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.
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.
Surface subsidence induced by mineral extraction from underground mines can significantly affect the ecological environment and human life. Surface collapse is extremely hazardous and typically ...occurs without warning. In China, numerous surface collapses have occurred during mining operations in coal mines located under thick unconsolidated layers. Via analysis of the stability of the bearing structure (arch structure in unconsolidated layers and key strata in rock strata) based on their effects on strata movement, our study reveals the formation mechanism of surface collapses and the roles played by two critical parameters: mining length and mining height. It is speculated that the bearing structure cannot be self-stable and will collapse during longwall mining with increasing mining length and mining height. As a result, the ground surface will collapse on the longwall face gob accompanied by the failure of the bearing structure. With these risks in mind, this study proposes a backfilling strip mining method via determination of the appropriate longwall face length and mining height to guard against bearing structure failure and thus avoid surface collapse. A field trial of the technique was conducted at a suitable Chinese coal mine located under thick unconsolidated layers. The maximum surface subsidence observed was only 0.369 m, which is 92% less than the subsidence in longwall face (LW) 3A04. No surface collapse occurred during the mining process. Thus, our results indicate that the proposed technique can successfully prevent surface collapse during longwall mining under thick unconsolidated layers.
El presente trabajo describe la vida del maestro de minas Juan de Buendía que pasó al Perú en 1609 para implantar las técnicas mineras de la mina de Almadén en la minería del mercurio de ...Huancavelica. Se analizan, igualmente, las aportaciones que realizó, especialmente en el entibado con madera, que permitieron mejorar la seguridad y explotación de la mina a niveles nunca antes vistos.
Critically examining the fierce conflicts over an intense and increasingly prevalent form of strip mining, Combating Mountaintop Removal: New Directions in the Fight against Big Coal documents the ...changing relationships among the coal industry, communities, environment, and economy from the perspective of local grassroots activist organizations and their broader networks._x000B__x000B_Drawing on powerful personal testimonies of the hazards of mountaintop removal in Boone County, West Virginia, Bryan T. McNeil shows how Appalachian community coalitions have fostered important connections in their opposition to coal mining practices. Focusing on the grassroots activist organization Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW), composed of individuals who have personal ties to the coal industry in the region, the study reveals a turn away from once-strong traditional labor unions. With the decline in membership and political power of the United Mine Workers union in West Virginia, citizens have turned to alternative forms of activism to coordinate opposition to mountaintop removal mining, centering mainly on the industry's effect on community and the environment._x000B__x000B_The shift towards community organizing, particularly around environmental concerns, represents an effort to address social issues in a new space outside of organized labor. By framing social and moral arguments in terms of the environment, these innovative hybrid movements take advantage of environmentalism's higher profile in contemporary politics, compared to that of labor. In investigating the local effects of globalization and global economics, Combating Mountaintop Removal tracks the profound reimagining of social and personal ideas such as identity, history, and landscape and considers their roles in organizing an agenda for progressive community activism.
Data Mining: Concepts and Techniques provides the concepts and techniques in processing gathered data or information, which will be used in various applications. Specifically, it explains data mining ...and the tools used in discovering knowledge from the collected data. This book is referred as the knowledge discovery from data (KDD). It focuses on the feasibility, usefulness, effectiveness, and scalability of techniques of large data sets. After describing data mining, this edition explains the methods of knowing, preprocessing, processing, and warehousing data. It then presents information about data warehouses, online analytical processing (OLAP), and data cube technology. Then, the methods involved in mining frequent patterns, associations, and correlations for large data sets are described. The book details the methods for data classification and introduces the concepts and methods for data clustering. The remaining chapters discuss the outlier detection and the trends, applications, and research frontiers in data mining. This book is intended for Computer Science students, application developers, business professionals, and researchers who seek information on data mining. * Presents dozens of algorithms and implementation examples, all in pseudo-code and suitable for use in real-world, large-scale data mining projects * Addresses advanced topics such as mining object-relational databases, spatial databases, multimedia databases, time-series databases, text databases, the World Wide Web, and applications in several fields * Provides a comprehensive, practical look at the concepts and techniques you need to get the most out of your data
