractions (inhalable and respirable) and a considerable percentage of measurements exceeding hygiene standards were found in the manufacture of transport equipment (except for cars), as well as in the chemical, mining (rock, sand, gravel, clay mines) and construction industries. The highest percentage of surveys (inhalable and respirable dust) showing exceeded hygiene standards were observed for coal dust with different content of crystalline silica, organic dust containing more than 10% of SiO2, and highly fibrosis dust containing more than 50% of SiO2.

Problems with the application of hydrogeological science to regulation of Australian mining projects: Carmichael Mine and Doongmabulla Springs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Currell, Matthew J.; Werner, Adrian D.; McGrath, Chris; Webb, John A.; Berkman, Michael

2017-05-01

Understanding and managing impacts from mining on groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and other groundwater users requires development of defensible science supported by adequate field data. This usually leads to the creation of predictive models and analysis of the likely impacts of mining and their accompanying uncertainties. The identification, monitoring and management of impacts on GDEs are often a key component of mine approvals, which need to consider and attempt to minimise the risks that negative impacts may arise. Here we examine a case study where approval for a large mining project in Australia (Carmichael Coal Mine) was challenged in court on the basis that it may result in more extensive impacts on a GDE (Doongmabulla Springs) of high ecological and cultural significance than predicted by the proponent. We show that throughout the environmental assessment and approval process, significant data gaps and scientific uncertainties remained unresolved. Evidence shows that the assumed conceptual hydrogeological model for the springs could be incorrect, and that at least one alternative conceptualisation (that the springs are dependent on a deep fault) is consistent with the available field data. Assumptions made about changes to spring flow as a consequence of mine-induced drawdown also appear problematic, with significant implications for the spring-fed wetlands. Despite the large scale of the project, it appears that critical scientific data required to resolve uncertainties and construct robust models of the springs' relationship to the groundwater system were lacking at the time of approval, contributing to uncertainty and conflict. For this reason, we recommend changes to the approval process that would require a higher standard of scientific information to be collected and reviewed, particularly in relation to key environmental assets during the environmental impact assessment process in future projects.

Decomposition of toxicity emission changes on the demand and supply sides: empirical study of the US industrial sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Hidemichi; Okamoto, Shunsuke; Kagawa, Shigemi; Managi, Shunsuke

2017-12-01

This study investigated the changes in the toxicity of chemical emissions from the US industrial sector over the 1998-2009 period. Specifically, we employed a multiregional input-output analysis framework and integrated a supply-side index decomposition analysis (IDA) with a demand-side structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to clarify the main drivers of changes in the toxicity of production- and consumption-based chemical emissions. The results showed that toxic emissions from the US industrial sector decreased by 83% over the studied period because of pollution abatement efforts adopted by US industries. A variety of pollution abatement efforts were used by different industries, and cleaner production in the mining sector and the use of alternative materials in the manufacture of transportation equipment represented the most important efforts.

The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields (External Review Draft)

EPA Science Inventory

This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of mountaintop mines and valley fills (MTM-VF) on streams in the Central Appalachian Coalfields. Our review focused on the aquatic impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining, which, as its name suggests, ...

Environmental and socioeconomic assessment of impacts by mining activities-a case study in the Certej River catchment, Western Carpathians, Romania.

PubMed

Zobrist, Jürg; Sima, Mihaela; Dogaru, Diana; Senila, Marin; Yang, Hong; Popescu, Claudia; Roman, Cecilia; Bela, Abraham; Frei, Linda; Dold, Bernhard; Balteanu, Dan

2009-08-01

In the region of the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians in Romania, metal mining activities have a long-standing tradition. These mining industries created a clearly beneficial economic development in the region. But their activities also caused impairments to the environment, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) resulting in long-lasting heavy metal pollution of waters and sediments. The study, established in the context of the ESTROM programme, investigated the impact of metal mining activities both from environmental and socioeconomic perspectives and tried to incorporate the results of the two approaches into an integrated proposition for mitigation of mining-related issues. The small Certej catchment, situated in the Southern Apuseni Mountains, covers an area of 78 km(2). About 4,500 inhabitants are living in the basin, in which metal mining was the main economic sector. An open pit and several abandoned underground mines are producing heavy metal-loaded acidic water that is discharged untreated into the main river. The solid wastes of mineral processing plants were deposited in several dumps and tailings impoundment embodying the acidic water-producing mineral pyrite. The natural science team collected samples from surface waters, drinking water from dug wells and from groundwater. Filtered and total heavy metals, both after enrichment, and major cations were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Major anions in waters, measured by ion chromatography, alkalinity and acidity were determined by titration. Solid samples were taken from river sediments and from the largest tailings dam. The latter were characterised by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. Heavy metals in sediments were analysed after digestion. Simultaneously, the socioeconomic team performed a household survey to evaluate the perception of people related to the river and drinking water pollution by way of a logistic regression analysis. The inputs of acid mine waters drastically increased filtered heavy metal concentrations in the Certej River, e.g. Zn up to 130 mg L(-1), Fe 100 mg L(-1), Cu 2.9 mg L(-1), Cd 1.4 mg L(-1) as well as those of SO(4) up to 2.2 g L(-1). In addition, river water became acidic with pH values of pH 3. Concentrations of pollutant decreased slightly downstream due to dilution by waters from tributaries. Metal concentrations measured at headwater stations reflect background values. They fell in the range of the environmental quality standards proposed in the EU Water Framework Directive for dissolved heavy metals. The outflow of the large tailing impoundment and the groundwater downstream from two tailings dams exhibited the first sign of AMD, but they still had alkalinity. Most dug wells analysed delivered a drinking water that exhibited no sign of AMD pollution, although these wells were a distance of 7 to 25 m from the contaminated river. It seems that the Certej River does not infiltrate significantly into the groundwater. Pyrite was identified as the main sulphide mineral in the tailings dam that produces acidity and with calcite representing the AMD-neutralising mineral. The acid-base accounting proved that the potential acid-neutralising capacity in the solid phases would not be sufficient to prevent the production of acidic water in the future. Therefore, the open pits and mine waste deposits have to be seen as the sources for AMD at the present time, with a high long-term potential to produce even more AMD in the future. The socioeconomic study showed that mining provided the major source of income. Over 45% of the households were partly or completely reliant on financial compensations as a result of mine closure. Unemployment was considered by the majority of the interviewed persons as the main cause of social problems in the area. The estimation of the explanatory factors by the logistic regression analysis revealed that education, household income, pollution conditions during the last years and familiarity with environmental problems were the main predictors influencing peoples' opinion concerning whether the main river is strongly polluted. This model enabled one to predict correctly 77% of the observations reported. For the drinking water quality model, three predictors were relevant and they explained 66% of the observations. Coupling the findings from the natural science and socioeconomic approaches, we may conclude that the impact of mining on the Certej River water is high, while drinking water in wells is not significantly affected. The perceptions of the respondents to pollution were to a large extent consistent with the measured results. The results of the study can be used by various stakeholders, mainly the mining company and local municipalities, in order to integrate them in their post-mining measures, thereby making them aware of the potential long-term impact of mining on the environment and on human health as well as on the local economy.

Hydrogeochemical assessment of mine-impacted water and sediment of iron ore mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nur Atirah Affandi, Fatin; Kusin, Faradiella Mohd; Aqilah Sulong, Nur; Madzin, Zafira

2018-04-01

This study was carried out to evaluate the hydrogeochemical behaviour of mine-impacted water and sediment of a former iron ore mining area. Sampling of mine water and sediment were carried out at selected locations within the mine including the former mining ponds, mine tailings and the nearby stream. The water samples were analysed for their hydrochemical facies, major and trace elements including heavy metals. The water in the mining ponds and the mine tailings was characterised as highly acidic (pH 2.54-3.07), but has near-neutral pH in the nearby stream. Results indicated that Fe and Mn in water have exceeded the recommended guidelines values and was also supported by the results of geochemical modelling. The results also indicated that sediments in the mining area were contaminated with Cd and As as shown by the potential ecological risk index values. The total risk index of heavy metals in the sediment were ranked in the order of Cd>As>Pb>Cu>Zn>Cr. Overall, the extent of potential ecological risks of the mining area were categorised as having low to moderate ecological risk.

Identification of Response Options to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in Ghana via the Delphi Process.

PubMed

Basu, Avik; Phipps, Sean; Long, Rachel; Essegbey, George; Basu, Niladri

2015-09-10

The Delphi technique is a means of facilitating discussion among experts in order to develop consensus, and can be used for policy formulation. This article describes a modified Delphi approach in which 27 multi-disciplinary academics and 22 stakeholders from Ghana and North America were polled about ways to address negative effects of small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana. In early 2014, the academics, working in disciplinary groups, synthesized 17 response options based on data aggregated during an Integrated Assessment of ASGM in Ghana. The researchers participated in two rounds of Delphi polling in March and April 2014, during which 17 options were condensed into 12. Response options were rated via a 4-point Likert scale in terms of benefit (economic, environmental, and benefit to people) and feasibility (economic, social/cultural, political, and implementation). The six highest-scoring options populated a third Delphi poll, which 22 stakeholders from diverse sectors completed in April 2015. The academics and stakeholders also prioritized the response options using ranking exercises. The technique successfully gauged expert opinion on ASGM, and helped identify potential responses, policies and solutions for the sector. This is timely given that improvement to the ASGM sector is an important component within the UN Minamata Convention.

Identification of Response Options to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in Ghana via the Delphi Process

PubMed Central

Basu, Avik; Phipps, Sean; Long, Rachel; Essegbey, George; Basu, Niladri

2015-01-01

The Delphi technique is a means of facilitating discussion among experts in order to develop consensus, and can be used for policy formulation. This article describes a modified Delphi approach in which 27 multi-disciplinary academics and 22 stakeholders from Ghana and North America were polled about ways to address negative effects of small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana. In early 2014, the academics, working in disciplinary groups, synthesized 17 response options based on data aggregated during an Integrated Assessment of ASGM in Ghana. The researchers participated in two rounds of Delphi polling in March and April 2014, during which 17 options were condensed into 12. Response options were rated via a 4-point Likert scale in terms of benefit (economic, environmental, and benefit to people) and feasibility (economic, social/cultural, political, and implementation). The six highest-scoring options populated a third Delphi poll, which 22 stakeholders from diverse sectors completed in April 2015. The academics and stakeholders also prioritized the response options using ranking exercises. The technique successfully gauged expert opinion on ASGM, and helped identify potential responses, policies and solutions for the sector. This is timely given that improvement to the ASGM sector is an important component within the UN Minamata Convention. PMID:26378557

Gemstones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, D.W.

2001-01-01

Part of the 2000 annual review of the industrial minerals sector. A general overview of the gemstones industry is provided. Although no extensive commercial mining of gemstones takes place in the U.S., it is the world's leading gemstone market. Total U.S. gemstone trade exceeded $16.9 billion in 2000.

Challenges and opportunities of multi-disciplinary, multi-national and multi-sectoral projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reitz, Anja; Hamann, Kristin

2017-04-01

Collaborative research projects e.g. funded or supported by the European Commission are by nature multi-national. Often EU calls bring together different scientific communities to jointly tackle challenges that can only be addressed through the convergence of previously separated disciplines in one research consortium. Some work programmes even necessitate to team up as different disciplines as natural sciences, social science, legal science and economic science. Examples for such multi- national, -disciplinary and - sectoral projects are the EU projects ECO2 (FP7, concluded), AtlantOS (H2020) and MiningImpact (JPI Oceans). Project managers of such projects need to develop skills beyond the common technical and management skills namely go into the domain of partners and stakeholders psychology and be able to maintain different perspectives on communication and interaction needs regarding cultural-, discipline- and sectoral background. Accordingly, the project manager has besides his or her technical role as manager at least three further roles: that of a communicator, that of a mediator and that of a person convincing partners of the necessary and selling the project products to the stakeholders. As the typical project manager has not too much power and authority by his or her position he or she has to use the power of smart communication and persuasion to overcome potential dissension between disciplines, national reservation or potential conflicts regarding different sectoral views. Accordingly, the project manager of such complex projects would try to arrange the ideal working environment by considering cultural feel, the cooperation of disciplines, information and the control of resources. The way he or she develops such ideal working environment is by reflection of past, present and future experiences/needs.

(Power sector integrated efficiency program): Foreign trip report, August 1--11, 1989

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Waddle, D.B.

1989-08-18

I traveled to Guatemala City to discuss host country and US Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission interest in an AID/Washington sponsored integrated utility efficiency initiative and to participate in a cogeneration conference. Discussions were held with USAID/Regional Office for Central America Panama (ROCAP), USAID/Guatemala City, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), the Empresa Electrica de Guatemala, and several members of the private sector regarding interest and the appropriateness of the proposed efficiency initiative. I then traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica to participate in a small scale hydro assessment study with a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)more » engineer for a newly formed generation and transmission consortium. Data were gathered both on member cooperative annual, seasonal and diurnal energy demand, as well as engineering data for the site analyses. Meetings were held with the cooperative members; USAID/San Jose; and the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines to inform them of our progress.« less

Tax reform and energy in the Philippines economy: A general equilibrium computation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyd, R.G.; Doroodian, K.; Udomvaech, P.

1994-12-31

This paper examines how energy tax cuts, offset with income tax increases, affect production, consumption, and total welfare in the Philippines economy. Our results show that energy tax cuts expand the energy and nonmetal mining sectors, but decrease output in the manufacturing, agricultural, and metal mining sectors. Consumption of all goods and services combined increases as the amount of energy tax reduction increases. Our welfare results, however, are mixed. While the welfare of the mid- and high-income levels increases, that of the lowest income level decreases. These results are robust with respect to changes in the elasticity of substitution inmore » energy production as well as the elasticity of substitution in consumer demand. From the standpoint of economic efficiency, a policy such as this would enhance growth and aggregate income. From an equity standpoint, however, this policy is highly regressive in spite of the fact that the richest households pay proportionately more to finance the energy tax reduction. 18 refs., 10 tabs.« less

MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM: A SUCCESS STORY

EPA Science Inventory

Mining Waste generated by active and inactive mining operations is a growing problem for the mining industry, local governments, and Native American communities because of its impact on human health and the environment. In the US, the reported volume of mine waste is immense: 2 b...

A big picture look at big coal: Teaching students to link societal and environmental issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sojka, S. L.

2014-12-01

The environmental impact of coal mining and burning of coal is evident and generally easy to understand. However, students often struggle to understand the social impacts of coal mining. A jigsaw activity culminating in a mock town hall meeting helps students link social, economic and environmental impacts of coal mining. Students are divided into four groups and assigned the task of researching the environmental, social, economic or health impacts of coal mining in West Virginia. When students have completed the research, they are assigned a role for the town hall. Roles include local community members, direct employees of the coal industry, business owners from industries related to coal mining, and environmentalists. One student from each research area is assigned to each role, forcing students to consider environmental, social, health and economic aspects of coal mining in choosing an appropriate position for their role. Students have 30 minutes to prepare their positions and then present for 2-5 minutes in the simulated town hall. We then have open class discussion and review the positions. Finally, students are required to write a letter to the editor of the local paper. The specific topic for the town hall and letters can be varied based on current events and could include new regulations on power plants, mine safety, government funding of alternative energy supplies or a range of other topics. This approach forces students to consider all aspects of the issue. In addition, because students have to assume a role, they are more aware of the direct impact that coal mining has on individuals' lives.

The Dangers of "Proofiness” in the Evaluation of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Impacts

EPA Science Inventory

Assessment of ecological and human health impacts from coal mining in West Virginia presents challenges for agencies responsible for permitting and evaluating those impacts. These challenges include correctly identifying, locating and diagnosing stressor sources and understandin...

Documenting the global impacts of beach sand mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, R.; Griffith, A.

2009-04-01

For centuries, beach sand has been mined for use as aggregate in concrete, for heavy minerals, and for construction fill. The global extent and impact of this phenomenon has gone relatively unnoticed by academics, NGOs, and major news sources. Most reports of sand mining activities are found at the very local scale (if the mining is ever documented at all). Yet, sand mining in many localities has resulted in the complete destruction of beach (and related) ecosystems along with severe impacts to coastal protection and tourism. The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University and Beachcare.org have initiated the construction of a global database of beach sand mining activities. The database is being built through a combination of site visits and through the data mining of media resources, peer reviewed papers, and reports from private and governmental entities. Currently, we have documented sand mining in 35 countries on 6 continents representing the removal of millions of cubic meters of sand. Problems extend from Asia where critical infrastructure has been disrupted by sand mining to the Caribbean where policy reform has swiftly followed a highly publicized theft of sand. The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines recently observed extensive sand mining in Morocco at the regional scale. Tens of kilometers of beach have been stripped of sand and the mining continues southward reducing hope of a thriving tourism-based economy. Problems caused by beach sand mining include: destruction of natural beaches and the ecosystems they protect (e.g. dunes, wetlands), habitat loss for globally important species (e.g. turtles, shorebirds), destruction of nearshore marine ecosystems, increased shoreline erosion rates, reduced protection from storms, tsunamis, and wave events, and economic losses through tourist abandonment and loss of coastal aesthetics. The threats posed by sand mining are made even more critical given the prospect of a significant rise in global sea level over the coming decades. Most governments recognize the local impacts of sand mining and mining activities are illegal in many localities. However, enforcement of these protections has been problematic and there has been little pressure to stop the practice from local or international environmental groups. In many cases, addressing the issue of sand mining requires addressing the local issues that allow it to persist. This includes poverty, corruption, and unregulated development. In areas where beach sand mining significantly supports the local economy, care needs to be given that local workers are given alternative means of income, and builders are provided an affordable substitute for the sand (e.g. crushed rock). Regardless, it is time for both academics and NGOs to address the cumulative environmental impacts of the direct destruction of the world's beaches through mining activities.

Outsourcing and Insourcing Jobs in the U.S. Economy: Evidence Based on Foreign Investment Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-13

production, retail trade, chemicals, and computers and equipment. Employment in the services sectors, mining, and the food sectors grew most rapidly from...focused on this region for some time to come. Nevertheless, from 2003 to 2005, employment by U.S. firms in Asia, particularly in China, Malaysia and...4,838.8 4,963.7 Food 384.2 390.5 551.3 Beverages and tobacco products 204.6 208.7 130.2 Textiles, apparel , and leather products 59.5 56.4 54.9

78 FR 63463 - Intent To Prepare a Regional Environmental Impact Statement for Surface Coal and Lignite Mining...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-24

... Environmental Impact Statement for Surface Coal and Lignite Mining in the State of Texas AGENCY: Department of..., indirect, and cumulative effects associated with a decision to develop and assess data and information with... responsibility. These coal and lignite mining activities may eventually require authorization from the USACE...

Impacts of historical mining in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Balistrieri, Laurie S.; Box, Stephen E.; Bookstrom, Arthur A.; Hooper, Robert L.; Mahoney, J. Brian

2010-01-01

Mining began in the late 1880s in the Coeur d'Alene mining district in northern Idaho (fig. 1). Although only two mines, the Galena and Lucky Friday, currently are operating, more than 90 historical mines exist in this region (Bennett and others, 1989).

An assessment of cumulative impacts of coal mining on the hydrology in part of the Powder River structural basin, Wyoming; a progress report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jordan, P.R.; Bloyd, R.M.; Daddow, P.B.

1984-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality are involved in a cooperative effort to assess the probable cumulative impacts of coal mining on the hydrology of a part of the Powder River Structural Basin in Wyoming. It was assumed that the principal impacts on the ground-water system due to mining will occur in the relatively shallow aquifers which can be grouped into three homogeneous aquifers, namely, the Wyodak coal, the overburden, and the under burden. Emphasis of this report is on the results of analysis of surface-water resources in the Caballo Creek drainage. A surface-water model of the Caballo Creek drainage was developed using the Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran model to help assess the impacts of mining activities on streamflow. The Caballo Creek drainage was divided into 10 land segments and 6 stream reaches in the modeling process. Three simulation runs show little, if any, change in streamflow between pre- and post-mining conditions and very little change between pre-mining and during-mining conditions. The principal reason for the absence of change is the high infiltration rate used in the model for all three conditions. (USGS)

Recovery and reuse of sludge from active and passive treatment of mine drainage-impacted waters: a review.

PubMed

Rakotonimaro, Tsiverihasina V; Neculita, Carmen Mihaela; Bussière, Bruno; Benzaazoua, Mostafa; Zagury, Gérald J

2017-01-01

The treatment of mine drainage-impacted waters generates considerable amounts of sludge, which raises several concerns, such as storage and disposal, stability, and potential social and environmental impacts. To alleviate the storage and management costs, as well as to give the mine sludge a second life, recovery and reuse have recently become interesting options. In this review, different recovery and reuse options of sludge originating from active and passive treatment of mine drainage are identified and thoroughly discussed, based on available laboratory and field studies. The most valuable products presently recovered from the mine sludge are the iron oxy-hydroxides (ochre). Other by-products include metals, elemental sulfur, and calcium carbonate. Mine sludge reuse includes the removal of contaminants, such as As, P, dye, and rare earth elements. Mine sludge can also be reused as stabilizer for contaminated soil, as fertilizer in agriculture/horticulture, as substitute material in construction, as cover over tailings for acid mine drainage prevention and control, as material to sequester carbon dioxide, and in cement and pigment industries. The review also stresses out some of the current challenges and research needs. Finally, in order to move forward, studies are needed to better estimate the contribution of sludge recovery/reuse to the overall costs of mine water treatment.

Knowledge and perceptions of health and environmental risks related to artisanal gold mining by the artisanal miners in Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional survey

PubMed Central

Sana, Adama; De Brouwer, Christophe; Hien, Hervé

2017-01-01

Introduction Artisanal gold mining is an activity ensuring the survival of about 700,000 families in Burkina Faso with a considerable contribution to the national economy. Techniques and chemicals used in the operation, have adverse impacts on health and the environment. Our study aims to evaluate the perceptions and knowledge of these different impacts among artisanal gold miners. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in artisanal gold mines Bouda and Nagsene in the region of the North of Burkina Faso. Two hundred miners over 18 years of age were interviewed. Results All the participants have recognized that gold mining has health impacts and 88.5% felt these impacts as important with a significantly higher proportion among those with more than 3 years' seniority (p = 0.001). The environmental impacts were perceived as important by 64.5% of miners, with a significant difference according to the position (p = 0.004). Sixty percent (60%) of respondents could identify at least 3 of the 5 health impacts of gold mining listed and 49.5% acknowledged at least 3 impacts on the environment. The diggers had significantly more knowledge about the symptoms (p < 0.001). Conclusion Study highlights the lack of knowledge of the Stampeders on the health and environmental impacts of artisanal gold mining. Findings might be used to develop more effective awareness campaigns in the future. Communication with diggers must focus on the risk perception because it appears that raising risk perceptions from low to high would have a major effect on behavior. PMID:29187949

Knowledge and perceptions of health and environmental risks related to artisanal gold mining by the artisanal miners in Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Sana, Adama; De Brouwer, Christophe; Hien, Hervé

2017-01-01

Artisanal gold mining is an activity ensuring the survival of about 700,000 families in Burkina Faso with a considerable contribution to the national economy. Techniques and chemicals used in the operation, have adverse impacts on health and the environment. Our study aims to evaluate the perceptions and knowledge of these different impacts among artisanal gold miners. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in artisanal gold mines Bouda and Nagsene in the region of the North of Burkina Faso. Two hundred miners over 18 years of age were interviewed. All the participants have recognized that gold mining has health impacts and 88.5% felt these impacts as important with a significantly higher proportion among those with more than 3 years' seniority (p = 0.001). The environmental impacts were perceived as important by 64.5% of miners, with a significant difference according to the position (p = 0.004). Sixty percent (60%) of respondents could identify at least 3 of the 5 health impacts of gold mining listed and 49.5% acknowledged at least 3 impacts on the environment. The diggers had significantly more knowledge about the symptoms (p < 0.001). Study highlights the lack of knowledge of the Stampeders on the health and environmental impacts of artisanal gold mining. Findings might be used to develop more effective awareness campaigns in the future. Communication with diggers must focus on the risk perception because it appears that raising risk perceptions from low to high would have a major effect on behavior.

Microbial and geochemical assessment of bauxitic un-mined and post-mined chronosequence soils from Mocho Mountains, Jamaica.

PubMed

Lewis, Dawn E; Chauhan, Ashvini; White, John R; Overholt, Will; Green, Stefan J; Jasrotia, Puja; Wafula, Denis; Jagoe, Charles

2012-10-01

Microorganisms are very sensitive to environmental change and can be used to gauge anthropogenic impacts and even predict restoration success of degraded environments. Here, we report assessment of bauxite mining activities on soil biogeochemistry and microbial community structure using un-mined and three post-mined sites in Jamaica. The post-mined soils represent a chronosequence, undergoing restoration since 1987, 1997, and 2007. Soils were collected during dry and wet seasons and analyzed for pH, organic matter (OM), total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), and phosphorus. The microbial community structure was assessed through quantitative PCR and massively parallel bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. Edaphic factors and microbial community composition were analyzed using multivariate statistical approaches and revealed a significant, negative impact of mining on soil that persisted even after greater than 20 years of restoration. Seasonal fluctuations contributed to variation in measured soil properties and community composition, but they were minor in comparison to long-term effects of mining. In both seasons, post-mined soils were higher in pH but OM, TC, and TN decreased. Bacterial rRNA gene analyses demonstrated a general decrease in diversity in post-mined soils and up to a 3-log decrease in rRNA gene abundance. Community composition analyses demonstrated that bacteria from the Proteobacteria (α, β, γ, δ), Acidobacteria, and Firmicutes were abundant in all soils. The abundance of Firmicutes was elevated in newer post-mined soils relative to the un-mined soil, and this contrasted a decrease, relative to un-mined soils, in proteobacterial and acidobacterial rRNA gene abundances. Our study indicates long-lasting impacts of mining activities to soil biogeochemical and microbial properties with impending loss in soil productivity.

Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques

PubMed Central

Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M.; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

2018-01-01

An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector—either surface or underground mining—based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents. PMID:29518921

Influence of occupational safety management on the incidence rate of occupational accidents in the Spanish industrial and ornamental stone mining.

PubMed

Sanmiquel, Lluís; Rossell, Josep M; Vintró, Carla; Freijo, Modesto

2014-01-01

Mines are hazardous and workers can suffer many types of accidents caused by fire, flood, explosion or collapse. Injury incidence rates in mining are considerably higher than those registered by other economic sectors. One of the main reasons for this high-level incidence rate is the existence of a large number of dangerous workplaces. This work analyzes the influence that occupational safety management had on the accidents that took place in Spanish mining of industrial and ornamental stone during the period 2007-2008. Primary data sources are: (a) Results from a statistical study of the occupational health and safety management practices of 71 quarries defined by a questionnaire of 41 items; and (b) Occupational accidents registered in the Spanish industrial and ornamental stone mining throughout the period 2007-2008. The obtained results indicate that workplaces with a low average score in the analysis of occupational safety management have a higher incidence rate of accidents. Studies on mining workplaces are very important to help detect occupational safety concerns. Results from this study help raise awareness and will encourage the adoption of appropriate measures to improve safety.

Application of MIKE SHE to study the impact of coal mining on river runoff in Gujiao mining area, Shanxi, China

PubMed Central

Ping, Jianhua; Yan, Shiyan; Gu, Pan; Wu, Zening; Hu, Caihong

2017-01-01

Coal mining is one of the core industries that contribute to the economic development of a country but deteriorate the environment. Being the primary source of energy, coal has become essential to meet the energy demand of a country. It is excavated by both opencast and underground mining methods and affects the environment, especially hydrological cycle, by discharging huge amounts of mine water. Natural hydrological processes have been well known to be vulnerable to human activities, especially large scale mining activities, which inevitably generate surface cracks and subsidence. It is therefore valuable to assess the impact of mining on river runoff for the sustainable development of regional economy. In this paper, the impact of coal mining on river runoff is assessed in one of the national key coal mining sites, Gujiao mining area, Shanxi Province, China. The characteristics of water cycle are described, the similarities and differences of runoff formation are analyzed in both coal mining and pre-mining periods. The integrated distributed hydrological model named MIKE SHE is employed to simulate and evaluate the influence of coal mining on river runoff. The study shows that mining one ton of raw coal leads to the reduction of river runoff by 2.87 m3 between 1981 and 2008, of which the surface runoff decreases by 0.24 m3 and the baseflow by 2.63 m3. The reduction degree of river runoff for mining one ton of raw coal shows an increasing trend over years. The current study also reveals that large scale coal mining initiates the formation of surface cracks and subsidence, which intercepts overland flow and enhances precipitation infiltration. Together with mine drainage, the natural hydrological processes and the stream flows have been altered and the river run off has been greatly reduced. PMID:29267313

Application of MIKE SHE to study the impact of coal mining on river runoff in Gujiao mining area, Shanxi, China.

PubMed

Ping, Jianhua; Yan, Shiyan; Gu, Pan; Wu, Zening; Hu, Caihong

2017-01-01

Coal mining is one of the core industries that contribute to the economic development of a country but deteriorate the environment. Being the primary source of energy, coal has become essential to meet the energy demand of a country. It is excavated by both opencast and underground mining methods and affects the environment, especially hydrological cycle, by discharging huge amounts of mine water. Natural hydrological processes have been well known to be vulnerable to human activities, especially large scale mining activities, which inevitably generate surface cracks and subsidence. It is therefore valuable to assess the impact of mining on river runoff for the sustainable development of regional economy. In this paper, the impact of coal mining on river runoff is assessed in one of the national key coal mining sites, Gujiao mining area, Shanxi Province, China. The characteristics of water cycle are described, the similarities and differences of runoff formation are analyzed in both coal mining and pre-mining periods. The integrated distributed hydrological model named MIKE SHE is employed to simulate and evaluate the influence of coal mining on river runoff. The study shows that mining one ton of raw coal leads to the reduction of river runoff by 2.87 m3 between 1981 and 2008, of which the surface runoff decreases by 0.24 m3 and the baseflow by 2.63 m3. The reduction degree of river runoff for mining one ton of raw coal shows an increasing trend over years. The current study also reveals that large scale coal mining initiates the formation of surface cracks and subsidence, which intercepts overland flow and enhances precipitation infiltration. Together with mine drainage, the natural hydrological processes and the stream flows have been altered and the river run off has been greatly reduced.

Impacts of surface gold mining on land use systems in Western Ghana.

PubMed

Schueler, Vivian; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Schröder, Hilmar

2011-07-01

Land use conflicts are becoming increasingly apparent from local to global scales. Surface gold mining is an extreme source of such a conflict, but mining impacts on local livelihoods often remain unclear. Our goal here was to assess land cover change due to gold surface mining in Western Ghana, one of the world's leading gold mining regions, and to study how these changes affected land use systems. We used Landsat satellite images from 1986-2002 to map land cover change and field interviews with farmers to understand the livelihood implications of mining-related land cover change. Our results showed that surface mining resulted in deforestation (58%), a substantial loss of farmland (45%) within mining concessions, and widespread spill-over effects as relocated farmers expand farmland into forests. This points to rapidly eroding livelihood foundations, suggesting that the environmental and social costs of Ghana's gold boom may be much higher than previously thought.

77 FR 48498 - Executive-Led Trade Mission to South Africa and Zambia

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-14

... technologies and equipment; transportation equipment and infrastructure; and mining equipment and technology...'', add the following text: Water Sector [cir] Water supply [cir] Sanitation [cir] Drainage systems [cir... gemstones, and produces 20 percent of the world's emeralds.'', add the following text: Water The Government...

76 FR 12934 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-09

..., Manufacturing, and Mining Sectors and Selected Wholesale Industries. OMB Control Number: 0607-0925. Form Number... Business Register data, which provides the Economic Census and current business surveys with their establishment lists. Critical to the quality of data in the Business Register is that establishments are...

The Prospects of Accounting at Mining Enterprises as a Factor of Ensuring their Sustainable Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyuleneva, Tatiana

2017-11-01

One of the problems of sustainable development of mining companies is attracting additional investment. To solve it requires access to international capital markets, in this context, enterprises need to prepare financial statements with international requirements based on the data generated by the accounting system. The article considers the basic problems of accounting in the extractive industries due to the nature of the industry, as well as evaluation of the completeness of their solution in the framework of international financial reporting standards. In addition, lists the characteristics of accounting for mining industry, due to the peculiarities of the production process that need to be considered to solve these problems. This sector is extremely important for individual countries and on a global scale.

Determinants of Interest Rates on Corporate Bonds of Mining Enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranosz, Robert

2017-09-01

This article is devoted to the determinants of interest rates on corporate bonds of mining enterprises. The study includes a comparison between the cost of foreign capital as resulting from the issue of debt instruments in different sectors of the economy in relation to the mining industry. The article also depicts the correlation between the rating scores published by the three largest rating agencies: S&P, Moody's, and Fitch. The test was based on simple statistical methods. The analysis performed indicated that there is a dependency between the factors listed and the amount of interest rates on corporate bonds of global mining enterprises. Most significant factors include the rating level and the period for which the given series of bonds was issued. Additionally, it is not without significance whether the given bond has additional options. Pursuant to the obtained results, is should be recognized that in order to reduce the interest rate on bonds, mining enterprises should pay particular attention to the rating and attempt to include additional options in issued bonds. Such additional options may comprise, for example, an ability to exchange bonds to shares or raw materials.

