On the basis of an examination of the colonial mercury and silver production processes and related labor systems, Mercury, Mining, and Empire explores the effects of mercury pollution in colonial ...Huancavelica, Peru, and Potosí, in present-day Bolivia. The book presents a multifaceted and interwoven tale of what colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples and resources left in its wake. It is a socio-ecological history that explores the toxic interrelationships between mercury and silver production, urban environments, and the people who lived and worked in them. Nicholas A. Robins tells the story of how native peoples in the region were conscripted into the noxious ranks of foot soldiers of proto-globalism, and how their fate, and that of their communities, was-and still is-chained to it.
For twenty-five years, Kendall Brown studied Potosí, Spanish America's greatest silver producer and perhaps the world's most famous mining district. He read about the flood of silver that flowed from ...its Cerro Rico and learned of the toil of its miners. Potosí symbolized fabulous wealth and unbelievable suffering. New World bullion stimulated the formation of the first world economy but at the same time it had profound consequences for labor, as mine operators and refiners resorted to extreme forms of coercion to secure workers. In many cases the environment also suffered devastating harm. All of this occurred in the name of wealth for individual entrepreneurs, companies, and the ruling states. Yet the question remains of how much economic development mining managed to produce in Latin America and what were its social and ecological consequences. Brown's focus on the legendary mines at Potosí and comparison of its operations to those of other mines in Latin America is a well-written and accessible study that is the first to span the colonial era to the present.
Using tax and mintage records, this book provides a district-by-district annual accounting of the gold and silver officially produced and minted in colonial Latin America, placing that output within ...the context of the emerging early-modern world economy.
Uranium from Africa has long been a major source of fuel for nuclear power and atomic weapons, including the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In 2002, George W. Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein had "sought ...significant quantities of uranium from Africa" (later specified as the infamous "yellowcake from Niger"). Africa suddenly became notorious as a source of uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. But did that admit Niger, or any of Africa's other uranium-producing countries, to the select society of nuclear states? Does uranium itself count as a nuclear thing? In this book, Gabrielle Hecht lucidly probes the question of what it means for something--a state, an object, an industry, a workplace--to be "nuclear." Hecht shows that questions about being nuclear--a state that she calls "nuclearity"--lie at the heart of today's global nuclear order and the relationships between "developing nations" (often former colonies) and "nuclear powers" (often former colonizers). Nuclearity, she says, is not a straightforward scientific classification but a contested technopolitical one.Hecht follows uranium's path out of Africa and describes the invention of the global uranium market. She then enters African nuclear worlds, focusing on miners and the occupational hazard of radiation exposure. Could a mine be a nuclear workplace if (as in some South African mines) its radiation levels went undetected and unmeasured? With this book, Hecht is the first to put Africa in the nuclear world, and the nuclear world in Africa. Doing so, she remakes our understanding of the nuclear age.
This paper describes the geochemistry of groundwater and its flow system in the closed Yatani mine in southern Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. The mine is located in a sulfide deposit containing pyrite ...and has been generating acid mine drainage (AMD). The study was intended to elucidate the formation of AMD and its flow patterns using geological, hydrological, geochemical, and isotopic techniques. The results indicate that AMD is formed by the interaction of groundwater with sulfide minerals, sand slime, and tailings back-filled into excavated mine areas. Groundwater recharge areas were identified on the mountain slope at an elevation of ~900 m. The formation of AMD in the drifts and shaft was more extensive than that in the deeper drainage levels. Principal component analysis was applied to the hydrogeochemical data to identify the causes of AMD formation. The first, second, and third principal components reveal that the increased ion concentrations in mine drainage are a result of water–mineral reactions in excavated mine areas, the contribution of groundwater in deep reductive environments, and isotopic fractionation during precipitation, respectively. A promising method of reducing AMD formation is to prevent contact between dissolved oxygen and sulfide minerals by increasing the drainage level or by filling the shallow underground excavated area with cementitious materials.
•The Yatani mine has been generating acid mine drainage (AMD).•AMD is formed through interactions between groundwater and sulfide minerals.•The groundwater recharge area is located on the mountain slope of ~900 m.•AMD formation in the drifts and shaft is pronounced.
