Mining of Marine Resources: Methods and Materials
Mining methods are divided into four basic types. First, the materials can be obtained from surface mines, opencast or other open excavations. This group includes the vast majority of mines around the world. Second are underground mines, which are accessed through galleries or tunnels. The third method is the recovery of minerals and fuels through drill holes. Finally, there is undersea mining, dredging, which could soon spread to the deep mining of the oceans.
Mining always involves the physical removal of materials from the earth’s crust, often in large numbers to retrieve only small amounts of the desired product. It is therefore impossible that mining will not affect the environment, at least in the area of the mine.
In fact, some believe that mining is one of the major causes of environmental degradation caused by humans. However, at present, a qualified mining engineer is able to minimize the damage and restore the area once mining is complete.
A variety of materials that can be obtained from such deposits. They can be classified as follows:
Metals, including precious metals (gold, silver and platinum group metals), metals, steel (iron, nickel, cobalt, titanium, vanadium and chromium), base metals (copper, lead, tin and zinc) , light metals (magnesium and aluminum), Nuclear Metals (uranium, radium and thorium) and specialty metals such as lithium, germanium, gallium and arsenic.
Industrial minerals, including quartz, trona, common salt, potassium, asbestos, talc, feldspar, sulfur and phosphate.
Building materials: sand, gravel, aggregates, brick clay, limestone and shale for cement manufacture. This group also includes the roofing slate and polished stone, like limestone, granite, travertine or marble.
Gems: include diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
Fuel: include coal, lignite, peat, oil and gas (although the latter generally are not considered mining products). Uranium is often included among the fuels.
In the mines can recover little compact unconsolidated material, such as bed sediments of a river, or minerals located on solid rock harder than any concrete.