Quarrying

Quarrying is the act of mining valuable materials from the ground using an open pit arrangement, where earth and stone is removed to form what is essentially a large hole. Removing this earth in layers in a gradual manner allows for the harvesting of valuable minerals, stones or ores beneath. Quarrying can also be known as open-pit or open-cast mining, and is generally used where there is an abundance of the valuable commodity a short distance below the surface.

Open-pit mining is often castigated for its perceived destruction of the local area. Not only is a massive hole dug in the ground, sometimes several kilometres wide, but there also needs to be space allocated to the processing of any earth and stone removed from that hole, along with service roads for logistical purposes and amenities areas for the staff working on site. The disruption caused by blasting, the use of explosives to remove hard rock and stone, is also cited as damaging to local wildlife.

When quarries are done with they can’t just be filled in either. Often the waste rock left over from processing can contain harmful substances, or compounds that combine with natural elements like rainwater to cause harmful substances. In these instances the waste area will be covered with clay to avoid leakage, and the whole area covered with soil and vegetation. Some quarries have been used as landfill sites for other kinds of waste, although there is pressure to stop this practise as well.

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