Question

5 advantages and 5 disadvantages on environment of minerals

Answer 1

Answer:

However, disadvantages when compared to Underground Mining also exist:

Very large amounts of waste rock are mined. This creates costs as well as environmental issues with waste rock disposal;

Major disruption of surface: pit footprint, waste dumps. High visual impact, especially strip mining. After closure, rehabilitation may be difficult, slow & costly;

Very large volumes of overburden may need to be moved before reaching the orebody (e.g. coal) thus delaying return on capital expenditure;

Open pits catch rain, making them vulnerable to flooding, which may severely disrupt production;

High levels of skills are required in mechanized pits.