Sector analysis of economic impacts from heritage centers

Treesearch

Charles H. Strauss; Bruce E. Lord

1995-01-01

The economic impact of six of America's Industrial Heritage Project visitor centers was evaluated within a nine-county region of Pennsylvania. The total sales impact of these expenditures was $29.2 million. Over 60% of the direct sales impact was in the lodging and food service sectors. The labor-intensive character of both sectors created a substantial induced...

Impacts of gold mine waste disposal on a tropical pelagic ecosystem.

PubMed

Brewer, D T; Morello, E B; Griffiths, S; Fry, G; Heales, D; Apte, S C; Venables, W N; Rothlisberg, P C; Moeseneder, C; Lansdell, M; Pendrey, R; Coman, F; Strzelecki, J; Jarolimek, C V; Jung, R F; Richardson, A J

2012-12-01

We used a comparative approach to investigate the impact of the disposal of gold mine tailings into the ocean near the Lihir mine (Niolam Island, Papua New Guinea). We found abundance and diversity of zooplankton, micronekton and pelagic fish to be similar or higher in the mine region compared to the reference site. We also found relatively high trace metal concentrations in lower trophic level groups, especially zooplankton, near the mine discharge, but few differences in tissue concentrations of micronekton, baitfish and pelagic fish between the two regions. Biomagnification of some trace metals by micronekton, and of mercury by fish was evident in both regions. We conclude that ocean mine waste disposal at Niolam Island has a local impact on the smaller and less mobile pelagic communities in terms of trace metal concentrations, but has little effect on the abundance and biodiversity of the local food web. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A methodology for the environmental assessment of advanced coal extraction systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, P. J.; Hutchinson, C. F.; Makihara, J.; Evensizer, J.

1980-01-01

Procedures developed to identify and assess potential environment impacts of advanced mining technology as it moves from a generic concept to a more systems definition are described. Two levels of assessment are defined in terms of the design stage of the technology being evaluated. The first level of analysis is appropriate to a conceptual design. At this level it is assumed that each mining process has known and potential environmental impacts that are generic to each mining activity. By using this assumption, potential environmental impacts can be identified for new mining systems. When two or more systems have been assessed, they can be evaluated comparing potential environmental impacts. At the preliminary stage of design, a systems performance can be assessed again with more precision. At this level of systems definition, potential environmental impacts can be analyzed and their significane determined in a manner to facilitate comparisons between systems. At each level of analysis, suggestions calculated to help the designer mitigate potentially harmful impacts are provided.

The Economic Impact of Coal Mining in New Mexico

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peach, James; Starbuck, C.

2009-06-01

The economic impact of coal mining in New Mexico is examined in this report. The analysis is based on economic multipliers derived from an input-output model of the New Mexico economy. The direct, indirect, and induced impacts of coal mining in New Mexico are presented in terms of output, value added, employment, and labor income for calendar year 2007. Tax, rental, and royalty income to the State of New Mexico are also presented. Historical coal production, reserves, and price data are also presented and discussed. The impacts of coal-fired electricity generation will be examined in a separate report.

Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring.

PubMed

Asner, Gregory P; Llactayo, William; Tupayachi, Raul; Luna, Ernesto Ráez

2013-11-12

Gold mining has rapidly increased in western Amazonia, but the rates and ecological impacts of mining remain poorly known and potentially underestimated. We combined field surveys, airborne mapping, and high-resolution satellite imaging to assess road- and river-based gold mining in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon from 1999 to 2012. In this period, the geographic extent of gold mining increased 400%. The average annual rate of forest loss as a result of gold mining tripled in 2008 following the global economic recession, closely associated with increased gold prices. Small clandestine operations now comprise more than half of all gold mining activities throughout the region. These rates of gold mining are far higher than previous estimates that were based on traditional satellite mapping techniques. Our results prove that gold mining is growing more rapidly than previously thought, and that high-resolution monitoring approaches are required to accurately quantify human impacts on tropical forests.

Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring

PubMed Central

Asner, Gregory P.; Llactayo, William; Tupayachi, Raul; Luna, Ernesto Ráez

2013-01-01

Gold mining has rapidly increased in western Amazonia, but the rates and ecological impacts of mining remain poorly known and potentially underestimated. We combined field surveys, airborne mapping, and high-resolution satellite imaging to assess road- and river-based gold mining in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon from 1999 to 2012. In this period, the geographic extent of gold mining increased 400%. The average annual rate of forest loss as a result of gold mining tripled in 2008 following the global economic recession, closely associated with increased gold prices. Small clandestine operations now comprise more than half of all gold mining activities throughout the region. These rates of gold mining are far higher than previous estimates that were based on traditional satellite mapping techniques. Our results prove that gold mining is growing more rapidly than previously thought, and that high-resolution monitoring approaches are required to accurately quantify human impacts on tropical forests. PMID:24167281

From rum jungle to Wismut-reducing the environmental impact of uranium mining and milling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zuk, W.M.; Jeffree, R.A.; Levins, D.M.

1994-12-31

Australia has a long history of uranium mining. In the early days, little attention was given to environmental matters and considerable pollution occurred. Ansto has been involved in rehabilitation of a number of the early uranium mining sites, from Rum Jungle in Australia`s Northern Territory to Wismut in Germany, and is working with current producers to minimise the environmental impact of their operations. Ansto`s expertise is extensive and includes, inter alia, amelioration of acid mine drainage, radon measurement and control, treatment of mill wastes, management of tailings, monitoring of seepage plumes, mathematical modelling of pollutant transport and biological impacts inmore » a tropical environment.« less

Impacts of mining activities on water and soil.

PubMed

Warhate, S R; Yenkie, M K N; Chaudhari, M D; Pokale, W K

2006-04-01

Seven coal mines are situated in Wardha River Valley. These mines are located at Wani (Dist. Yavatmal of Maharashtra). Out of these, 5 open cast coal mines are run by Western Coal Field Ltd. India. The present study has been undertaken to assess the impacts of mining activities in the adjacent areas. Total 25 samples of water and 19 samples of soil from Nilapur, Bramhani, Kolera, Gowari, Pimpari and Aheri were analyzed for pH, TDS, hardness, alkalinity, fluoride, chloride, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, arsenic, manganese, sodium and potassium, and the results were compared with the limits of Indian Standards: 10500.

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES ON THE LEACHING OF MERCURY-CONTAMINATED MINE WASTES FROM THE SULFUR BANK MERCURY MINE, CLEAR LAKE, CA

EPA Science Inventory

For nearly a century, Clear Lake in northern California has received inputs of mercury (Hg) mining wastes trom the Sulfur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM). About 1.2 million tons of Hg-contaminated overburden and mine tailings were distributed over a 50-ha surface area due to mining oper...

The Raising Influence of Information Technologies on Professional Training in the Sphere of Automated Driving When Transporting Mined Rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosolapov, Andrey; Krysin, Sergey

2017-11-01

Revolutionary changes in the area of production, holding and exploitation of the automobile as a transport vehicle are analyzed in the article. Current state of the issue is described and the development stages of new approach to driving without human participation are predicted, taking into consideration the usage of automobiles for transportation of mined rock in Kuzbass. The influence of modern information technologies on the development of new sector of automobile industry and on the process of professional and further training of the specialists in the sphere of automobile driving is considered.

Source Apportionment of Background PAHs in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta, Canada) Using Molecular Level Radiocarbon Analysis.

PubMed

Jautzy, Josué J; Ahad, Jason M E; Hall, Roland I; Wiklund, Johan A; Wolfe, Brent B; Gobeil, Charles; Savard, Martine M

2015-08-04

The downstream accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD), an ecologically important landscape, is a key issue of concern given the rapid development of the oil sands industry in Northern Alberta, Canada. In addition to PAHs derived from industrial activity (i.e., oil sands mining) within the Athabasca watershed, however, forest fires and erosion of fossil fuel deposits within both the Athabasca and Peace watersheds are two potentially important natural sources of PAHs delivered to the PAD. Consequently, evaluating the environmental impact of mining activities requires a quantitative understanding of natural, background PAHs. Here, we utilize molecular-level natural-abundance radiocarbon measurements on an amalgamated sediment record from a Peace River flood-susceptible oxbow lake in the northern Peace sector of the PAD to quantitatively discriminate sources of naturally occurring alkylated PAHs (fossil and modern biomass). A radiocarbon mass balance quantified a predominantly natural petrogenic source (93% petrogenic, 7% forest fire) for alkylated PAHs during the past ∼50 years. Additionally, a significant petrogenic component determined for retene, a compound usually considered a biomarker for softwood combustion, suggests that its use as a unique forest fire indicator may not be suitable in PAD sediments receiving Peace watershed-derived fluvial inputs.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumasaka, Y.

The author analyzed the slowdown in productivity growth since the first oil crisis for about ten industrial sectors in both Japan and the USA and also compared the similarities and differences of their economic performances from the two oil crises. It is assumed that the increase in energy prices was the main cause of the slowdown in productivity growth. The productivity experiences from the two oil crises through the shift of factor price frontier, which was obtained from the cost function, was analyzed. The two oil crises had much responsibility for the slowdown in productivity growth since 1973. However, themore » effects of the oil crises on production were quite different not only among industrial sectors but also between Japan and the USA. The mining sector suffered from the two oil crises most severely in both countries. The Japanese transportation and communication sector and the US communication sector suffered from them least severely. Also studied was the learning effect from the first oil crisis for the Japanese manufacturing and the US commercial sectors. The reason why most of Japanese industrial sectors managed the second oil crisis relatively well was due to the downward flexibility of their real wages during the second oil crisis.« less

AQUATIC IMPACTS STUDY OF MOUNTAINTOP MINING AND VALLEY FILL OPERATIONS IN WEST VIRGINIA

EPA Science Inventory

The practice of mountaintop mining and valley fill operations in West Virginia is fraught with controversy. In 1999, EPA, along with several state and federal agencies, initiated an environmental impact study (EIS) to investigate the economic, social and ecological impacts of th...

A comparative life cycle assessment of material handling systems for sustainable mining.

PubMed

Erkayaoğlu, M; Demirel, N

2016-06-01

In this comprehensive LCA comparison study, main objectives are to investigate life cycle environmental impacts of off-highway mining trucks and belt conveyors in surface mining. The research methodology essentially entails determination of the functional unit as 20,000 tons/day coal production transported for 5 km distance. After the system boundary was selected as the entire life cycle of material handling systems including pre-manufacturing of steel parts and plastic components, manufacturing, transportation, and utilization data was compiled from equipment manufacturers and the Eco-invent database. Life cycle impact categories for both material-handling systems were identified and the developed model was implemented using SIMAPRO 7.3. Climate change and acidification were selected as major impact categories as they were considered to be major concerns in mining industry. Although manufacturing stage had a significant impact on all of the environmental parameters, utilization stage was the hotspot for the selected impact categories. The results of this study revealed that belt conveyors have a greater environmental burden in climate change impact category when compared to the trucks. On the other hand, trucks have a greater environmental burden in acidification impact category when compared to the belt conveyors. This study implied that technological improvement in fuel combustion and electricity generation is crucial for the improvement of environmental profiles of off-highway trucks and belt conveyors in the mining industry. The main novelty of this study is that it is the first initiative in applying LCA in the Turkish mining industry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copper: Its Environmental Impacts. AIO Red Paper #22.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boutis, Elizabeth; Jantzen, Jonathan Landis, Ed.

Although copper is a widespread and useful metal, the process of mining and refining copper can have severe detrimental impacts on humans, plants, and animals. The most serious impacts from copper production are the release of sulphur dioxide and other air pollutants and the poisoning of water supplies. These impacts occur in both the mining and…

75 FR 78213 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2012 Economic Census Classification Report for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-15

... Economic Census Classification Report for the Construction, Manufacturing, and Mining Sectors and Selected... quality data describing the people and economy of the United States. Economic data are the Census Bureau's..., business, and the general public. The Economic Census Classification Report (NC-99026) collects data on...

Technical Information Resource on Rare Earth Elements Now Available to Public and Private Sector Stakeholders

EPA Science Inventory

A new EPA technical information resource, “Rare Earth Elements: A Review of Production, Processing, Recycling, and Associated Environmental Issues” has been produced as an introductory resource for those interested in learning more about REE mining and alternatives to meet demand...

Current Activities of the Ministry of Mines, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adel, M.

2008-12-01

Beginning in late 2001, the Afghanistan government started developing plans for the revitalization of the Natural Resources sector. This revitalization included the rebuilding and reorganization of the capabilities of the Ministry of Mines and Industries (now the Ministry of Mines) and the Afghan Geological Survey and several other Afghan ministries. The initial focus was on the development of new mining and hydrocarbon laws, which were supported by the World Bank. Concurrent with these activities was the recognized need to identify, organize and compile existing data and information on the natural resources of the country. This has been followed by the use of these data and information to provide preliminary assessments of the oil and gas resources, mineral resources, water resources, coal resources, and earthquake hazards, all based on existing data. A large part of these assessment efforts required the development of a geospatial infrastructure through the use of satellite imagery and other remote sensing technologies. Institutional and capacity building were integral parts of all efforts. With the assessment and law activities ongoing, the Ministry of Mine has now turned to the development of a leasing framework, which address the critical need of transparency of leasing, lease management, and royalty collection. This new leasing system was implemented in spring 2008 with the leasing of the Aynak Copper Deposit, which is located about 25 miles south of Kabul. At the moment, a second world class mineral deposit is being considered for leasing within the next year. Oil and gas lease tracts are also under development in the northern oil and gas basins of Afghanistan. With the support of the Afghan government, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has recently completed the gathering of new data and information in support of the Natural Resources Sector. These data gathering missions include gravity, magnetics, radar, and hyperspectral data, which were gathered through the use of airborne platforms. These data will be used to produce final resource assessments for all of Afghanistan.

Recent trends in Cuba’s mining and petroleum industries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wacaster, Susan; Baker, Michael S.; Soto-Viruet, Yadira; Textoris, Steven D.

2015-03-31

In response to recent diplomatic developments between Cuba and the United States, the National Minerals Information Center compiled available information on the mineral industries of Cuba. This fact sheet highlights a new map and table that identify mines, mineral processing facilities, and petroleum facilities as well as information on location, operational status, and ownership. It also addresses the current status of known mineral industry projects, historical developments, and trends of the Cuban economy with an emphasis on mineral industries, and the supply and demand for Cuba’s mineral resources.In 2013, Cuba was estimated to be among the world’s top ten producers of cobalt and nickel, which are the country’s leading exports. Cuba’s current crude oil and associated natural gas production from onshore and shallow water coastal reservoirs is approximately 50,000 barrels per day of liquids and about 20,000 barrels per day oil equivalent of natural gas. In 2013, the value of mining and quarrying activities accounted for 0.6 percent of Cuba’s gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 1.4 percent in 2000. The value of production from Cuba’s industrial manufacturing sector increased by 88 percent between 1993 and 2013, whereas the sector’s share in the GDP decreased by about 3 percent during the same time period reflecting economic growth in other sectors of the economy.

Radioecological impacts of tin mining.

PubMed

Aliyu, Abubakar Sadiq; Mousseau, Timothy Alexander; Ramli, Ahmad Termizi; Bununu, Yakubu Aliyu

2015-12-01

The tin mining activities in the suburbs of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, have resulted in technical enhancement of the natural background radiation as well as higher activity concentrations of primordial radionuclides in the topsoil of mining sites and their environs. Several studies have considered the radiological human health risks of the mining activity; however, to our knowledge no documented study has investigated the radiological impacts on biota. Hence, an attempt is made to assess potential hazards using published data from the literature and the ERICA Tool. This paper considers the effects of mining and milling on terrestrial organisms like shrubs, large mammals, small burrowing mammals, birds (duck), arthropods (earth worm), grasses, and herbs. The dose rates and risk quotients to these organisms are computed using conservative values for activity concentrations of natural radionuclides reported in Bitsichi and Bukuru mining areas. The results suggest that grasses, herbs, lichens, bryophytes and shrubs receive total dose rates that are of potential concern. The effects of dose rates to specific indicator species of interest are highlighted and discussed. We conclude that further investigation and proper regulations should be set in place in order to reduce the risk posed by the tin mining activity on biota. This paper also presents a brief overview of the impact of mineral mining on biota based on documented literature for other countries.

Clinical diabetes research using data mining: a Canadian perspective.

PubMed

Shah, Baiju R; Lipscombe, Lorraine L

2015-06-01

With the advent of the digitization of large amounts of information and the computer power capable of analyzing this volume of information, data mining is increasingly being applied to medical research. Datasets created for administration of the healthcare system provide a wealth of information from different healthcare sectors, and Canadian provinces' single-payer universal healthcare systems mean that data are more comprehensive and complete in this country than in many other jurisdictions. The increasing ability to also link clinical information, such as electronic medical records, laboratory test results and disease registries, has broadened the types of data available for analysis. Data-mining methods have been used in many different areas of diabetes clinical research, including classic epidemiology, effectiveness research, population health and health services research. Although methodologic challenges and privacy concerns remain important barriers to using these techniques, data mining remains a powerful tool for clinical research. Copyright © 2015 Canadian Diabetes Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

77 FR 1080 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Copper Flat Mine...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-09

...] Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Copper Flat Mine Plan of... the Draft EIS. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Copper Flat EIS Project by any of the... New Mexico Copper Corp. to re-start the Copper Flat Mine located in Sierra County, New Mexico. The...

The transfer of land resources information into the public sector—The Texas experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wermund, E. G.

1980-03-01

Mapping of land resources and environmental geology was initiated in Texas toward better communication of geology to the public policy sector. Relevant mapping parameters have included terrain, substrate, active processes, economic resources, and hydrology as well as physical, chemical, and biologic properties. Land resources maps and reports have been prepared for public agencies and published for technical and nontechnical readers; sales of these articles are one indicator of public policy transfer. Single lectures or participation in symposia and colloquia for scientific societies have been valuable only for peer review or as a means to sharpen communicative skills. The most successful mechanisms of public policy transfer have been (1) in-state workshops and short courses for elected officials, Governmental employees, and interested citizens; (2) legislative testimonies; (3) active participation on interagency committees; (4) reviews and comments on planning statements; and (5) a temporary loan of personnel to another agency. Areas where these methods successfully have impacted public policy are reflected in the present quality of Section 208, Section 701, and coastal zone management planning; applications for surface-mining permits; and environmental impact statement records in Texas.

Anthropocene landscape change and the legacy of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Catchment, Colorado Front Range

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dethier, David P.; Ouimet, William B.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Kotikian, Maneh; Wicherski, Will; Samuels, Rachel M.

2018-01-01

Human impacts on earth surface processes and materials are fundamental to understanding the proposed Anthropocene epoch. This study examines the magnitude, distribution, and long-term context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Creek catchment, Colorado, coupling airborne LiDAR topographic analysis with historical documents and field studies of river banks exposed by 2013 flooding. Mining impacts represent the dominant Anthropocene landscape change for this basin. Mining activity, particularly placer operations, controls floodplain stratigraphy and waste rock piles related to mining cover >5% of hillslopes in the catchment. Total rates of surface disturbance on slopes from mining activities (prospecting, mining, and road building) exceed pre-nineteenth-century rates by at least fifty times. Recent flooding and the overprint of human impacts obscure the record of Holocene floodplain evolution. Stratigraphic relations indicate that the Fourmile valley floor was as much as two meters higher in the past 2,000 years and that placer reworking, lateral erosion, or minor downcutting dominated from the late Holocene to present. Concentrations of As and Au in the fine fraction of hillslope soil, mining-related deposits, and fluvial deposits serve as a geochemical marker of mining activity in the catchment; reducing As and Au values in floodplain sediment will take hundreds of years to millennia. Overall, the Fourmile Creek catchment provides a valuable example of Anthropocene landscape change for mountainous regions of the Western United States, where hillslope and floodplain markers of human activity vary, high rates of geomorphic processes affect mixing and preservation of marker deposits, and long-term impact varies by landscape location.

Application of fatigue management systems: small mines and low technology solutions.

PubMed

Eiter, B M; Steiner, L; Kelhart, A

2014-04-01

The impact of fatigue is seen not only in its effect on job performance of haul truck operators but also on the health of the operator and the productivity at the mine site. Its impact can even extend outside of the mine site to the health and well-being of the surrounding community (Fourie et al., 2010). In this paper, a case study of a small surface mining organization is presented. The goal is to highlight the fatigue risk management system implemented at the studied mine site. Mine safety personnel who were interviewed discuss the changes made to the infrastructure of the mine, to administrative areas such as the number of shifts and the use of vacation time, as well as the implementation of new technology into haulage vehicles. This paper reviews how these changes are supported in the research literature.

Application of fatigue management systems: small mines and low technology solutions

PubMed Central

Eiter, B.M.; Steiner, L.; Kelhart, A.

2015-01-01

The impact of fatigue is seen not only in its effect on job performance of haul truck operators but also on the health of the operator and the productivity at the mine site. Its impact can even extend outside of the mine site to the health and well-being of the surrounding community (Fourie et al., 2010). In this paper, a case study of a small surface mining organization is presented. The goal is to highlight the fatigue risk management system implemented at the studied mine site. Mine safety personnel who were interviewed discuss the changes made to the infrastructure of the mine, to administrative areas such as the number of shifts and the use of vacation time, as well as the implementation of new technology into haulage vehicles. This paper reviews how these changes are supported in the research literature. PMID:26290614

77 FR 34402 - Notice of Availability of the Final Land Use Analysis and Final Environmental Impact Statement...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-11

... mining would occur directly beneath the lake itself and no surface mining would take place. East Lynn... Rockspring have approved mining and reclamation plans from the West Virginia Department of Environmental... plan purposes if leases were to be issued and mine plans approved. The Office of Surface Mining...

78 FR 70067 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Pan Mine...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-22

..._programs/minerals/mining_projects/pan_mine_project.html . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Miles Kreidler...: Midway Gold US, Inc. (Midway) proposes to construct and operate an open-pit gold mining operation in the... years, which includes 13 years of mining and additional time for associated construction, closure, and...

Seafloor massive sulfide deposits support unique megafaunal assemblages: Implications for seabed mining and conservation.

PubMed

Boschen, Rachel E; Rowden, Ashley A; Clark, Malcolm R; Pallentin, Arne; Gardner, Jonathan P A

2016-04-01

Mining of seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) is imminent, but the ecology of assemblages at SMS deposits is poorly known. Proposed conservation strategies include protected areas to preserve biodiversity at risk from mining impacts. Determining site suitability requires biological characterisation of the mine site and protected area(s). Video survey of a proposed mine site and protected area off New Zealand revealed unique megafaunal assemblages at the mine site. Significant relationships were identified between assemblage structure and environmental conditions, including hydrothermal features. Unique assemblages occurred at both active and inactive chimneys and are particularly at risk from mining-related impacts. The occurrence of unique assemblages at the mine site suggests that the proposed protected area is insufficient alone and should instead form part of a network. These results provide support for including hydrothermally active and inactive features within networks of protected areas and emphasise the need for quantitative survey data of proposed sites. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Macromolecule mass spectrometry: citation mining of user documents.

PubMed

Kostoff, Ronald N; Bedford, Clifford D; del Río, J Antonio; Cortes, Héctor D; Karypis, George

2004-03-01

Identifying research users, applications, and impact is important for research performers, managers, evaluators, and sponsors. Identification of the user audience and the research impact is complex and time consuming due to the many indirect pathways through which fundamental research can impact applications. This paper identified the literature pathways through which two highly-cited papers of 2002 Chemistry Nobel Laureates Fenn and Tanaka impacted research, technology development, and applications. Citation Mining, an integration of citation bibliometrics and text mining, was applied to the >1600 first generation Science Citation Index (SCI) citing papers to Fenn's 1989 Science paper on Electrospray Ionization for Mass Spectrometry, and to the >400 first generation SCI citing papers to Tanaka's 1988 Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry paper on Laser Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry. Bibliometrics was performed on the citing papers to profile the user characteristics. Text mining was performed on the citing papers to identify the technical areas impacted by the research, and the relationships among these technical areas.

Environmental hazard assessment of a marine mine tailings deposit site and potential implications for deep-sea mining.

PubMed

Mestre, Nélia C; Rocha, Thiago L; Canals, Miquel; Cardoso, Cátia; Danovaro, Roberto; Dell'Anno, Antonio; Gambi, Cristina; Regoli, Francesco; Sanchez-Vidal, Anna; Bebianno, Maria João

2017-09-01

Portmán Bay is a heavily contaminated area resulting from decades of metal mine tailings disposal, and is considered a suitable shallow-water analogue to investigate the potential ecotoxicological impact of deep-sea mining. Resuspension plumes were artificially created by removing the top layer of the mine tailings deposit by bottom trawling. Mussels were deployed at three sites: i) off the mine tailings deposit area; ii) on the mine tailings deposit beyond the influence from the resuspension plumes; iii) under the influence of the artificially generated resuspension plumes. Surface sediment samples were collected at the same sites for metal analysis and ecotoxicity assessment. Metal concentrations and a battery of biomarkers (oxidative stress, metal exposure, biotransformation and oxidative damage) were measured in different mussel tissues. The environmental hazard posed by the resuspension plumes was investigated by a quantitative weight of evidence (WOE) model that integrated all the data. The resuspension of sediments loaded with metal mine tails demonstrated that chemical contaminants were released by trawling subsequently inducing ecotoxicological impact in mussels' health. Considering as sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) those indicated in Spanish action level B for the disposal of dredged material at sea, the WOE model indicates that the hazard is slight off the mine tailings deposit, moderate on the mine tailings deposit without the influence from the resuspension plumes, and major under the influence of the resuspension plumes. Portmán Bay mine tailings deposit is a by-product of sulphide mining, and despite differences in environmental setting, it can reflect the potential ecotoxic effects to marine fauna from the impact of resuspension of plumes created by deep-sea mining of polymetallic sulphides. A similar approach as in this study could be applied in other areas affected by sediment resuspension and for testing future deep-sea mining sites in order to assess the associated environmental hazards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasat data applications in ocean industries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, D. R.

1985-01-01

It is pointed out that the world population expansion and resulting shortages of food, minerals, and fuel have focused additional attention on the world's oceans. In this context, aspects of weather prediction and the monitoring/prediction of long-range climatic anomalies become more important. In spite of technological advances, the commercial ocean industry and the naval forces suffer now from inadequate data and forecast products related to the oceans. The Seasat Program and the planned Navy-Remote Oceanographic Satellite System (N-ROSS) represent major contributions to improved observational coverage and the processing needed to achieve better forecasts. The Seasat Program was initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of the remote sensing of oceanographic phenomena from a satellite platform. Possible oceanographic satellite applications are presented in a table, and the impact of Seasat data on industry sectors is discussed. Attention is given to offshore oil development, deep-ocean mining, fishing, and marine transportation.

Screening of native plant species for phytoremediation potential at a Hg-contaminated mining site.

PubMed

Marrugo-Negrete, José; Marrugo-Madrid, Siday; Pinedo-Hernández, José; Durango-Hernández, José; Díez, Sergi

2016-01-15

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the largest sector of demand for mercury (Hg), and therefore, one of the major sources of Hg pollution in the environment. This study was conducted in the Alacrán gold-mining site, one of the most important ASGM sites in Colombia, to identify native plant species growing in Hg-contaminated soils used for agricultural purposes, and to assess their potential as phytoremediation systems. Twenty-four native plant species were identified and analysed for total Hg (THg) in different tissues (roots, stems, and leaves) and in underlying soils. Accumulation factors (AF) in the shoots, translocation (TF) from roots to shoots, and bioconcentration (BCF) from soil-to-roots were determined. Different tissues from all plant species were classified in the order of decreasing accumulation of Hg as follows: roots > leaves > stems. THg concentrations in soil ranged from 230 to 6320 ng g(-1). TF values varied from 0.33 to 1.73, with high values in the lower Hg-contaminated soils. No correlation was found between soils with low concentrations of Hg and plant leaves, indicating that TF is not a very accurate indicator, since most of the Hg input to leaves at ASGM sites comes from the atmosphere. On the other hand, the BCF ranged from 0.28 to 0.99, with Jatropha curcas showing the highest value. Despite their low biomass production, several herbs and sub-shrubs are suitable for phytoremediation application in the field, due to their fast growth and high AF values in large and easily harvestable plant parts. Among these species, herbs such as Piper marginathum and Stecherus bifidus, and the sub-shrubs J. curcas and Capsicum annuum are promising native plants with the potential to be used in the phytoremediation of soils in tropical areas that are impacted by mining.

Impact of fresh tailing deposition on the evolution of groundwater hydrogeochemistry at the abandoned Manitou mine site, Quebec, Canada.

PubMed

Maqsoud, Abdelkabir; Neculita, Carmen Mihaela; Bussière, Bruno; Benzaazoua, Mostafa; Dionne, Jean

2016-05-01

The abandoned Manitou mine site has produced acid mine drainage (AMD) for several decades. In order to limit the detrimental environmental impacts of AMD, different rehabilitation scenarios were proposed and analyzed. The selected rehabilitation scenario was to use fresh tailings from the neighboring Goldex gold mine as monolayer cover and to maintain an elevated water table. In order to assess the impact of the Goldex tailing deposition on the hydrogeochemistry of the Manitou mine site, a network of 30 piezometers was installed. These piezometers were used for continuous measurement of the groundwater level, as well as for water sampling campaigns for chemical quality monitoring, over a 3-year period. Hydrochemical data were analyzed using principal component analysis. Results clearly showed the benefic impact of fresh tailing deposition on the groundwater quality around the contaminated area. These findings were also confirmed by the evolution of electrical conductivity. In addition to the improvement of the physicochemical quality of water on the Manitou mine site, new tailing deposition induced an increase of water table level. However, at this time, the Manitou reactive tailings are not completely submerged and possible oxidation might still occur, especially after ceasing of the fresh tailing deposition. Therefore, complementary rehabilitation scenarios should still be considered.

Environmental regulatory failure and metal contamination at the Giap Lai pyrite mine, Northern Vietnam.

PubMed

Håkan Tarras-Wahlberg, N; Nguyen, Lan T

2008-03-01

The causes for the failure in enforcement of environmental regulations at the Giap Lai pyrite mine in northern Vietnam are considered and the environmental impacts that are associated with this mine are evaluated. It is shown that sulphide-rich tailings and waste rock in the mining area represent significant sources of acid rock drainage (ARD). The ARD is causing elevated metal levels in downstream water bodies, which in turn, represent a threat to both human health and to aquatic ecosystems. Metal concentrations in impacted surface waters have increased after mine closure, suggesting that impacts are becoming progressively more serious. No post-closure, remediation measures have been applied at the mine, in spite of the existence of environmental legislation and both central and regional institutions charged with environmental supervision and control. The research presented here provides further emphasis for the recommendation that, while government institutions may need to be strengthened, and environmental regulations need to be in place, true on the ground improvement in environmental quality in Vietnam and in many other developing countries require an increased focus on promoting public awareness of industrial environmental issues.

ISI-MIP: The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huber, V.; Dahlemann, S.; Frieler, K.; Piontek, F.; Schewe, J.; Serdeczny, O.; Warszawski, L.

2013-12-01

The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) aims to synthesize the state-of-the-art knowledge of climate change impacts at different levels of global warming. The project's experimental design is formulated to distinguish the uncertainty introduced by the impact models themselves, from the inherent uncertainty in the climate projections and the variety of plausible socio-economic futures. The unique cross-sectoral scope of the project provides the opportunity to study cascading effects of impacts in interacting sectors and to identify regional 'hot spots' where multiple sectors experience extreme impacts. Another emphasis lies on the development of novel metrics to describe societal impacts of a warmer climate. We briefly outline the methodological framework, and then present selected results of the first, fast-tracked phase of ISI-MIP. The fast track brought together 35 global impact models internationally, spanning five sectors across human society and the natural world (agriculture, water, natural ecosystems, health and coastal infrastructure), and using the latest generation of global climate simulations (RCP projections from the CMIP5 archive) and socioeconomic drivers provided within the SSP process. We also introduce the second phase of the project, which will enlarge the scope of ISI-MIP by encompassing further impact sectors (e.g., forestry, fisheries, permafrost) and regional modeling approaches. The focus for the next round of simulations will be the validation and improvement of models based on historical observations and the analysis of variability and extreme events. Last but not least, we discuss the longer-term objective of ISI-MIP to initiate a coordinated, ongoing impact assessment process, driven by the entire impact community and in parallel with well-established climate model intercomparisons (CMIP).

Assessment of Projected Temperature Impacts from Climate Change on the U.S. Electric Power Sector Using the Integrated Planning Model

EPA Science Inventory

The energy sector is considered to be one of the most vulnerable to climate change. This study is a first-order analysis of the potential climate change impacts on the U.S. electric power sector, measuring the energy, environmental, and economic impacts of power system changes du...

