Eddie Kim M.
Caño ǀ STEM 12-Democritus
Mining: A Destruction of Environment
A destruction of environment. Thousands of years ago, the only known mineral to be
mine by people are the coal from South Africa. However, mining during those years did not
become a significant industry up until more advanced civilizations developed 10,000 to 7,000
years ago which is still inherited by the civilization of today’s world. But to begin with, what
is mining? Mining is the extraction of the valuable materials or other geologic materials from
earth. These deposits form a mineralized package that has an economic value. The purpose
of mining is to obtain resources that cannot be grown agriculturally or created artificially by
hands of man. Mining in general includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as
petroleum, natural gas, metal, minerals, etc. However, the impact of mankind on the
environment created both positive and negative outcomes that we must pay attention closely
as drastic changes happen to our very own planet.
Mining is one of the resources that Filipinos choose as their way of living. Mining
provides several benefits to many and thus includes the following: raw materials needed for
construction of roads and hospitals, or manufacturing of products such as automobiles and
utilized to build houses and make computers and satellite. Also, according to Josephine C.
Maguad, Senior Environmental Management specialist of EMB- Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) mining is an employment for economic growth in a certain
country. It increases the revenue for both the miners and the government as well and can be a
source of livelihood for the people in a certain area. She also added that mining could also
transform into other uses, as the people have the chance to alter or enhance the soil in the area
through rehabilitation and planting of trees in the area.
However, mining displays such disadvantages that counteracts its benefits to the
society. First is the effect of mining to the quality of air. According to change.org, a total of
142 million tons of sulfur dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere from coal and gold mining
every year because of smelting and that is 13% of total global emissions. The toxins released
into the air causes another side effect and that is the acid rain and smog. Second, chemical
deposits that are left over from explosives are usually toxic and once mix with water, the
salinity of the mine water increases thus contaminating it. Also, cyanide and mercury are
toxins used in extraction of minerals which can permanently pollute water. Once it makes
contact with ocean water, it increases the difficulty of fishermen to find fish. Third, mining
effects are immense in land due to moving of large quantities of rock and in surface mining
which leads to erosion which is very dangerous for the land. Lastly, mining affects potentially
valuable organisms in our surroundings. Mining destroys the animal habitats and ecosystem
disrupting the flow of life in it which makes mining destructive to the environment that we
lived in. Moreover, change.org stated that mining contributes little to the economy with only
234,000 in year 2015 of 0,6% of total employment in the Philippines.
Mining can be good or bad to us. However, after considering the reasons behind this
issue. It is most likely that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. No matter how
mining can help the people to have a source of their livelihood, if the environment will be at
risk, then it is needed for it to be stop. Mining causes destruction to the planet and it must be
stop before it’s too late. We shouldn’t just settle for this if we know that our environment will
be compromised at the end. We must act to preserve everything that we still have and protect
it at all costs.
