Surface mining is used for about 40% of coal production in the world. When coal deposits are near the surface, it may be inexpensive to extract the coal using surface mining methods. The different types of surface mining are modern surface mining, strip or area mining, contour mining, and mountaintop removal mining.

The most usual surface mining method is strip or area mining. This method is most apt for areas with flat terrain. Strip mining exposes the coal by removing the earth above the coal seam in long cuts or strips. When all the earth above the coal seam is removed, the underlying coal seam will be exposed. The exposed coal block may be drilled and blasted. Once this strip is empty of coal, the strip mining process is repeated with a new strip being created next to it.

The contour mining method is the surface mining method which is most commonly used in areas with rolling to steep terrain. This method involves removing the earth above the coal seam in a pattern following the contours along a ridge or around a hillside. This method may cause severe landslide and erosion problems. To solve these problems, a variety of methods were devised to use freshly cut overburden to refill mined-out areas. There are limitations on contour strip mining. When the operation reaches a predetermined stripping ratio, it is not profitable to continue.

Mountaintop removal coal mining is a surface mining method which involves removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, and disposing of associated mining overburden in nearby valleys and hollows fills. Mountaintop removal mining method combines area and contour strip mining methods.

Modern Open cast surface mining methods recovers a greater proportion of the coal deposit than underground methods.

Deep underground mining is needed when coal seams are found too deep underground. The main underground mining methods are Longwall mining, Continuous mining, Blast mining, Shortwall mining and Retreat mining.

Longwall mining covers for about 50% of underground production. It uses a sophisticated machine with a rotating drum that moves mechanically back and forth across a wide coal seam. Longwall mining helps for high levels of production with high safety. Sensors used in this process of mining helps in detecting the amount of coal remaining in the seam while robotic controls helps in enhancing the efficiency of the process.

Continuous mining is used for about 45% of underground coal production. Continuous mining uses a machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with
tungsten carbide teeth to scrape coal from the seam.

Blast mining accounts for less than 5% of total underground production in U.S. Blast mining is an older practice that uses explosives such as dynamite to break up the coal seam. The broken coal is then gathered and loaded on to shuttle cars or conveyors and carried to a central loading area.

Shortwall mining method is used only for less than 1% of deep coal production. This method also utilizes a continuous mining machine with moveable roof supports, similar to longwall mining method.

Retreat mining method uses pillars or coal ribs to hold up the mine roof. This method is the one of the most dangerous mining method as it is impossible to predict when the ceiling or roof will collapse and crush or trap the mine workers.

Tailings squander
Even the utmost grade deposits have less than 1% uranium. So vast amounts of ore have to be processed to obtain useful quantities of the uranium. The leftover ‘waste’ rock is known tailings. In the course of processing it is crushed to a well powder, which is nearly as radioactive as the uranium itself. It is perilous for more than 250,000 years, which might as well be eternally. These tailings need to be secluded from the environment to avoid a cancer epidemic, and there are previously more than 50 million tonnes of uranium tailings on Australian soil.

Radon Gas
As uranium emanates radiation; it transforms itself into a novel element, which in turn emanates radiation and decays, and so on through 14 steps until it ultimately - after hundreds of thousands of years - becomes a stable type of non-radioactive lead. One of the elements along the way is radon, a radioactive gas which can travel for hundreds of kilometres prior to decaying. Mine workers and others who breathe in this gas risk mounting lung cancer and other kinds of lung disease

Environmental Pollution
Uranium mining pollutes the air, water and earth with radioactive chemicals and heavy metals which can never be well cleaned up. In addition to the radiation hazard, mining is also related with poisonous process chemicals, heavy metals and the use of vast quantities of water. In the short term, uranium mine sites ruin the ecology of the local region; in the long term, they pose a risk to a much wider area.

Health risks
The health risks of uranium mining are by now fairly well known, although still belligerently disputed by the mining industry. Collectively, uranium miners suffer the maximum radiation doses of all workers in the nuclear fuel chain. The major problems are inhalation of dust and radon gas, which leave alpha radiation emitters lodged in the body where they can do the majority harm. As the pollution from the mines spread away from the minesite, local people are also out in the open to contamination. While uranium mining is most usually allied with cancer, low level radiation is also mixed up in birth fault, high infant mortality and chronic lung, eye, skin and reproductive illnesses.