Going Places: Exploring the Impact of Intra-Sectoral Mobility on Research Productivity and Communication Behaviors in Japanese Academia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horta, Hugo; Yonezawa, Akiyoshi

2013-01-01

This study analyzes the impact of intra-sectoral mobility of academics on research productivity and R&D information exchange dynamics in Japan. The analysis shows intra-sectoral mobility impacting positively both research productivity and information exchange dynamics, but that this effect--except for information exchange with peers based…

Impact of Fishery Policy on Fishery Manufacture Output, Economy and Welfare in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Firmansyah; Oktavilia, Shanty; Sugiyanto, F. X.; Hamzah, Ibnu N.

2018-02-01

The fisheries sector and fish manufacturing industry are the bright prospect sectors of Indonesia, due to its huge potency, which has not been worked out optimally. In facts, these sectors can generate a large amount of foreign exchange. The Government has paid significant attention to the development of these sectors. This study simulates the impact of fishery policies on the production of fish manufacturing industry, national economic and welfare in Indonesia. By employing the Input-Output Analysis approach, impacts of various government policy scenarios are developed, covering fisheries technical policy, as well as infrastructure development policies in the fisheries sector. This study indicates that the policies in the fisheries sector increase the output of fishery, the production of fish manufacturing industry, the sectoral and national outputs, as well as the level of national income.

Predicting Effective Course Conduction Strategy Using Datamining Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkavi, A.; Lakshmi, K.; Srinivasa, K. G.

2017-01-01

Data analysis techniques can be used to analyze the pattern of data in different fields. Based on the analysis' results, it is recommended that suggestions be provided to decision making authorities. The data mining techniques can be used in educational domain to improve the outcome of the educational sectors. The authors carried out this research…

Data Mining in the E-Learning Domain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanna, Margo

2004-01-01

Higher education (HE) is becoming a big business, with huge investments in IT technology supporting online learning. With the awareness of the knowledge economy has come a growing consciousness that HE constitutes a large industry or economic sector in its own right. In a marketing fashion, we understand that some customers present much greater…

Potential economic benefits of public-private partnership (P3s) on reclaimed mine sites in the construction of the I-73/74 NHS corridor.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

A public private partnership (PPP or P3), according to the FHWA, is a contractual agreement : between a public agency and a private entity for private sector participation in the delivery of : transportation projects. One of the most innovat...

76 FR 30973 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-27

... Fitness ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Mine Safety and Health... Program and Man Hoist Operators Physical Fitness,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for... Fitness. OMB Control Number: 1219-0127. Affected Public: Private Sector--Businesses or other for-profits...

Text mining factor analysis (TFA) in green tea patent data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmawati, Sela; Suprijadi, Jadi; Zulhanif

2017-03-01

Factor analysis has become one of the most widely used multivariate statistical procedures in applied research endeavors across a multitude of domains. There are two main types of analyses based on factor analysis: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Both EFA and CFA aim to observed relationships among a group of indicators with a latent variable, but they differ fundamentally, a priori and restrictions made to the factor model. This method will be applied to patent data technology sector green tea to determine the development technology of green tea in the world. Patent analysis is useful in identifying the future technological trends in a specific field of technology. Database patent are obtained from agency European Patent Organization (EPO). In this paper, CFA model will be applied to the nominal data, which obtain from the presence absence matrix. While doing processing, analysis CFA for nominal data analysis was based on Tetrachoric matrix. Meanwhile, EFA model will be applied on a title from sector technology dominant. Title will be pre-processing first using text mining analysis.

Assessing the Impact of Removing Select Materials from Coal Mine Overburden, Central Appalachia Region, USA

EPA Science Inventory

The exposure of readily soluble components of overburden materials from surface coal mining to air and water results in mineral oxidation and carbonate mineral dissolution, thus increasing coal mine water conductivity. A conductivity benchmark of 300 µS/cm for mine water dischar...

An integrated assessment of climate change impacts for Athens- relevance to stakeholders and policy makers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannakopoulos, C.; Hatzaki, M.; Kostopoulou, E.; Varotsos, K.

2010-09-01

Analysing climate change and its impact needs a production of relevant elements for policy making that can be very different from the parameters considered by climate experts. In the framework of EU project CIRCE, a more realistic approach to match stakeholders and policy-makers demands is attempted. For this reason, within CIRCE selected case studies have been chosen that will provide assessments that can be integrated in practical decision making. In this work, an integrated assessment of climate change impacts on several sectors for the urban site of Athens in Greece is presented. The Athens urban case study has been chosen since it provides excellent opportunities for using an integrated approach across multiple temporal and spatial scales and sectors. In the spatial dimension, work extends from the inner city boundaries to the surrounding mountains and forests. In the temporal dimension, research ranges from the current observed time period (using available meteorological and sector data) to future time periods using data from several climate change projections. In addition, a multi-sector approach to climate change impacts is adopted. Impacts sectors covered range from direct climate impacts on natural ecosystems (such as flash floods, air pollution and forest fire risk) to indirect impacts resulting from combined climate-social-economic linkages (such as energy demand, tourism and health). Discussion of impact sector risks and adaptation measures are also exploited. Case-study work on impact sector risk to climate change is of particular interest to relevant policy makers and stakeholders, communication with who is ensured through a series of briefing notes and information sheets and through regional workshops.

Status of Occupational Health and Safety and Related Challenges in Expanding Economy of Tanzania.

PubMed

Mrema, Ezra J; Ngowi, Aiwerasia V; Mamuya, Simon H D

2015-01-01

Occupational health and safety is related with economic activities undertaken in the country. As the economic activities grow and expand, occupational injuries and diseases are more likely to increase among workers in different sectors of economy such as agriculture, mining, transport, and manufacture. This may result in high occupational health and safety services demand, which might be difficult to meet by developing countries that are prioritizing economic expansion without regard to their impact on occupational health and safety. To describe the status of occupational health and safety in Tanzania and outline the challenges in provision of occupational health services under the state of an expanding economy. Tanzania's economy is growing steadily, with growth being driven by communications, transport, financial intermediation, construction, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. Along with this growth, hazards emanating from work in all sectors of the economy have increased and varied. The workers exposed to these hazards suffer from illness and injuries and yet they are not provided with adequate occupational health services. Services are scanty and limited to a few enterprises that can afford it. Existing laws and regulations are not comprehensive enough to cover the entire population. Implementation of legislation is weak and does not protect the workers. Most Tanzanians are not covered by the occupational health and safety law and do not access occupational health services. Thus an occupational health and safety services strategy, backed by legislations and provided with the necessary resources (competent experts, financial and technological resources), is a necessity in Tanzania. The existing legal provisions require major modifications to meet international requirements and standards. OHS regulations and legislations need refocusing, revision, and strengthening to cover all working population. Capacities should be improved through training and research to enable enforcement. Finally the facilities and resources should be made available for OHS services to match with the growing economy. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic accounting of water: The Botswana experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setlhogile, T.; Arntzen, J.; Pule, O. B.

2017-08-01

Water accounts aim to capture the value of water resources and their use within the economy. The accounts complement the National Accounts as the latter's main indicator (GDP) does not reflect changes in natural capital. Botswana developed water accounts for the period 2010/11-2014/15 using the UN's standard System of Environmental Economic Accounting for water (SEEA-water). The article focuses both on the construction of physical flow accounts as well as on the policy implications for development planning and water resource management through the use of policy indicators. It also shows long-term trends in water abstraction and water use efficiency linking the SEEA water accounts with results of earlier (non-SEEA) water accounting projects in Botswana. The water accounts results show that water abstraction and consumption have been largely stable since 2010/11 despite population (1.9% p.a.) and economic growth (around 5% p.a.) likely due to a combination of water sector reforms and drought conditions in south eastern Botswana; the latter led to the drying up of several dams and the imposition of severe water restrictions. While public attention focuses mostly on water service providers, self-providers (mines and the agricultural sector) account for more than 50% of total water abstracted from the environment of water, demonstrating the need to pay more attention to self-providers in IWRM implementation. Water consumption is highest for the agricultural sector (70.2 Mm3) followed by households and mines at 41.2 and 39 Mm3 respectively in 2014/15. In terms of water use efficiency, value added per m3 has increased in time, showing (some) decoupling of water consumption and economic growth. This positive trend needs to be enhanced in the pursuit of economic diversification, which should focus on growth of water-efficient economic sectors. Finally, per capita water consumption has decreased over time; while this may indicate that people conserve water, it may also point at delivery problems associated with water sector reforms. This requires further analysis.

High-power ultrasonic processing: Recent developments and prospective advances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallego-Juarez, Juan A.

2010-01-01

Although the application of ultrasonic energy to produce or to enhance a wide variety of processes have been explored since about the middle of the 20th century, only a reduced number of ultrasonic processes have been established at industrial level. However, during the last ten years the interest in ultrasonic processing has revived particularly in industrial sectors where the ultrasonic technology may represent a clean and efficient tool to improve classical existing processes or an innovation alternative for the development of new processes. Such seems to be the case of relevant sectors such as food industry, environment, pharmaceuticals and chemicals manufacture, machinery, mining, etc where power ultrasound is becoming an emerging technology for process development. The possible major problem in the application of high-intensity ultrasound on industrial processing is the design and development of efficient power ultrasonic systems (generators and reactors) capable of large scale successful operation specifically adapted to each individual process. In the area of ultrasonic processing in fluid media and more specifically in gases, the development of the steppedplate transducers and other power ge with extensive radiating surface has strongly contributed to the implementation at semi-industrial and industrial stage of several commercial applications, in sectors such as food and beverage industry (defoaming, drying, extraction, etc), environment (air cleaning, sludge filtration, etc...), machinery and process for manufacturing (textile washing, paint manufacture, etc). The development of different cavitational reactors for liquid treatment in continuous flow is helping to introduce into industry the wide potential of the area of sonochemistry. Processes such as water and effluent treatment, crystallization, soil remediation, etc have been already implemented at semi-industrial and/or industrial stage. Other single advances in sectors like mining or energy have also to be mentioned. The objective of this paper is to review some recent developments in ultrasonic processing to show the present situation and the prospective progresses of high-power ultrasonics as an innovative technology in many industrial sectors.

Quantifying the conservation gains from shared access to linear infrastructure.

PubMed

Runge, Claire A; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Gordon, Ascelin; Rhodes, Jonathan R

2017-12-01

The proliferation of linear infrastructure such as roads and railways is a major global driver of cumulative biodiversity loss. One strategy for reducing habitat loss associated with development is to encourage linear infrastructure providers and users to share infrastructure networks. We quantified the reductions in biodiversity impact and capital costs under linear infrastructure sharing of a range of potential mine to port transportation links for 47 mine locations operated by 28 separate companies in the Upper Spencer Gulf Region of South Australia. We mapped transport links based on least-cost pathways for different levels of linear-infrastructure sharing and used expert-elicited impacts of linear infrastructure to estimate the consequences for biodiversity. Capital costs were calculated based on estimates of construction costs, compensation payments, and transaction costs. We evaluated proposed mine-port links by comparing biodiversity impacts and capital costs across 3 scenarios: an independent scenario, where no infrastructure is shared; a restricted-access scenario, where the largest mining companies share infrastructure but exclude smaller mining companies from sharing; and a shared scenario where all mining companies share linear infrastructure. Fully shared development of linear infrastructure reduced overall biodiversity impacts by 76% and reduced capital costs by 64% compared with the independent scenario. However, there was considerable variation among companies. Our restricted-access scenario showed only modest biodiversity benefits relative to the independent scenario, indicating that reductions are likely to be limited if the dominant mining companies restrict access to infrastructure, which often occurs without policies that promote sharing of infrastructure. Our research helps illuminate the circumstances under which infrastructure sharing can minimize the biodiversity impacts of development. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

Weaving Ecosystem Service Assessment into Environmental Impact Assessments of Thar Coal Field: Impact of Coal Mining on Socio-Ecological Systems of Rural Communities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hina, A.

2016-12-01

The Research takes into account Block II Mining and Power Plant Project of Thar Coal field in Pakistan by carrying out ecosystem service assessment of the region to identify the impact on important ecosystem service losses and the contribution of mining companies to mitigate the socio-economic problems as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The study area includes 7 rural settlements, around 921 households and 7000 individuals, dependent on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. Currently, the project has adopted the methods of strip mining (also called open-cut mining, open-cast mining, and stripping), undergoing removing the overburden in strips to enable excavation of the coal seams. Since the consequences of mine development can easily spill across community and ecological boundaries, the rising scarcity of some ecosystem services makes the case to examine both project impact and dependence on ecosystem services. A preliminary Ecosystem Service review of Thar Coal Field identifies key ecosystems services owing to both high significance of project impact and high project dependence are highlighted as: the hydrogeological study results indicate the presence of at least three aquifer zones: one above the coal zone (the top aquifer), one within the coal and the third below the coal zone. Hence, Water is identified as a key ecosystem service to be addressed and valued due to its high dependency in the area for livestock, human wellbeing, agriculture and other purposes. Crop production related to agricultural services, in association with supply services such as soil quality, fertility, and nutrient recycling and water retention need to be valued. Cultural services affected in terms of land use change and resettlement and rehabilitation factors are recommended to be addressed.

Contributions to the knowledge of the Danube waters impact on the Black Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomoiu, Marian-Traian; Oaie, Gheorghe; Secrieru, Dan; Vasiliu, Dan; Begun, Tatiana; Caraus, Ioan

2013-04-01

Rivers usually have a positive impact on marine areas where they discharge their waters, fertilizing them and supporting high biological productivity, the Danube River being a good example in this respect. Given the conditions of chaotic industrialization and the discharge into rivers of many chemicals, some of high toxicity, the eutrophication influence changed its beneficial nature, turning into a toxic polluting influence, with catastrophic effects on the structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems, which is a situation well-known and in the area of the Danube mouths for the period 1970-1990. After 1990, under major political changes in socio-economic systems, the environmental pressures with impact on marine coastal ecosystems diminished; these pressures had been maintained by hydrological systems opening to the marine areas. What is the current situation of these pressures? What are the major characteristics of the organisms associations under the direct influence of the Danube? In this paper, the authors try to give some answers to these questions. In the framework of the lower Danube monitoring program, conducted by GeoEcoMar during 2009-2012, measurements were made and samples collected in more than 230 stations along the Romanian sector of the Danube River. The main aspects related to the ecological state of the River were: - Physico-chemical and biological (phytoplankton); - Sediment granulometry and inorganic chemistry - CaCO3, Fe2O3, TiO2, Zr, Ba, Rb, Zn, Ni, MnO, Cr, V, Co, Pb; - Ammonia, TOC, total cyanide, organochlorine pesticides in sediments; - Physico-chemical analyses of water samples. According to the results, the areas suspected of pollution from anthropogenic sources and also from other activities, could be outlined as follows: - The stretch between km 1072 (Danube entry to Romania) and km 1039 - downstream the mining sector Moldova Veche; - Sector between km 957-947, near the Iron Gates I dam; - Danube - Black Sea Canal (the NPP Cernavoda zone); - Brăila sector, from km 174 - this stretch was considered to be under local anthropogenic pollution influence in the past too; - St. George mouth to the Black Sea. Based on the experience of GeoEcoMar researchers and data from the literature, this paper briefly presents the environmental status of marine populations in the predeltaic area. Finally the authors propose some measures, scientifically substantiating the lower Danube protection. Keywords: the Danube River, the Black Sea, loading, nutrients, phytoplankton, benthic ecosystem state

Tridimensional modelling and resource estimation of the mining waste piles of São Domingos mine, Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, Alexandre; Matos, João; Lopes, Luis; Martins, Ruben

2016-04-01

Located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) northern sector, near the Portuguese/Spanish border, the outcropping São Domingos deposit was mined since Roman time. Between 1854 and 1966 the Mason & Barry Company developed open pit excavation until 120 m depth and underground mining until 420 m depth. The São Domingos subvertical deposit is associated with felsic volcanics and black shales of the IPB Volcano-Sedimentary Complex and is represented by massive sulphide and stockwork ore (py, cpy, sph, ga, tt, aspy) and related supergene enrichment ore (hematite gossan and covellite/chalcocite). Different mine waste classes were mapped around the old open pit: gossan (W1), felsic volcanic and shales (W2), shales (W3) and mining waste landfill (W4). Using the LNEG (Portuguese Geological Survey) CONASA database (company historical mining waste characterization based on 162 shafts and 160 reverse circulation boreholes), a methodology for tridimensional modelling mining waste pile was followed, and a new mining waste resource is presented. Considering some constraints to waste removal, such as the Mina de São Domingos village proximity of the wastes, the industrial and archaeological patrimony (e.g., mining infrastructures, roman galleries), different resource scenarios were considered: unconditioned resources (total estimates) and conditioned resources (only the volumes without removal constraints considered). Using block modelling (SURPAC software) a mineral inferred resource of 2.38 Mt @ 0.77 g/t Au and 8.26 g/t Ag is estimated in unconditioned volumes of waste. Considering all evaluated wastes, including village areas, an inferred resource of 4.0 Mt @ 0.64 g/t Au and 7.30 g/t Ag is presented, corresponding to a total metal content of 82,878 oz t Au and 955,753 oz t Ag. Keywords. São Domingos mine, mining waste resources, mining waste pile modelling, Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal

Reinventing the U.S. Bureau of Mines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Graham, R.L.

1995-10-01

The changes in the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) are discussed. Beginning this year, the Bureau will focus its scientific research efforts in four critical areas. These areas are: (1) health and safety; (2) materials research (which will be accomplished in partnership with the private sector); (3) environmental remediation; and (4) pollution prevention and control. In addition to the very important scientific research that is going on, the US Bureau of Mines: collects and publishes consumption and supply data and information on 100 commodities for the 60 most important mineral producing, consuming and trading countries; and analyzes minerals related issues,more » such as proposed mining law reform legislation and proposed mine waste regulations, and assists in federal ecosystem planning efforts. On December 30, 1994, Secretary Babbitt signed a secretarial order implementing an organizational structure to allow the USBM to go forward in this new research focus. In Fiscal Year 1995, Congress appropriated funds to the USBM to focus research in this organizational structure. The USBM has experienced major funding reductions in the Clinton Administration. The whole Federal government is getting smaller. The USBM workforce is comparable in size to what it was three decades ago.« less

Human mining activity across the ages determines the genetic structure of modern brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) populations

PubMed Central

Paris, Josephine R; King, R Andrew; Stevens, Jamie R

2015-01-01

Humans have exploited the earth's metal resources for thousands of years leaving behind a legacy of toxic metal contamination and poor water quality. The southwest of England provides a well-defined example, with a rich history of metal mining dating to the Bronze Age. Mine water washout continues to negatively impact water quality across the region where brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) populations exist in both metal-impacted and relatively clean rivers. We used microsatellites to assess the genetic impact of mining practices on trout populations in this region. Our analyses demonstrated that metal-impacted trout populations have low genetic diversity and have experienced severe population declines. Metal-river trout populations are genetically distinct from clean-river populations, and also from one another, despite being geographically proximate. Using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), we dated the origins of these genetic patterns to periods of intensive mining activity. The historical split of contemporary metal-impacted populations from clean-river fish dated to the Medieval period. Moreover, we observed two distinct genetic populations of trout within a single catchment and dated their divergence to the Industrial Revolution. Our investigation thus provides an evaluation of contemporary population genetics in showing how human-altered landscapes can change the genetic makeup of a species. PMID:26136823

Analyzing the Long Term Cohesive Effect of Sector Specific Driving Forces

PubMed Central

Berman, Yonatan; Zhang, Xin; Shapira, Yoash

2016-01-01

Financial markets are partially composed of sectors dominated by external driving forces, such as commodity prices, infrastructure and other indices. We characterize the statistical properties of such sectors and present a novel model for the coupling of the stock prices and their dominating driving forces, inspired by mean reverting stochastic processes. Using the model we were able to explain the market sectors’ long term behavior and estimate the coupling strength between stocks in financial markets and the sector specific driving forces. Notably, the analysis was successfully applied to the shipping market, in which the Baltic dry index (BDI), an assessment of the price of transporting the major raw materials by sea, influences the shipping financial market. We also present the analysis of other sectors—the gold mining market and the food production market, for which the model was also successfully applied. The model can serve as a general tool for characterizing the coupling between external forces and affected financial variables and therefore for estimating the risk in sectors and their vulnerability to external stress. PMID:27031230

Coal and Open-pit surface mining impacts on American Lands (COAL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, T. A.; McGibbney, L. J.

2017-12-01

Mining is known to cause environmental degradation, but software tools to identify its impacts are lacking. However, remote sensing, spectral reflectance, and geographic data are readily available, and high-performance cloud computing resources exist for scientific research. Coal and Open-pit surface mining impacts on American Lands (COAL) provides a suite of algorithms and documentation to leverage these data and resources to identify evidence of mining and correlate it with environmental impacts over time.COAL was originally developed as a 2016 - 2017 senior capstone collaboration between scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and computer science students at Oregon State University (OSU). The COAL team implemented a free and open-source software library called "pycoal" in the Python programming language which facilitated a case study of the effects of coal mining on water resources. Evidence of acid mine drainage associated with an open-pit coal mine in New Mexico was derived by correlating imaging spectrometer data from the JPL Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG), spectral reflectance data published by the USGS Spectroscopy Laboratory in the USGS Digital Spectral Library 06, and GIS hydrography data published by the USGS National Geospatial Program in The National Map. This case study indicated that the spectral and geospatial algorithms developed by COAL can be used successfully to analyze the environmental impacts of mining activities.Continued development of COAL has been promoted by a Startup allocation award of high-performance computing resources from the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE). These resources allow the team to undertake further benchmarking, evaluation, and experimentation using multiple XSEDE resources. The opportunity to use computational infrastructure of this caliber will further enable the development of a science gateway to continue foundational COAL research.This work documents the original design and development of COAL and provides insight into continuing research efforts which have potential applications beyond the project to environmental data science and other fields.

Assessment of the environmental effects of mining using SPOT-Vegetation NDVI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tote, C.; Swinnen, E.; Goossens, M.; Reusen, I.; Delalieux, S.

2012-04-01

Within the ImpactMin project, funded by the Framework Programme 7 of the European Commission, new methods for the environmental impact monitoring of mining operations are being developed. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of mining on soil properties through assessment of the vegetation status using time series analysis of low resolution Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images derived from SPOT-Vegetation. The study focuses on the surroundings of mining areas in the Orenburg region in the Russian Urals. Karabash has been a centre for mining and metal production for well over 3000 years, and environmental impact of (historical) mining in the area is extremely severe. The area was characterized as an 'ecological disaster zone', based on chemical analysis of soil samples in the area [1]. The mining activities were intensified in the early to mid-20th century, but the old smelter was modernized in the 1990s. A time series of 10-daily NDVI images from SPOT-Vegetation (S10 April/1998-December/2010 at 1km2 resolution, http://www.vgt.vito.be/) is analyzed. Different land cover types clearly show different phenology. To remove seasonal vegetation changes and thus to facilitate the interpretation through the historical record, a Standardized Difference Vegetation Index (SDVI) was calculated for each pixel and for each record of the time series. The first results of trend analyses indicate a strong recovery of open forests in the Karabash region in the last decade. To what extent this can be related to reduced mining impact or climate factors, still needs to be assessed. Further research will also focus on the spatial heterogeneity of phenological parameters, in relation to distance to and wind direction of the smelters and soil properties. [1] V. Nestersnko, "Urban associations of elements- environmental pollutants in Karabash city (Chelyabinsk oblast) as a reflection of ore-chemical descriptions of mineral raw material", Proceedings of the Chelyabinsk Scientific Center, vol. 3, pp. 58-62, 2006.

Hibernacula selection by Townsend's big-eared bat in Southwestern Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Mark A.; Schorr, Robert A.; Navo, Kirk W.

2011-01-01

In western United States, both mine reclamations and renewed mining at previously abandoned mines have increased substantially in the last decade. This increased activity may adversely impact bats that use these mines for roosting. Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) is a species of conservation concern that may be impacted by ongoing mine reclamation and renewed mineral extraction. To help inform wildlife management decisions related to bat use of abandoned mine sites, we used logistic regression, Akaike's information criterion, and multi-model inference to investigate hibernacula use by Townsend's big-eared bats using 9 years of data from surveys inside abandoned mines in southwestern Colorado. Townsend's big-eared bats were found in 38 of 133 mines surveyed (29%), and occupied mines averaged 2.6 individuals per mine. The model explaining the most variability in our data included number of openings and portal temperature at abandoned mines. In southwestern Colorado, we found that abandoned mine sites with more than one opening and portal temperatures near 0°C were more likely to contain hibernating Townsend's big-eared bats. However, mines with only one opening and portal temperatures of ≥10°C were occasionally occupied by Townsend's big-eared bat. Understanding mine use by Townsend's big-eared bat can help guide decisions regarding allocation of resources and placement of bat-compatible closures at mine sites scheduled for reclamation. When feasible we believe that surveys should be conducted inside all abandoned mines in a reclamation project at least once during winter prior to making closure and reclamation recommendations.

Quantitative Analysis of Critical Factors for the Climate Impact of Landfill Mining.

PubMed

Laner, David; Cencic, Oliver; Svensson, Niclas; Krook, Joakim

2016-07-05

Landfill mining has been proposed as an innovative strategy to mitigate environmental risks associated with landfills, to recover secondary raw materials and energy from the deposited waste, and to enable high-valued land uses at the site. The present study quantitatively assesses the importance of specific factors and conditions for the net contribution of landfill mining to global warming using a novel, set-based modeling approach and provides policy recommendations for facilitating the development of projects contributing to global warming mitigation. Building on life-cycle assessment, scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis methods are used to identify critical factors for the climate impact of landfill mining. The net contributions to global warming of the scenarios range from -1550 (saving) to 640 (burden) kg CO2e per Mg of excavated waste. Nearly 90% of the results' total variation can be explained by changes in four factors, namely the landfill gas management in the reference case (i.e., alternative to mining the landfill), the background energy system, the composition of the excavated waste, and the applied waste-to-energy technology. Based on the analyses, circumstances under which landfill mining should be prioritized or not are identified and sensitive parameters for the climate impact assessment of landfill mining are highlighted.

What is the difference between a 2, 3, 4, or 5 °C world and how good are we at telling this difference? Results from ISI-MIP the first Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frieler, K.; Huber, V.; Piontek, F.; Schewe, J.; Serdeczny, O.; Warszawski, L.

2012-12-01

The Inter-sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) aims to synthesize the state-of-the-art knowledge of climate change impacts at different levels of global warming. Over 25 climate impact modelling teams from around the world, working within the agriculture, water, biomes, infrastructure and health sectors, are collaborating to find answers to the question "What is the difference between a 2, 3, 4, or 5 °C world and how good are we at telling this difference?". The analysis is based on common, bias-corrected climate projections, and socio-economic pathways. The first, fast-tracked phase of the ISI-MIP has a focus on global impact models. The project's experimental design is formulated to distinguish the uncertainty introduced by the impact models themselves, from the inherent uncertainty in the climate projections and the variety of plausible socio-economic futures. Novel metrics, developed to emphasize societal impacts, will be used to identify regional 'hot-spots' of climate change impacts, as well as to quantify the cross-sectoral impact of the increasing frequency of extreme events in future climates. We present here first results from the Fast-Track phase of the project covering impact simulations in the biomes, agriculture and water sectors, in which the societal impacts of climate change are quantified for different levels of global warming. We also discuss the design of the scenario set-up and impact indicators chosen to suit the unique cross-sectoral, multi-model nature of the project.

2017 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cole, Wesley J.; Mai, Trieu T.; Richards, James

The 2017 Standard Scenarios includes a suite of U.S. electricity sector scenarios. The report explores four power sector storylines, including the growth in natural gas and renewable energy, the relative competitiveness of wind and solar PV, the potential impact of low-cost battery storage, and the impact of nuclear lifetimes on the capacity expansion of the power sector.

Effects of sediment discharge from Namibian diamond mines on intertidal and subtidal rocky-reef communities and the rock lobster Jasus lalandii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulfrich, Andrea; Branch, George M.

2014-10-01

Extensive terrestrial diamond mining occurs on the southern coast of Namibia, and at Elizabeth Bay near Lüderitz sediment tailings totalling about 2 million tons.yr-1, have been discharged onto the beach. We report here on monitoring spanning 2004-2012 to assess (1) the impacts of increased tailings discharges following an expansion of the mine in 2005, and (2) recovery after discharges halted in 2009. Sampling covered three levels of wave exposure, and compared impacted sites with comparable unmined reference sites. Benthic communities were quantified on both intertidal and subtidal reefs, and kelp densities and rock-lobster abundances, lengths and sex ratios on subtidal reefs. Prior to intensification of mining, deposition of tailings significantly influenced intertidal communities only at sheltered localities where wave action was insufficient to disperse them. Following the mine expansion, effects spread to both semi-exposed and exposed sites. After mining was suspended, recovery of the biota was limited, even three years later. Reductions of intertidal diversity and grazers, proliferation of macroalgae, and increased dominance by filter feeders were recorded at the impacted sites and were persistent, but the affects of wave exposure on community composition generally exceeded those of mining discharges. On subtidal reefs, tailings deposition reduced predators and grazers, increased filter feeders and ephemeral green algae, and decreased all other algae, possibly driven by light reduction due to plumes of suspended fine sediments. Increased discharges post-2005 also substantially influenced bathymetry, wave and current regimes, transforming 2 km of previously wave-exposed rocky coastline into a semi-exposed sandy beach. Tailings discharge appeared to influence community composition in four ways: (1) inundation and blanketing; (2) increased suspended particulate materials; (3) indirect top-down ripple effects, and (4) light reduction. Throughout the period 2004-2007, tailings-deposition had no detectable effects on the sex ratio, sizes or density of rock lobsters, but following suspension of mining activities, densities in 2010-2012 at impact sites exceeded those at reference sites. High natural variability in the abundance of rock lobsters may mask mining impacts, but the data strongly indicate an absence of any negative effects on rock lobsters.

75 FR 79016 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Newmont Mining...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-17

... Newmont Mining Corporation Emigrant Project Plan of Operation, Nevada AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management... Mining Corporation Emigrant Project Plan of Operations and by this notice is announcing its availability...: Copies of the EIS for the Newmont Mining Corporation Emigrant Project Plan of Operation are available for...

43 CFR 3809.5 - How does BLM define certain terms used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) MINING CLAIMS... may determine that it is practical to avoid or eliminate particular impacts. Mining claim means any unpatented mining claim, millsite, or tunnel site located under the mining laws. The term also applies to...

43 CFR 3809.5 - How does BLM define certain terms used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) MINING CLAIMS... may determine that it is practical to avoid or eliminate particular impacts. Mining claim means any unpatented mining claim, millsite, or tunnel site located under the mining laws. The term also applies to...

43 CFR 3809.5 - How does BLM define certain terms used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) MINING CLAIMS... may determine that it is practical to avoid or eliminate particular impacts. Mining claim means any unpatented mining claim, millsite, or tunnel site located under the mining laws. The term also applies to...

43 CFR 3809.5 - How does BLM define certain terms used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) MINING CLAIMS... may determine that it is practical to avoid or eliminate particular impacts. Mining claim means any unpatented mining claim, millsite, or tunnel site located under the mining laws. The term also applies to...

75 FR 18499 - The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-12

... environmental permitting requirements for Appalachian mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining projects.../guidance/mining.html ). Both documents will be reviewed by an independent review panel convened by EPA's... the state of the science on the ecological impacts of Mountaintop Mining and Valley Fill (MTM-VF...

Effects of strong mining tremors, and assessment of the buildings' resistance to the dynamic impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryt-Nitarska, Izabela

2018-04-01

A particularly important element in the assessment of the actual state of the threats which is caused by conducting the mining exploitation of seams bumping under the urban areas is to diagnose the condition of the land development after hard shocks. In the buildings, for which the impact of the mining activities, including the tremors, is not taken into account at the stage of design and formulation of the strength and use conditions, conclusions from the structure behaviour under the tremor influence are an essential part of the assessment of the possibility for transferring the further dynamic impacts. The use of conclusions from the in situ research has its role in anticipating the behaviour of the buildings in case of the forecast of the mining tremors effects in the regions of their impacts. These conclusions should also provide ground for the assumptions to the scope of the building prevention necessary to be taken in case of forecasting the tremors with big intensity. Based on the analysis of effects which occurred in the land development after the highenergy mining tremors, the elements of the dynamic resistance assessment for the buildings with traditional structure were discussed.

Mine wastes and human health

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Morman, Suzette A.

2011-01-01

Historical mining and mineral processing have been linked definitively to health problems resulting from occupational and environmental exposures to mine wastes. Modern mining and processing methods, when properly designed and implemented, prevent or greatly reduce potential environmental health impacts. However, particularly in developing countries, there are examples of health problems linked to recent mining. In other cases, recent mining has been blamed for health problems but no clear links have been found. The types and abundances of potential toxicants in mine wastes are predictably influenced by the geologic characteristics of the deposit being mined. Hence, Earth scientists can help understand, anticipate, and mitigate potential health issues associated with mining and mineral processing.

