Extraction of inert materials. Quarries. Brick factories.
The extraction of valuable resources consistently benefits people while harming the environment. Numerous ecological problems arise during the stages of their extraction and processing.
During the development of mineral resources: rocks are extracted from the earth, underground voids appear, subsidence occurs, dumps, sludge storage facilities, and spoil heaps are created, surface and groundwater get polluted, their levels change, atmospheric air becomes dusty, vegetation is destroyed, and modern geological processes develop, worsening the ecological situation. Air pollution occurs from vehicles. Restoring the natural environment will take many years.
The open-pit mining method involves creating pits at the deposit site, known as cuts or quarries.
During the extraction and processing of minerals, a significant geological cycle occurs, involving various systems. As a result, there is a substantial impact on the ecology of the mining region, and this impact leads to negative consequences. The influence of mineral extraction on the lithosphere:
1. The development of deposits of dense rocks is accompanied by significant land withdrawal from agricultural use and forest lands. Mining leads to significant landscape changes: the creation of anthropogenic forms of mesorelief – quarries, dumps.
2. There may be an activation of geological processes (karst, landslides, rockfalls, subsidence, and shifting of rocks). Underground mining creates subsidence bowls and sinkholes.
3. Mechanical disruption of soils and their chemical pollution.
For the atmosphere, the main sources of pollution are vehicles operating at construction sites. They emit gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, benzo(a)pyrene, and some others. The production of construction materials, depending on specific technologies and substances produced, can contribute to the emission of other hazardous substances. It is also important to note the role of dust generated during any land works. Dust can impair the photosynthesis processes of plants and cause respiratory diseases in humans and animals. Construction activities lead to significant noise and vibration pollution.
Open-pit mining causes not only degradation of the earth's surface in the area of mining operations but also a sharp change in hydrological and hydrogeological conditions, leading to changes in the quality of surface and groundwater.
Quarry development leads to a number of ecological problems: atmospheric pollution as a result of mining or explosions during mining operations; exposure of aquifers and reduction of water pressures within them; infiltration of minerals into fresh groundwater and their salinization; withdrawal of large areas of land from economic circulation. The increase in mineral extraction exacerbates climate change and environmental pollution processes.
Thus, as the conducted analysis of the impact of the extraction and processing of non-metallic minerals shows, the relevance of ecological issues is constantly increasing. To protect nature, the mining industry must utilize all key directions: the protection and rational use of land, atmosphere, water resources, and subsoil, as well as implementing a comprehensive approach to waste management.
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