Nuclear Waste
There is a vast amount of high level nuclear waste still being spewed out by reactors round the world and there is nowhere safe to put it. Pangea Resources actually has a plan to bring many of this waste into Australia. Nuclear power stations create this waste as fraction of normal operations; but there are also risks of reactor accidents; the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 killed a lot of people, spread nuclear pollution right around the planet and forced the enduring evacuation of the surrounding area.

Nuclear Weapons
While the mining companies do not like to confess it, nuclear power is a military technology designed to make plutonium for nuclear weapons. Thousands of these weapons are still on hairtrigger alert ten further than ten years after the Cold War, and they are spreading gradually to new countries.

Are you only concerned with the name of the gem, or you are also interested in choosing your gemstone by color? If latter be the case, let us understand the colors of various gemstones.

Green Gemstones: Peridot, Hiddenite and Tsavorite Garnet

Red Gemstones: Rhodolite Garnet and Red Spinel

Pink and Purple Gems: Amethyst, Pink Sapphire and Pink Topaz

Yellow and Gold Gemstones: Citrine, Yellow Topaz and Yellow Tourmaline

Blue: Blue Topaz, Tanzanite, Turquoise

This is only a short list of some well-known color gems. Your jeweler will be able to tell you the colors of the various other gemstones.

There are people who select their personal gems in a somewhat playful and irrational method. They claim that your instinctive reaction to various colors can help you to choose the right gemstone for you. Make sure you have a clear intention in mind when using this method. Assemble a collection of paper, cloth or stones in these colors: Red, Pink, Brown, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, White, Black, and Gray. Close your eyes and allow your breathing to settle. Place your hand blindfold on any one of the paper, cloth or stone before you. Open your eyes to see the color you have selected and that is your destined color.
Red is widely acknowledged as the warmest of all colors. Red is the color most chosen by extroverts and favored by most men. On the negative side red can mean short temper or easily excitable. Red is the color of Mars who is known as the God of War.

Pink is the color that symbolizes universal love. Pink is a quiet pleasing color. Lovers of beauty and aesthetically inclined people favor pink. Pink is a combination of red and white. White is the potential for fullness, while red helps you to achieve that potential. Pink denotes feelings of caring, sympathy, fellow-feeling, and compassion.

People who prefer brown are often methodical and orderly. The negative meaning of brown can be a repressed personality or an indolent person. Brown is the color of the earth and therefore associated with the material pleasures of life.

Orange is a healing color and said to stimulate enthusiasm, imagination and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere.

Gold color predictably symbolizes wealth, but it is also considered a symbol of good health. People who favor the color gold are sanguine and optimistic. Wearing gold in everyday life increases personal power, and strengthens courage, confidence and willpower.

Pure, bright and sunny yellow is easily the most soothing color. People who are blind to other colors can usually see yellow. Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy. Yellow symbolizes wisdom and people of high intellect favor yellow.

As we all know, green is the color of nature growth and fertility. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being and also means learning, friendliness and harmony. Green is a safe color, if you are confused what color to use, then use green.

Blue is arguably the coolest color. It is the color of the sky, ocean and symbolizes the Virgin Mary. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality.

Turquoise is the symbol of youth and the color that denotes dynamism and vibrancy. Turquoise has long been used in amulets to provide good health, robust confidence and pleasant disposition.

Aqua is the color of high ideals and sober outlook.

White is the color of purity. Brides wear white in many countries, because white symbolizes a virgin. Strictly speaking, white is not a color, but the manifestation of the presence of all color - the complete energy of light.

Black is the most misunderstood color. A black tie dinner is very formal and elegant. Native Americans thought black was good because it was the color of soil, which gives life.

The karat is a measure to indicate the purity of gold alloy. It is common knowledge that gold, a precious metal, is quite soft. To overcome this softness, gold has to be alloyed with other elements and compounds in an attempt to impart hardness and certain other properties. The final quantum or quantity of gold found in such alloys is usually expressed in terms of a karat weight. A composition having 100% gold is considered as a 24-karat composition. However, if the alloy has a lesser amount of gold, it is expressed in terms of a particular karat weight, which is a percentage of the amount of gold. For example, a 14-karat alloy would have 14/24=58.33% gold, with the balance being other elements and/or compounds.