The Bolivian tin belt is a metallogenic province in the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes known for its Sn, W, Ag, and base metal deposits. Cassiterite, which is a major constituent in many ...magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits from the Bolivian tin belt, can incorporate dozens of elements within its crystal lattice, making it a useful geological tracer mineral and also a potential host of critical elements. New U-Pb dating of cassiterite yields Late Triassic (Kellhuani deposit) and Late Oligocene to earliest Miocene (Viloco, Huanuni, and Llallagua deposits) ages. These ages confirm that Sn mineralization in the Bolivian tin belt occurred at least in two separate events during two major magmatic episodes apparently triggered by mantle upwelling, decompression melting, and basalt production promoting high heat flow into the overlying crust. The composition of studied hydrothermal cassiterite yields some geochemical trends that are attributed to its distance to the causative intrusion and/or level of emplacement. For example, cassiterite is generally enriched in Nb and Ta and yields higher Ti/Zr and Ti/Sc ratios in samples from xenothermal ore deposits located adjacent to intrusive complexes relative to shallow xenothermal and epithermal ore deposits. Therefore, these geochemical trends in cassiterite are useful tracers pointing to magmatic-hydrothermal centers. REE distribution in cassiterite was likely influenced by boiling processes, which resulted in tetrad-type irregularities. Cassiterite from the Bolivian tin belt is unattractive as a source for Nb (interquartile range IQR 4.84–0.037 ppm), Ta (IQR 0.0924–0.0126 ppm), and Ge (IQR 3.92–0.776 ppm). Some deposits, however, contain cassiterite relatively enriched in In (IQR 96.9–9.78 ppm, up to 1414 ppm) and Ga (IQR 92.1–3.03, up to 7437 ppm), that could constitute an attractive supplementary source for these elements in addition to sulfide minerals in the same deposits.
To reduce the roadway drivage ratio, drivage cost, and safety accidents, and increase the resource recovery ratio, a no-pillar mining technique with automatically formed gob-side entry retaining is ...proposed for longwall mining. In this technique, pressure is offloaded via directional roof cutting, and a roadway is automatically formed via the ground pressure and rock breaking expansion. These processes permit the implementation of a new longwall mining process in which there is no mining roadway and no reserves of coal pillars. In this paper, the concepts and key techniques (the technique of directional roof cutting, the formation technique of integrated coal side of the automatically formed gob-side entry retaining, the formation technique of gob-side gangue rib, and the support technique using a constant-resistance and large-deformation anchor cable) of no-pillar mining with automatically formed gob-side entry retaining are introduced, and a field engineering test is performed. The test results are as follows: the no-pillar mining concepts and technique with automatically formed gob-side entry retaining are feasible; all techniques and processes fully satisfy field production requirements; and the deformation of the automatically formed gob-side entry retaining is small, and the control effect is significant. These results prove that the no-pillar mining technique with automatically formed gob-side entry retaining is feasible for longwall mining and achieves the goal of safe and efficient mining.
With the emergence and development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), different sensors have become more miniaturized and intelligent. UAVs equipped with various sensors are now an important ...approach for acquiring spatial data. Many advantages, such as low cost, short revisiting cycle, flexibility and high precision, have made UAVs powerful tools in geological, agricultural, ecological and forestry growth monitoring, as well as evaluation. Now, UAVs are a hotspot in scientific research. Their application in mining areas (MA), although still in its infancy, is developing rapidly in terms of speed, scale and service scope. This research examines aspects such as UAV platforms, different sensors and their application fields, as well as reviewing the advances of scientific research in MA at the present time. By combining current research and the functions of multiple sensors, an application framework for UAV monitoring in MA is constructed. Finally, the challenge and prospects for the development of UAVs and sensors are also considered. This research hopes to provide a technical reference, expanding the knowledge and recognition of UAV monitoring in MA, as well as an assessment of applications in mining, reclamation and environment.
This reprint focuses on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) all over the world, as well as its impact on the economy, environment, and health, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM ...problems. This book presents a total of 20 published articles of regions including Southeast Asia, South America, and South Africa, as well as a general overview of ASGM issues. Studies included in this book posit that (1) ASGM activity is still widely practiced as an alternative livelihood in rural areas in many countries around the world, using toxic elements such as Hg and cyanide due to a lack of legal enforcement on the ASGM sector; (2) ASGM has a negative impact on environmental ecosystems, causes occupational health problems for miners, and causes chronic health disorders in both ASGM communities and those living far from ASGM areas. However, some studies propose that specific potential bioindicators could be used to monitor the environment and health of those living in ASGM communities, providing sustainable solutions to severe ASGM problems.
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