Mining And The Environment

Mining

is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner.

History of mining in Nigeria

Before the discovery of oil and the consequent decline in mining, Nigeria was a hub of mining activities, dating back to 1902 with the first mining of tin ore by the Royal Niger Company in 1905. Gold was mined subsequently in the present Kogi and Niger States in 1914 and coal in present day Enugu State in 1916.

Mining contributed to the development of a functional railway industry helping to transport mined coal from Enugu to the seaport in Port Harcourt and to a power plant in Oji River.

“With tin ore mining and processing came the establishment of the largest smelter in Africa (Makeri smelter in 1961) as well as a power plant in Jos. Finally, the establishment of industrial complexes and behemoths (at the time) of manufacturing came with iron ore, including the Ajaokuta Steel Mill, with the capacity to produce 5.7 million tonnes of liquid steel; Delta Steel plant with a capacity of 2 million tonnes of steel products; and three inland mills in Osogbo, Jos and Katsina,” the report added.

Advantages Of Mining

1.mining serves as the primary source income at different levels of economic growth

2.mining is the source of employment for both high and low class citizens

3.90% of raw materials used in manufacturing industries are gotten from mining activities e.g coal,crude oil, limestone e.t.c

Disadvantages Of Mining

Mining adversely affect the environment in numerous ways,which include:

1.soil erosion which eventually result to wearing away of the top soil for agricultural purposes.

2.oil spillage in areas where oil mining is taking place like the Niger Delta,result to water pollution in the nearby water bodies and at thesame time reducing soil fertility thus, greatly affecting farming in those areas.

3.smoke given out during processing of minerals contain carbon monoxide (co) ,which is gotten as a result of incomplete combustion,carbon monoxide is one of the green house gases that when release into the atmosphere react with other natural gases and eventually cause ozone depletion and global warming.

What do you think, should we overlook the disadvantages of mining given that it greatly contribute to the economy,or new mining processes with less impact should be adopted?

Comments

Anonymous said…

Mining is very important to many countries as it boost economy,I don't think mining should be banned,but rather a sustainable mining practice should be adopted

1 August 2021 at 07:26

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