Applying operational research and data mining to performance based medical personnel motivation system.

PubMed

Niaksu, Olegas; Zaptorius, Jonas

2014-01-01

This paper presents the methodology suitable for creation of a performance related remuneration system in healthcare sector, which would meet requirements for efficiency and sustainable quality of healthcare services. Methodology for performance indicators selection, ranking and a posteriori evaluation has been proposed and discussed. Priority Distribution Method is applied for unbiased performance criteria weighting. Data mining methods are proposed to monitor and evaluate the results of motivation system.We developed a method for healthcare specific criteria selection consisting of 8 steps; proposed and demonstrated application of Priority Distribution Method for the selected criteria weighting. Moreover, a set of data mining methods for evaluation of the motivational system outcomes was proposed. The described methodology for calculating performance related payment needs practical approbation. We plan to develop semi-automated tools for institutional and personal performance indicators monitoring. The final step would be approbation of the methodology in a healthcare facility.

Effect of mining activities in biotic communities of Villa de la Paz, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

PubMed

Espinosa-Reyes, Guillermo; González-Mille, Donaji J; Ilizaliturri-Hernández, César A; Mejía-Saavedra, Jesús; Cilia-López, V Gabriela; Costilla-Salazar, Rogelio; Díaz-Barriga, Fernando

2014-01-01

Mining is one of the most important industrial activities worldwide. During its different stages numerous impacts are generated to the environment. The activities in the region have generated a great amount of mining residues, which have caused severe pollution and health effects in both human population and biotic components. The aim of this paper was to assess the impact of mining activities on biotic communities within the district of Villa de la Paz. The results showed that the concentrations of As and Pb in soil were higher than the national regulations for urban or agricultural areas. The bioavailability of these metals was certified by the presence of them in the roots of species of plants and in kidneys and livers of wild rodents. In regard to the community analysis, the sites that were located close to the mining district of Villa de la Paz registered a lower biological diversity, in both plants and wild rodents, aside from showing a change in the species composition of plant communities. The results of this study are evidence of the impact of mining on biotic communities, and the need to take into account the wildlife in the assessment of contaminated sites.

Effect of Mining Activities in Biotic Communities of Villa de la Paz, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

PubMed Central

Espinosa-Reyes, Guillermo; González-Mille, Donaji J.; Ilizaliturri-Hernández, César A.; Mejía-Saavedra, Jesús; Cilia-López, V. Gabriela; Costilla-Salazar, Rogelio; Díaz-Barriga, Fernando

2014-01-01

Mining is one of the most important industrial activities worldwide. During its different stages numerous impacts are generated to the environment. The activities in the region have generated a great amount of mining residues, which have caused severe pollution and health effects in both human population and biotic components. The aim of this paper was to assess the impact of mining activities on biotic communities within the district of Villa de la Paz. The results showed that the concentrations of As and Pb in soil were higher than the national regulations for urban or agricultural areas. The bioavailability of these metals was certified by the presence of them in the roots of species of plants and in kidneys and livers of wild rodents. In regard to the community analysis, the sites that were located close to the mining district of Villa de la Paz registered a lower biological diversity, in both plants and wild rodents, aside from showing a change in the species composition of plant communities. The results of this study are evidence of the impact of mining on biotic communities, and the need to take into account the wildlife in the assessment of contaminated sites. PMID:24592381

Model of environmental life cycle assessment for coal mining operations.

PubMed

Burchart-Korol, Dorota; Fugiel, Agata; Czaplicka-Kolarz, Krystyna; Turek, Marian

2016-08-15

This paper presents a novel approach to environmental assessment of coal mining operations, which enables assessment of the factors that are both directly and indirectly affecting the environment and are associated with the production of raw materials and energy used in processes. The primary novelty of the paper is the development of a computational environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) model for coal mining operations and the application of the model for coal mining operations in Poland. The LCA model enables the assessment of environmental indicators for all identified unit processes in hard coal mines with the life cycle approach. The proposed model enables the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) based on the IPCC method and the assessment of damage categories, such as human health, ecosystems and resources based on the ReCiPe method. The model enables the assessment of GHGs for hard coal mining operations in three time frames: 20, 100 and 500years. The model was used to evaluate the coal mines in Poland. It was demonstrated that the largest environmental impacts in damage categories were associated with the use of fossil fuels, methane emissions and the use of electricity, processing of wastes, heat, and steel supports. It was concluded that an environmental assessment of coal mining operations, apart from direct influence from processing waste, methane emissions and drainage water, should include the use of electricity, heat and steel, particularly for steel supports. Because the model allows the comparison of environmental impact assessment for various unit processes, it can be used for all hard coal mines, not only in Poland but also in the world. This development is an important step forward in the study of the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment with the potential to mitigate the impact of the coal industry on the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Notification: Review of the EPA’s Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts in Bristol Bay, Alaska

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Project #OPE-FY14-0039, May 2, 2014. The EPA OIG plans to begin preliminary research to determine whether the EPA adhered to laws in developing its assessment of potential mining impacts on ecosystems in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Assessment of arsenic speciation and bioaccessibility in mine-impacted materials

EPA Science Inventory

Mine-impacted materials were collected from Victoria, Australia and categorized into three source materials; tailings (n = 35), calcinated (n = 10) and grey slimes (n = 5). Arsenic (As) concentrations in these materials varied over several orders of magnitude (30-47,000 mg kg

Economic Impacts of Surface Mining on Household Drinking Water Supplies

EPA Science Inventory

This report provides information on the economic and social impacts of contaminated surface and ground water supplies on residents and households near surface mining operations. The focus is on coal slurry contamination of water supplies in Mingo County, West Virginia, and descr...

Reflection seismic characterization of the Grängesberg iron deposit and its mining-induced structures, central Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Place, Joachim; Malehmir, Alireza; Högdahl, Karin; Juhlin, Christopher; Persson Nilsson, Katarina

2014-05-01

Reflection seismic investigation has been conducted on the Grängesberg apatite iron deposit where over 150 Mt of iron ore were produced until the mine closed in 1989. The mine infrastructure with shafts and tunnels extend down to ca. 650 m below the surface. Both natural and mine induced fracture and fault systems are today water-filled (some of them extending to the surface). The disputed ore genesis of the apatite-iron ores and its exploration potential due to large remaining quantities once again attracts both scientific and commercial interests. A good understanding of the geometry of mineral deposits and their hostrock structures at depth is essential for optimizing their exploration and exploitation. In addition, deep understanding of the fracture system is vital if mining activity is resumed as these may impact the terrain stability and seismicity, which may put at risk new populated and industrial areas. To address some of these challenging issues related to the past mining and also to obtain information about the depth continuation of the existing deposit, two E-W oriented reflection lines with a total length of 3.5 km were acquired in May 2013 by Uppsala University. A weight drop mounted on an hydraulic bobcat truck (traditionally used for concrete breaking in demolition sector) was used to generate seismic signal. In order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, several impacts were generated at each shot point and stacked together. The seismic lines intersect at high angle the Grängesberg ore body and open pit, as well as several mining-induced faults. A combination of cabled and wireless receivers placed at every 10 m was used for the data recording. Use of wireless receivers was necessary as deploying cabled sensors was not possible due to city infrastructures, roads and houses. A careful analysis of the data suggested that several field-related issues such as (1) the crooked geometry of the lines (due to the available path and road network), (2) electric and vibration noise due to populated areas and roads, as well as a rock crusher working close to the line, (3) significant static variations (due to the variable nature of the terrain: forest, roads, open pit filled with 10s of meters of unconsolidated materials...), make this dataset similar to a city-kind dataset. Preprocessing of the data first required the cable- and wireless- recorded sub-datasets to be merged using GPS time stamps (nanoseconds accuracy) registered in the active data. Vertical shift and stack was then carried out to stack all data available at each shot point. Preliminary results from brute stacks exhibit evidences of reflections or diffractions. It is anticipated that further processing, involving especially appropriate static corrections and velocity analysis, would help interpreting such seismic events in relation to the ore body and its surrounding structures. Possible along-profile compartmentalization is also detected; further processing is however necessary before interpreting such features in terms of recent faulting. Acknowledgements: Formas, Grängesberg Iron AB, Spendrups and Geological Survey of Sweden

Mid- and late Holocene human impact recorded by the Coltrondo peat bog (NE Italian Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Segnana, Michela; Poto, Luisa; Gabrieli, Jacopo; Martino, Matteo; Oeggl, Klaus; Barbante, Carlo

2016-04-01

Peat bogs are ideal archives for the study of environmental changes, whether these are natural or human induced. Indeed, receiving water and nutrients exclusively from dry and wet atmospheric depositions, they are among the most suitable matrices for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. The present study is focused on the Eastern sector of the Italian Alps, where we sampled the Coltrondo peat bog, in the Comelico area (ca. 1800 m a.s.l.) The knowledge of the human history in this area is rather scarce: the only pieces of archaeological evidence found in this area dates back to the Mesolithic and the absence of later archaeological finds makes it difficult to reconstruct the human settlement in the valley. With the main aim to obtain information about the human settlement in that area we selected a multi-proxy approach, combining the study of biotic and abiotic sedimentary components archived in the 7900 years-peat bog record. Pollen analysis is performed along the core registering human impacts on the area from ca. 2500 cal BP, when land-use changes are well evidenced by the presence of human-related pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), as well as by the increase in micro-charcoal particles. Periods of increased human impact are recorded at the end of the Middle Ages and later, at the end of the 19th century. The analysis of trace elements, such as lead, is performed by means of ICP-MS technique and its enrichment factor (EF) is calculated. A first slight increase of Pb EF during Roman Times is possibly related to mining activities carried out by the Romans. Mining activities carried out in the area are registered during the Middle Ages, while the advent of the industrialization in the 20th century is marked by the highest EF values registered on the top of the core. To help and support the interpretation of geochemical data, lead isotopes ratios are also measured using ICP-MS to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic sources of lead. The 206Pb/207Pb ratio clearly records a pre-anthropogenic period from 7800 to 2500 cal BP, followed by a period in which humans impacted on the environment. During the Middle Ages the 206Pb/207Pb ratio values are attributable to mining activities, while during Modern Times they are mostly linked to industrial activities and to the introduction of leaded gasoline in Italy. The phasing out of leaded gasoline in the 1980s is also registered by the peat bog. Finally, the still on-going analysis of organic biomarkers in the peat seems to corroborate the results achieved, adding information about local disturbances on the bog. The multi-proxy approach selected for this study allows us to discriminate between different aspects of the past human presence, such as forest clearance, fires, agriculture, pasture, mining and industrial activities, giving new insights into the history of the Comelico area, still scarcely investigated.

Performance, cost and environmental assessment of gasification-based electricity in India: A preliminary analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rani, Abha; Singh, Udayan; Jayant; Singh, Ajay K.; Sankar Mahapatra, Siba

2017-07-01

Coal gasification processes are crucial to decarbonisation in the power sector. While underground coal gasification (UCG) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) are different in terms of the site of gasification, they have considerable similarities in terms of the types of gasifiers used. Of course, UCG offers some additional advantages such as reduction of the fugitive methane emissions accompanying the coal mining process. Nevertheless, simulation of IGCC plants involving surface coal gasification is likely to give reasonable indication of the 3E (efficiency, economics and emissions) prospects of the gasification pathway towards electricity. This paper will aim at Estimating 3E impacts (efficiency, environment, economics) of gasification processes using simulation carried out in the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) software framework. Key plant level controls which will be studied in this paper will be based on Indian financial regulations and operating costs which are specific to the country. Also, impacts of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in these plants will be studied. The various parameters that can be studied are plant load factor, impact of coal quality and price, type of CO2 capture process, capital costs etc. It is hoped that relevant insights into electricity generation from gasification may be obtained with this paper.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Winkler, Mirko S., E-mail: mirko.winkler@unibas.c; NewFields, LLC, Pretoria 0062; Divall, Mark J., E-mail: mdivall@newfields.co

In the developing world, large-scale projects in the extractive industry and natural resources sectors are often controversial and associated with long-term adverse health consequences to local communities. In many industrialised countries, health impact assessment (HIA) has been institutionalized for the mitigation of anticipated negative health effects while enhancing the benefits of projects, programmes and policies. However, in developing country settings, relatively few HIAs have been performed. Hence, more HIAs with a focus on low- and middle-income countries are needed to advance and refine tools and methods for impact assessment and subsequent mitigation measures. We present a promising HIA approach, developedmore » within the frame of a large gold-mining project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The articulation of environmental health areas, the spatial delineation of potentially affected communities and the use of a diversity of sources to obtain quality baseline health data are utilized for risk profiling. We demonstrate how these tools and data are fed into a risk analysis matrix, which facilitates ranking of potential health impacts for subsequent prioritization of mitigation strategies. The outcomes encapsulate a multitude of environmental and health determinants in a systematic manner, and will assist decision-makers in the development of mitigation measures that minimize potential adverse health effects and enhance positive ones.« less

77 FR 38351 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-27

... mines to upgraded copper products--is highly dependent on global trade. According to CPM Group, a... roughly 55% of global output in 2011, while roughly 46% production is performed in Asia. BILLING CODE 8011... global industrial activity, given copper's prominence in major economic sectors such as construction...

Joint Ventures in Cuba: Opportunities for Direct Foreign Investment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tancer, Robert S.

1995-01-01

Presents a brief history of direct foreign investment in Cuba since 1982. This investment currently plays an important role in Cuba as a replacement to Soviet aid and as a means to earn foreign exchange. Tourism and mining are the preferred area for foreign investment because both of these sectors offer hard currency returns for Cuba. (20…

Second Eastern Regional Remote Sensing Applications Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imhoff, M. L. (Editor); Witt, R. G. (Editor); Kugelmann, D. (Editor)

1981-01-01

Participants from state and local governments share experiences in remote sensing applications with one another and with users in the Federal government, universities, and the private sector during technical sessions and forums covering agriculture and forestry; land cover analysis and planning; surface mining and energy; data processing; water quality and the coastal zone; geographic information systems; and user development programs.

78 FR 53083 - Leasing of Osage Reservation Lands for Oil and Gas Mining

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-28

... simplification to make one new definition of ``raw natural gas'' or ``gas''; Adds new definitions for ``avoidably... aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year. The rule's requirements will... subject to the NEPA process either collectively or case by case.'' No extraordinary circumstances exist...

The occurrence and potential ecological risk assessment of bauxite mine-impacted water and sediments in Kuantan, Pahang,Malaysia.

PubMed

Kusin, Faradiella Mohd; Rahman, Muhammad Syazwan Abd; Madzin, Zafira; Jusop, Shamshuddin; Mohamat-Yusuff, Ferdaus; Ariffin, Mariani; Z, Mohd Syakirin Md

2017-01-01

Recent bauxite mining activities in the vicinity of Kuantan, Pahang, have been associated with apparent environmental quality degradation and have raised environmental concerns among the public. This study was carried out to evaluate the overall ecological impacts on water and sediment quality from the bauxite mining activities. Water and sediment samples were collected at seven sampling locations within the bauxite mining areas between June and December 2015. The water samples were analyzed for water quality index (WQI) and distribution of major and trace element geochemistry. Sediment samples were evaluated based on geochemical indices, i.e., the enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (I geo ). Potential ecological risk index was estimated to assess the degree to which sediments of the mine-impacted areas have been contaminated with heavy metals. The results showed that WQIs of some locations were classified as slightly polluted and contained metal contents exceeding the recommended guideline values. The EFs indicated minimal to moderate enrichment of metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Mn, As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, and Sr) in the sediments. I geo showed slightly to partially polluted sediments with respect to As at some locations. The potential ecological risk index (RI) showed that As posed the highest potential ecological risk with RI of 52.35-60.92 at two locations, while other locations indicated low risk. The findings from this study have demonstrated the impact of recent bauxite mining activities, which might be of importance to the local communities and relevant authorities to initiate immediate rehabilitation phase of the impacted area.

Long shadow of fear in an epidemic: fearonomic effects of Ebola on the private sector in Nigeria.

PubMed

Bali, Sulzhan; Stewart, Kearsley A; Pate, Muhammad Ali

2016-01-01

The already significant impact of the Ebola epidemic on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, was worsened by a fear of contagion that aggravated the health crisis. However, in contrast to other Ebola-affected countries, Nigeria fared significantly better due to its swift containment of the disease. The objective of our study was to describe the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector. This paper introduces and defines the term fearonomic effect as the direct and indirect economic effects of both misinformation as well as fear-induced aversion behaviour, exhibited by individuals, organisations or countries during an outbreak or an epidemic. This study was designed as a cross-sectional mixed-methods study that used semistructured in-depth interviews and a supporting survey to capture the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector after the outbreak. Themes were generated from the interviews on the direct and indirect impact of Ebola on the private sector; the impact of misinformation and fear-based aversion behaviour in the private sector. Our findings reveal that the fearonomic effects of Ebola included health service outages and reduced healthcare usage as a result of misinformation and aversion behaviour by both patients and providers. Although certain sectors (eg, health sector, aviation sector, hospitality sector) in Nigeria were affected more than others, no business was immune to Ebola's fearonomic effects. We describe how sectors expected to prosper during the outbreak (eg, pharmaceuticals), actually suffered due to the changes in consumption patterns and demand shocks. In a high-stressor epidemic-like setting, altered consumption behaviour due to distorted disease perception, misinformation and fear can trigger short-term economic cascades that can disproportionately affect businesses and lead to financial insecurity of the poorest and the most vulnerable in a society.

Pollution Emissions, Environmental Policy, and Marginal Abatement Costs.

PubMed

He, Ling-Yun; Ou, Jia-Jia

2017-12-05

Pollution emissions impose serious social negative externalities, especially in terms of public health. To reduce pollution emissions cost-effectively, the marginal abatement costs (MACs) of pollution emissions must be determined. Since the industrial sectors are the essential pillars of China's economic growth, as well as leading energy consumers and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emitters, estimating MACs of SO₂ emissions at the industrial level can provide valuable information for all abatement efforts. This paper tries to address the critical and essential issue in pollution abatement: How do we determine the MACs of pollution emissions in China? This paper first quantifies the SO₂ emission contribution of different industrial sectors in the Chinese economy by an Input-Output method and then estimates MACs of SO₂ for industrial sectors at the national level, provincial level, and sectoral level by the shadow price theory. Our results show that six sectors (e.g., the Mining and Washing of Coal sector) should be covered in the Chinese pollution emission trading system. We have also found that the lowest SO₂ shadow price is 2000 Yuan/ton at the national level, and that shadow prices should be set differently at the provincial level. Our empirical study has several important policy implications, e.g., the estimated MACs may be used as a pricing benchmark through emission allowance allocation. In this paper, the MACs of industrial sectors are calculated from the national, provincial and sectoral levels; therefore, we provide an efficient framework to track the complex relationship between sectors and provinces.

Bottom-up responses to environmental and social impact assessments: A case study from Guatemala

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aguilar-Støen, Mariel, E-mail: mariel.stoen@sum.uio.no; Hirsch, Cecilie; Department of International Environment and Development, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

In this article we take a closer look at resistance to the practice of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in mining and energy projects in Guatemala. Collectivities resisting mining and hydropower projects in Guatemala are increasingly using the evaluations of EIAs conducted by international independent professionals. Reaching out to international experts is facilitated by local communities' engagements in transnational networks bringing together activists, NGOs, scientists, journalists and others. We argue that resistance movements resort to international professionals to challenge the limits imposed on them by the national legislation and institutional arrangements as well as by the way in which EIAs aremore » performed in the country. Further, the engagements in networks that facilitate access to knowledge contribute to strengthen the legitimacy of communities' claims. Challenges to and complaints about EIAs are ways in which affected communities try to reclaim their right to participate in decision-making related to their local environment and the development of their communities. Both complaints about EIAs and the use of transnational networks to attain better participation in decision making processes at local levels, illustrated in this study for Guatemala, are common responses to the advancement of extractive industries and hydropower development across Latin America. The widespread of initiatives to challenge EIAs involving international experts in the region show that EIAs have become a sort of a transnational battleground. - Highlights: • Communities’ opposition to extractive projects is rooted in lack of participation in decision-making, including EIAs • Experts’ evaluations of approved EIAs confirm communities’ claims of poor practices in the public sector • Research presented here shows that local communities linked to transnational networks are able to scale up their demands.« less

77 FR 22608 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Bald Mountain Mine...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-16

... normal business hours. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Bald Mountain Mine (BMM), owned by Barrick Gold US Inc... Statement for the Proposed Bald Mountain Mine North and South Operations Area Projects, White Pine County.... ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Bald Mountain Mine North and South Operations Area...

Institutional challenges for mining and sustainability in Peru.

PubMed

Bebbington, Anthony J; Bury, Jeffrey T

2009-10-13

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge. This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human-environmental sciences regarding the relationships among institutions, knowledge, learning, and sustainability. The research combines in-depth and comparative case study analysis, and uses mapping and spatial analysis, surveys, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and our own direct participation in public debates on the regulation of mining for development. The findings demonstrate the pressures that mining expansion has placed on water resources, livelihood assets, and social relationships. These pressures are a result of institutional conditions that separate the governance of mineral expansion, water resources, and local development, and of relationships of power that prioritize large scale investment over livelihood and environment. A further problem is the poor communication between mining sector knowledge systems and those of local populations. These results are consistent with themes recently elaborated in sustainability science.

Institutional challenges for mining and sustainability in Peru

PubMed Central

Bebbington, Anthony J.; Bury, Jeffrey T.

2009-01-01

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge. This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human-environmental sciences regarding the relationships among institutions, knowledge, learning, and sustainability. The research combines in-depth and comparative case study analysis, and uses mapping and spatial analysis, surveys, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and our own direct participation in public debates on the regulation of mining for development. The findings demonstrate the pressures that mining expansion has placed on water resources, livelihood assets, and social relationships. These pressures are a result of institutional conditions that separate the governance of mineral expansion, water resources, and local development, and of relationships of power that prioritize large scale investment over livelihood and environment. A further problem is the poor communication between mining sector knowledge systems and those of local populations. These results are consistent with themes recently elaborated in sustainability science. PMID:19805172

Electrical injuries in the US mining industry, 2000-2009

PubMed Central

Homce, G.T.; Cawley, J.C.

2015-01-01

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) conducted a study of mining industry electrical injuries reported to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for the years 2000 to 2009. The findings of that study are detailed in this paper, and serve to characterize the circumstances surrounding electrical injuries and identify causal factors. The study included three tasks: 1) a direct review of mining industry occupational injury data compiled by MSHA, 2) interpretation of the narrative descriptions available for the injuries (from MSHA data) and 3) a separate examination of fatal electrical injuries. Eight-hundred sixty-five electrical injuries were reported during the 10-year period studied, with 39 of those being fatalities. This makes electrical injuries disproportionately fatal with respect to most other types of injuries in mining. Electrical injury rates were higher in coal mining than noncoal mining and, within the coal sector, rates were higher in underground operations than in surface operations. Of the 865 total cases, electrical and machine maintenance or repair activities were involved in 580 (69%), and electricians and mechanics were injured in 362 cases (42%). Of the 39 fatal electrical injuries, 27 (69%) involved electrical maintenance or repair work, and in 21 of these 27 cases, the failure to de-energize, lock-out and tag the circuit was the cause or a contributing factor. Also, contractor employees had a much greater chance of an electrical injury being fatal than did mine operator employees. The top three root causes for fatal electrical injuries were 1) no or inadequate lock-out and tagging, 2) failure of power system components and 3) contact of overhead electrical power lines by mobile equipment. PMID:26346041

Electrical injuries in the US mining industry, 2000-2009.

PubMed

Homce, G T; Cawley, J C

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) conducted a study of mining industry electrical injuries reported to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for the years 2000 to 2009. The findings of that study are detailed in this paper, and serve to characterize the circumstances surrounding electrical injuries and identify causal factors. The study included three tasks: 1) a direct review of mining industry occupational injury data compiled by MSHA, 2) interpretation of the narrative descriptions available for the injuries (from MSHA data) and 3) a separate examination of fatal electrical injuries. Eight-hundred sixty-five electrical injuries were reported during the 10-year period studied, with 39 of those being fatalities. This makes electrical injuries disproportionately fatal with respect to most other types of injuries in mining. Electrical injury rates were higher in coal mining than noncoal mining and, within the coal sector, rates were higher in underground operations than in surface operations. Of the 865 total cases, electrical and machine maintenance or repair activities were involved in 580 (69%), and electricians and mechanics were injured in 362 cases (42%). Of the 39 fatal electrical injuries, 27 (69%) involved electrical maintenance or repair work, and in 21 of these 27 cases, the failure to de-energize, lock-out and tag the circuit was the cause or a contributing factor. Also, contractor employees had a much greater chance of an electrical injury being fatal than did mine operator employees. The top three root causes for fatal electrical injuries were 1) no or inadequate lock-out and tagging, 2) failure of power system components and 3) contact of overhead electrical power lines by mobile equipment.

Life cycle assessment of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and the impacts of key design alternatives.

PubMed

Burkhardt, John J; Heath, Garvin A; Turchi, Craig S

2011-03-15

Climate change and water scarcity are important issues for today's power sector. To inform capacity expansion decisions, hybrid life cycle assessment is used to evaluate a reference design of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility located in Daggett, CA, along four sustainability metrics: life cycle (LC) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, cumulative energy demand (CED), and energy payback time (EPBT). This wet-cooled, 103 MW plant utilizes mined nitrates salts in its two-tank, thermal energy storage (TES) system. Design alternatives of dry-cooling, a thermocline TES, and synthetically derived nitrate salt are evaluated. During its LC, the reference CSP plant is estimated to emit 26 g of CO(2eq) per kWh, consume 4.7 L/kWh of water, and demand 0.40 MJ(eq)/kWh of energy, resulting in an EPBT of approximately 1 year. The dry-cooled alternative is estimated to reduce LC water consumption by 77% but increase LC GHG emissions and CED by 8%. Synthetic nitrate salts may increase LC GHG emissions by 52% compared to mined. Switching from two-tank to thermocline TES configuration reduces LC GHG emissions, most significantly for plants using synthetically derived nitrate salts. CSP can significantly reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil-fueled generation; however, dry-cooling may be required in many locations to minimize water consumption.

Thar Coalfield: Sustainable Development and an Open Sesame to the Energy Security of Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masih, Adven

2018-04-01

The paper discusses the role of Thar-coalfield, a 175 Billion tones reserve in enhancing the energy and combating global environmental change from the local and regional aspects. Pakistan’s energy requirements are potentially huge. Being the sixth largest country in the world, with its growing population exceeded 190m by 2015. Rising population, improved living standards, increased per capita energy use, and industrialization has led to a high energy demand growth. According to latest reports the gap between the demand and supply of electricity is around 6,000MW. To meet the projected demand exploiting indigenous resources, such as Thar coalfield, a 100,000MW generation capacity reserve, could be the possible answer. Due to sustainable techniques in energy sector, 1) Coal mining is moving towards sustainable development; 2) circular economy has proven useful concept for promoting sustainable development; 3) coal industry can minimize its environmental impact from local to global level. Besides energy goals, environmental degradation associated with the mining activity poses a serious threat to the region. Therefore, some challenges need to be addressed, e.g., discharge management issues, concerns regarding pollution control, lack of technology needed to replenish solid waste; and, increased socioeconomic and environmental pressure on the coal industry. The study discusses how sustainable development measures in Thar coalfield can run the engines of economic growth without hurting the natural environment promoting prosperity in Pakistan.

Predicting Airspace Capacity Impacts Using the Consolidated Storm Prediction for Aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Carl

2010-01-01

Convective weather is currently the largest contributor to air traffic delays in the United States. In order to make effective traffic flow management decisions to mitigate these delays, weather forecasts must be made as early and as accurately as possible. A forecast product that could be used to mitigate convective weather impacts is the Consolidated Storm Prediction for Aviation. This product provides forecasts of cloud water content and convective top heights at 0- to 8-hour look-ahead times. The objective of this study was to examine a method of predicting the impact of convective weather on air traffic sector capacities using these forecasts. Polygons representing forecast convective weather were overlaid at multiple flight levels on a sector map to calculate the fraction of each sector covered by weather. The fractional volume coverage was used as the primary metric to determine convection s impact on sectors. Results reveal that the forecasts can be used to predict the probability and magnitude of weather impacts on sector capacity up to eight hours in advance.

Earth Observation in Environmental and Societal Impacts of Mineral Resources Exploitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chevrel, Stephane

Several national and international initiatives, both from the private or the institutional sectors, arised to address the sustainable development of the extractive industry and the reduction of its environmental footprint. Meanwhile, the extractive industry is facing increasing environmental and societal pressures, being regulatory or not, during all phases of a project, from exploration to exploitation and closure. The social acceptability of a project is among the major key issues to be dealt with. The EO-MINERS project (Earth Observation for Monitoring and Observing Environmental and Societal Impacts of Mineral Resources Exploration and Exploitation) is a newly EU funded Research and Technological Development project started in February 2010. EO-MINERS scientific and technical objectives are to: i) assess policy requirements at macro (public) and micro (mining companies) levels and define environmental, socio-economic, societal and sustainable development criteria and indicators to be possibly dealt using EO (Earth Observation); ii) use existing EO knowledge and carry out new developments on demonstration sites to further demonstrate the capabilities of integrated EO-based methods and tools in monitoring, managing and contributing reducing the environmental and societal footprints of the extractive industry during all phases of a mining project, from the exploration to the exploitation and closure stages; iii) contribute making reliable and objective information about affected ecosystems, populations and societies, to serve as a basis for a sound "trialogue" between industrialists, governmental organisations and stakeholders. EO-MINERS also is designed to embed the outcomes of the project firmly in the GEO process through a review the existing GEO Tasks covering the 9 societal benefit and 5 transverse areas defined by GEO work plan 2007-2009. This analysis will be used to identify synergies and gaps between EO-MINERS and GEO, with the aim of mapping mining and environmental observa-tion systems into the 9 GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas, identifying EO-MINERS contributions to existing GEOSS targets and defining new, EO-MINERS activities in support of GEOSS. EO-MINERS will run a minerals workshop with GEO members and/or the GEO Secretariat.

Site investigation report mine research project GUE 70-14.10, Guernsey, Ohio.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-06-01

Geophysical investigative techniques can be a valuable supplement to standard subsurface investigations for the : evaluation of abandoned underground coal mine workings and their potential impacts at the ground surface. The GUE : 70 - 14.10 Mine Rese...

2010 Five-Year Plan: Assessment of Health and Environmental Impacts of Uranium Mining and Milling

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The five-year plan is intended to compile all activities contributing to the identification and cleanup of legacy uranium milling and mining activities in the Grants Mining District in the State of New Mexico.

Impact of systemic risk in the real estate sector on banking return.

PubMed

Li, Shouwei; Pan, Qing; He, Jianmin

2016-01-01

In this paper, we measure systemic risk in the real estate sector based on contingent claims analysis, and then investigate its impact on banking return. Based on the data in China, we find that systemic risk in the real estate sector has a negative effect on banking return, but this effect is temporary; banking risk aversion and implicit interest expense have considerable impact on banking return.

Impact of Clean Energy R&D on the U.S. Power Sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donohoo-Vallett, Paul; Mai, Trieu; Mowers, Matthew

The U.S. government, along with other governments, private corporations and organizations, invests significantly in research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) activities in clean energy technologies, in part to achieve the goal of a clean, secure, and reliable energy system. While specific outcomes and breakthroughs resulting from RDD&D investment are unpredictable, it can be instructive to explore the potential impacts of clean energy RDD&D activities in the power sector and to place those impacts in the context of current and anticipated market trends. This analysis builds on and leverages analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) titled “Energy CO 2more » Emissions Impacts of Clean Energy Technology Innovation and Policy” (DOE 2017). Similar to DOE (2017), we explore how additional improvements in cost and performance of clean energy technologies could impact the future U.S. energy system; however, unlike the economy-wide modeling used in DOE (2017) our analysis is focused solely on the electricity sector and applies a different and more highly spatially-resolved electric sector model. More specifically, we apply a scenario analysis approach to explore how assumed further advancements in clean electricity technologies would impact power sector generation mix, electricity system costs, and power sector carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions.« less

Assessing the impacts of 1.5 °C global warming - simulation protocol of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP2b)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frieler, Katja; Lange, Stefan; Piontek, Franziska; Reyer, Christopher P. O.; Schewe, Jacob; Warszawski, Lila; Zhao, Fang; Chini, Louise; Denvil, Sebastien; Emanuel, Kerry; Geiger, Tobias; Halladay, Kate; Hurtt, George; Mengel, Matthias; Murakami, Daisuke; Ostberg, Sebastian; Popp, Alexander; Riva, Riccardo; Stevanovic, Miodrag; Suzuki, Tatsuo; Volkholz, Jan; Burke, Eleanor; Ciais, Philippe; Ebi, Kristie; Eddy, Tyler D.; Elliott, Joshua; Galbraith, Eric; Gosling, Simon N.; Hattermann, Fred; Hickler, Thomas; Hinkel, Jochen; Hof, Christian; Huber, Veronika; Jägermeyr, Jonas; Krysanova, Valentina; Marcé, Rafael; Müller Schmied, Hannes; Mouratiadou, Ioanna; Pierson, Don; Tittensor, Derek P.; Vautard, Robert; van Vliet, Michelle; Biber, Matthias F.; Betts, Richard A.; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Deryng, Delphine; Frolking, Steve; Jones, Chris D.; Lotze, Heike K.; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Sahajpal, Ritvik; Thonicke, Kirsten; Tian, Hanqin; Yamagata, Yoshiki

2017-11-01

In Paris, France, December 2015, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016, the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the response devised within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to provide tailored, cross-sectorally consistent impact projections to broaden the scientific basis for the report. The simulation protocol is designed to allow for (1) separation of the impacts of historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from impacts of other drivers such as historical land-use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations); (2) quantification of the impacts of additional warming up to 1.5 °C, including a potential overshoot and long-term impacts up to 2299, and comparison to higher levels of global mean temperature change (based on the low-emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation pathway RCP6.0) with socio-economic conditions fixed at 2005 levels; and (3) assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios while accounting for simultaneous changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle-of-the-road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2, Fricko et al., 2016) and in particular differential bioenergy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to comply with RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. With the aim of providing the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and analysis of cross-sectoral interactions that may dampen or amplify sectoral impacts, the protocol is designed to facilitate consistent impact projections from a range of impact models across different sectors (global and regional hydrology, lakes, global crops, global vegetation, regional forests, global and regional marine ecosystems and fisheries, global and regional coastal infrastructure, energy supply and demand, temperature-related mortality, and global terrestrial biodiversity).

