MINERALS AND MINING 2

Definition of mining.
-The term mining refers to the extraction of minerals from the earth’s surface.
-The minerals could be metal, non-metal or liquids such as crude oil.
-The rock containing a useful mineral is referred to as an ore.
-In Zimbabwe most minerals are found along the Great Dyke. The Great Dyke stretches from
north to south across the country.

Factors affecting mining

 Market -Before a mineral is mined, there must be a demand for that mineral.
Manufacturing industries are the major markets for minerals.

 Value of mineral or metal -The minerals are mined at high costs but their prices can meet
the cost of mining.

 Transport -Transport is required for the transportation of machinery to the mines and
mineral ore to the processing plants.

 Labour -Mining requires unskilled, semi-skilled as well as the skilled labour force to carry
various activities during the process of mining. Readily available labour makes the mining
process easy.

 Grade or quality of the ore -It is therefore profitable to mine high grade ores than mining
low grade ores as poor quality ores may be expensive to mine due to low returns.

 Capital - Capital is required for the mining machinery, buildings, roads, railway lines, houses
as well as paying the workers.

 Size of the mineral deposit -In most cases large ore bodies are preferred to be mined than
smaller ones due to the large amounts of money used in mining.

 Geological occurrence of the mineral -It is cheaper to mine mineral deposits that are easily
accessible than those that are difficult to access. Ores that are easily accessible reduce the
costs of mining as well as those of safety measures.

 Technology -Various types of machines are required for the mining process to take place.
Such machinery includes bulldozers, overhead gears, cranes, draglines as well as conveyor
belts.

 Power -Mining depends on power to fuel the machines that used in mining.

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MINING METHODS.
-The methods that are used to mine the minerals depend on the location of the mineral
deposit.
-Some minerals are found on the surface, some just below the surface while others are found
deep below the surface.
-There are surface mining methods as well as underground mining methods.

A. Surface Mining methods.

-These are the methods that are used to extract minerals that lie on or close to the earth’s
surface (less than 50 meters or shallow seams).
-The methods include open cast, strip mining, quarrying and panning.

Open Cast Mining (Open Pitit Mining)

-It is used when the mineral deposit lie close to the earth’s surface.
-The topsoil, referred to as the overburden is removed by excavators and draglines/ bulldozers.
-The rock layer that contains the ore is then drilled and blasted so as to loosen the ore.
-It is then loaded by front loading machines or excavators into dump trucks which take the ore
to the processing plant.
-Terracing is done on the sides of the pit to make easier the construction of roads and to
prevent debris from falling into the pit.

Advantages
-It is cheap and simple.
-It is fairly safe mining method since digging is to less depths with low risks of accidents.
-It is a fast way of extracting minerals as in some cases large quantities of the minerals can be
extracted over a short period of time.

Disadvantages.
-The process produces a lot of waste.
-It results in unstable mine dumps.
-Deforestation
-Environmental degradation.
-Air pollution since it produces a lot of dust.

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-Use of explosives harms miners and settlement structure nearby.
-Noise pollution due to explosions, moving vehicles and machinery.
-Land and water pollution
-It leaves the land scared / eyesore.

Strip mining
-It is used to scrap off the ore just below the topsoil.
-In Zimbabwe the method is used in Mutorashanga to mine chrome.

Quarrying.
-In this process, huge pits with rocks such as granite are blasted with dynamite.

Panning or alluvial mining (Chikorokoza)

-The method is used for mineral ores that are usually found in river deposits such as gold and
diamonds.

B. UNDERGROUND MINING METHODS.

-The methods are used to mine minerals that are found deep below the surface.
-The common methods of underground mining are shaft mining and adit (drift) mining.

Shaft mining (Underground mining)

-The method is used to extract minerals that are deep below the surface (above 50 meters).
-Vertical or inclined shafts are dug in order to reach the mineral seam.
-Under the ground, horizontal tunnels are created following the mineral seam.
-Ventilation shafts, lighting systems and pillars to support tunnel roof are set up
-The ventilation system helps to remove the dust and the gases that may be trapped in pockets
deep down the earth.
-A lift cage is used to carry the miners up and down the shaft and minerals up from
underground.
-The mineral ore may be taken in a separate cage known as a ship.
-At the entrance of the shaft on the surface, there is a winding head gear which is a mechanism
responsible for moving the cages up and down.

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Advantages.
-It allows for the extraction of minerals that are deep below the surface.
-In involves less deforestation.
-Less dust is produced.
-It is associated with mineral ores of high value.
Disadvantages.
-It is very expensive as it requires specialized equipment for digging, exploding, ventilation,
underground transport and other facilities.
-Deep mines can result in earth tremors.
-Roofs of underground tunnels may collapse (cave in) trapping miners.
-Flooding can be a danger to miners
-Toxic gases can kill miners and cause respiratory diseases.

3. Adit/drift mining.
-It is used to extract minerals on the sides of mountains and valleys.
-To extract the mineral ores, horizontal or inclined shafts are dug along seams.
-Conveyor belts and railway lines are built to facilitate the extraction of the ore.
-Wagons can also be used to carry the ore out.
-Pillars are built to support the tunnel roof.

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Advantages.
-It is fairly cheap and safer method than shaft mining.
Disadvantages.
- Tunnels can cave in (collapse).
-It may result in landslides.
-It causes deforestation.

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Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in mining
These are a body of knowledge of the indigenous people on which they have survived for a long
time.