The Sidi Kamber Zn/Pb mine located 60 km from Skikda is one of the abandoned mining areas of northeastern Algeria for more than 40 years. Currently, this mining area is considered as a real ...environmental problem. The purpose of this work is to identify and characterize different sources of polymetallic pollution and their impact on the Guénitra dam sediments quality by analyzing the metal content of the weathering products in mine wastes (tailings and waste rock), soil affected by acid mine drainage and Guenitra dam sediments. Moreover, this study aims to determine the mineralogical composition of new compounds occurring in the fine-grained sediments (less than 250 µm) of the mining area. The chemical analysis and the concentration of Fe, Cd, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Hg metals of the studied samples were performed using atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, and X-fluorescence ray analysis. The mineralogical composition of all samples was characterized by several techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The obtained data were analyzed using multivariate statistical analysis, correlation matrix, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed very high content of Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, and Hg toxic metals in all samples and suggest taking corrective measures should be taken to reduce the spread of these hazardous elements into the environment. A rehabilitation of the abandoned Sidi Kamber mine should be recommended, as well. The obtained results of HCA and PCA suggest two principal origins of metals pollution: Cu, Mn, Hg, and Pb are derived from anthropogenic sources of mine wastes from the tailings piles, while, Ni, Zn, Cr, and even Fe are derived from lithogenic and anthropogenic sources. Mineralogical characterization results of weathering products in mine wastes, soil, and sediment highlighted the presence of the following minerals: quartz, muscovite, kaolinite, goethite, hematite, lepidocrocite, ferrohexahydrite, and jarosite.
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•The site selection issue of underground pumped storage power stations is studied.•An innovative and comprehensive site selection criteria system is established.•A two-stage site ...selection decision-making framework is constructed.•The decision-making process is based on triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers.•The rationality of decision-making model is verified by an actual case in Datong.
With the continued transformation of the energy structure, more and more coal mines have been abandoned. The construction of underground pumped storage power stations using abandoned coal mines not only solves the problem of renovating abandoned coal mines, but also ensures a high level of photovoltaic and wind integration. However, the most basic site selection problem of underground pumped storage power plants using waste coal mines has rarely been studied due to the complexity of the technical scheme and the uncertainty of the decision environment. Therefore, a two-stage fuzzy evaluation model is proposed in this paper. Firstly, two sets of site selection index systems are established, namely the veto assessment system and the comprehensive evaluation criteria system. Triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers are used for information representation. Then, the veto assessment system is applied for the initial screening of the alternatives. Afterward, the alternatives are evaluated by the comprehensive evaluation criteria system. The entropy method and step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis are utilized to calculate the objective and subjective weights respectively, and the Lagrange optimization method is used to obtain the combined weights. The sorting results of the alternatives are obtained through multi-attributive border approximation area comparison. Finally, an empirical analysis based on eight abandoned coal mines in Datong, Shanxi Province, proves the rationality of the decision-making framework. The weights of natural condition, society, resources, and economy are 29.52%, 23.83%, 28.42% and 18.23% respectively. Natural condition is the most important factor to consider when choosing the site for underground pumped storage power stations. The ranking results of the alternatives is A5 > A2 > A3 > A8 > A7. Therefore, A5 is the optimal location. The results have a guiding role for both governments and investors in the construction of underground pumped storage power stations and transformation of abandoned coal mines.
This study evaluated the assumption that back-filled excavated areas of old mine workings can be modeled as porous media, where groundwater flow is governed by Darcy's law. The Yatani mine, located ...in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, was selected for this study because several mining methods were used during its operation and detailed drawings of the excavated areas of the mine are available. The model was calibrated using combinations of hydraulic conductivities (k), with the best-matched case being selected by comparing calculated and measured AMD fluxes. Modeled AMD fluxes along the drainage tunnel (−2 L level) were consistent with measured data when the excavated areas were considered to be porous media with a specific hydraulic conductivity, and the presence of faults and permeability were taken into account. The model also successfully predicted the increasing trend of AMD flux from the shaft to adit mouth. In the numerical model, the back-filled excavated areas were assumed to behave as porous media, which was shown to be a valid assumption in this mine. The model demonstrated that back-filling the excavated areas and drainage tunnel with low permeability materials could reduce the flux of Zn in AMD by up to 61%.
•The Yatani mine in Japan has been generating acid mine drainage.•A numerical model was constructed based on hydrological properties.•The modeled and measured acid mine drainage flux along drainage tunnel agree.•Back-filling excavated areas lowers the flux of Zn in AMD by up to 61%.
The global economy threatens the uniqueness of places, people, and experience. In Here and There Bill Conlogue tests the assumption that literature and local places matter less and less in a world ...that economists describe as “flat,” politicians believe has “globalized,” and social scientists imagine as a “global village.” Each chapter begins at home, journeys elsewhere, and returns to the author’s native and chosen region, northeastern Pennsylvania. Through the prisms of literature and history, the book explores tensions and conflicts within the region, tensions and conflicts created by national and global demand for the area’s resources: fertile farmland, forest products, anthracite coal, and college-educated young people. Making connections between local and global environmental issues, Here and There uses the Pennsylvania watersheds of urban Lackawanna and rural Lackawaxen to highlight the importance of understanding and protecting the places we call home.
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