Since the dawn of civilisation until the last decades of the past century, mining activity, especially that concerning base and precious metals, represented a resource for human population, owing to its importance in many fields of interest. By the second half of the last century, however, mining activity declined until final closure in the face of developing countries, owing to decreasing mineral resources and to metal price drop. In this book, the effects of former mine activities and the related environmental problems are discussed, with the ultimate goal of investigating the fate of potentially toxic elements in the environment and their impact on the conterminous land.

The purposes of this report are 1) to shed light on abandoned mining sites and their impacts on public lands; 2) to highlight the accomplishments of the BLM, the Forest Service, and project partners in addressing abandoned mine lands (AML) problems; and 3) to describe the outlook for future AML reclamation efforts. Examples throughout the report offer insight into the environmental, health, safety, and economic effects often associated with these sites and illustrate the lasting and acid mine drainage leaching from the positive impacts of reclamation activities on formerly mined lands.

This Handbook has been developed by the EPA as a resource for project managers working on addressing the environmental concerns posed by inactive mines and mineral processing sites. This is not policy or guidance, but a compendium of info. gained during many years of experience on mine site cleanup projects. Chapters: Overview of Mining and Mineral Processing Operations; Environmental Impacts from Mining; Setting Goals and Measuring Success; Community Involve. at Mining Waste Sites; Scoping Studies of Mining and Mineral Processing Impact Areas; Sampling and Analysis of Impacted Areas; Scoping and Conducting Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessments at Superfund Mind Waste Sites; Site Mgmt. Strategies; and Remediation and Cleanup Options.

This first Issue in the series contains nine articles written by leading British and American experts from the mining industry, regulatory authorities, and academia, and incorporates the latest research. Following an introductory overview of many of the issues of current concern to the field, the book deals with a wide variety of topics, ranging from the environmental impact of gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon, through the issues relevant to coal mining, vegetative and other remediation strategies and procedures and water pollution, to a thorough analysis of environmental management and policy initiatives. The issues raised in Mining and its Environmental Impact may point the way to future solutions to the economic, technological and environmental problems associated with mining in all its aspects and make this volume key reading for practitioners and researchers in the field, as well as for environmentalists generally.

This Handbook has been developed by the EPA as a resource for project managers working on addressing the environmental concerns posed by inactive mines and mineral processing sites. This is not policy or guidance, but a compendium of info. gained during many years of experience on mine site cleanup projects. Chapters: Overview of Mining and Mineral Processing Operations; Environmental Impacts from Mining; Setting Goals and Measuring Success; Community Involve. at Mining Waste Sites; Scoping Studies of Mining and Mineral Processing Impact Areas; Sampling and Analysis of Impacted Areas; Scoping and Conducting Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessments at Superfund Mind Waste Sites; Site Mgmt. Strategies; and Remediation and Cleanup Options.