The Environmental impact of mining includes land degradation, habitat disruption, pollution and the loss of biodiversity. It can also cause health risks and social conflict. Moreover, these risks often arise from companies’ pursuit of profit. This is especially true in countries with weak laws and regulations, where mining operations tend to prioritize short-term gains over the long-term environmental consequences of their activities.

Mining activities often leave behind toxic waste in the form of “mineral tailings”—a thick slurry of mercury, lead, arsenic and other metals that seeps into nearby water bodies and pollutes the environment and human communities. These wastes can include the toxic cyanide used to mine gold, which has poisoned entire communities in Miramar, Costa Rica, and left behind contaminated watersheds. These mining tailings also contain heavy metals that can contaminate the air, causing health problems like breathing difficulties and kidney disease.

The Environmental Impact of Bitcoin Mining: What You Should Know

Mineral mining also disrupts ecosystems by clearing forests, contaminating rivers, and displacing wildlife. Coal mining, for example, causes erosion of the surrounding soil and destroys riverbeds by filling valleys with sediment. This disturbs the habitat of wildlife that depends on these areas for shelter and food, pushing some species to extinction. Furthermore, coal processing units release untreated effluents that increase turbidity and pH levels, as well as introduce dangerous metals to the ecosystem, resulting in contamination of drinking water for millions around the world.

Finally, the movement of heavy equipment and machinery can damage the landscape and create dust that disperses into the air, causing respiratory problems. Such dust can also contain harmful minerals such as riebeckite and silicosis, which can be absorbed into the lung tissue. Attempts to remediate such pollution are often costly and involve relocating or treating the contaminated soil—but this method does not eliminate the danger.