Gold panning in Zimbabwe (Chikorokoza)

-Gold panning take part along rivers such as Mazoe, Angwa, Runde, Insiza, Runde and Bubi.
-It is common in areas such as Kwekwe, Kadoma, Save Valley, Mazoe, Bindura and Shamva.
-During the process of mining, individuals collects the river deposits and use a pan and some
water to separate the mineral from the other materials by swirling the pan around.
-The continuous movement of the pan results in the heavier mineral ore sinking at the bottom.
-The miners then recover the gold by crushing the ores and combining it with mercury.
-Panners then settle the mercury and gold at the bottom of the pan.
-They continue the process of stirring until all the fine material has been separated from the
mercury.

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Benefits of gold panning.
-It is a source of income and wealth for the panners.
-Creates a market for informal traders.
-Increase gold supplies to Fidelity Printers.
-Raw materials for other industries.
-Foreign currency earnings.
-Employment creation.
-Reduce poverty.
-Improves living standards

The problems of gold panning.

Environmental problems.
-Water pollution of rivers and dams due to the use of mercury.
-Death of aquatic life due to toxic mercury used.
-Land degradation due to random digging of trenches and pits which are a danger to people
and animals.
-Soil erosion and siltation of rivers.
-Land, air and noise pollution
-Eyesore
-Barrenness of land
-Loss of habitat for wild animals

Economic problems.
-There is leakage of gold as most of it is not sold to government buyers but exported illegally to
foreign markets and this leads to loss of foreign currency.
-It leads to the damage of infrastructure due to digging of tunnels along transport network
systems.
-Water pollution results in reduction of water supplies for agriculture and urban uses.
-Destruction of farmlands and forest plantations.
-Damage to buildings eg destruction of Effel Flats Primary School in Kwekwe.
-Reduction in tourism potential

Social problems.
-The miners get in direct contact with the mercury as they use their hands to stir and this poses
a threat to their health.
-Exploitation of labour as most of the panners work very long hours under risky conditions.
-Deaths due to collapse of mines and fights.
-Increase in crime rates.
-Drunkenness and thuggery.
- Increase in prostitution and the spread of HIV and AIDS.
-Drug abuse, child marriages, family break down, early pregnancies, diseases eg STIs, and
cholera, school dropouts.

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Measures to control problems associated with gold panning.
-Licensing to gold panners.
-There are efforts to train people on safer, proper and environmentally friendly use of mercury.
-The panners have built special ponds away from river so that processing takes place away from
the rivers to reduce pollution.
-There should be close monitoring of the mining activities by police patrols.
-Those who break the law should be prosecuted, heavy penalties should be introduced for
offenders.

Negative environmental impacts/effects of mining.

 Deforestation as large areas of land are cleared for mining to take place, especially surface
mining methods.
 Land degradation through the creation of wide open pits, trenches as well as ugly heaps of
rock waste or mine dumps.
 Soil erosion which results in loss of soil fertility
 Siltation and degradation of rivers such as the Mazoe and Tengwa.
 Water pollution causes by chemicals used in mining.
 Air pollution from mining, processing or the crashing of ores.
 waste land.
 Global warming due to greenhouse gases emitted during the mining.
 Respiratory diseases due to toxic gases emitted during mining.
 Lowering of water table due to continuous pumping of water.
 Noise pollution due to blasting and use of machinery.

Possible solutions to the problems.

 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must be carried out before mining takes place so
as to help reduce the negative impacts.
 Educate people on the impacts of mining on the environment.
 Legislation (Laws) to monitor the mining process and the emissions.
 Substitution of minerals with other materials, for example copper has been replaced by
aluminium in electronics while optics and metals have been replaced by plastic such as
polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
 Rehabilitation to minimize degradation, for example reforestation or regrassing of mine
dumps. The rehabilitated land can then be used for the recreation purposes such as
construction of football pitches.

Rehabilitation of mining sites.

-Rehabilitation of mining sites is the returning of the land to its natural state after the mining
process has been completed. It is done through the following ways:

 Flattening the mine dumps.

 Filling up the open pits and trenches with overburden and waste material in construction.
 Use of fertilizers to enrich the soil.
 Afforestation.

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 Reforestation.
 Re-grassing.
 Irrigate the trees and grass.
 Fencing off the areas.
 Education
 Legislation
 Mine dumps used for sporting.
 Research designed to find suitable tree and grass species which can be grown.

NB The vegetation helps to bind the spoil particles together, reduce erosion, increase
infiltration and control surface runoff. It makes the land attractive and this may draw animal life
to the area.

Problems of rehabilitation.
-The dry conditions makes it difficult for vegetation to grow.
-The soils are sterile and may contain toxic substances which may retard the growth of
vegetation.
-The materials that are loose or unconsolidated promoting excessive drainage therefore making
it difficult for vegetation to grow.
-Extreme acidification of surface materials retards plant growth.

Measures which could be implemented for sustainable utilisation of mineral resources

(conservation of mineral).
-Legislation
-Recycling dumps
-Recycling metals
-Reuse metals
-Heavy fines
-Beneficiation
-Quota systems
-Licensing
-Education
-Efficient processing methods through improved technology.

Problems faced by the mining sector

 Obsolete equipment
 Sanctions
 Inflation (unstable local currency)
 Theft of precious stones
 Illegal mining syndicates
 Fluctuating mineral prices on the world market
 Disinvestment by Transnational Companies (TNCs)
 Power outages

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 Shortage of capital
 Shortage of foreign currency
 Corruption
 Political interference
 Shortage of skilled labour
 Poor technology
 Accidents
 Lack of medical aids in case one get injured
 Lack of proper clothing materials
 Competition
 Exhaustion of minerals
 Poor transport
 Collapsing of mining structures

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