Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering (BCEE), Faculty of Engineering and Computer Sciences, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2016 Jan;23(1):167-79. doi: 10.1007/s11356-015-5651-8. Epub 2015 Nov 3.
This paper reviews the environmental issues and management practices in the mining sector in the North America. The sustainable measures on waste management are recognized as one of the most serious environmental concerns in the mining industry. For mining activities, it will be no surprise that the metal recovery reagents and acid effluents are a threat to the ecosystem as well as hazards to human health. In addition, poor air quality and ventilation in underground mines can lead to occupational illness and death of workers. Electricity usage and fuel consumption are major factors that contribute to greenhouse gases. On the other hand, many sustainability challenges are faced in the management of tailings and disposal of waste rock. This paper aims to highlight the problems that arise due to poor air quality and acid mine drainage. The paper also addresses some of the advantages and limitations of tailing and waste rock management that still have to be studied in context of the mining sector. This paper suggests that implementation of suitable environmental management tools like life cycle assessment (LCA), cleaner production technologies (CPTs), and multicriteria decision analysis (MCD) are important as it ultimately lead to improve environmental performance and enabling a mine to focus on the next stage of sustainability.
本文回顾了北美的采矿业的环境问题和管理实践。在采矿业中，对废物管理的可持续措施被认为是最严重的环境问题之一。对于采矿活动，金属回收试剂和酸性废水对生态系统以及对人类健康造成威胁，这并不奇怪。此外，地下矿山的空气质量差和通风不良可能导致工人患病和死亡。用电量和燃料消耗是导致温室气体的主要因素。另一方面，尾矿和废石处置管理方面面临着许多可持续性挑战。本文旨在强调由于空气质量差和酸性矿山排水而引起的问题。本文还讨论了尾矿和废石管理的一些优点和局限性，这些问题仍需要在采矿业背景下进行研究。本文建议，实施生命周期评估（LCA）、清洁生产技术（CPT）和多准则决策分析（MCD）等合适的环境管理工具非常重要，因为这最终将提高环境绩效，并使矿山能够专注于可持续发展的下一阶段。