Generally, 14-karat gold alloy compositions are used in the manufacturing of jewelry. These alloys compositions are based on a gold-silver-copper-zinc combination. The usage and application of these alloys are determined by their main physical properties, such as hardness, strength, elongation, range of melting temperature, grain size, color etc. These properties can be measured, and are often incorporated in the specifications of the alloy. Traditionally, 18-karat green gold alloys have been used to provide a color contrast to other alloys in multicolored jewelry items such as bracelets, necklaces and the chains.

The process of understanding what exactly a karat is becomes quite simple when understand gold as an alloy (a mixture of various metals) where the karats define the percent of pure gold in the alloy. Therefore, you may determine the percentage of pure gold in any gold piece by dividing the karat by 24. For example, 18K gold means 18/24which in turn indicates 0.750=75% pure gold.

Any alloy with less than 10-karat gold cannot be legally marked or sold as gold jewelry in any part of the United States. The legal requirements for minimum gold content vary widely from country to country. Any alloy with 9 Karat is acceptable in Britain, while in France, Italy and Switzerland, 18k is the lowest permissible standard to be called gold.

Because pure gold is naturally a soft, malleable metal, it is alloyed with other elements to strengthen it, which in turn can affect its color and cost. Much of today’s gold is mixed with a percentage of alloys – metals that modifies the color of gold and makes it harder and stronger. The karat mark in your gold jewelry tells you the percentage of pure gold to alloy. The higher the karat quality the greater the proportion of gold it will contain.

You must also understand that gold alloys, apart from hardening gold for jewelry, can also affect the color. For instance, yellow gold has copper and silver added, white gold has nickel, zinc and copper added, green gold has silver, zinc and copper added and rose gold has copper and silver added.

Gold was first discovered several thousands years ago in its natural state, which led to mining for gold all over the world. Its brilliance, natural beauty, great malleability and resistance to damage made it a prized raw material to work with. Over a period of time, gold gave rise to the concept of money. Today gold is used for jewelry fabrication, industrial application, and as a monetary standard by governments and central banks and by private investors.

The development of mining technology plays an important role in the mining industry as well as in the environment. The mining industry plays a crucial role in our economy. The mining industry was very conservative in initiating and adopting new technologies in the past due to high capital requirements, environmental limitations and small profit margins. However, the mining industry has made significant progress in productivity, mining technologies used, environmental control, and worker health and safety. The mining industry has also introduced improved clean technology to carry out best mining processes and practices. Such practices have been applied in developing countries which achieved best results. When mining technologies become more widely available, there will be only technology gap between mining industries and countries.

The mining industries continue to play their essential role in sustainable technological development to improve their performance, reduce environmental pollution to all media and enhance the quality of life within their operational work area. The mining industry aims at adopting and implementing innovative technologies through the usage of both mining and environmental technologies to create a better environment quality in mining industry areas, reduce negative impact to human health and environment, reduce water and air pollution, and land degradation.

Most of the recent developments made in mining technologies prove to be cost-effective and environment-friendly technologies. For example, Solvent-extraction/electro-winning (SXEW) is a hydrometallurgical process that differs from the traditional method of producing copper by milling, smelting, and refining. The development of the SXEW process helps in the low-cost production of copper from waste and raw ore dumps of copper minerals excavated from copper mines. SXEW helps United States and few other copper-producing countries very much. EESTECH provides environmentally sustainable technologies that have direct application in the world’s coal mining and energy industries. EESTECH’s Hybrid Coalmine Gas Technology (HCGT) is a recognized Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) that uses waste coal and ventilated coalmine methane as a fuel source to produce cost effective clean coal energy. Clean coal technology offer solutions in the fight against global warming.
The development of new mining technologies helps to reduce production costs, enhance the quality of mined metals and minerals , enhance the quality of commodities using mined minerals, reduce adverse environmental effects, health and safety impacts. Thus the mining technological developments benefits consumers and producers, as well as nation’s economy, national defense, health and social well being.

The most developed and developing countries have already imposed environmental standards for emission, effluent, groundwater contamination, and hazard and toxic management guidelines. But because of weak law enforcement, lack of monitoring capability and skilled human resources, the mining industry do not obey. Hence, the environment standards must be harmonized within the developing countries in order to improve the environmental performance and management of mining industries.

