Few industries have got the black eye, literally and metaphorically, of mining.
After centuries of environmental effects ranging from toxic emissions to unsightly tailings ponds, acid mine drainage, massive energy consumption and other impacts, mining is slowly cleaning up its act.
Why? Mostly because new clean technologies are increasing industrial efficiencies. They’re lowering mining companies’ power needs. And they’re even helping reduce water requirements, and/or remediating the produced water and mines of years past that are now leaching toxins. And that’s translating into cost savings for mining companies, which are being held increasingly accountable for their environmental impacts and are looking for ways to minimize the expenses of both the production phase of their operations, and reclamation (i.e. the mandated end-of-life cleanup expenses associated with mining in many jurisdictions, now).
In other words, now that it’s starting to be less expensive on net for mining companies to be clean, they’re starting to move in that direction.
The complete article by Dallas Kachan is available here.
http://www.cleantechblog.com/2012/02/the-quiet-clean-mining-revolution.html
