Scribd
Upload
53 views4 pages

Article Summary: An Overview of The Mining History and Geology of Butte, Montana Name: Institution

Butte, Montana was once a thriving mining town but is now a contaminated site due to historical mining practices. Copper mining in Butte began in the 1870s using open pit mines and later transitioned to underground mining as technology advanced. Rapid mining expansion in response to increasing copper prices was poorly regulated, leaving pits and shafts after operations ceased. These now hold millions of gallons of acidic, heavy metal contaminated water posing health risks. The area also contains millions of tons of mineral waste from mining and transport, contaminating soils, creeks, rivers, and the ecosystem through runoff. Butte remains environmentally degraded from its industrial mining past.

Uploaded by

Denis Mtoto Mzuri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
53 views4 pages

Article Summary: An Overview of The Mining History and Geology of Butte, Montana Name: Institution

Butte, Montana was once a thriving mining town but is now a contaminated site due to historical mining practices. Copper mining in Butte began in the 1870s using open pit mines and later transitioned to underground mining as technology advanced. Rapid mining expansion in response to increasing copper prices was poorly regulated, leaving pits and shafts after operations ceased. These now hold millions of gallons of acidic, heavy metal contaminated water posing health risks. The area also contains millions of tons of mineral waste from mining and transport, contaminating soils, creeks, rivers, and the ecosystem through runoff. Butte remains environmentally degraded from its industrial mining past.

Uploaded by

Denis Mtoto Mzuri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Running head: AN OVERVIEW OF THE MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF BUTTE,

MONTANA

Article summary: An Overview of the Mining History and Geology of Butte, Montana

Name:

Institution:
AN OVERVIEW OF THE MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF BUTTE, MONTANA 2

Butte, once a thriving community, can be term now as a hub of environmental decay due

to historical mining malpractices by various mining campiness. As seen on the lecture power

point slide 4, Butte is one of the earmarked superfund sites by the environmental protection

agency as a contamination site. Mining of copper in the Butte, Montana area has been in

existence since the early years of 1870s. During these time, mining was predominantly open

mines, however with the development of technology and concentration on mineral rich ores

drove the mining to being predominantly underground mining (Gammons, Metesh, & Duaime,

2006). These mining systems brought about a large number of vertical shafts and horizontal walk

ways underneath the town.

The rapid growth of these vertical shafts and horizontal walkway was driven by the sharp

increase in copper prices and the unsupervised mining activities within the area. Companies

began opening new pits in new geological areas. Later, the Atlantic Richfield Company shut

down its operations resulting to the pits filling up with acid rich water (Gammons, Metesh, &

Duaime, 2006). Currently the water filled pits and shafts contain millions of gallons of water that

is highly concentrated in heavy metals, that pose a high health risk to the community that lives

with the area.

In addition to the contaminated water, the butte area is littered with millions and millions

of tons or mineral waste that is a result of the mining and the transportation of the minerals to the

processing sites. The waste trails from the transportation of the minerals littered the top soil, was

evident when we went on the field trip to the Berkeley pit. Therefore, the runoff water that drains

into creeks and rivers within the areas has now become contaminated with these heavy metals

(Gammons, Metesh, & Duaime, 2006). In addition, the waste has plays a great role in the
AN OVERVIEW OF THE MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF BUTTE, MONTANA 3

contamination of the biosphere of the entire Butte area ecosystem. It was notable that, Butte is

currently a shell of what it used to be: a vibrant mining town.


AN OVERVIEW OF THE MINING HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF BUTTE, MONTANA 4

References

Gammons, C., Metesh, J., & Duaime, T. (2006). An Overview of the Mining History and

Geology of Butte, Montana. Mine Water And The Environmen, (25), 7075.

You might also like