Political and social institutions could exert enormous influence over the mining industry development. Political Institutions including central government, local government and public decision makers must creating international harmonization of environmental standards for better positioning for global competitiveness in mining product. Doing so will improve the corporate image of the mining industries as well as benefit the global consumers.

Workshops and training programs on pollution control and measurement techniques of mining activities, and development of network among mining partnership organizations should be carried out through internship and technical assistance in mining industries.

Mining is destructive to the environment as trees and vegetation are cleared and burned for mining. Natural minerals and metals are stripped from the soil. In fact mining is one of the causes for deforestation. When environment is drastically affected, naturally the people will be affected.

The mining pits dug during land dredging mining remain as stagnant water pools serving as breeding ground for mosquitoes and other water-born insects.People living near such water pool areas have high possibility of getting water-born diseases such as malaria. The gravel, mud, and rocks displaced during river dredging mining disrupt the natural flow of the river. As a result, fish and other aquatic living organisms often die and fishermen find it very difficult to navigate in the obstructed rivers. Sand and gravel mining may sometimes pave way for contaminating the groundwater.

Chemicals used during mining process causes pollution to the environment, animals, and people.The chemicals such as cyanide, mercury, or methyl mercury used to amalgamate the metals and minerals extracted by mining are discharged into rivers, streams, bays, and oceans, thus contaminating the water bodies and the aquatic organisms such as fish living within the water bodies. People who consume such contaminated aquatic organisms are prone to serious health hazards. The contaminated water cannot be used for bathing, drinking, cooking, or washing clothes, thus creating water scarcity problem for people living nearby.

The toxic waste from mine tailings flow into either an abandoned mining pit or adjacent forest in the case of land dredging and pollute the river in the case of river dredging. The people who are exposed to the toxic waste from the tailings suffer health problems. They may suffer from skin rashes, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Some mining involves the unintentional dispersal of heavy metals, such as lead, into the atmosphere. This can have serious health effects such as mental retardation in children. Asbestos dispersed into the environment during asbestos mining is life threatening for local residents and workers.

People living near mining areas or mining villages are very much disturbed and affected by the impact of mining. Theft, drugs/alcohol, prostitution, rape, cultural degradation and sexual abuse are unfortunately some of the worst problems of people living in mining areas. The poor people who face the health problems of mining cannot afford for a medical treatment, or the people who live in a remote village where a doctor is not accessible remain untreated for their illness.

The mining operators and their families may also face problems. The miners also have life risks when they are working in the mine. The family of small scale miners may suffer from financial and protection problems as the miners leave their family in search of work.

The effect of each proposed mining process on the environmental should be analyzed before granting permission to proceed mining. For example, the mining and use of asbestos are banned in most parts of the world life as asbestos dispersed into the environment is life threatening for people for several years.

Thus deforestation, mineral/metal depletion and chemical pollution due to mining can have unfavorable impact on the environment, aquatic habitats, people, animals, and of course the mining operators . Mining operators must be aware of the impacts of their mining operations, adopt self safety measures and ensure minimum risk to the environment and people.

As most of us are aware, mining is one of the most environment unfriendly industries. Mining can seriously affect land, air and even water systems. The greatest challenge confronting the mining industry today is to find ways of extracting and processing mineral and metal with minimum damage to our ecosystem. The adverse environmental impacts of mining operation starts with mineral exploration, continues throughout the extraction and subsequent processing and at times persist even after the entire operations are over. Mining can cause serious land degradation, large scale denudation of forest cover, weakening of biodiversity, pollution of air, water and soil. The fall out can extend well beyond the mining area and lead to many social, economic and political disturbances. To mitigate the adverse impacts of mining and restore the mining affected areas, it is imperative to conduct proper research and find ways and means to protect the environment.

We had hitherto paid scant attention to the protection of the environment. Therefore the question of environmental protection has today become critically important. The mining industry is seriously attempting to develop effective technologies and new processing methods to ensure that the modern mining activities of exploration, planning, operation, and restoration are conducted in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. It is earnestly pursuing research activities oriented toward the safe and responsible use of our mineral resources.

If we take a look at the mining companies, there are several ways in which they can take steps to safeguard the environment. Mining companies would have to re-examine their own mining operations. Their impact on mining the land, the fuel that they use in running the mining equipment, and how they will restore the land once they have exhausted the mines resources.

