8 Mining Ne w Opportunities Mining and the Envir onment Su mmar y of En v i ronmen t al Cond itions 10 T e acher Infor ma tion She et 1 of 1 V ide oD V D St ud y CON DI TI ON Ai r Emi ssions L and U s e Managemen t of T ail i ng s W a ter Con t ami na tion P O TE N TI A L IMP A C T Man y me t als ar e e x tract e d f r om or e by me lting Tis pr o c e ss is c alle d sme lting Air emissions f r om sme lting c an c a us e t he pr o duction of sulph ur dio xide if p ollut an t s ar e not pr op er ly r emove d A c id rain c an r e sult E x c a v a tion of or e b o die s in a q uar r y or op en pit D e ve lopmen t of ac c e ss r oads and c or r idors T ailing p onds ar e us e d t o st or e man y sub st anc e s t ha t ar e dis c har g e d f r om a pr o c e ssing mill S ome time s t he s e sub st anc e s l e a c h l e a k i n t o t h e e n v i r o n m e n t e g i n t o s t r e a m s o r c o n t a m i n a t e t he e ar t h S ome w a st e r o c k s t ailing s c an c on t ain c er t ain me t als t ha t c an c on t amina t e t he en v ir onmen t over time Tis is c alle d ac id drainag e If t he s e ar e not pr op er ly tr e a t e d t he me t als f r om t ailing s e s c a p e in t o t he en v ir onmen t and ma y c a us e damag e S OL U TI ON Com panie s ha ve in ve st e d h ug e sums of mone y in t o r e duc ing sulph ur and ot her emissions f r om t he sme lting pr o c e ss S tr ict g over nmen t c on tr ols and a c or p ora t e w illing ne ss t o k e e p t he air c le an w ill ensur e t he pr ot e ction of t he en v ir onmen t Re c lama tion r e t ur ns t he land t o anot her us e af t er e x traction or mining is c om ple t e Con tin uous or c oncur r en t r e c lama tion is s ome time s put in t o action dur ing t he lif e of t he mine On t ar io ha s mining r e c lama tion la ws t o r eme dia t e lands t ha t ar e us e d f or mineral e x plora tion and mining Mining c om panie s ha ve en v ir onmen t al manag emen t plans t o ensur e t ha t w a t er q uality ar ound t he mine is monit or e d r e ve g e t a tion o c curs and pr ot e ction of animal and plan t lif e is enc ourag e d Roads and c or r idors ar e r out e d t o a void w ildlif e and cult ural ar e a s and t he y c an b e de ve lop e d t o c r o ss a minimal n umb er of str e ams or r ivers T ailing p onds ar e de sig ne d and eng ine er e d t o hold and c on tr ol s olids and manag e liq uid euen t When a mining c om pan y r e c laims a sit e t ailing p onds ar e c over e d by g ra ss or tr e e s Te c om pan y m ust monit or t he t ailing s disp o s e d under w a t er or on t he sur f ac e t o ensur e t ha t le ak ag e in t o t he en v ir onmen t is pr e ven t e d Mining c om panie s ha ve plans t o handle t he pr oblems of tr e a ting ac id drainag e S ome time s lime is adde d t o ne utrali ze t he ac id