Unit 4.1 Mining and Mineral Resources Review

Surface mining can cause

Both air and noise pollution

List the seven environmental impacts of mining.

Depletion of nutrients from soil, air and noise pollution, water contamination, wildlife displacement, erosion and sedimentation, subsidence, underground mine fires

Wildlife ____________________ are protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Habitats

A quarry also could be called

Open pit

What minerals contain valuable substances?

Ore Minerals

Collapse of _____ can lead to subsidence.

Pillars in abandoned mines.

Reclamation is the process of

Returning land to its original or better condition after mining

The process where crushed ore is melted at high temperatures to separate impurities from molten metal is called ____________________.

Smelting

How does a streak test help identify different minerals?

Sometimes the streak can be a different color than the mineral's surface color.

From whom must mining companies obtain permits before mining a site?

State and federal agencies

The sinking of regions of the ground with little or no horizontal movement is called ____________________.

Subsidence

What water contaminant can cause acid mine drainage?

Sulfuric Acid

What are the four laws that regulate mining companies?

The Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

In longwall mining,

a shearer is moved back and forth across the face of a seam.

A company is likely to mine a site if the area

contains minerals that can be extracted economically.

Strip mining

is a form of surface mining in which strips of soil and rock are removed to expose ore.

List the characteristics of a mineral.

naturally occurring, usually an inorganic solid, orderly internal structure

What is not a method of subsurface mining?

open pit mining

Which of the following pieces of federal legislation established a program for regulating coal mining on public & private land?

the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

The first step in surface coal mining is

to remove and set aside the soil that covers the area to be mined