Despite our passion for electronic goods, let us not forget that the manufacture, use, and disposal of electronic devices can incalculably harm the environment. The manufacture of electronics involves mining- often strip mining- which can adversely affect the environment as also a number of caustic chemicals that are used to make circuit boards and other electronic components. Added to this, the batteries that supply back-up power that most of our electronic gadgets run on are decidedly poisonous. Let us also not forget that the disposal of electronics can create health hazards because of all of the heavy metals that they contain. The one solution to overcome environmental impacts of electronics is recycling of old electronics to the extent possible. Recycling almost eliminates the need for mining that otherwise has to be done to acquire the raw materials needed to manufacture new electronics. Recycling requires less energy than processing the materials that go into electronics from their raw form.

Yet another environmental hazard, more serious than electronics, is coal mining. Coal companies keep opening up a mountain like removing the top off an egg. Coal dust settles like pollen over the surrounding areas. Coal mining creates several billion gallons of coal slurry, which contains extremely high levels of mercury, cadmium, and nickel. Although lauded by mining companies that this is a safer, more efficient way to produce coal, this type of strip mining has evoked strong protests from environmentalists and people who reside near coal mining areas. Coal mining work can be extremely dangerous, as the numerous occupational hazards can cause critical injuries or even death. If you have been injured in a coal mining accident, you have legal rights to claim for damages.

There are other environmental concerns arising out of metal mining operations such as physical disturbances to the landscape, waste rock disposal, development of metal-bearing and acidic soils and waters and not the least public safety.

Mining, simply stated, is the extraction or removal of minerals and metals from earth.  Manganese, tantalum, copper, tin, nickel, aluminum ore, iron ore, gold, silver, and diamonds are some of the items commonly mined.  It is worth knowing that mining is a money-spinning business where not only mining companies prosper but the government also collects huge revenues.

It is common knowledge that minerals and metals are very valuable commodities and in great demand.  It is to be noted that manganese is a key component of low-cost stainless steel.  It is also used to de-color glass by removing greenish hues. Tantalum is used in cell phones, pagers, and lap-tops.  Cooper and tin are used to make pipes, cookware, etc. Needless to say, silver and diamonds are used to make jewelry. 

Mining are generally of two categories – Large Scale mining and Small Scale mining. Large scale mining is usually undertaken by big companies using many employees and a huge labor force. The company mines at large sites and continues the operations until the mineral or metal is completely excavated.  One classic example of a large scale mine, that one readily remembers, is the Serra Pelada mine in Brazil which yielded 29,000 tons of gold from 1980 to 1986 and employed 50,000 workers. Small scale mining is done by a relatively small group of wandering men.  They travel together and identify sites they think will yield gold or any other valuable metal or mineral.  Small scale mining occurs in places such as Suriname, Guyana, and Central Africa among other places. Some researchers believe that small scale mining is more harmful to the environment and causes more social problems than large scale mining. 

There is no denying that both large scale and small scale mining are generally very destructive to the environment as mining is one of the chief causes of deforestation.  Trees, plants and all vegetation are cleared and burned to make the ground completely bare for mining operations. Large scale mining also involves using huge bulldozers and excavators to extract the metals and minerals from the soil.  Further, to amalgamate the extractions, they use chemicals such as cyanide, mercury, or methyl-mercury.  These poisonous chemicals are quite often discharged into rivers, streams, bays, and oceans.  This contaminates all living organisms within the water body and the people who depend on the fish and other sea creatures for their main source of livelihood are badly affected.

Small scale mining is equally devastating to the environment.  Groups of 5-6 men migrate from one mining site to another in pursuit of precious metals, particularly gold.  There are two types of small scale mining: land dredging and river dredging.
Mining affects the health of the people as they are exposed to the toxic waste from the tailings.  They develop skin rashes, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, etc and the symptoms of mercury poisoning are very similar to the symptoms of malaria.  Most unfortunately, many people who can not afford to go to a doctor, or who live in a village where a doctor is not available are often not treated for their illnesses. If the water is contaminated, the people can not use it for bathing, cooking, or washing their clothes.

Mining regularly occurs in many places around the world, including the U.S.  In South America, mining is widely practiced in the Amazonia region, Guyana, Suriname, and few other countries.  In Central Africa, mining devastated a National Park called Kahuzi-Biega in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  South Africa is internationally known for mining diamonds.  Mining also occurs in Indonesia and other S.E. Asian countries.