Analysis of Alaska transportation sectors to assess energy use and impacts of price shocks and climate change legislation.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-04-01

We analyzed the use of energy by Alaskas transportation sectors to assess the impact of sudden fuel prices changes. : We conducted three types of analysis: 1) Development of broad energy use statistics for each transportation sector, : including t...

The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA announced the availability of the final report, The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields. This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of mountaintop mines and valley fills (MTM-VF) on streams in the central Appalachian coalfields. These coalfields cover about 48,000 square kilometers (122 million acres) in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, USA. Our reviews focused on the impacts on mountaintop removal coal mining, which as its name suggests, involves removing all or some portion of the top of a mountain or ridge to expose and mine one or more coal seams. The excess overburden is disposed of in constructed fills in small valleys or hollows adjacent to the mining site. Our conclusions, based on evidence from the peer-reviewed literature and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement released in 2005, are that mountaintop mines and valley fills lead directly to five principal alterations of stream ecosystems: springs and ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams are permanently lost with the removal of the mountain and from burial under fill, concentrations of major chemical ions are persistently elevated downstream, degraded water quality reaches levels that are acutely lethal to organisms in standard aquatic toxicity tests, selenium concentrations are elevated, reaching concentrations t

Monitoring coal mine changes and their impact on landscape patterns in an alpine region: a case study of the Muli coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

PubMed

Qian, Dawen; Yan, Changzhen; Xing, Zanpin; Xiu, Lina

2017-10-14

The Muli coal mine is the largest open-cast coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and it consists of two independent mining sites named Juhugeng and Jiangcang. It has received much attention due to the ecological problems caused by rapid expansion in recent years. The objective of this paper was to monitor the mining area and its surrounding land cover over the period 1976-2016 utilizing Landsat images, and the network structure of land cover changes was determined to visualize the relationships and pattern of the mining-induced land cover changes. In addition, the responses of the surrounding landscape pattern were analysed by constructing gradient transects. The results show that the mining area was increasing in size, especially after 2000 (increased by 71.68 km 2 ), and this caused shrinkage of the surrounding lands, including alpine meadow wetland (53.44 km 2 ), alpine meadow (6.28 km 2 ) and water (6.24 km 2 ). The network structure of the mining area revealed the changes in lands surrounding the mining area. The impact of mining development on landscape patterns was mainly distributed within a range of 1-6 km. Alpine meadow wetland was most affected in Juhugeng, while alpine meadow was most affected in Jiangcang. The results of this study provide a reference for the ecological assessment and restoration of the Muli coal mine land.

Global demand for gold is another threat for tropical forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Berríos, Nora L.; Aide, T. Mitchell

2015-01-01

The current global gold rush, driven by increasing consumption in developing countries and uncertainty in financial markets, is an increasing threat for tropical ecosystems. Gold mining causes significant alteration to the environment, yet mining is often overlooked in deforestation analyses because it occupies relatively small areas. As a result, we lack a comprehensive assessment of the spatial extent of gold mining impacts on tropical forests. In this study, we provide a regional assessment of gold mining deforestation in the tropical moist forest biome of South America. Specifically, we analyzed the patterns of forest change in gold mining sites between 2001 and 2013, and evaluated the proximity of gold mining deforestation to protected areas (PAs). The forest cover maps were produced using the Land Mapper web application and images from the MODIS satellite MOD13Q1 vegetation indices 250 m product. Annual maps of forest cover were used to model the incremental change in forest in ˜1600 potential gold mining sites between 2001-2006 and 2007-2013. Approximately 1680 km2 of tropical moist forest was lost in these mining sites between 2001 and 2013. Deforestation was significantly higher during the 2007-2013 period, and this was associated with the increase in global demand for gold after the international financial crisis. More than 90% of the deforestation occurred in four major hotspots: Guianan moist forest ecoregion (41%), Southwest Amazon moist forest ecoregion (28%), Tapajós-Xingú moist forest ecoregion (11%), and Magdalena Valley montane forest and Magdalena-Urabá moist forest ecoregions (9%). In addition, some of the more active zones of gold mining deforestation occurred inside or within 10 km of ˜32 PAs. There is an urgent need to understand the ecological and social impacts of gold mining because it is an important cause of deforestation in the most remote forests in South America, and the impacts, particularly in aquatic systems, spread well beyond the actual mining sites.

ANTHROPOGENIC COPPER INVENTORIES AND MERCURY PROFILES FROM LAKE SUPERIOR: EVIDENCE FOR MINING IMPACTS

EPA Science Inventory

During the past 150 years, the mining indstry discharged more than a billion tons of tailings along Lake Superior shorelines and constructed numerous smelters in the watershed. Given the vast size of Lake Superior, were sediment profiles at locations far offshore impacted by near...

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS FOR WORKSHOP ON MINING IMPACTED NATIVE AMERICAN LANDS 2003

EPA Science Inventory

This is a Call for Abstracts for a workshop 9/9-11/2003 in Reno, NV, to unite Tribal members and representatives, and other government officials to examine technical and policy issues related to historic, current, and future mining impacts on Native American Lands.

Gold--Its Extraction and the Environment: Experiences in Papua New Guinea.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Mike; Owens, Chris

1998-01-01

Discusses how the mining of gold has impacted the development of both Australia and Papua, New Guinea. Outlines the essential chemistry of small scale mining, the impact of gold on the economy, and the environmental effect of mercury on both the miners and the environment. (Author/CCM)

Building associations between markers of environmental stressors and adverse human health impacts using frequent itemset mining

EPA Science Inventory

Building associations between markers of exposure and effect using frequent itemset mining The human-health impact of environmental contaminant exposures is unclear. While some exposure-effect relationships are well studied, health effects are unknown for the vast majority of the...

GROUNDWATER IMPACTED BY ACID MINE DRAINAGE

EPA Science Inventory

The generation and release of acidic, metal-rich water from mine wastes continues to be an intractable environmental problem. Although the effects of acid mine drainage (AMD) are most evident in surface waters, there is an obvious need for developing cost-effective approaches fo...

The Impact of Individual Anthropogenic Emissions Sectors on the Global Burden of Human Mortality due to Ambient Air Pollution.

PubMed

Silva, Raquel A; Adelman, Zachariah; Fry, Meridith M; West, J Jason

2016-11-01

Exposure to ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can cause adverse health effects, including premature mortality due to cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer. Recent studies quantify global air pollution mortality but not the contribution of different emissions sectors, or they focus on a specific sector. We estimated the global mortality burden of anthropogenic ozone and PM2.5, and the impact of five emissions sectors, using a global chemical transport model at a finer horizontal resolution (0.67° × 0.5°) than previous studies. We performed simulations for 2005 using the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 4 (MOZART-4), zeroing out all anthropogenic emissions and emissions from specific sectors (All Transportation, Land Transportation, Energy, Industry, and Residential and Commercial). We estimated premature mortality using a log-linear concentration-response function for ozone and an integrated exposure-response model for PM2.5. We estimated 2.23 (95% CI: 1.04, 3.33) million deaths/year related to anthropogenic PM2.5, with the highest mortality in East Asia (48%). The Residential and Commercial sector had the greatest impact globally-675 (95% CI: 428, 899) thousand deaths/year-and in most regions. Land Transportation dominated in North America (32% of total anthropogenic PM2.5 mortality), and it had nearly the same impact (24%) as Residential and Commercial (27%) in Europe. Anthropogenic ozone was associated with 493 (95% CI: 122, 989) thousand deaths/year, with the Land Transportation sector having the greatest impact globally (16%). The contributions of emissions sectors to ambient air pollution-related mortality differ among regions, suggesting region-specific air pollution control strategies. Global sector-specific actions targeting Land Transportation (ozone) and Residential and Commercial (PM2.5) sectors would particularly benefit human health. Citation: Silva RA, Adelman Z, Fry MM, West JJ. 2016. The impact of individual anthropogenic emissions sectors on the global burden of human mortality due to ambient air pollution. Environ Health Perspect 124:1776-1784; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP177.

The Impact of Individual Anthropogenic Emissions Sectors on the Global Burden of Human Mortality due to Ambient Air Pollution

PubMed Central

Silva, Raquel A.; Adelman, Zachariah; Fry, Meridith M.; West, J. Jason

2016-01-01

Background: Exposure to ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can cause adverse health effects, including premature mortality due to cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer. Recent studies quantify global air pollution mortality but not the contribution of different emissions sectors, or they focus on a specific sector. Objectives: We estimated the global mortality burden of anthropogenic ozone and PM2.5, and the impact of five emissions sectors, using a global chemical transport model at a finer horizontal resolution (0.67° × 0.5°) than previous studies. Methods: We performed simulations for 2005 using the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 4 (MOZART-4), zeroing out all anthropogenic emissions and emissions from specific sectors (All Transportation, Land Transportation, Energy, Industry, and Residential and Commercial). We estimated premature mortality using a log-linear concentration–response function for ozone and an integrated exposure–response model for PM2.5. Results: We estimated 2.23 (95% CI: 1.04, 3.33) million deaths/year related to anthropogenic PM2.5, with the highest mortality in East Asia (48%). The Residential and Commercial sector had the greatest impact globally—675 (95% CI: 428, 899) thousand deaths/year—and in most regions. Land Transportation dominated in North America (32% of total anthropogenic PM2.5 mortality), and it had nearly the same impact (24%) as Residential and Commercial (27%) in Europe. Anthropogenic ozone was associated with 493 (95% CI: 122, 989) thousand deaths/year, with the Land Transportation sector having the greatest impact globally (16%). Conclusions: The contributions of emissions sectors to ambient air pollution–related mortality differ among regions, suggesting region-specific air pollution control strategies. Global sector-specific actions targeting Land Transportation (ozone) and Residential and Commercial (PM2.5) sectors would particularly benefit human health. Citation: Silva RA, Adelman Z, Fry MM, West JJ. 2016. The impact of individual anthropogenic emissions sectors on the global burden of human mortality due to ambient air pollution. Environ Health Perspect 124:1776–1784; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP177 PMID:27177206

Genome engineering for microbial natural product discovery.

PubMed

Choi, Si-Sun; Katsuyama, Yohei; Bai, Linquan; Deng, Zixin; Ohnishi, Yasuo; Kim, Eung-Soo

2018-03-03

The discovery and development of microbial natural products (MNPs) have played pivotal roles in the fields of human medicine and its related biotechnology sectors over the past several decades. The post-genomic era has witnessed the development of microbial genome mining approaches to isolate previously unsuspected MNP biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) hidden in the genome, followed by various BGC awakening techniques to visualize compound production. Additional microbial genome engineering techniques have allowed higher MNP production titers, which could complement a traditional culture-based MNP chasing approach. Here, we describe recent developments in the MNP research paradigm, including microbial genome mining, NP BGC activation, and NP overproducing cell factory design. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combining a Spatial Model and Demand Forecasts to Map Future Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia

PubMed Central

Strager, Michael P.; Strager, Jacquelyn M.; Evans, Jeffrey S.; Dunscomb, Judy K.; Kreps, Brad J.; Maxwell, Aaron E.

2015-01-01

Predicting the locations of future surface coal mining in Appalachia is challenging for a number of reasons. Economic and regulatory factors impact the coal mining industry and forecasts of future coal production do not specifically predict changes in location of future coal production. With the potential environmental impacts from surface coal mining, prediction of the location of future activity would be valuable to decision makers. The goal of this study was to provide a method for predicting future surface coal mining extents under changing economic and regulatory forecasts through the year 2035. This was accomplished by integrating a spatial model with production demand forecasts to predict (1 km2) gridded cell size land cover change. Combining these two inputs was possible with a ratio which linked coal extraction quantities to a unit area extent. The result was a spatial distribution of probabilities allocated over forecasted demand for the Appalachian region including northern, central, southern, and eastern Illinois coal regions. The results can be used to better plan for land use alterations and potential cumulative impacts. PMID:26090883

Determining the Solubility Product of Fe(OH)[subscript 3]: An Equilibrium Study with Environmental Significance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meighan, Michelle; MacNeil, Joseph; Falconer, Renee

2008-01-01

The relationship between pH and the aqueous solubility of heavy metals is explored by considering the environmental impact of acidic mine drainage. Acid mine drainage is an important environmental concern in many areas of the United States. Associated with coal mining in the East and hard rock mining in the West, the acidity originates primarily…

A life-cycle description of underground coal mining

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lavin, M. L.; Borden, C. S.; Duda, J. R.

1978-01-01

An initial effort to relate the major technological and economic variables which impact conventional underground coal mining systems, in order to help identify promising areas for advanced mining technology is described. The point of departure is a series of investment analyses published by the United States Bureau of Mines, which provide both the analytical framework and guidance on a choice of variables.

75 FR 30055 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Graymont Western U.S...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-28

... mining claims located in accordance with the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended. DATES: The Final EIS... operation, which is located on unpatented mining claims on public lands west of Townsend, Montana. This proposal is a continuation of mining along a prominent limestone ridge which forms the crest of the...

Nanominerals and potentially hazardous elements from coal cleaning rejects of abandoned mines: Environmental impact and risk assessment.

PubMed

Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Silvia; Gredilla, Ainara; da Boit, Kátia; Teixeira, Elba C; Sampaio, Carlos H; Madariaga, Juan Manuel; Silva, Luis F O

2017-02-01

Soils around coal mining are important reservoir of hazardous elements (HEs), nanominerals, and ultrafine compounds. This research reports and discusses the soil concentrations of HEs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in coal residues of abandoned mines. To assess differences regarding environmental impact and risk assessment between coal abandoned mines from the Santa Catarina state, eighteen coal cleaning rejects with different mineralogical and chemical composition, from eight abandoned mines were collected. Nanominerals and ultra-fine minerals from mining-contaminated areas were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), providing new information on the mineralogy and nano-mineralogy of these coal residues. The total contents of 57 elements (HEs, alkali metals, and rare earth elements) were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The calculation of NWACs (Normalized Average Weighted Concentration), together with the chemometric analysis by Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the variability of the samples regarding their city and their mine of origin. Moreover, the results confirmed the existence of hotspots in mines near urban areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New approach for reduction of diesel consumption by comparing different mining haulage configurations.

PubMed

Rodovalho, Edmo da Cunha; Lima, Hernani Mota; de Tomi, Giorgio

2016-05-01

The mining operations of loading and haulage have an energy source that is highly dependent on fossil fuels. In mining companies that select trucks for haulage, this input is the main component of mining costs. How can the impact of the operational aspects on the diesel consumption of haulage operations in surface mines be assessed? There are many studies relating the consumption of fuel trucks to several variables, but a methodology that prioritizes higher-impact variables under each specific condition is not available. Generic models may not apply to all operational settings presented in the mining industry. This study aims to create a method of analysis, identification, and prioritization of variables related to fuel consumption of haul trucks in open pit mines. For this purpose, statistical analysis techniques and mathematical modelling tools using multiple linear regressions will be applied. The model is shown to be suitable because the results generate a good description of the fuel consumption behaviour. In the practical application of the method, the reduction of diesel consumption reached 10%. The implementation requires no large-scale investments or very long deadlines and can be applied to mining haulage operations in other settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of climate change on acid mine drainage generation and contaminant transport in water ecosystems of semi-arid and arid mining areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anawar, Hossain Md.

Disposal of untreated and treated mining wastes and tailings exerts a significant threat and hazard for environmental contamination including groundwater, surface water, wetlands, land, food chain and animals. In order to facilitate remediation techniques, it is important to understand the oxidation of sulfidic minerals, and the hydrolysis of the oxidation products that result in production of acid mine drainage (AMD), toxic metals, low pH, SO42- and Fe. This review has summarized the impacts of climate change on geochemical reactions, AMD generation, and water quality in semi-arid/arid mining environments. Besides this, the study included the effects of hydrological, seasonal and climate change on composition of AMD, contaminant transport in watersheds and restoration of mining sites. Different models have different types of limitations and benefits that control their adaptability and suitability of application in various mining environments. This review has made a comparative discussion of a few most potential and widely used reactive transport models that can be applied to simulate the effect of climate change on sulfide oxidation and AMD production from mining waste, and contaminant transport in surface and groundwater systems.

Factors defining value and direction of thermal pressure between the mine shafts and impact of the general mine natural draught on ventilation process of underground mining companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolaev, A. V.; Alymenko, N. I.; Kamenskikh, A. A.; Alymenko, D. N.; Nikolaev, V. A.; Petrov, A. I.

2017-10-01

The article specifies measuring data of air parameters and its volume flow in the shafts and on the surface, collected in BKPRU-2 (Berezniki potash plant and mine 2) («Uralkali» PJSC) in normal operation mode, after shutdown of the main mine fan (GVU) and within several hours. As a result of the test it has been established that thermal pressure between the mine shafts is active continuously regardless of the GVU operation mode or other draught sources. Also it has been discovered that depth of the mine shafts has no impact on thermal pressure value. By the same difference of shaft elevation marks and parameters of outer air between the shafts, by their different depth, thermal pressure of the same value will be active. Value of the general mine natural draught defined as an algebraic sum of thermal pressure values between the shafts depends only on the difference of temperature and pressure of outer air and air in the shaft bottoms on condition of shutdown of the air handling system (unit-heaters, air conditioning systems).

Analysis of environmental-social changes in the surrounding area of KWB Turow in the historical context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciesłik, Tobiasz; Górniak-Zimroz, Justyna

2018-01-01

Opencast mining of large-area lignite deposits impacts the environment, and the health and life of people living in the vicinity of the conducted mining activity. Therefore, the attempt was made to develop a methodology for identification of environmental and social changes in the Bogatynia municipality (south-western Poland), resulting from functioning of Turow lignite mine within its area. During the study of changes occurring over the years, the development of mining pit was noticed, as well as the transformations of this area and impact of the mining plant on the selected elements of environment and surrounding areas. Analogue and digital data were used for the preparation of cartographic compilations, the usefulness of which was analyzed in accordance with the guidelines contained in the standard [1]. The conducted cartographic studies allowed to learn the history of the mine together with identification of changes taking place in the municipality Bogatynia. The obtained results show the form and condition of the objects in the analyzed year, allowing for the interpretation of changes that occurred in the surrounding areas of the Turow mine. Due to the conducted activity of the mine and Turow power plant, both negative and positive aspects were noted in connection with the carrying out of mining activity in the Bogatynia municipality.

From chemical risk assessment to environmental resources management: the challenge for mining.

PubMed

Voulvoulis, Nikolaos; Skolout, John W F; Oates, Christopher J; Plant, Jane A

2013-11-01

On top of significant improvements and progress made through science and engineering in the last century to increase efficiency and reduce impacts of mining to the environment, risk assessment has an important role to play in further reducing such impacts and preventing and mitigating risks. This paper reflects on how risk assessment can improve planning, monitoring and management in mining and mineral processing operations focusing on the importance of better understanding source-pathway-receptor linkages for all stages of mining. However, in light of the ever-growing consumption and demand for raw materials from mining, the need to manage environmental resources more sustainably is becoming increasingly important. The paper therefore assesses how mining can form an integral part of wider sustainable resources management, with the need for re-assessing the potential of mining in the context of sustainable management of natural capital, and with a renewed focus on its the role from a systems perspective. The need for understanding demand and pressure on resources, followed by appropriate pricing that is inclusive of all environmental costs, with new opportunities for mining in the wastes we generate, is also discussed. Findings demonstrate the need for a life cycle perspective in closing the loop between mining, production, consumption and waste generation as the way forward.

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Children and Young People: Reviewing Research Conducted and Distilling Implications for the Education Sector in Asia. Discussion Paper No. I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wijngaarden, Jan; Shaeffer, Sheldon

2005-01-01

This discussion paper evaluates the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in the Asia Pacific region. It looks at the impact of the epidemic on children (aged 0-18) focusing on how the presence of HIV/AIDS in the household affects the education sector. Examples are summarized from research papers from inter-governmental agencies including…

Qualitative modelling of gold mine impacts on Lihir Island's socioeconomic system and reef-edge fish community.

PubMed

Dambacher, Jeffrey M; Brewer, David T; Dennis, Darren M; Macintyre, Martha; Foale, Simon

2007-01-15

Inhabitants of Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, have traditionally relied on reef fishing and rotational farming of slash-burn forest plots for a subsistence diet. However, a new gold mine has introduced a cash economy to the island's socioeconomic system and impacted the fringing coral reef through sedimentation from the near-shore dumping of mine wastes. Studies of the Lihirian people have documented changes in population size, local customs, health, education, and land use; studies of the reef have documented impacts to fish populations in mine affected sites. Indirect effects from these impacts are complex and indecipherable when viewed only from isolated studies. Here, we use qualitative modelling to synthesize the social and biological research programs in order to understand the interaction of the human and ecological systems. Initial modelling results appear to be consistent with differences in fish and macroalgae populations in sites with and without coral degradation due to sedimentation. A greater cash flow from mine expansion is predicted to increase the human population, the intensity of the artisanal fishery, and the rate of sewage production and land clearing. Modelling results are being used to guide ongoing research projects, such as monitoring fish populations and artisanal catch and patterns and intensity of land clearing.

What can 35 years and over 700,000 measurements tell us about noise exposure in the mining industry?

PubMed

Roberts, Benjamin; Sun, Kan; Neitzel, Richard L

2017-01-01

To analyse over 700,000 cross-sectional measurements from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) and develop statistical models to predict noise exposure for a worker. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. Two linear regression models were used to predict noise exposure based on MSHA-permissible exposure limit (PEL) and action level (AL), respectively. Twofold cross validation was used to compare the exposure estimates from the models to actual measurement. The mean difference and t-statistic was calculated for each job title to determine whether the model predictions were significantly different from the actual data. Measurements were acquired from MSHA through a Freedom of Information Act request. From 1979 to 2014, noise exposure has decreased. Measurements taken before the implementation of MSHA's revised noise regulation in 2000 were on average 4.5 dBA higher than after the law was implemented. Both models produced exposure predictions that were less than 1 dBA different than the holdout data. Overall noise levels in mines have been decreasing. However, this decrease has not been uniform across all mining sectors. The exposure predictions from the model will be useful to help predict hearing loss in workers in the mining industry.

Modeling climate change impacts on the forest sector

Treesearch

John R. Mills; Ralph Alig; Richard W. Haynes; Darius M. Adams

2000-01-01

The forest sector has had a relatively long history of applying sectorial models to estimate the effects of atmospheric issues such as acid rain, climate change, and the forestry impacts of reduced atmospheric ozone. The models of the forest sector vary in scope and complexity but share a number of common features and databases.

Propagation of economic shocks in input-output networks: A cross-country analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contreras, Martha G. Alatriste; Fagiolo, Giorgio

2014-12-01

This paper investigates how economic shocks propagate and amplify through the input-output network connecting industrial sectors in developed economies. We study alternative models of diffusion on networks and we calibrate them using input-output data on real-world inter-sectoral dependencies for several European countries before the Great Depression. We show that the impact of economic shocks strongly depends on the nature of the shock and country size. Shocks that impact on final demand without changing production and the technological relationships between sectors have on average a large but very homogeneous impact on the economy. Conversely, when shocks change also the magnitudes of input-output across-sector interdependencies (and possibly sector production), the economy is subject to predominantly large but more heterogeneous avalanche sizes. In this case, we also find that (i) the more a sector is globally central in the country network, the larger its impact; (ii) the largest European countries, such as those constituting the core of the European Union's economy, typically experience the largest avalanches, signaling their intrinsic higher vulnerability to economic shocks.

The impact of mining activities on Mongolia's protected areas: a status report with policy recommendations.

PubMed

Farrington, John D

2005-07-01

Mongolia's protected areas cover 20.5 million ha or 13.1% of its national territory. Existing and proposed protected areas, however, are threatened by mining. Mining impacts on Mongolia's protected areas are diverse and include licensed and unlicensed mineral activities in protected areas, buffer zone disturbance, and prevention of the establishment of proposed protected areas. Review of United States, Canadian, and Australian policies revealed 9 basic approaches to resolving conflicts between protected areas and mining. Four approaches suitable for Mongolia are granting land trades and special dispensations in exchange for mineral licenses in protected areas; granting protected status to all lapsed mineral licenses in protected areas; voluntary forfeiting of mineral licenses in protected areas in exchange for positive corporate publicity; and prohibiting all new mineral activities in existing and proposed protected areas. Mining is Mongolia's most important industry, however, and the long-term benefits of preserving Mongolia's natural heritage must be considered and weighed against the economic benefits and costs of mining activities.

Weathering of sulfidic shale and copper mine waste: Secondary minerals and metal cycling in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hammarstrom, J.M.; Seal, R.R.; Meier, A.L.; Jackson, J.C.

2003-01-01

Metal cycling via physical and chemical weathering of discrete sources (copper mines) and regional (non-point) sources (sulfide-rich shale) is evaluated by examining the mineralogy and chemistry of weathering products in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA. The elements in copper mine waste, secondary minerals, stream sediments, and waters that are most likely to have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems are aluminum, copper, zinc, and arsenic because these elements locally exceed toxicity guidelines for surface waters or for stream sediments. Acid-mine drainage has not developed in streams draining inactive copper mines. Acid-rock drainage and chemical weathering processes that accompany debris flows or human disturbances of sulfidic rocks are comparable to processes that develop acid-mine drainage elsewhere. Despite the high rainfall in the mountain range, sheltered areas and intermittent dry spells provide local venues for development of secondary weathering products that can impact aquatic ecosystems.

Assessment of Trace Metals in Soil, Vegetation and Rodents in Relation to Metal Mining Activities in an Arid Environment.

PubMed

Méndez-Rodríguez, Lia C; Alvarez-Castañeda, Sergio Ticul

2016-07-01

Areas where abandoned metal-extraction mines are located contain large quantities of mineral wastes derived from environmentally unsafe mining practices. These wastes contain many pollutants, such as heavy metals, which could be released to the environment through weathering and leaching, hence becoming an important source of environmental metal pollution. This study evaluates differences in the levels of lead, iron, nickel, manganese, copper and cadmium in rodents sharing the same type of diet under different microhabitat use in arid areas with past mining activities. Samples of soil, roots, branches and seeds of Palo Adán (Fouquieria diguetii) and specimens of two rodent species (Chaetodipus arenarius and C. spinatus) were collected in areas with impact from past metal mining activities as well as from areas with no mining impact. Both rodent species mirrored nickel and iron levels in soil and seeds, as well as lead levels in soil; however, C. arenarius accumulated higher levels of manganese, copper and cadmium.

The psychosocial impacts of fly-in fly-out and drive-in drive-out mining on mining employees: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Torkington, Amanda May; Larkins, Sarah; Gupta, Tarun Sen

2011-06-01

To explore how fly-in fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in drive-out (DIDO) mining affects the psychosocial well-being of miners resident in a rural north Queensland town as well as the sources of support miners identify and use in managing these effects. A descriptive qualitative study, using semistructured interviews. Charters Towers, a rural town in north Queensland, and a remote north-western Queensland mine. Eleven people, resident in or near Charters Towers, currently or formerly employed in FIFO or DIDO mining. Self-reported effects on psychosocial well-being and sources of support. Participants reported positive and negative psychosocial impacts across domains including family life, relationships, social life, work satisfaction, mood, sleep and financial situation. Concerns about the impact on participants' partners were described. Awareness of onsite support, such as Employee Assistance Programs, varied. Other supports included administration staff and nurses or medics. Trusted friends or colleagues at the mine site were considered a preferred means of support. Some, but not most, had experienced coworkers discussing problems with them. A reluctance to seek support was described, with a number of barriers identified. Those having problems might not recognise their own stress and thus not seek support. This study identifies numerous psychosocial impacts on FIFO/DIDO miners and their partners, and provides insights into preferences regarding support. Employee Assistance Programs cannot be relied upon as the sole means of support. Further studies exploring the impact upon and supports for FIFO/DIDO workers and their partners will assist in better understanding these issues. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health © National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Evaluating the Impact of Modern Copper Mining on Ecosystem Services in Southern Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virgone, K.; Brusseau, M. L.; Ramirez-Andreotta, M.; Coeurdray, M.; Poupeau, F.

2014-12-01

Historic mining practices were conducted with little environmental forethought, and hence generated a legacy of environmental and human-health impacts. However, an awareness and understanding of the impacts of mining on ecosystem services has developed over the past few decades. Ecosystem services are defined as benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems, and upon which they are fundamentally dependent for their survival. Ecosystem services are divided into four categories including provisioning services (i.e., food, water, timber, and fiber); regulating services (i.e., climate, floods, disease, wastes, and water quality); supporting services (i.e., soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling) and cultural services (i.e., recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits) (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Sustainable mining practices have been and are being developed in an effort to protect and preserve ecosystem services. This and related efforts constitute a new generation of "modern" mines, which are defined as those that are designed and permitted under contemporary environmental legislation. The objective of this study is to develop a framework to monitor and assess the impact of modern mining practices and sustainable mineral development on ecosystem services. Using the sustainability performance indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as a starting point, we develop a framework that is reflective of and adaptive to specific local conditions. Impacts on surface and groundwater water quality and quantity are anticipated to be of most importance to the southern Arizona region, which is struggling to meet urban and environmental water demands due to population growth and climate change. We seek to build a more comprehensive and effective assessment framework by incorporating socio-economic aspects via community engaged research, including economic valuations, community-initiated environmental monitoring, and environmental human-health education programs.

Ecological impacts of large-scale disposal of mining waste in the deep sea

PubMed Central

Hughes, David J.; Shimmield, Tracy M.; Black, Kenneth D.; Howe, John A.

2015-01-01

Deep-Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) from terrestrial mines is one of several large-scale industrial activities now taking place in the deep sea. The scale and persistence of its impacts on seabed biota are unknown. We sampled around the Lihir and Misima island mines in Papua New Guinea to measure the impacts of ongoing DSTP and assess the state of benthic infaunal communities after its conclusion. At Lihir, where DSTP has operated continuously since 1996, abundance of sediment infauna was substantially reduced across the sampled depth range (800–2020 m), accompanied by changes in higher-taxon community structure, in comparison with unimpacted reference stations. At Misima, where DSTP took place for 15 years, ending in 2004, effects on community composition persisted 3.5 years after its conclusion. Active tailings deposition has severe impacts on deep-sea infaunal communities and these impacts are detectable at a coarse level of taxonomic resolution. PMID:25939397

Ecological impacts of large-scale disposal of mining waste in the deep sea.

PubMed

Hughes, David J; Shimmield, Tracy M; Black, Kenneth D; Howe, John A

2015-05-05

Deep-Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) from terrestrial mines is one of several large-scale industrial activities now taking place in the deep sea. The scale and persistence of its impacts on seabed biota are unknown. We sampled around the Lihir and Misima island mines in Papua New Guinea to measure the impacts of ongoing DSTP and assess the state of benthic infaunal communities after its conclusion. At Lihir, where DSTP has operated continuously since 1996, abundance of sediment infauna was substantially reduced across the sampled depth range (800-2020 m), accompanied by changes in higher-taxon community structure, in comparison with unimpacted reference stations. At Misima, where DSTP took place for 15 years, ending in 2004, effects on community composition persisted 3.5 years after its conclusion. Active tailings deposition has severe impacts on deep-sea infaunal communities and these impacts are detectable at a coarse level of taxonomic resolution.

