Know Everything in Detail about Large Scale Mining and Small Scale Mining

Mining, simply stated, is the extraction or removal of minerals and metals from earth. Some of the items that are commonly mined are Manganese, copper, tantalum, tin, aluminum ore, nickel, iron ore, gold, silver, and diamonds are. It is worth knowing that mining is a money-spinning business where not only mining companies prosper but the government also collects huge revenues.

Mining are generally of two categories - Large Scale Mining and Small Scale Mining. Large scale mining is usually undertaken by big companies using many employees and a huge labor force. The company mines at large sites and continues the operations until the mineral or metal is completely excavated.

One classic example of a large scale mine, that one readily remembers, is the Serra Pelada mine in Brazil which yielded 29,000 tons of gold from 1980 to 1986 and employed 50,000 workers. Small scale mining is done by a relatively small group of wandering men. They travel together and identify sites they think will yield gold or any other valuable metal or mineral.

Small scale mining occurs in places such as Suriname, Guyana, and Central Africa among other places. Some researchers believe that small scale mining is more harmful to the environment and causes more social problems than large scale mining.

It is common knowledge that minerals and metals are very valuable commodities and in great demand. It is to be noted that manganese is a key component of low-cost stainless steel. It is also used to de-color glass by removing greenish hues. Tantalum is used in cell phones, pagers, and lap-tops. Cooper and tin are used to make pipes, cookware, etc. Needless to say, silver and diamonds are used to make jewelry.

Small scale mining is equally devastating to the environment. Groups of 5-6 men migrate from one mining site to another in pursuit of precious metals, particularly gold. There are two types of small scale mining: land dredging and river dredging.

There is no denying that both large scale and small scale mining plants are generally very destructive to the environment as mining is one of the chief causes of deforestation. Trees, plants and all vegetation are cleared and burned to make the ground completely bare for mining operations.

Large scale mining also involves using huge bulldozers and excavators to extract the metals and minerals from the soil. Further, to amalgamate the extractions, they use chemicals such as cyanide, mercury, or methyl-mercury.

These poisonous chemicals are quite often discharged into rivers, streams, bays, and oceans. This contaminates all living organisms within the water body and the people who depend on the fish and other sea creatures for their main source of livelihood are badly affected.

Mining affects the health of the people as they are exposed to the toxic waste from the tailings. They develop skin rashes, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. and the symptoms of mercury poisoning are very similar to the symptoms of malaria.