The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of mountaintop mines and valley fills (MTM-VF) on streams in the Central Appalachian Coalfields. Our review focused on the aquatic impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining, which, as its name suggests, involves removing all or some portion of the top of a mountain or ridge to expose and mine one or more coal seams. The excess overburden is disposed of in constructed fills in small valleys or hollows adjacent to the mining site. MTM-VF lead directly to five principal alterations of stream ecosystems: (1) springs, intermittent streams, and small perennial streams are permanently lost with the removal of the mountain and from burial under fill, (2) concentrations of major chemical ions are persistently elevated downstream, (3) degraded water quality reaches levels that are acutely lethal to standard laboratory test organisms, (4) selenium concentrations are elevated, reaching concentrations that have caused toxic effects in fish and birds and (5) macroinvertebrate and fish communities are consistently and significantly degraded. This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills (MTM-VF) on streams in the Central Appalachian Coalfields. The draft report will be externally peer reviewed by EPA's Science Advisory Board in early 2010.

The influence of human settlement on the distribution and diversity of iron-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Gallionellaceae in tropical streams

PubMed Central

Reis, Mariana P.; Ávila, Marcelo P.; Costa, Patrícia S.; Barbosa, Francisco A. R.; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J.; Chartone-Souza, Edmar; Nascimento, Andréa M. A.

2014-01-01

Among the neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), Gallionella is one of the most abundant genera in freshwater environments. By applying qPCR and DGGE based on 16S rRNA gene-directed primers targeting Gallionellaceae, we delineated the composition and abundance of the Gallionellaceae-related FeOB community in streams differentially affected by metal mining, and explored the relationships between these community characteristics and environmental variables. The sampling design included streams historically impacted by mining activity and a non-impacted stream. The sediment and water samples harbored a distinct community represented by Gallionella, Sideroxydans, and Thiobacillus species. Sequences affiliated with Gallionella were exclusively observed in sediments impacted by mining activities, suggesting an adaptation of this genus to these environments. In contrast, Sideroxydans-related sequences were found in all sediments including the mining impacted locations. The highest and lowest relative frequencies of Gallionellaceae-related FeOB were associated with the lowest and highest concentrations of Fe, respectively. The data enclosed here clearly show distinct species-specific ecological niches, with Gallionella species dominating in sediments impacted by anthropogenic activities over Sideroxydans species. PMID:25505456

Persistent Low-Income Counties in Nonmetro America. Rural Development Research Report No. 12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Thomas F.

In the period from 1950 to 1970, there were 298 persistent low-income (PLI) counties in the United States, but between 1970 and 1975, 43 counties left the persistent low-income status (LPLI) due to private sector influence and earnings from mining and agriculture. LPLI counties were largely located in Georgia, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Most PLI…

Establishing perennial seed-based energy crops on reclaimed surface mine soils in the central Appalachians

Treesearch

Jamie L. Schuler; Shawn Grushecky; Jingxin Wang

2014-01-01

Renewable energy has been at the forefront of the United States' energy policies. Cellulosic feedstocks have received considerable interest in the Appalachian region because of their abundance and availability, but cost competition from other energy sectors has limited their use in the region. Some other bioenergy feedstocks, such as corn and soybeans, are not a...

75 FR 26828 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-12

... amend [sic] its rules relating to the Penny Pilot Program. The text of the rule proposal is available on... proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below... Technology Select Sector XME SPDR S&P Metals & Mining SPDR Fund. ETF. AKS AK Steel Holding Corp... KGC...

U.S. Military Deployments to Africa: Lessons from the Hunt for Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

decades has led to a thriving tourism sector. Beyond tourism , the economy is largely based on mining (copper, cobalt, gold, and limestone) and...gathered at sports bars throughout Kampala to watch the final game of the World Cup. During halftime, a suicide bomber destroyed the Ethiopia Village Club

Mining Review

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2013-01-01

Trends in other sectors of the domestic economy were similar to those in mineral production and consumption rates (Table 1). After continued decline following the 2008-2009 recession, the construction industry began to show signs of improvement late in 2011 and throughout 2012, with increased production and consumption of cement, construction sand and gravel, crushed stone and gypsum, mineral commodities that are used almost exclusively in construction.

Atmospheric mercury emissions in Australia from anthropogenic, natural and recycled sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Peter F.; Morrison, Anthony L.; Malfroy, Hugh J.; Cope, Martin; Lee, Sunhee; Hibberd, Mark L.; Meyer, C. P. (Mick); McGregor, John

2012-12-01

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has begun a process of developing a legally binding instrument to manage emissions of mercury from anthropogenic sources. The UNEP Governing Council has concluded that there is sufficient evidence of significant global adverse impacts from mercury to warrant further international action; and that national, regional and global actions should be initiated as soon as possible to identify populations at risk and to reduce human generated releases. This paper describes the development of, and presents results from, a comprehensive, spatially and temporally resolved inventory of atmospheric mercury emissions from the Australian landmass. Results indicate that the best estimate of total anthropogenic emissions of mercury to the atmosphere in 2006 was 15 ± 5 tonnes. Three industrial sectors contribute substantially to Australian anthropogenic emissions: gold smelting (˜50%, essentially from a single site/operation), coal combustion in power plants (˜15%) and alumina production from bauxite (˜12%). A diverse range of other sectors contribute smaller proportions of the emitted mercury, but industrial emissions account for around 90% of total anthropogenic mercury emissions. The other sectors include other industrial sources (mining, smelting, and cement production) and the use of products containing mercury. It is difficult to determine historical trends in mercury emissions given the large uncertainties in the data. Estimates for natural and re-emitted emissions from soil, water, vegetation and fires are made using meteorological models, satellite observations of land cover and soil and vegetation type, fuel loading, fire scars and emission factors which account for the effects of temperature, insolation and other environmental variables. These natural and re-emitted sources comfortably exceed the anthropogenic emissions, and comprise 4-12 tonnes per year from vegetation, 70-210 tonnes per year from soils, and 21-63 tonnes per year from fires.

Building a comprehensive mill-level database for the Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model of the U.S. pulp and paper sector.

PubMed

Modak, Nabanita; Spence, Kelley; Sood, Saloni; Rosati, Jacky Ann

2015-01-01

Air emissions from the U.S. pulp and paper sector have been federally regulated since 1978; however, regulations are periodically reviewed and revised to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing emission standards. The Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model for the pulp and paper sector is currently under development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be utilized to facilitate multi-pollutant, sector-based analyses that are performed in conjunction with regulatory development. The model utilizes a multi-sector, multi-product dynamic linear modeling framework that evaluates the economic impact of emission reduction strategies for multiple air pollutants. The ISIS model considers facility-level economic, environmental, and technical parameters, as well as sector-level market data, to estimate the impacts of environmental regulations on the pulp and paper industry. Specifically, the model can be used to estimate U.S. and global market impacts of new or more stringent air regulations, such as impacts on product price, exports and imports, market demands, capital investment, and mill closures. One major challenge to developing a representative model is the need for an extensive amount of data. This article discusses the collection and processing of data for use in the model, as well as the methods used for building the ISIS pulp and paper database that facilitates the required analyses to support the air quality management of the pulp and paper sector.

Building a Comprehensive Mill-Level Database for the Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) Model of the U.S. Pulp and Paper Sector

PubMed Central

Modak, Nabanita; Spence, Kelley; Sood, Saloni; Rosati, Jacky Ann

2015-01-01

Air emissions from the U.S. pulp and paper sector have been federally regulated since 1978; however, regulations are periodically reviewed and revised to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing emission standards. The Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model for the pulp and paper sector is currently under development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be utilized to facilitate multi-pollutant, sector-based analyses that are performed in conjunction with regulatory development. The model utilizes a multi-sector, multi-product dynamic linear modeling framework that evaluates the economic impact of emission reduction strategies for multiple air pollutants. The ISIS model considers facility-level economic, environmental, and technical parameters, as well as sector-level market data, to estimate the impacts of environmental regulations on the pulp and paper industry. Specifically, the model can be used to estimate U.S. and global market impacts of new or more stringent air regulations, such as impacts on product price, exports and imports, market demands, capital investment, and mill closures. One major challenge to developing a representative model is the need for an extensive amount of data. This article discusses the collection and processing of data for use in the model, as well as the methods used for building the ISIS pulp and paper database that facilitates the required analyses to support the air quality management of the pulp and paper sector. PMID:25806516

Report of the In Situ Resources Utilization Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fairchild, Kyle (Editor); Mendell, Wendell W. (Editor)

1988-01-01

The results of a workshop of 50 representatives from the public and private sector which investigated the potential joint development of the key technologies and mechanisms that will enable the permanent habitation of space are presented. The workshop is an initial step to develop a joint public/private assessment of new technology requirements of future space options, to share knowledge on required technologies that may exist in the private sector, and to investigate potential joint technology development opportunities. The majority of the material was produced in 5 working groups: (1) Construction, Assembly, Automation and Robotics; (2) Prospecting, Mining, and Surface Transportation; (3) Biosystems and Life Support; (4) Materials Processing; and (5) Innovative Ventures. In addition to the results of the working groups, preliminary technology development recommendations to assist in near-term development priority decisions are presented. Finally, steps are outlined for potential new future activities and relationships among the public, private, and academic sectors.

The impact of public employment on health and health inequalities: evidence from China.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei

2011-01-01

Because the public and private sectors often operate with different goals, individuals employed by the two sectors may receive different levels of welfare. This can potentially lead to different health status. As such, employment sector offers an important perspective for understanding labor market outcomes. Using micro-level data from a recent Chinese household survey, this study empirically evaluated the impact of employment sector on health and within-sector health inequalities. It found that public sector employment generated better health outcomes than private sector employment, controlling for individual characteristics. The provision of more job security explained an important part of the association between public sector employment and better health. The study also found less health inequality by social class within the public sector. These findings suggest that policymakers should think critically about the "conventional wisdom" that private ownership is almost always superior, and should adjust their labor market policies accordingly.

IMPACT2C: Quantifying projected impacts under 2°C warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacob, D.; Kotova, L.; Impact2C Team

2012-04-01

Political discussions on the European goal to limit global warming to 2°C demand, that information is provided to society by the best available science on projected impacts and possible benefits. The new project IMPACT2C is supported by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme as a 4 year large-scale integrating project. IMPACT2C is coordinated by the Climate Service Center, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht. IMPACT2C enhances knowledge, quantifies climate change impacts, and adopts a clear and logical structure, with climate and impacts modelling, vulnerabilities, risks and economic costs, as well as potential responses, within a pan-European sector based analysis. The project utilises a range of models within a multi-disciplinary international expert team and assesses effects on water, energy, infrastructure, coasts, tourism, forestry, agriculture, ecosystems services, and health and air quality-climate interactions. IMPACT2C introduces key innovations. First, harmonised socio-economic assumptions/scenarios will be used, to ensure that both individual and cross-sector assessments are aligned to the 2°C (1.5°C) scenario for both impacts and adaptation, e.g. in relation to land-use pressures between agriculture and forestry. Second, it has a core theme of uncertainty, and will develop a methodological framework integrating the uncertainties within and across the different sectors, in a consistent way. In so doing, analysis of adaptation responses under uncertainty will be enhanced. Finally, a cross-sectoral perspective is adopted to complement the sector analysis. A number of case studies will be developed for particularly vulnerable areas, subject to multiple impacts (e.g. the Mediterranean), with the focus being on cross-sectoral interactions (e.g. land use competition) and cross-cutting themes (e.g. cities). The project also assesses climate change impacts in some of the world's most vulnerable regions: Bangladesh, Africa (Nile and Niger basins), and the Maldives. An overview about the scientific goals and the structure of IMPACT2C will be presented.

An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska (First External Review Draft)

EPA Science Inventory

[UPDATE] In March 2014, EPA released a response to public comments on the draft document, "An Assessment of the Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska" (see downloads). In Jan 2014, EPA released a response to peer review comments on ...

An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska (Second External Review Draft)

EPA Science Inventory

[UPDATE] In March 2014, EPA released a response to public comments on the second draft document, "An Assessment of the Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska" (see downloads). In Jan 2014, EPA released a response to peer review comme...

76 FR 19786 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Celatom Mine Expansion...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-08

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [OR-65891, LLORB00000-L51010000-GN0000... Mine Expansion Project in Harney and Malheur Counties, OR AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior..., as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact...

Impacts of Mountaintop Removal and Valley Fill Coal Mining on C and N Processing in Terrestrial Soils and Headwater Streams.

EPA Science Inventory

We measured C and N cycling indicators in Appalachian watersheds impacted by mountaintop removal and valley fill (MTR/VF) coal mining, and in nearby forested watersheds. These watersheds include ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial stream reaches, and the length of time since d...

Utilisation of Acoustics for Monitoring Local and Near-Field Mine Burial Processes: Proof-Of-Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-09-30

IMPACT/ APLICATION The observations presented here and those from other workers (4-6) show that acoustics has an important and expanding role in its...relationship between the presence of the mine, its impact on the local hydrodynamics and sediment mobility , and thereby gain insight into the burial mechanisms

LABORATORY EVALUATION OF ZERO-VALENT IRON TO TREAT WATER IMPACTED BY ACID MINE DRAINAGE

EPA Science Inventory

This study examines the applicability and limitations of granular zero-valent iron for the treatment of water impacted by mine wastes. Rates of acid neutralization and of metal (Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, Hg, Al, and Mn) and metalloid (As) uptake were determined in batch systems using simu...

Environmental management zoning for coal mining in mainland China based on ecological and resources conditions.

PubMed

Geng, Haiqing; Chen, Fan; Wang, Zhiyuan; Liu, Jie; Xu, Weihua

2017-05-01

The purpose of this research is to establish an environmental management zoning for coal mining industry which is served as a basis for making environmental management policies. Based on the specific impacts of coal mining and regional characteristics of environment and resources, the ecological impact, water resources impact, and arable land impact are chose as the zoning indexes to construct the index system. The ecological sensitivity is graded into three levels of low, medium, and high according to analytical hierarchy processes and gray fixed weight clustering analysis, and the water resources sensitivity is divided into five levels of lower, low, medium, high, and higher according to the weighted sum of sub-indexes, while only the arable land sensitive zone was extracted on the basis of the ratio of arable land to the county or city. By combining the ecological sensitivity zoning and the water resources sensitive zoning and then overlapping the arable-sensitive areas, the mainland China is classified into six types of environmental management zones for coal mining except to the forbidden exploitation areas.

Chemical and microbial properties in contaminated soils around a magnesite mine in northeast China

Treesearch

D Yang; D-H Zeng; J Zhang; L-J Li; R. Mao

2012-01-01

We measured soil chemical and microbial properties at a depth of 0–20 cm among mine tailings, abandoned mined land, contaminated cropland, and uncontaminated cropland around a magnesite mine near Haicheng City, Liaoning Province, China. The objective was to clarify the impact of Mg on the soils. We found that soluble Mg2+ concentration and pH...

Impact of epidermal leaf mining by the aspen leaf miner (Phyllocnistis populiella) on the growth, physiology, and leaf longevity of quaking aspen

Treesearch

Diane Wagner; Linda DeFoliart; Patricia Doak; Jenny Schneiderheinze

2008-01-01

We studied the effect of epidermal mining on aspen growth and physiology during an outbreak of Phyllocnistis populiella in the boreal forest of interior Alaska. Experimental reduction of leaf miner density across two sites and 3 years significantly increased annual apsen growth rates relative to naturally mined controls. Leaf mining damage was...

15 CFR 971.204 - Environmental and use conflict analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

.... If the permit area lies within the area of NOAA's Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study (DOMES), the... REGULATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS... Administrator to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed mining activities, and to...

15 CFR 971.204 - Environmental and use conflict analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

.... If the permit area lies within the area of NOAA's Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study (DOMES), the... REGULATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS... Administrator to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed mining activities, and to...

15 CFR 971.204 - Environmental and use conflict analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

.... If the permit area lies within the area of NOAA's Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study (DOMES), the... REGULATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS... Administrator to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed mining activities, and to...

15 CFR 971.204 - Environmental and use conflict analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... If the permit area lies within the area of NOAA's Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study (DOMES), the... REGULATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS... Administrator to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed mining activities, and to...

Effect Of Imposed Anaerobic Conditions On Metals Release From Acid-Mine Drainage Contaminated Streambed Sediments

EPA Science Inventory

Remediation of streams influenced by mine-drainage may require removal and burial of metal-containing bed sediments. Burial of aerobic sediments into an anaerobic environment may release metals, such as through reductive dissolution of metal oxyhydroxides. Mining-impacted aerob...

Methane drainage at the Minerales Monclova mines in the Sabinas coal basin, Coahuila, Mexico

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brunner, D.J.; Ponce, J.R.

Minerales Monclova S.A. De C.V. (MIMOSA) operates five underground longwall mines in the Gassy Los Olmos Coals of the Sabinas Basin in the state of Coahuila in Northern Mexico. Because of high in-situ gas contents and high cleat and natural fracture permeability, MIMOSA has had to incorporate a system of methane drainage in advance of mining in order to safely and cost effectively exploit their reserves. In the early 1990s Resource Enterprises (REI) conducted reservoir characterization tests, numerical simulations, and Coal Mine Methane (CMM) production tests at a nearby mine property in the same basin. Using this information REI approachedmore » MIMOSA and recommended the mine-wide implementation of a degasification system that involves long in-seam directionally drilled boreholes. REI was contracted to conduct the drilling, and to date has drilled over 26,000 m (85,000 ft) of in-seam borehole in advance of mining developments, reducing gas contents significantly below in-situ values. This paper discusses the basis for the degasification program recommended at the MIMOSA mines, and presents the impact of its mine-wide application on MIMOSA's mining operations over the last six years. The paper focuses on the degasification system's impacts on methane emissions into mine workings, coal production, and ventilation demands. It also presents lessons learned by the degasification planners in implementing in-seam methane drainage. The paper presents actual CMM production data, measurements of methane emissions and advance rates at development sections, and mine methane liberations.« less

Isotope biogeochemical assessment of natural biodegradation processes in open cast pit mining landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeschke, Christina; Knöller, Kay; Koschorreck, Matthias; Ussath, Maria; Hoth, Nils

2014-05-01

In Germany, a major share of the energy production is based on the burning of lignite from open cast pit mines. The remediation and re-cultivation of the former mining areas in the Lusatian and Central German lignite mining district is an enormous technical and economical challenge. After mine closures, the surrounding landscapes are threatened by acid mine drainage (AMD), i.e. the acidification and mineralization of rising groundwater with metals and inorganic contaminants. The high content of sulfur (sulfuric acid, sulfate), nitrogen (ammonium) and iron compounds (iron-hydroxides) deteriorates the groundwater quality and decelerates sustainable development of tourism in (former) mining landscapes. Natural biodegradation or attenuation (NA) processes of inorganic contaminants are considered to be a technically low impact and an economically beneficial solution. The investigations of the stable isotope compositions of compounds involved in NA processes helps clarify the dynamics of natural degradation and provides specific informations on retention processes of sulfate and nitrogen-compounds in mine dump water, mine dump sediment, and residual pit lakes. In an active mine dump we investigated zones where the process of bacterial sulfate reduction, as one very important NA process, takes place and how NA can be enhanced by injecting reactive substrates. Stable isotopes signatures of sulfur and nitrogen components were examined and evaluated in concert with hydrogeochemical data. In addition, we delineated the sources of ammonium pollution in mine dump sediments and investigated nitrification by 15N-labeling techniques to calculate the limit of the conversion of harmful ammonium to nitrate in residual mining lakes. Ultimately, we provided an isotope biogeochemical assessment of natural attenuation of sulfate and ammonium at mine dump sites and mining lakes. Also, we estimated the risk potential for water in different compartments of the hydrological system. In laboratory experiments, we tested reactive materials that may speed up the process of bacterial sulfate reduction. In in-situ experiments, we quantified nitrification rates. Based on the results, we are able to suggest promising technical measures that enhance natural attenuation processes at mine dump site and in mining lakes. The natural water cycle in lignite mining landscapes is heavily impacted by human activities. Basically, nature is capable of cleaning itself to a certain extent after mining activities stopped. However, it is our responsibility to support biogeochemical processes to make them more efficient and more sustainable. Isotopic monitoring proved to be an excellent tool for assessing the relevance and performance of different re-cultivation measures for a positive long-term development of the water quality in large-scale aquatic systems affected by the impact of lignite mining.

Evaluating distributed medical education: what are the community's expectations?

PubMed

Lovato, Chris; Bates, Joanna; Hanlon, Neil; Snadden, David

2009-05-01

This study aimed to explore community members' perceptions of present and future impacts of the implementation of an undergraduate medical education programme in an underserved community. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight key informants representing the health, education, business, economy, media and political sectors. A two-stage approach was used. In the first stage, the interviews were analysed to identify sector-specific impacts informants perceived as already occurring or which they hoped to see in the future. The transcripts were then re-analysed to determine any underlying themes that crossed sectors. Community leaders described impacts that were already occurring in all sectors and also described changes in the community itself. Four underlying themes emerged: an increase in pride and status; partnership development; community self-efficacy, and community development. These underlying themes appear to characterise the development of social capital in the community. The implementation of distributed undergraduate medical education programmes in rural and underserved communities may impact their host communities in ways other than the production of a rural doctor workforce. Further studies to quantify impacts in diverse sectors and to explore possible links with social capital are needed.

Psychosocial and health impacts of uranium mining and milling on Navajo lands.

PubMed

Dawson, Susan E; Madsen, Gary E

2011-11-01

The uranium industry in the American Southwest has had profoundly negative impacts on American Indian communities. Navajo workers experienced significant health problems, including lung cancer and nonmalignant respiratory diseases, and psychosocial problems, such as depression and anxiety. There were four uranium processing mills and approximately 1,200 uranium mines on the Navajo Nation's over 27,000 square miles. In this paper, a chronology is presented of how uranium mining and milling impacted the lives of Navajo workers and their families. Local community leaders organized meetings across the reservation to inform workers and their families about the relationship between worker exposures and possible health problems. A reservation-wide effort resulted in activists working with political leaders and attorneys to write radiation compensation legislation, which was passed in 1990 as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and included underground uranium miners, atomic downwinders, and nuclear test-site workers. Later efforts resulted in the inclusion of surface miners, ore truck haulers, and millworkers in the RECA Amendments of 2000. On the Navajo Nation, the Office of Navajo Uranium Workers was created to assist workers and their families to apply for RECA funds. Present issues concerning the Navajo and other uranium-impacted groups include those who worked in mining and milling after 1971 and are excluded from RECA. Perceptions about uranium health impacts have contributed recently to the Navajo people rejecting a resumption of uranium mining and milling on Navajo lands.

Assessing HIV risk in workplaces for prioritizing HIV preventive interventions in Karnataka State, India.

PubMed

Halli, Shiva S; Buzdugan, Raluca; Ramesh, B M; Gurnani, Vandana; Sharma, Vivek; Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James F

2009-09-01

To develop a model for prioritizing economic sectors for HIV preventive intervention programs in the workplace. This study was undertaken in Karnataka state, India. A 3-stage survey process was undertaken. In the first stage, we reviewed secondary data available from various government departments, identified industries in the private sector with large workforces, and mapped their geographical distribution. In the second stage, an initial rapid risk assessment of industrial sectors was undertaken, using key-informant interviews conducted in relation to a number of enterprises, and in consultation with stakeholders. In the third stage, we used both quantitative (polling booth survey) and qualitative methods (key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions) to study high-risk sectors in-depth, and assessed the need and feasibility of HIV workplace intervention programs. The highest risk sectors were found to be mining, garment/textile, sugar, construction/infrastructure, and fishing industries. Workers in all sectors had at best partial knowledge about HIV/AIDS, coupled with common misconceptions about HIV transmission. There were intersector and intrasector variations in risk and vulnerability across different geographical locations and across different categories of workers. This has implications for the design and implementation of workplace intervention programs. There is tremendous scope for HIV preventive interventions in workplaces in India. Given the variation in HIV risk across economic sectors and limited available resources, there will be increased pressure to prioritize intervention efforts towards high-risk sectors. This study offers a model for rapidly assessing the risk level of economic sectors for HIV intervention programs.

Pollution Emissions, Environmental Policy, and Marginal Abatement Costs

PubMed Central

He, Ling-Yun; Ou, Jia-Jia

2017-01-01

Pollution emissions impose serious social negative externalities, especially in terms of public health. To reduce pollution emissions cost-effectively, the marginal abatement costs (MACs) of pollution emissions must be determined. Since the industrial sectors are the essential pillars of China’s economic growth, as well as leading energy consumers and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitters, estimating MACs of SO2 emissions at the industrial level can provide valuable information for all abatement efforts. This paper tries to address the critical and essential issue in pollution abatement: How do we determine the MACs of pollution emissions in China? This paper first quantifies the SO2 emission contribution of different industrial sectors in the Chinese economy by an Input-Output method and then estimates MACs of SO2 for industrial sectors at the national level, provincial level, and sectoral level by the shadow price theory. Our results show that six sectors (e.g., the Mining and Washing of Coal sector) should be covered in the Chinese pollution emission trading system. We have also found that the lowest SO2 shadow price is 2000 Yuan/ton at the national level, and that shadow prices should be set differently at the provincial level. Our empirical study has several important policy implications, e.g., the estimated MACs may be used as a pricing benchmark through emission allowance allocation. In this paper, the MACs of industrial sectors are calculated from the national, provincial and sectoral levels; therefore, we provide an efficient framework to track the complex relationship between sectors and provinces. PMID:29206170

International SUSMIN-project aims at sustainable gold mining in EU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Backnäs, Soile; Neitola, Raisa; Turunen, Kaisa; Lima, Alexandre; Fiúza, António; Szlachta, Malgorzata; Wójtowicz, Patryk; Maftei, Raluca; Munteanu, Marian; Alakangas, Lena; Baciu, Calin; Fernández, Dámaris

2015-04-01

Although the gold demand has been constantly increasing in past years, the commodity findings have been decreasing and the extraction of gold has complicated due to increasing complexity and decreasing grade of the ores. Additionally, even gold mining could increase economical development, it has also challenges in eco-efficiency and extraction methods (e.g. cyanide). Thus, the novel energy and resource-efficient methods and technologies for mineral processing should be developed to concentrate selectively different gold bearing minerals. Furthermore, technologies for efficient treatment of mine waters, sustainable management of wastes, and methods to diminish environmental and social impacts of mining are needed. These problems will be addressed by the three year long project SUSMIN. The SUSMIN-project identifies and evaluates environmental impacts and economical challenges of gold mining within EU. The objective of the project is to increase the transnational cooperation and to support environmentally, socially and economically sustainable viable gold production. The focus is to develop and test geophysical techniques for gold exploration, eco-efficient ore beneficiation methods and alternatives for cyanide leaching. Additionally, the research will improve treatment methods for mine waters by the development and testing of advanced adsorbents. The research on socio-economic issues pursues to develop tools for enhancing the mechanisms of the corporate social responsibility as well as community engagement and management of the relations with the stakeholders. Moreover, with the environmental risk assessment and better knowledge of the geochemistry and long-term transformation of the contaminants in mining wastes and mine waters, the mining companies are able to predict and prevent the impacts to the surrounding environment, resulting in an improved environmental management solution. The SUSMIN consortium led by Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) includes seven research partners from six EU member states Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Romania, Poland and Ireland. Additionally eight globally on mining industry working industry partners will contribute in the SUSMIN consortium, so implementation of results from the project will translate into direct and significant economic benefits.

The Forgotten Legacy: Sediment From Historical Gold Mining Greatly Exceeds all Other Anthropogenic Sources in SE Australian Rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutherfurd, I.; Davies, P.; Macklin, M. G.; Grove, J. R.

2016-12-01

Coarse and fine sediment has been a major pollutant of Australian rivers and receiving waters since European settlement in 1788. Anthropogenic sediment budget models demonstrate that catchment and channel erosion has increased background sediment delivery by 10 to 20 times across SE Australia, but these estimates ignore the contribution of historical gold mining. Detailed historical records allow us to reconstruct the delivery of coarse and fine sediment (including contaminated sediment) to the fluvial system. Between 1851 and 1900 alluvial gold mining in the state of Victoria liberated between 1.2 billion and 1.4 billion m3 of coarse and fine sediment into streams. Catchment scale modelling demonstrates that this volume is at least twice the volume of all anthropogenic (post-European) erosion from hillslopes, river banks, and gullies. We map the deposition and remobilization of these contaminated legacy mining sediments down selected valleys, and find that many contemporary floodplains are blanketed with mining sediments (although mercury contamination is present but low), and discrete sediment-slugs can be recognized migrating down river beds. Overall, the impact of gold mining is one of the strongest indicators of the Anthropocene in the Australian landscape, and the level of impact on rivers is substantially greater than recognized in the past. Perhaps of most interest is the rapid recovery of many river systems from the substantial impacts of gold mining. The result is that these major changes to the landscape are largely forgotten.

Industrial chimney monitoring - contemporary methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaszowska, Olga; Gruchlik, Piotr; Mika, Wiesław

2018-04-01

The paper presents knowledge acquired during the monitoring of a flue-gas stack, performed as part of technical and scientific surveillance of mining activity and its impact on industrial objects. The chimney is located in an area impacted by mining activity since the 1970s, from a coal mine which is no longer in existence. In the period of 2013-16, this area was subject to mining carried out by a mining entrepreneur who currently holds a license to excavate hard coal. Periodic measurements of the deflection of the 113-meter chimney are performed using conventional geodetic methods. The GIG used 3 methods to observe the stack: landbased 3D laser scanning, continuous deflection monitoring with a laser sensor, and drone-based visual inspections. The drone offered the possibility to closely inspect the upper sections of the flue-gas stack, which are difficult to see from the ground level.

Environmental impact assessment of sand mining from the small catchment rivers in the southwestern coast of India: a case study.

PubMed

Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

2011-01-01

In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from in-stream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the in-stream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty(-1) of sand (8.764 million ty(-1) of in-stream sand and 2.763 million ty(-1) of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.

Study of terrestrial carbon cycling as impacted by mountaintop coal mining in the Southern Appalachian forest region using carbon elemental and isotopic data and remote sensing of land cover change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, J. F.; Campbell, J. E.; Martin, D.

2008-12-01

The need to quantify the impact of human disturbance upon carbon flux and storage has been recently highlighted in order to more accurately budget carbon. One understudied but critical area of research is surface coal mining's impact on terrestrial carbon storage and sediment carbon transport processes-which has been identified as potentially important to understanding fluxes in global carbon budgeting. While national attention has focused on U.S. coal production to maintain a vibrant economy, scientists are concerned that increased coal production could have unforeseen environmental implications if the relationship between coal mining practices and the environment is not better understood. This issue is particularly important to the coal mining region of the Southern Appalachian forest region, which has been responsible for 23.3% of the coal produced in the United States over the past twenty years and seen approximately 300,000 ha of forested land disturbed by surface coal mining during that time period. Our presentation provides results that focus upon terrestrial carbon cycling as impacted by mountaintop coal mining in the Southern Appalachian forest region. In order to study carbon redistribution due to the mining disturbance, our methods make use of measurements of total organic carbon, total organic nitrogen, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of soils and eroded sediments collected in the region as well as published data, consultation with experts and remote sensing of land cover change. It was found that disturbed terrestrial carbon, including soil C, non-soil or plant C, and geogenic C, is approximately 10% of the carbon emitted to the atmosphere during coal combusting and transportation and mining of coal. Quantification of the fate of terrestrial carbon in different pools is provided and discussed including the fate atmosphere during recovery of the terrestrial system; newly deposited coal fragments within the terrestrial soil reservoir; and carbon that is eroded to streams in mined watersheds with different levels of disturbance.

Environmental Impact Assessment of Sand Mining from the Small Catchment Rivers in the Southwestern Coast of India: A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreebha, Sreedharan; Padmalal, Damodaran

2011-01-01

In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from instream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the instream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty-1 of sand (8.764 million ty-1 of instream sand and 2.763 million ty-1 of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.

The impacts of final demand changes on total output of Indonesian ICT sectors: An analysis using input-output approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuhdi, Ubaidillah

2014-06-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impacts of final demand changes on total output of Indonesian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors. This study employs Input-Output (IO) analysis as a tool of analysis. More specifically, demand-pull IO quantity model is applied in order to achieve the objective. "Whole sector change" and "pure change" conditions are considered in this study. The results of calculation show that, in both conditions, the biggest positive impact to the total output of the sectors is given by the change of households consumption while the change of import has a negative impact. One of the recommendations suggested from this study is to construct import restriction policy for ICT products.

The impact of oil price on Malaysian sector indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ismail, Mohd Tahir; Luan, Yeap Pei; Ee, Ong Joo

2015-12-01

In this paper, vector error correction model (VECM) has been utilized to model the dynamic relationships between world crude oil price and the sector indices of Malaysia. The sector indices have been collected are covering the period Jan 1998 to Dec 2013. Surprisingly, our investigations show that oil price changes do not Granger-cause any of the sectors in all of Malaysia. However, sector indices of Food Producer and Utilities are found to be the cause of the changes in world crude oil prices. Furthermore, from the results of variance decomposition, very high percentage of shocks is explained by world crude oil price itself over the 12 months and small impact from other sector indices.

Drought Characterisation Using Ground and Remote Sensing Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hore, Sudipta Kumar; Werner, Micha; Maskey, Shreedhar

2016-04-01

The North-West of Bangladesh is frequently affected by drought, which may have profound impacts to different water related sectors. The characterisation and identification of drought is, however, challenging. Despite several standard drought indices being available it is important that indicators proposed in support of an effective drought management are related to the impacts drought may have. In this study we present the characterisation of drought in the districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur in North-Western Bangladesh. Drought indicators were developed using available temperature, precipitation, river discharge and groundwater level data, as well as from remotely sensed NDVI data. We compare these indicators to records of drought impacts to agriculture, fisheries and migration collected from relevant organisations, as well as through interviews with key stakeholders, key informants, and community leaders. The analysis shows that droughts occur frequently, with nine occurrences in the last 42 years, as found using common meteorological drought indicators. NDVI data corroborated these events, despite being only available from 2001. The agricultural sector was adversely impacted in all events, with impacts correlated to drought severity. Impacts to the fisheries sector were, however, reported only three times, though impacts to fisheries are less well recorded. Interestingly, the good relationship between meteorological drought indicators and agricultural impacts weakens in the last decade. This appears to be due to the intensification of irrigation using groundwater, with the declining groundwater levels found in Rajshahi district suggesting overexploitation of the resource, and the increasing importance of groundwater drought indicators. The study reveals the drought indicators that are important to the agriculture and fisheries sectors, and also tentative threshold values at which drought start to impact these sectors. Such sector relevant drought indicators, as well as appropriate thresholds, can be useful in drought identification and management.

Mercury mine drainage and processes that control its environmental impact

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rytuba, J.J.

2000-01-01

Mine drainage from mercury mines in the California Coast Range mercury mineral belt is an environmental concern because of its acidity and high sulfate, mercury, and methylmercury concentrations. Two types of mercury deposits are present in the mineral belt, silica-carbonate and hot-spring type. Mine drainage is associated with both deposit types but more commonly with the silica-carbonate type because of the extensive underground workings present at these mines. Mercury ores consisting primarily of cinnabar were processed in rotary furnaces and retorts and elemental mercury recovered from condensing systems. During the roasting process mercury phases more soluble than cinnabar are formed and concentrated in the mine tailings, commonly termed calcines. Differences in mineralogy and trace metal geochemistry between the two deposit types are reflected in mine drainage composition. Silica-carbonate type deposits have higher iron sulfide content than hot- spring type deposits and mine drainage from these deposits may have extreme acidity and very high concentrations of iron and sulfate. Mercury and methylmercury concentrations in mine drainage are relatively low at the point of discharge from mine workings. The concentration of both mercury species increases significantly in mine drainage that flows through and reacts with calcines. The soluble mercury phases in the calcines are dissolved and sulfate is added such that methylation of mercury by sulfate reducing bacteria is enhanced in calcines that are saturated with mine drainage. Where mercury mine drainage enters and first mixes with stream water, the addition of high concentrations of mercury and sulfate generates a favorable environment for methylation of mercury. Mixing of oxygenated stream water with mine drainage causes oxidation of dissolved iron(II) and precipitation of iron oxyhydroxide that accumulates in the streambed. Both mercury and methylmercury are strongly adsorbed onto iron oxyhydroxide over the pH range of 3.2-7.1 in streams impacted by mine drainage. The dissolved fraction of both mercury species is depleted and concentrated in iron oxyhydroxide such that the amount of iron oxyhydroxide in the water column reflects the concentration of mercury species. In streams impacted by mine drainage, mercury and methylmercury are transported and adsorbed onto particulate phases. During periods of low stream flow, fine-grained iron hydroxide sediment accumulates in the bed load of the stream and adsorbs mercury and methylmercury such that both forms of mercury become highly enriched in the iron oxyhydroxide sediment. During high-flow events, mercury- and methylmercury-enriched iron hydroxide sediment is transported into larger aquatic systems producing a high flux of bioavailable mercury. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Potential impact of a transatlantic trade and Investment partnership on the global forest sector

Treesearch

Joseph Buongiorno; Paul Rougieux; Ahmed Barkaoui; Shushuai Zhu; Patrice Harou

2014-01-01

The effects of a transatlantic trade agreement on the global forest sector were assessed with the Global Forest Products Model, conditional on previous macroeconomic impacts predicted with a general equilibrium model. Comprehensive tariff elimination per se had little effect on the forest sector. However, with deeper reforms and integration consumption would increase...

Impact of Organisational Factors on the Knowledge Sharing Practice of Teachers Working in Higher Education Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Areekkuzhiyil, Santhosh

2016-01-01

The current study aims to explore the various organizational factors that influence the knowledge sharing practices of teachers working in higher education sector. The study hypothesized the impact of various organizational factors on the knowledge sharing practices of teachers working in higher education sector. The data required for the study…

Leaching characteristics, ecotoxicity, and risk assessment based management of mine wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J.; Ju, W. J.; Jho, E. H.; Nam, K.; Hong, J. K.

2016-12-01

Mine wastes generated during mining activities in metal mines generally contain high concentrations of metals that may impose toxic effects to surrounding environment. Thus, it is necessary to properly assess the mining-impacted landscapes for management. The study investigated leaching characteristics, potential environmental effects, and human health risk of mine wastes from three different metal mines in South Korea (molybdenum mine, lead-zinc mine, and magnetite mine). The heavy metal concentrations in the leachates obtained by using the Korean Standard Test Method for Solid Wastes (STM), Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP), and Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP) met the Korea Waste Control Act and the USEPA region 3 regulatory levels accordingly, even though the mine wastes contained high concentrations of metals. Assuming that the leachates may get into nearby water sources, the leachate toxicity was tested using Daphnia Magna. The toxic unit (TU) values after 24 h and 48 h exposure of all the mine wastes tested met the Korea Allowable Effluent Water Quality Standards (TU<1). The column leaching test showed that the lead-zinc mine waste may have long-term toxic effects (TU>1 for the eluent at L/S of 30) implying that the long-term effect of mine wastes left in mining areas need to be assessed. Considering reuse of mine wastes as a way of managing mine wastes, the human health risk assessment of reusing the lead-zinc mine waste in industrial areas was carried out using the bioavailable fraction of the heavy metals contained in the mine wastes, which was determined by using the Solubility/Bioavailability Research Consortium method. There may be potential carcinogenic risk (9.7E-05) and non-carcinogenic risk (HI, Hazard Index of 1.0E+00) as CR≧1.0E-05 has carcinogenic risk and HI≧1.0E+00 has non-carcinogenic risk. Overall, this study shows that not only the concentration-based assessment but ecological toxic effect and human health risk based assessments can be utilized for mining-impacted landscapes management.

Assessing the impacts of 1.5°C of global warming - The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, F.; Frieler, K.; Warszawski, L.; Lange, S.; Schewe, J.; Reyer, C.; Ostberg, S.; Piontek, F.; Betts, R. A.; Burke, E.; Ciais, P.; Deryng, D.; Ebi, K. L.; Emanuel, K.; Elliott, J. W.; Galbraith, E. D.; Gosling, S.; Hickler, T.; Hinkel, J.; Jones, C.; Krysanova, V.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Mouratiadou, I.; Popp, A.; Tian, H.; Tittensor, D.; Vautard, R.; van Vliet, M. T. H.; Eddy, T.; Hattermann, F.; Huber, V.; Mengel, M.; Stevanovic, M.; Kirsten, T.; Mueller Schmied, H.; Denvil, S.; Halladay, K.; Suzuki, T.; Lotze, H. K.

2016-12-01

In Paris, France, December 2015 the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the IPCC to provide a "special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways". In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016 the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the model simulations planned within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to address the request by providing tailored cross-sectoral consistent impacts projections. The protocol is designed to allow for 1) a separation of the impacts of the historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from other human drivers such as historical land use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations), 2) a quantification of the effects of an additional warming to 1.5°C including a potential overshoot and long term effects up to 2300 in comparison to a no-mitigation scenario (based on the low emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation scenario RCP6.0) keeping socio-economic conditions fixed at year 2005 levels, and 3) an assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios but accounting for parallel changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle of the road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2) and differential bio-energy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to reach RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. To provide the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and an analysis of cross-sectoral interactions potentially damping or amplifying sectoral impacts the protocol is designed to provide consistent impacts projections across a range of impact models from different sectors (global and regional hydrological models, global gridded crop models, global vegetation models, regional forestry models, global and regional marine ecosystem and fisheries models, global and regional coastal infrastructure models, energy models, health models, and agro-economic models).

Assessing the impacts of 1.5°C of global warming - The Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frieler, Katja; Warszawski, Lila; Zhao, Fang

2017-04-01

In Paris, France, December 2015 the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the IPCC to provide a "special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways". In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016 the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we describe the model simulations planned within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to address the request by providing tailored cross-sectoral consistent impacts projections. The protocol is designed to allow for 1) a separation of the impacts of the historical warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from other human drivers such as historical land use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simulations), 2) a quantification of the effects of an additional warming to 1.5°C including a potential overshoot and long term effects up to 2300 in comparison to a no-mitigation scenario (based on the low emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation scenario RCP6.0) keeping socio-economic conditions fixed at year 2005 levels, and 3) an assessment of the climate effects based on the same climate scenarios but accounting for parallel changes in socio-economic conditions following the middle of the road Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP2) and differential bio-energy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to reach RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0. To provide the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and an analysis of cross-sectoral interactions potentially damping or amplifying sectoral impacts the protocol is designed to provide consistent impacts projections across a range of impact models from different sectors (global and regional hydrological models, global gridded crop models, global vegetation models, regional forestry models, global and regional marine ecosystem and fisheries models, global and regional coastal infrastructure models, energy models, health models, and agro-economic models).

The Hazards of Data Mining in Healthcare.

PubMed

Househ, Mowafa; Aldosari, Bakheet

2017-01-01

From the mid-1990s, data mining methods have been used to explore and find patterns and relationships in healthcare data. During the 1990s and early 2000's, data mining was a topic of great interest to healthcare researchers, as data mining showed some promise in the use of its predictive techniques to help model the healthcare system and improve the delivery of healthcare services. However, it was soon discovered that mining healthcare data had many challenges relating to the veracity of healthcare data and limitations around predictive modelling leading to failures of data mining projects. As the Big Data movement has gained momentum over the past few years, there has been a reemergence of interest in the use of data mining techniques and methods to analyze healthcare generated Big Data. Much has been written on the positive impacts of data mining on healthcare practice relating to issues of best practice, fraud detection, chronic disease management, and general healthcare decision making. Little has been written about the limitations and challenges of data mining use in healthcare. In this review paper, we explore some of the limitations and challenges in the use of data mining techniques in healthcare. Our results show that the limitations of data mining in healthcare include reliability of medical data, data sharing between healthcare organizations, inappropriate modelling leading to inaccurate predictions. We conclude that there are many pitfalls in the use of data mining in healthcare and more work is needed to show evidence of its utility in facilitating healthcare decision-making for healthcare providers, managers, and policy makers and more evidence is needed on data mining's overall impact on healthcare services and patient care.

Example Building Damage Caused by Mining Exploitation in Disturbed Rock Mass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Florkowska, Lucyna

2013-06-01

Issues concerning protection of buildings against the impact of underground coal mining pose significant scientific and engineering challenges. In Poland, where mining is a potent and prominent industry assuring domestic energy security, regions within reach of mining influences are plenty. Moreover, due to their industrial character they are also densely built-up areas. Because minerals have been extracted on an industrial scale in majority of those areas for many years, the rock mass structure has been significantly disturbed. Hence, exploitation of successive layers of multi-seam deposits might cause considerable damage - both in terms of surface and existing infrastructure networks. In the light of those facts, the means of mining and building prevention have to be improved on a regular basis. Moreover, they have to be underpinned by reliable analyses holistically capturing the comprehensive picture of the mining, geotechnical and constructional situation of structures. Scientific research conducted based on observations and measurements of mining-induced strain in buildings is deployed to do just that. Presented in this paper examples of damage sustained by buildings armed with protection against mining influences give an account of impact the mining exploitation in disturbed rock mass can have. This paper is based on analyses of mining damage to church and Nursing Home owned by Evangelical Augsburg Parish in Bytom-Miechowice. Neighbouring buildings differ in the date they were built, construction, building technology, geometry of the building body and fitted protection against mining damage. Both the buildings, however, have sustained lately significant deformation and damage caused by repeated mining exploitation. Selected damage has been discussed hereunder. The structures have been characterised, their current situation and mining history have been outlined, which have taken their toll on character and magnitude of damage. Description has been supplemented with photographic documentation.

Long shadow of fear in an epidemic: fearonomic effects of Ebola on the private sector in Nigeria

PubMed Central

Bali, Sulzhan; Stewart, Kearsley A

2016-01-01

Background The already significant impact of the Ebola epidemic on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, was worsened by a fear of contagion that aggravated the health crisis. However, in contrast to other Ebola-affected countries, Nigeria fared significantly better due to its swift containment of the disease. The objective of our study was to describe the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector. This paper introduces and defines the term fearonomic effect as the direct and indirect economic effects of both misinformation as well as fear-induced aversion behaviour, exhibited by individuals, organisations or countries during an outbreak or an epidemic. Methods This study was designed as a cross-sectional mixed-methods study that used semistructured in-depth interviews and a supporting survey to capture the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector after the outbreak. Themes were generated from the interviews on the direct and indirect impact of Ebola on the private sector; the impact of misinformation and fear-based aversion behaviour in the private sector. Results Our findings reveal that the fearonomic effects of Ebola included health service outages and reduced healthcare usage as a result of misinformation and aversion behaviour by both patients and providers. Although certain sectors (eg, health sector, aviation sector, hospitality sector) in Nigeria were affected more than others, no business was immune to Ebola's fearonomic effects. We describe how sectors expected to prosper during the outbreak (eg, pharmaceuticals), actually suffered due to the changes in consumption patterns and demand shocks. Conclusion In a high-stressor epidemic-like setting, altered consumption behaviour due to distorted disease perception, misinformation and fear can trigger short-term economic cascades that can disproportionately affect businesses and lead to financial insecurity of the poorest and the most vulnerable in a society. PMID:28588965

THE EXTENT OF MINE DRAINAGE INTO STREAMS OF THE CENTRAL APPALACHIAN AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Runoff and drainage from active and inactive mines are contaminating streams throughout the United States with acidic and metal contaminated waters and sediments. The extent of mining impacts on streams of the coal bearing region of the Central Appalachians and the metal bearing...

76 FR 41192 - Mines Management Inc. Montanore Project, Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-13

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Mines Management Inc. Montanore Project, Kootenai... can be reviewed at: http://www.fs.fed.usda.gov/goto/kootenai/projects . Mines Management Inc. owns two... of Environmental Quality, issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Montanore Project. In...

Metal contamination in environmental media in residential areas around Romanian mining sites

EPA Science Inventory

Hard-rock mining for metals, such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, iron and others, is recognized to have a significant impact on the environmental media, soil and water, in particular. Toxic contaminants released from mine waste to surface water and groundwater is the primary co...

78 FR 40496 - Notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Hollister...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-05

... silver mining operation. Most of the infrastructure to support a mining operation was authorized and.... The Proposed Action consists of underground mining, constructing a new production shaft, improving.... Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not significantly change the...

78 FR 40195 - Proposed Information Collection; Application for a Permit To Fire More than 20 Boreholes and/or...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-03

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Mine Safety and Health Administration Proposed Information Collection..., Explosives, and Shot-Firing Units; Posting Notices of Misfires AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration..., and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Mine...

LABORATORY EVALUATION OF ZERO-VALENT IRON TO TREAT GROUNDWATER IMPACTED BY ACID MINE DRAINAGE

EPA Science Inventory

The generation and release of acidic, metal-rich water from mine wastes continues to be an intractable environmental problem. Although the effects of acid mine drainage (AMD) are most evident in surface waters, there is an obvious need for developing cost-effective approaches fo...

Applying WEPP technologies to western alkaline surface coal mines

Treesearch

J. Q. Wu; S. Dun; H. Rhee; X. Liu; W. J. Elliot; T. Golnar; J. R. Frankenberger; D. C. Flanagan; P. W. Conrad; R. L. McNearny

2011-01-01

One aspect of planning surface mining operations, regulated by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), is estimating potential environmental impacts during mining operations and the reclamation period that follows. Practical computer simulation tools are effective for evaluating site-specific sediment control and reclamation plans for the NPDES....

MECHANISMS OF HEAVY METAL REMOVAL FROM ACID MINE DRAINAGE USING CHITIN

EPA Science Inventory

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) emanating from inactive or active mine sites contains elevated levels of toxic heavy metals, which can have an adverse impact to the surrounding environment. The major pathway involved in generation of AMD is weathering of pyritic mineral ores, where in s...

ASSESSING MINE DRAINAGE WATER QUALITY FROM THE COLOR AND SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE OF CHEMICAL PRECIPITATES

EPA Science Inventory

The pH and dissolved sulfate concentrations of mine impacted waters were estimated on the basis of the spectral reflectance of resident sediments composed mostly of chemical precipitates. Mine drainage sediments were collected from sites in the Anthracite Region of eastern Pe...

Impact of Mining Waste on Airborne Respirable Particulates in Northeastern Oklahoma, United States

EPA Science Inventory

Atmospheric dispersion of particles from mine waste is potentially an important route of human exposure to metals in communities close to active and abandoned mining areas. In this study, we assessed sources of mass and metal concentrations in two size fractions of respirable pa...

The dynamics of total outputs of Indonesian industrial sectors: A further study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuhdi, Ubaidillah

2017-03-01

The purpose of the current study is to extend the previous studies which analyze the impacts of final demands modifications on the total outputs of industrial sectors of a particular country. More specifically, the study conducts the analysis regarding the impacts on the total outputs of Indonesian industrial sectors. The study employs a demand-pull Input-Output (IO) quantity model, one of the calculation instruments in the IO analysis. The study focuses on seventeen industries. There are two scenarios used in this study, namely other final demands and import modifications. The “whole sector change” condition is implemented in the calculations. An initial period in this study is 2010. The results show that the positive impacts on the total outputs of focused sectors are distributed by scenario 1, the change of other final demands. On the contrary, the negative impacts are delivered by scenario 2, the modification of imports. The suggestions for improving the total outputs of discussed industries are based on the results.

Informing the NCA: EPA's Climate Change Impact and Risk Analysis Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarofim, M. C.; Martinich, J.; Kolian, M.; Crimmins, A. R.

2017-12-01

The Climate Change Impact and Risk Analysis (CIRA) framework is designed to quantify the physical impacts and economic damages in the United States under future climate change scenarios. To date, the framework has been applied to 25 sectors, using scenarios and projections developed for the Fourth National Climate Assessment. The strength of this framework has been in the use of consistent climatic, socioeconomic, and technological assumptions and inputs across the impact sectors to maximize the ease of cross-sector comparison. The results of the underlying CIRA sectoral analyses are informing the sustained assessment process by helping to address key gaps related to economic valuation and risk. Advancing capacity and scientific literature in this area has created opportunity to consider future applications and strengthening of the framework. This presentation will describe the CIRA framework, present results for various sectors such as heat mortality, air & water quality, winter recreation, and sea level rise, and introduce potential enhancements that can improve the utility of the framework for decision analysis.

Impact of mining and forest regeneration on small mammal biodiversity in the Western Region of Ghana.

PubMed

Attuquayefio, Daniel K; Owusu, Erasmus H; Ofori, Benjamin Y

2017-05-01

Much of the terrestrial biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa is supported by tropical rainforest. Natural resource development, particularly surface mining in the rainforest, poses great risks to the region's rich and endemic biodiversity. Here, we assessed the impact of surface mining and the success of forest rehabilitation on small mammal diversity in the Western Region of Ghana. We surveyed small mammals in the project area and two adjoining forest reserves (control sites) before the mining operation and 10 years after mine closure and forest rehabilitation (topsoil replacement and revegetation). The forest reserves recorded higher species abundance than the mining areas. Majority of the species captured in the forest reserves, including Hylomyscus alleni, Praomys tullbergi, Malacomys cansdalei, and Hybomys trivirgatus, are forest obligate species. Only one individual each of H. alleni and P. tullbergi was captured in the naturally regenerated areas (core areas of mining activities that were allowed to revegetate naturally), while 32 individuals belonging to four species (Lophuromys sikapusi, Mus musculoides, Mastomys erythroleucus, and Crocidura olivieri) were recorded in the rehabilitated areas. Our data suggested negative effects of mining on small mammal diversity and the restoration of species diversity and important ecological processes after rehabilitation of altered habitats. We strongly encourage deliberate conservation efforts, particularly the development of management plans that require the restoration of degraded land resulting from mining activities.

76 FR 21401 - Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for the HB In-Situ Solution Mine Project, Eddy County, NM

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-15

...] Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for the HB In-Situ Solution Mine Project, Eddy County, NM AGENCY... prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the HB In- Situ Solution Mine Project, and by... considered, the BLM must receive written comments on the HB In-Situ Solution Mine Project Draft EIS within 60...

WORKSHOP ON THE CHARACTERIZATION, MODELING, REMEDIATION AND MONITORING OF MINING-IMPACTED PIT LAKES, SANDS RGENCY CASINO HOTEL, DOWNTOWN RENO, NV. APRIL 4-6, 2000 (PROGRAM FLYER)

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this workshop is to provide a forum for the exchange of scientific infomation on current approaches for assessing the characterization, monitoring, treatment and/or remediation of impacts on aquatic ecosystems including pit lakes from mining-related contamination i...

75 FR 63518 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-15

... Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment No. 61 for Rio Algom Mining... amendment to Source Materials License SUA-1473 issued to Rio Algom Mining LLC (Rio Algom, or the Licensee... access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image...

Observed And Modeled Seasonal Trends In Dissolved And Particulate Cu, Fe, Mn, And Zn In A Mining-Impacted Stream

EPA Science Inventory

North Fork Clear Creek (NFCC) in Colorado, an acid-mine drainage (AMD) impacted stream, was chosen to examine the distribution of dissolved and particulate Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in the water column, with respect to seasonal hydrologic controls. NFCC is a high-gradient stream with d...

Environmental impacts of mercury related to artisanal gold mining in Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonzongo, J. C.; Donkor, A. K.; Nartey, V. K.

2003-05-01

In this study, we investigated the extent of contamination of Hg in selected mine-impacted Ghanaian watersheds. Our results are suggestive of a major environmental problem with Hg in Ghana, with total-Hg concentrations ranging from 17 to 2000ng L^{-1} in surface water samples, and in hundreds of ppm for both soils and sediments.

Object-based image analysis for the assessment of mineral extraction in conflict regions - a case study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kranz, Olaf; Schoepfer, Elisabeth; Spröhnle, Kristin; Lang, Stefan

2016-06-01

In this study object-based image analysis (OBIA) techniques were applied to assess land cover changes related to mineral extraction in a conflict-affected area of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over a period of five years based on very high resolution (VHR) satellite data of different sensors. Object-based approaches explicitly consider spatio-temporal aspects which allow extracting important information to document mining activities. The use of remote sensing data as an independent, up-to-date and reliable data source provided hints on the general development of the mining sector in relation to socio-economic and political decisions. While in early 2010, the situation was still characterised by an intensification of mineral extraction, a mining ban between autumn 2010 and spring 2011 marked the starting point for a continuous decrease of mining activities. The latter can be substantiated through a decrease in the extend of the mining area as well as of the number of dwellings in the nearby settlement. A following demilitarisation and the mentioned need for accountability with respect to the origin of certain minerals led to organised, more industrialized exploitation. This development is likewise visible on satellite imagery as typical clearings within forested areas. The results of the continuous monitoring in turn facilitate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to further foster the mentioned establishment of responsible supply chains by the mining industry throughout the entire period of investigation.

Economic baselines for current underground coal mining technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mabe, W. B.

1979-01-01

The cost of mining coal using a room pillar mining method with continuous miner and a longwall mining system was calculated. Costs were calculated for the years 1975 and 2000 time periods and are to be used as economic standards against which advanced mining concepts and systems will be compared. Some assumptions were changed and some internal model stored data was altered from the original calculations procedure chosen, to obtain a result that more closely represented what was considered to be a standard mine. Coal seam thicknesses were varied from one and one-half feet to eight feet to obtain the cost of mining coal over a wide range. Geologic conditions were selected that had a minimum impact on the mining productivity.

Distributions and concentrations of thallium in surface waters of a region impacted by historical metal mining (Cornwall, UK).

PubMed

Tatsi, Kristi; Turner, Andrew

2014-03-01

Thallium is a highly toxic heavy metal whose concentrations and distributions in the aquatic environment are poorly defined. In this study, concentrations of aqueous and total Tl have been measured in water samples from a variety of rivers and effluents (the latter related to historical metal mining) in the county of Cornwall, SW England. Aqueous concentrations ranged from about 13 ng L(-1) in a river whose catchment contained no metal mines to 2,640 ng L(-1) in water abstracted directly from an abandoned mine shaft. Concentrations of Tl in rivers were greatest in the vicinity of mine-related effluents, with a maximum value measured of about 770 ng L(-1). Thallium was not efficiently removed by the conventional, active treatment of mine water, and displayed little interaction with suspended particles. Its mobility in surface waters, coupled with concentrations that are close to a quality guideline of 800 ng L(-1), is cause for concern. Accordingly, we recommend that the metal is more closely monitored in this and other regions impacted by mining activities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Data set for Journal article "The shale gas revolution: barriers, sustainability, and emerging opportunities"

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Middleton, Richard Stephen

Shale gas and hydraulic refracturing has revolutionized the US energy sector in terms of prices, consumption, and CO 2 emissions. However, key questions remain including environmental concerns and extraction efficiencies that are leveling off. For the first time, we identify key discoveries, lessons learned, and recommendations from this shale gas revolution through extensive data mining and analysis of 23 years of production from 20,000 wells. Discoveries include identification of a learning-bydoing process where disruptive technology innovation led to a doubling in shale gas extraction, how refracturing with emerging technologies can transform existing wells, and how overall shale gas production ismore » actually dominated by long-term tail production rather than the high-profile initial exponentially-declining production in the first 12 months. We hypothesize that tail production can be manipulated, through better fracturing techniques and alternative working fluids such as CO 2, to increase shale gas recovery and minimize environmental impacts such as through carbon sequestration.« less

The shale gas revolution: Barriers, sustainability, and emerging opportunities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Middleton, Richard S.; Gupta, Rajan; Hyman, Jeffrey D.

Shale gas and hydraulic refracturing has revolutionized the US energy sector in terms of prices, consumption, and CO 2 emissions. However, key questions remain including environmental concerns and extraction efficiencies that are leveling off. For the first time, we identify key discoveries, lessons learned, and recommendations from this shale gas revolution through extensive data mining and analysis of 23 years of production from 20,000 wells. Discoveries include identification of a learning-by-doing process where disruptive technology innovation led to a doubling in shale gas extraction, how refracturing with emerging technologies can transform existing wells, and how overall shale gas production ismore » actually dominated by long-term tail production rather than the high-profile initial exponentially-declining production in the first 12 months. We hypothesize that tail production can be manipulated, through better fracturing techniques and alternative working fluids such as CO 2, to increase shale gas recovery and minimize environmental impacts such as through carbon sequestration.« less

The shale gas revolution: Barriers, sustainability, and emerging opportunities

DOE PAGES

Middleton, Richard S.; Gupta, Rajan; Hyman, Jeffrey D.; ...

2017-08-01

Shale gas and hydraulic refracturing has revolutionized the US energy sector in terms of prices, consumption, and CO 2 emissions. However, key questions remain including environmental concerns and extraction efficiencies that are leveling off. For the first time, we identify key discoveries, lessons learned, and recommendations from this shale gas revolution through extensive data mining and analysis of 23 years of production from 20,000 wells. Discoveries include identification of a learning-by-doing process where disruptive technology innovation led to a doubling in shale gas extraction, how refracturing with emerging technologies can transform existing wells, and how overall shale gas production ismore » actually dominated by long-term tail production rather than the high-profile initial exponentially-declining production in the first 12 months. We hypothesize that tail production can be manipulated, through better fracturing techniques and alternative working fluids such as CO 2, to increase shale gas recovery and minimize environmental impacts such as through carbon sequestration.« less

Impact assessment and remediation strategies for roadway construction in acid-bearing media: case study from Mid-Appalachia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Viadero, R.C.; Fortney, R.H.; Creel, A.T.

2008-09-15

The likelihood of encountering land impacted by current and/or historic coal mining activities is high when constructing roadways in the Mid-Appalachian region. Through additional disturbance of these lands, environmental impacts such as acid and dissolved metals loading and subsequent impacts to aquatic flora and fauna will ensue. Consequently, it is necessary to affect a paradigm shift in roadway design and construction to account for the presence of factors that compound the already difficult task of working in a region characterized by steep topography and aggressive geochemistry. In this study, assessments of the water chemistry and biological impacts of a wastemore » pile containing spoils from previous mining and the presence of an exposed coal mine bench were made as representative microcosmic examples of typical conditions found in the region. Based on quantitative measurements of water quality and biological conditions, recommendations are presented for the assessment and avoidance of impacts prior to construction through acid-bearing materials and suggestions are offered for postconstruction remediation at previously impacted sites.« less

Environmental Impact of the Contact and Sonoma Mercury Mines on Water, Sediment, and Biota in Anna Belcher and Little Sulphur Creek Watersheds, Sonoma County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rytuba, James J.; Hothem, Roger L.; May, Jason T.; Kim, Christopher S.; Lawler, David; Goldstein, Daniel

2009-01-01

The Contact and Sonoma mercury (Hg) deposits are among the youngest Hg deposits in the Coast Range Hg mineral belt and are located in the western part of the Clear Lake volcanic field in Sonoma County, California. The mine workings and tailings are located in the headwaters of Anna Belcher Creek, which is a tributary to Little Sulphur Creek. The Contact Hg mine produced about 1,000 flasks of Hg, and the Sonoma mine produced considerably less. Waste rock and tailings eroded from the Contact and Sonoma mines have contributed Hg-enriched mine waste material to the headwaters of Anna Belcher Creek. The mines are located on federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (USBLM). The USBLM requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measure and characterize Hg and other geochemical constituents in tailings, sediment, water, and biota at the Contact and Sonoma mines and in Anna Belcher and Little Sulphur Creeks. This report is made in response to the USBLM request, the lead agency mandated to conduct a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) - Removal Site Investigation (RSI). The RSI applies to removal of Hg-contaminated mine waste from the Contact and Sonoma mines as a means of reducing Hg transport to Anna Belcher and Little Sulphur Creeks. This report summarizes data obtained from field sampling of mine tailings, waste rock, sediment, and water at the Contact and Sonoma mines that was initiated on April 20 during a storm event, and on June 19, 2001. Further sampling of water, sediment, and biota in a pond and tributaries that drain from the mine area was completed on April 1, 2003. Our results permit a preliminary assessment of the mining sources of Hg and associated chemical constituents that could elevate levels of monomethyl Hg (MMeHg) in tributaries and biota that are impacted by historic mining.

An economic and financial exploratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cincotti, S.; Sornette, D.; Treleaven, P.; Battiston, S.; Caldarelli, G.; Hommes, C.; Kirman, A.

2012-11-01

This paper describes the vision of a European Exploratory for economics and finance using an interdisciplinary consortium of economists, natural scientists, computer scientists and engineers, who will combine their expertise to address the enormous challenges of the 21st century. This Academic Public facility is intended for economic modelling, investigating all aspects of risk and stability, improving financial technology, and evaluating proposed regulatory and taxation changes. The European Exploratory for economics and finance will be constituted as a network of infrastructure, observatories, data repositories, services and facilities and will foster the creation of a new cross-disciplinary research community of social scientists, complexity scientists and computing (ICT) scientists to collaborate in investigating major issues in economics and finance. It is also considered a cradle for training and collaboration with the private sector to spur spin-offs and job creations in Europe in the finance and economic sectors. The Exploratory will allow Social Scientists and Regulators as well as Policy Makers and the private sector to conduct realistic investigations with real economic, financial and social data. The Exploratory will (i) continuously monitor and evaluate the status of the economies of countries in their various components, (ii) use, extend and develop a large variety of methods including data mining, process mining, computational and artificial intelligence and every other computer and complex science techniques coupled with economic theory and econometric, and (iii) provide the framework and infrastructure to perform what-if analysis, scenario evaluations and computational, laboratory, field and web experiments to inform decision makers and help develop innovative policy, market and regulation designs.

Systematic review of community health impacts of mountaintop removal mining.

PubMed

Boyles, Abee L; Blain, Robyn B; Rochester, Johanna R; Avanasi, Raghavendhran; Goldhaber, Susan B; McComb, Sofie; Holmgren, Stephanie D; Masten, Scott A; Thayer, Kristina A

2017-10-01

The objective of this evaluation is to understand the human health impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, the major method of coal mining in and around Central Appalachia. MTR mining impacts the air, water, and soil and raises concerns about potential adverse health effects in neighboring communities; exposures associated with MTR mining include particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, hydrogen sulfide, and other recognized harmful substances. A systematic review was conducted of published studies of MTR mining and community health, occupational studies of MTR mining, and any available animal and in vitro experimental studies investigating the effects of exposures to MTR-mining-related chemical mixtures. Six databases (Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Toxline, and Web of Science) were searched with customized terms, and no restrictions on publication year or language, through October 27, 2016. The eligibility criteria included all human population studies and animal models of human health, direct and indirect measures of MTR-mining exposure, any health-related effect or change in physiological response, and any study design type. Risk of bias was assessed for observational and experimental studies using an approach developed by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT). To provide context for these health effects, a summary of the exposure literature is included that focuses on describing findings for outdoor air, indoor air, and drinking water. From a literature search capturing 3088 studies, 33 human studies (29 community, four occupational), four experimental studies (two in rat, one in vitro and in mice, one in C. elegans), and 58 MTR mining exposure studies were identified. A number of health findings were reported in observational human studies, including cardiopulmonary effects, mortality, and birth defects. However, concerns for risk of bias were identified, especially with respect to exposure characterization, accounting for confounding variables (such as socioeconomic status), and methods used to assess health outcomes. Typically, exposure was assessed by proximity of residence or hospital to coal mining or production level at the county level. In addition, assessing the consistency of findings was challenging because separate publications likely included overlapping case and comparison groups. For example, 11 studies of mortality were conducted with most reporting higher rates associated with coal mining, but many of these relied on the same national datasets and were unable to consider individual-level contributors to mortality such as poor socioeconomic status or smoking. Two studies of adult rats reported impaired microvascular and cardiac mitochondrial function after intratracheal exposure to PM from MTR-mining sites. Exposures associated with MTR mining included reports of PM levels that sometimes exceeded Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards; higher levels of dust, trace metals, hydrogen sulfide gas; and a report of increased public drinking water violations. This systematic review could not reach conclusions on community health effects of MTR mining because of the strong potential for bias in the current body of human literature. Improved characterization of exposures by future community health studies and further study of the effects of MTR mining chemical mixtures in experimental models will be critical to determining health risks of MTR mining to communities. Without such work, uncertainty will remain regarding the impact of these practices on the health of the people who breathe the air and drink the water affected by MTR mining. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Characterization of water reservoirs affected by acid mine drainage: geochemical, mineralogical, and biological (diatoms) properties of the water.

PubMed

Valente, T; Rivera, M J; Almeida, S F P; Delgado, C; Gomes, P; Grande, J A; de la Torre, M L; Santisteban, M

2016-04-01

This work presents a combination of geochemical, mineralogical, and biological data obtained in water reservoirs located in one of the most paradigmatic mining regions, suffering from acid mine drainage (AMD) problems: the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). Four water reservoirs located in the Spanish sector of the IBP, storing water for different purposes, were selected to achieve an environmental classification based on the effects of AMD: two mining dams (Gossan and Águas Ácidas), a reservoir for industrial use (Sancho), and one with water used for human supply (Andévalo). The results indicated that the four reservoirs are subject to the effect of metallic loads from polluted rivers, although with different levels: Águas Ácidas > Gossan > Sancho ≥ Andévalo. In accordance, epipsammic diatom communities have differences in the respective composition and dominant taxa. The dominant diatoms in each reservoir indicated acid water: Pinnularia acidophila and Pinnularia aljustrelica were found in the most acidic dams (Gossan and Águas Ácidas, with pH <3), Pinnularia subcapitata in Sancho (pH 2.48-5.82), and Eunotia exigua in Andévalo (pH 2.34-6.15).

Managing artisanal and small-scale mining in forest areas: perspectives from a poststructural political ecology.

PubMed

Hirons, Mark

2011-01-01

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is an activity intimately associated with social deprivation and environmental degradation, including deforestation. This paper examines ASM and deforestation using a broadly poststructural political ecology framework. Hegemonic discourses are shown to consistently influence policy direction, particularly in emerging approaches such as Corporate Social Responsibility and the Forest Stewardship Council. A review of alternative discourses reveals that the poststructural method is useful for critiquing the international policy arena but does not inform new approaches. Synthesis of the analysis leads to conclusions that echo a growing body of literature advocating for policies to become increasingly sensitive to local contexts, synergistic between actors at difference scales, and to be integrated across sectors.

State summaries: Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keller, J.; Carroll, C.; Widmann, B.

2006-01-01

According to the Colorado Geological Survey (CGS), Colorado's mining industry enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2005. For the whole year, the total value of nonfuel minerals, coal and uranium produced in the state in 2005 amounted to $2.4 billion. The production value of $1.52 billion in the nonfuel sector broke the previous record of $1.3 billion set in 1980, and is 60% higher than the revised 2004 CGS estimate of $950.5 million. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) ranked Colorado ninth among the states in nonfuel mineral value, up from 17th in 2004. About $1 billion of the nonfuel total is from metal mining. New record-high productions were achieved not only for molybdenum but also for coal and goal.

An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, is home to 25 federally recognized tribal governments, and contains large mineral resources. The potential for large-scale mining activities in the watershed has raised concerns about the impact of mining on the sustainability of Bristol Bay’s world-class commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries and the future of Alaska Native tribes in the watershed who have maintained a salmon-based culture and subsistence-based way of life for at least 4,000 years. The purpose of this assessment is to provide a characterization of the biological and mineral resources of the Bristol Bay watershed, increase understanding of the potential impacts of large-scale mining on the region’s fish resources, and inform future government decisions related to protecting and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the watershed. It will also serve as a technical resource for the public, tribes, and governments who must consider how best to address the challenges of mining and ecological protection in the Bristol Bay watershed. The purpose of this assessment is to understand how future large-scale mining may affect water quality and the Bristol Bay salmon fisheries, which includes the largest wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. Bristol Bay, Alaska, is home to a salmon fishery that is of significant economic and subsistence value to the peopl

Association Rule Based Feature Extraction for Character Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dua, Sumeet; Singh, Harpreet

Association rules that represent isomorphisms among data have gained importance in exploratory data analysis because they can find inherent, implicit, and interesting relationships among data. They are also commonly used in data mining to extract the conditions among attribute values that occur together frequently in a dataset [1]. These rules have wide range of applications, namely in the financial and retail sectors of marketing, sales, and medicine.

Classification of Learning Styles in Virtual Learning Environment Using J48 Decision Tree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maaliw, Renato R. III; Ballera, Melvin A.

2017-01-01

The usage of data mining has dramatically increased over the past few years and the education sector is leveraging this field in order to analyze and gain intuitive knowledge in terms of the vast accumulated data within its confines. The primary objective of this study is to compare the results of different classification techniques such as Naïve…

Business Analytics Programs Offered by AACSB-Accredited U.S. Colleges of Business: A Web Mining Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Jensen; Zhao, Sherry Y.

2016-01-01

E-business, e-education, e-government, social media, and mobile services generate and capture trillions of bytes of data every second about customers, suppliers, employees, and other types of data. The growing quantity of big data is an important part of every sector in the global economy. However, there is a significant shortage of business data…

VET and the Diffusion and Implementation of Innovation in the Mining, Solar Energy and Computer Games Sectors. NCVER Monograph Series 06/2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalitz, Robert; Toner, Phillip; Turpin, Tim

2011-01-01

Innovation is thought to improve productivity at the firm level and economic prosperity at the national level. This would seem to have implications for the skills and skills development of employees. However, little is known about the relationship between skills development and innovation. This report is the culmination of case studies exploring…

South Africa Country Analysis Brief

EIA Publications

2015-01-01

South Africa has a large energy-intensive coal mining industry. The country has limited proved reserves of oil and natural gas and uses its large coal deposits to meet most of its energy needs, particularly in the electricity sector. South Africa also has a sophisticated synthetic fuels industry, producing gasoline and diesel fuels from the Secunda coal-to-liquids (CTL) and Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants

Environmental Impact of the Helen, Research, and Chicago Mercury Mines on Water, Sediment, and Biota in the Upper Dry Creek Watershed, Lake County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rytuba, James J.; Hothem, Roger L.; May, Jason T.; Kim, Christopher S.; Lawler, David; Goldstein, Daniel; Brussee, Brianne E.

2009-01-01

The Helen, Research, and Chicago mercury (Hg) deposits are among the youngest Hg deposits in the Coast Range Hg mineral belt and are located in the southwestern part of the Clear Lake volcanic field in Lake County, California. The mine workings and tailings are located in the headwaters of Dry Creek. The Helen Hg mine is the largest mine in the watershed having produced about 7,600 flasks of Hg. The Chicago and Research Hg mines produced only a small amount of Hg, less than 30 flasks. Waste rock and tailings have eroded from the mines, and mine drainage from the Helen and Research mines contributes Hg-enriched mine wastes to the headwaters of Dry Creek and contaminate the creek further downstream. The mines are located on federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (USBLM). The USBLM requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measure and characterize Hg and geochemical constituents in tailings, sediment, water, and biota at the Helen, Research, and Chicago mines and in Dry Creek. This report is made in response to the USBLM request to conduct a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA - Removal Site Investigation (RSI). The RSI applies to removal of Hg-contaminated mine waste from the Helen, Research, and Chicago mines as a means of reducing Hg transport to Dry Creek. This report summarizes data obtained from field sampling of mine tailings, waste rock, sediment, and water at the Helen, Research, and Chicago mines on April 19, 2001, during a storm event. Further sampling of water, sediment, and biota at the Helen mine area and the upper part of Dry Creek was completed on July 15, 2003, during low-flow conditions. Our results permit a preliminary assessment of the mining sources of Hg and associated chemical constituents that could elevate levels of monomethyl Hg (MMeHg) in the water, sediment, and biota that are impacted by historic mining.

New technologies - How to assess environmental effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, P. J.; Lavin, M. L.

1981-01-01

A method is provided for assessing the environmental effects of a room-and-pillar mining system (RP) and a new hydraulic borehole mining system (HBM). Before environmental assessment can begin, each technology is defined in terms of its engineering characteristics at both the conceptual and preliminary design stages. The mining sites are also described in order to identify the significant advantages and constraints for each system. This can be a basic physical and biological survey of the region at the conceptual stage, but a more specific representation of site characteristics is required at the preliminary stage. Assessment of potential environmental effects of each system at the conceptual design is critical to its hardware development and application. A checklist can be used to compare and identify the negative impacts of each method, outlining the resource affected, the type of impact involved, and the exact activity causing that impact. At the preliminary design stage, these impacts should be evaluated as a result of either utilization or alteration. Underground coal mining systems have three major utilization impacts - the total area disturbed, the total water resources withdrawn from other uses, and the overall energy efficiency of the process - and one major alteration impact - the degradation of water quality by sedimentation and acid contamination. A comparison of the RP and HBM systems shows the HBM to be an environmentally less desirable system for the Central Appalachia region.

77 FR 62256 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Mount Hope Project...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-12

... proposed Mount Hope Molybdenum Mining Project. The proposed project would be located in central Nevada... project proposal is to extract molybdenite from public lands where EML holds mining claims and private... that is environmentally responsible and in compliance with Federal mining laws, the Federal Land Policy...

The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields (2011 Final)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields. This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of mountaintop mines and valley ...

Metals Release From Mining-Impacted Streambed Sediments In The North Fork Of Clear Creek, Colorado

EPA Science Inventory

Many miles of streams in the US (and worldwide) are contaminated by metals originating from both active and abandoned mine sites. Streams affected by mine drainage are often toxic to aquatic life. Thus, it is desirable to remediate these sites through removal or treatment of th...

Mining. Industry Training Monograph No. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dumbrell, Tom

Mining is the second smallest industry division in terms both of employment and number of business units in Australia. Employment accounts for less than 1 percent of all jobs. The outlook for employment is clouded by continuing uncertainty in Australia's main Asian markets and by the longer-term impact of environmental concerns. Mining industry…

Biosorption Of Heavy Metals From Mining Influenced Water Onto Chitin Products

EPA Science Inventory

Mining influenced water (MIW) emanating from mine sites poses a major environmental concern due to its impact on water contamination caused by low pH and the presence of high concentrations of toxic metals. Chitorem SC-20^® (raw crushed crab shells containing 40% w/w C...

Roles of Benthic Algae in the Structure, Function, and Assessment of Stream Ecosystems Affected by Acid Mine Drainage

EPA Science Inventory

Tens of thousands of stream kilometers around the world are degraded by a legacy of environmental impacts and acid mine drainage (AMD) caused by abandoned underground and surface mines, piles of discarded coal wastes, and tailings. Increased acidity, high concentrations of metals...

Impact of gold mining associated with mercury contamination in soil, biota sediments and tailings in Kenya.

PubMed

Odumo, Benjamin Okang'; Carbonell, Gregoria; Angeyo, Hudson Kalambuka; Patel, Jayanti Purshottam; Torrijos, Manuel; Rodríguez Martín, José Antonio

2014-11-01

This work considered the environmental impact of artisanal mining gold activity in the Migori-Transmara area (Kenya). From artisanal gold mining, mercury is released to the environment, thus contributing to degradation of soil and water bodies. High mercury contents have been quantified in soil (140 μg kg(-1)), sediment (430 μg kg(-1)) and tailings (8,900 μg kg(-1)), as expected. The results reveal that the mechanism for transporting mercury to the terrestrial ecosystem is associated with wet and dry depositions. Lichens and mosses, used as bioindicators of pollution, are related to the proximity to mining areas. The further the distance from mining areas, the lower the mercury levels. This study also provides risk maps to evaluate potential negative repercussions. We conclude that the Migori-Transmara region can be considered a strongly polluted area with high mercury contents. The technology used to extract gold throughout amalgamation processes causes a high degree of mercury pollution around this gold mining area. Thus, alternative gold extraction methods should be considered to reduce mercury levels that can be released to the environment.

Transformation and contamination of soils in iron ore mining areas (a review)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamotaev, I. V.; Ivanov, I. V.; Mikheev, P. V.; Belobrov, V. P.

2017-03-01

Current concepts of soil transformation and contamination in iron ore mining areas have been reviewed. Changes of soils and ecosystems in the mining areas are among the largest-scale impacts of economic activity on the nature. Regularities in the radial differentiation, spatial distribution, and accumulation of heavy metals in soils of different natural zones are analyzed. The effects of mining technogenesis and gas-dust emissions from enterprises on soil microbial communities and fauna are considered. In zones of longterm atmotechnogenic impact of mining and processing plants, the stable state of ecosystems is lost and/or a new technoecosystem different from the natural one, with own microbial cenosis, is formed, where communities of soil organisms are in the stress state. In the ore mining regions, embriozems are formed, which pass through specific stages of technogenically-determined development, as well as technosols, chemozems, and technogenic surface formations with variable material compositions and properties. Technogenic soils and soil-like bodies form a soil cover differing from the initial one, whose complexity and contrast are not related to the natural factors of differentiation.

Proceedings, 95th regular meeting: The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Finnie, D.G.

1999-07-01

In addition to the nine convention papers published in these proceedings, information is given on the membership and organization of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute. The papers are concerned with the economics and management of coal companies, occupational safety of their employees, public anxiety of the environmental impacts of surface mining, and contracting for mining equipment maintenance. Papers have been processed separately for inclusion on the data base.

Simulating the Impacts of Climate Extremes Across Sectors: The Case of the 2003 European Heat Wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schewe, J.; Zhao, F.; Reyer, C.; Breuer, L.; Coll, M.; Deryng, D.; Eddy, T.; Elliott, J. W.; Francois, L. M.; Friend, A. D.; Gerten, D.; Gosling, S.; Gudmundsson, L.; Huber, V.; Kim, H.; Lotze, H. K.; Orth, R.; Seneviratne, S. I.; Tittensor, D.; Vautard, R.; van Vliet, M. T. H.; Wada, Y.

2017-12-01

Increased occurrence of extreme climate or weather events is one of the most damaging consequences of global climate change today and in the future. Estimating the impacts of such extreme events across different human and natural systems is crucial for quantifying overall risks from climate change. Are current models fit for this task? Here we use the 2003 European heat wave and drought (EHW) as a historical analogue for comparable events in the future, and evaluate how accurately its impacts are reproduced by a multi-sectoral "super-ensemble" of state-of-the-art impacts models. Our study combines, for the first time, impacts on agriculture, freshwater resources, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, energy, and human health in a consistent multi-model framework. We identify key impacts of the 2003 EHW reported in the literature and/or recorded in publicly available databases, and examine how closely the models reproduce those impacts, applying the same measure of impact magnitude across different sectors. Preliminary results are mixed: While the EHW's impacts on water resources (streamflow) are reproduced well by most global hydrological models, not all crop and natural vegetation models reproduce the magnitude of impacts on agriculture and ecosystem productivity, respectively, and their performance varies by country or region. A hydropower capacity model matches reported hydropower generation anomalies only in some countries, and estimates of heat-related excess mortality from a set of statistical models are consistent with literature reports only for some of the cities investigated. We present a synthesis of simulated and observed impacts across sectors, and reflect on potential improvements in modeling and analyzing cross-sectoral impacts.

Photosynthesis and yield reductions from wheat stem sawfly (Hymenoptera: Cephidae): interactions with wheat solidness, water stress, and phosphorus deficiency.

PubMed

Delaney, Kevin J; Weaver, David K; Peterson, Robert K D

2010-04-01

The impact of herbivory on plants is variable and influenced by several factors. The current study examined causes of variation in the impact of larval stem mining by the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), on spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L. We performed greenhouse experiments over 2 yr to (1) study whether biotic (hollow versus solid stemmed host wheat) and abiotic (water, phosphorus stress) factors interact with C. cinctus stem mining to influence degree of mined stem physiological (photosynthesis) and yield (grain weight) reductions; and (2) determine whether whole plant yield compensatory responses occur to offset stem-mining reductions. Flag leaf photosynthetic reduction was not detected 16-20 d after infestation, but were detected at 40-42 d and doubled from water or phosphorus stresses. Main stem grain weight decreased from 10 to 25% from stem mining, largely due to reductions in grain size, with greater reductions under low phosphorus and/or water levels. Phosphorus-deficient plants without water stress were most susceptible to C. cinctus, more than doubling the grain weight reduction due to larval feeding relative to other water and phosphorus treatments. Two solid stemmed varieties with stem mining had less grain weight loss than a hollow stemmed variety, so greater internal mechanical resistance may reduce larval stem mining and plant yield reductions. Our results emphasize the importance of sufficient water and macronutrients for plants grown in regions impacted by C. cinctus. Also, solid stemmed varieties not only reduce wheat lodging from C. cinctus, they may reduce harvested grain losses from infested stems.

Climate impacts on hydropower and consequences for global electricity supply investment needs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turner, Sean W. D.; Hejazi, Mohamad; Kim, Son H.

Recent progress in global scale hydrological and dam modeling has allowed for the study of climate change impacts on global hydropower production. Here we explore the possible consequences of these impacts for the electricity supply sector. Regional hydropower projections are developed for two emissions scenarios by forcing a coupled global hydrological and dam model with downscaled, bias-corrected climate realizations derived from sixteen general circulation models. Consequent impacts on power sector composition and associated emissions and investment costs are explored using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). Changes in hydropower generation resulting from climate change can shift power demands onto andmore » away from carbon intensive technologies, resulting in significant impacts on power sector CO2 emissions for certain world regions—primarily those located in Latin America, as well as Canada and parts of Europe. Reduced impacts of climate change on hydropower production under a low emissions scenario coincide with increased costs of marginal power generating capacity—meaning impacts on power sector investment costs are similar for high and low emissions scenarios. Individual countries where impacts on investment costs imply significant risks or opportunities are identified.« less

The impact of atmospheric dust deposition and trace elements levels on the villages surrounding the former mining areas in a semi-arid environment (SE Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez Bisquert, David; Matías Peñas Castejón, José; García Fernández, Gregorio

2017-03-01

It is understood that particulate matter in the atmosphere from metallic mining waste has adverse health effects on populations living nearby. Atmospheric deposition is a process connecting the mining wasteswith nearby ecosystems. Unfortunately, very limited information is available about atmospheric deposition surrounding rural metallic mining areas. This article will focus on the deposition from mining areas, combined with its impact on nearby rural built areas and populations. Particle samples were collected between June 2011 and March 2013. They were collected according to Spanish legislation in ten specialised dust collectors. They were located near populations close to a former Mediterranean mining area, plus a control, to assess the impact of mining waste on these villages. This article and its results have been made through an analysis of atmospheric deposition of these trace elements (Mn, Zn, As, Cd and Pb). It also includes an analysis of total dust flux. Within this analysis it has considered the spatial variations of atmospheric deposition flux in these locations. The average annual level of total bulk deposition registered was 42.0 g m-2 per year. This was higher than most of the areas affected by a Mediterranean climate or in semi-arid conditions around the world. Regarding the overall analysis of trace elements, the annual bulk deposition fluxes of total Zn far exceeded the values of other areas. While Mn, Cd and Pb showed similar or lower values, and in part much lower than those described in other Mediterranean mining areas. This study confirmed some spatial variability of dust and trace elements, contained within the atmospheric deposition. From both an environmental and a public health perspective, environmental managers must take into account the cumulative effect of the deposition of trace elements on the soil and air quality around and within the villages surrounding metallic mining areas.

Acid mine drainage and subsidence: effects of increased coal utilization.

PubMed Central

Hill, R D; Bates, E R

1979-01-01

The increases above 1975 levels for acid mine drainage and subsidence for the years 1985 and 2000 based on projections of current mining trends and the National Energy Plan are presented. No increases are projected for acid mine drainage from surface mines or waste since enforcement under present laws should control this problem. The increase in acid mine drainage from underground mines is projected to be 16 percent by 1985 and 10 percent by 2000. The smaller increase in 2000 over 1985 reflects the impact of the PL 95-87 abandoned mine program. Mine subsidence is projected to increase by 34 and 115 percent respectively for 1985 and 2000. This estimate assumes that subsidence will parallel the rate of underground coal production and that no new subsidence control measures are adopted to mitigate subsidence occurrence. PMID:540617

Substance Flow Analysis of Mercury in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, L. M.; Wang, S.; Zhang, L.; Wang, F. Y.; Wu, Q. R.

2015-12-01

In previous studies, the emission of anthropogenic atmospheric Hg in China as well as single sector have been examined a lot. However, there might have been more Hg released as solid wastes rather than air. Hg stored in solid wastes may be released to air again when the solid wastes experience high temperature process or cause local pollution if the solid wastes are stacked casually for a long time. To trace the fate of Hg in China, this study developed the substance flow of Hg in 2010 covering all the sectors summarized in table 1. Below showed in Figure 1, the total Hg input is 2825t. The unintentional input of Hg, mined Hg, and recycled Hg account for 57%, 32% and 11% respectively. Figure 2 provides the detail information of substance flow of Hg. Byproducts from one sector may be used as raw materials of another, causing cross Hg flow between sectors. The Hg input of cement production is 303 t, of which 34% comes from coal and limestone, 33% comes from non-ferrous smelting, 23% comes from coal combustion, 7% comes from iron and steel production and 3% comes from mercury mining. Hg flowing to recycledHg production is 639 t, mainly from Hg contained in waste active carbon and mercuric chloride catalyst from VCM production and acid sludge from non-ferrous smelting. There are 20 t mercury flowing from spent mercury adding products to incineration. Figure1 and Figure 2 also show that 46% of the output Hg belongs to "Lagged release", which means this part of mercury might be released later. The "Lagged release" Hg includes 809 t Hg contained in stacked byproducts form coal combustion, non-ferrous smelting, iron and steel production, Al production, cement production and mercury mining, 161t Hg stored in the pipeline of VCM producing, 10 t Hg in fluorescent lamps that are in use and 314 t mercury stored in materials waiting to be handled with in recycled mercury plants. There is 112 t Hg stored in landfill and 129 t Hg exported abroad with the export of mercury adding products. Besides, 729t Hg is released to the environment, among which, 534 t is emitted to air, 129 t flows into water and 66 t is discharged to soil. To decrease the released mercury, the used mercury should be reduced firstly. On the one hand, large users like VCM production (the largest intentionally mercury user) should lower used mercury, on the other hand, mercury recycling should be enhanced.

EFFECT OF pH, IONIC STRENGTH, DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON, TIME, AND PARTICLE SIZE ON METALS RELEASE FROM MINE DRAINAGE IMPACTED STREAMBED SEDIMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

Acid-mine drainage (AMD) input to a stream typically results in the stream having a reduced pH, increased concentrations of metals and salts, and decreased biological productivity. Removal and/or treatment of these AMD sources is desired to return the impacted stream(s) to initi...

Impact of Text-Mining and Imitating Strategies on Lexical Richness, Lexical Diversity and General Success in Second Language Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çepni, Sevcan Bayraktar; Demirel, Elif Tokdemir

2016-01-01

This study aimed to find out the impact of "text mining and imitating" strategies on lexical richness, lexical diversity and general success of students in their compositions in second language writing. The participants were 98 students studying their first year in Karadeniz Technical University in English Language and Literature…

78 FR 52762 - Notice of Intent To Prepare A Draft Environment Impact Statement for the Proposed Ray Mine...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-26

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers Notice of Intent To Prepare A Draft Environment Impact Statement for the Proposed Ray Mine Tailings Storage Facility in Pinal County, Arizona AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. ACTION: Notice of Intent. SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps...

75 FR 1650 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed HB Potash, LLC-“In...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-12

...] Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed HB Potash, LLC--``In-Situ... HB Potash, LLC--``In- Situ'' Solution Mine Project by any of the following methods: E-mail: Rebecca..., (Intrepid) is proposing to construct and operate an ``in-situ'' solution mining project that would involve...

The Collective Impact Model and Its Potential for Health Promotion: Overview and Case Study of a Healthy Retail Initiative in San Francisco

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flood, Johnna; Minkler, Meredith; Lavery, Susana Hennessey; Estrada, Jessica; Falbe, Jennifer

2015-01-01

As resources for health promotion become more constricted, it is increasingly important to collaborate across sectors, including the private sector. Although many excellent models for cross-sector collaboration have shown promise in the health field, collective impact (CI), an emerging model for creating larger scale change, has yet to receive…

Knowledge Discovery from Massive Healthcare Claims Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chandola, Varun; Sukumar, Sreenivas R; Schryver, Jack C

The role of big data in addressing the needs of the present healthcare system in US and rest of the world has been echoed by government, private, and academic sectors. There has been a growing emphasis to explore the promise of big data analytics in tapping the potential of the massive healthcare data emanating from private and government health insurance providers. While the domain implications of such collaboration are well known, this type of data has been explored to a limited extent in the data mining community. The objective of this paper is two fold: first, we introduce the emergingmore » domain of big"healthcare claims data to the KDD community, and second, we describe the success and challenges that we encountered in analyzing this data using state of art analytics for massive data. Specically, we translate the problem of analyzing healthcare data into some of the most well-known analysis problems in the data mining community, social network analysis, text mining, and temporal analysis and higher order feature construction, and describe how advances within each of these areas can be leveraged to understand the domain of healthcare. Each case study illustrates a unique intersection of data mining and healthcare with a common objective of improving the cost-care ratio by mining for opportunities to improve healthcare operations and reducing hat seems to fall under fraud, waste,and abuse.« less

What can 35 years and over 700,000 measurements tell us about noise exposure in the mining industry?

PubMed Central

Roberts, Benjamin; Sun, Kan; Neitzel, Richard L.

2017-01-01

Objective To analyze over 700,000 cross-sectional measurements from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MHSA) and develop statistical models to predict noise exposure for a worker. Design Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Two linear regression models were used to predict noise exposure based on MSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) and action level (AL) respectively. Two-fold cross validation was used to compare the exposure estimates from the models to actual measurements in the hold out data. The mean difference and t-statistic was calculated for each job title to determine if the model exposure predictions were significantly different from the actual data. Study Sample Measurements were acquired from MSHA through a Freedom of Information Act request. Results From 1979 to 2014 the average noise measurement has decreased. Measurements taken before the implementation of MSHA’s revised noise regulation in 2000 were on average 4.5 dBA higher than after the law came in to effect. Both models produced mean exposure predictions that were less than 1 dBA different compared to the holdout data. Conclusion Overall noise levels in mines have been decreasing. However, this decrease has not been uniform across all mining sectors. The exposure predictions from the model will be useful to help predict hearing loss in workers from the mining industry. PMID:27871188

Sector-wise midpoint characterization factors for impact assessment of regional consumptive and degradative water use.

PubMed

Lin, Chia-Chun; Lin, Jia-Yu; Lee, Mengshan; Chiueh, Pei-Te

2017-12-31

Water availability, resulting from either a lack of water or poor water quality is a key factor contributing to regional water stress. This study proposes a set of sector-wise characterization factors (CFs), namely consumptive and degradative water stresses, to assess the impact of water withdrawals with a life cycle assessment approach. These CFs consider water availability, water quality, and competition for water between domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors and ecosystem at the watershed level. CFs were applied to a case study of regional water management of industrial water withdrawals in Taiwan to show that both regional or seasonal decrease in water availability contributes to a high consumptive water stress, whereas water scarcity due to degraded water quality not meeting sector standards has little influence on increased degradative water stress. Degradative water stress was observed more in the agricultural sector than in the industrial sector, which implies that the agriculture sector may have water quality concerns. Reducing water intensity and alleviating regional scale water stresses of watersheds are suggested as approaches to decrease the impact of both consumptive and degradative water use. The results from this study may enable a more detailed sector-wise analysis of water stress and influence water resource management policies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

50 CFR 648.87 - Sector allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... biological, economic, and social impacts of sectors and their fishing operations consistent with confidentiality requirements of applicable law. (vii) Interaction with other fisheries—(A) Use of DAS. A sector...

Individual and cumulative effects of agriculture, forestry and metal mining activities on the metal and phosphorus content of fluvial fine-grained sediment; Quesnel River Basin, British Columbia, Canada.

PubMed

Smith, Tyler B; Owens, Philip N

2014-10-15

The impact of agriculture, forestry and metal mining on the quality of fine-grained sediment (<63 μm) was investigated in the Quesnel River Basin (QRB) (~11,500 km(2)) in British Columbia, Canada. Samples of fine-grained sediment were collected monthly during the snow-free season in 2008 using time-integrated samplers at replicate sites representative of agriculture, forestry and mining activities in the basin (i.e. "impacted" sites). Samples were also collected from replicate reference sites and also from the main stem of the Quesnel River at the downstream confluence with the Fraser River. Generally, metal(loid) and phosphorus (P) concentrations for "impacted" sites were greater than for reference sites. Furthermore, concentrations of copper (forestry and mining sites), manganese (agriculture and forestry sites) and selenium (agriculture, forestry and mining sites) exceeded upper sediment quality guideline (SQG) thresholds. These results suggest that agriculture, forestry and metal mining activities are having an influence on the concentrations of sediment-associated metal(loid)s and P in the Quesnel basin. Metal(loid) and P concentrations of sediment collected from the downstream site were not significantly greater than values for the reference sites, and were typically lower than the values for the impacted sites. This suggests that the cumulative effects of agriculture, forestry and mining activities in the QRB are presently not having a measureable effect at the river basin-scale. The lack of a cumulative effect at the basin-scale is thought to reflect: (i) the relatively recent occurrence of land use disturbances in this basin; (ii) the dominance of sediment contributions from natural forest and agriculture; and (iii) the potential for storage of contaminants on floodplains and other storage elements between the locations of disturbance activities and the downstream sampling site, which may be attenuating the disturbance signal. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Histopathology investigation on the Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis) populations captured from the rivers impacted by mining activities.

PubMed

Jordanova, Maja; Rebok, Katerina; Dragun, Zrinka; Ramani, Sheriban; Ivanova, Lozenka; Kostov, Vasil; Valić, Damir; Krasnići, Nesrete; Filipović Marijić, Vlatka; Kapetanović, Damir

2016-07-01

Many natural freshwater ecosystems, especially in the north eastern Macedonia, are polluted with heavy metals, which are released by active mines. Long-term exposure to high levels of dissolved metals might result in increased metal bioaccumulation in organs of aquatic organisms, and consequently might cause various sub-toxic and toxic effects. The aim of this study was to assess the health of Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis) inhabiting mining impacted rivers Zletovska and Kriva, in comparison with chub from the reference Bregalnica River. It was done by use of indicators of tissue damage (histopathology of liver and gonads) and general indicators of exposure to environmental stressors (condition factor, organo-somatic indices and external/internal macroscopic lesions). Histological assessment of gonads revealed good reproductive health in all three rivers, indicating high tolerance of gonads to contaminant exposure. Contrary, several external/internal lesions were more pronounced in chub from severely metal contaminated Zletovska River. Prevalence of hepatic lesions was also higher in mining impacted rivers (in Kriva, 70%; in Zletovska, 59%) compared to Bregalnica River (38%). The spectrum of histological lesions observed in chub liver varied from non-specific minor degenerative conditions, such as lymphocyte infiltration, fibrosis, parasites, granulomas and lipidosis, to extensive and/or more severe changes such as bile duct proliferation, necrosis, megalocytosis, light-dark hepatocytes and hepatocytes regeneration. The results of histopathological investigation for all three rivers showed clear signs of water contamination, especially prominent in mining influenced rivers. More research efforts should be devoted to study of environmental conditions and metal contamination in the mining impacted rivers worldwide, especially of their effects on health of local ichthyofauna. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.