Sand mining is sand extraction, mainly through open pit but is sometimes mined from beaches and inland sand dunes or dredged from the seabed and rivers. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or concrete material. It is also used on slippery and snowy roads, usually mixed with salt, to lower the melting point temperature on the road surface. Sand can replace the eroded coastline.
Sand mining provides an opportunity to extract rutile, ilmenite and zircon, which contain industrially useful titanium and zirconium elements. These minerals usually occur in combination with regular sand, then separated in water according to different densities, before the sand is re-fabricated.
Sand mining is a direct cause of erosion, and impacts on local wildlife. Various animals rely on sandy beaches for the clutches of nests, and mining has led to the nearly extinction of gharian (a type of crocodile) in India. Underwater water disturbance and beach sand cause turbidity in the water, which is harmful to organisms such as corals that require sunlight. It can also destroy fisheries, which are financially disadvantageous to their operators.
Removal of physical beach barriers, such as sand dunes, occasionally causing flooding from coastal communities, and the destruction of beautiful beaches caused tourism to disappear. Sand mining is regulated by law in many places, but is often illegal. Globally, it's a $ 70 billion industry, with sand sales up to $ 90 per cubic yard.
Video Sand mining
By country
Australia
In 1940 mining operations began on the Kurnell Peninsula (Captain Cook landing site in Australia) to supply the expansion of the Sydney market. This continued into the 1990s with an estimate of more than 70 million tons of sand being removed. Sand has been appreciated for decades by the building industry, primarily because of its high shell content and lack of organic material, has provided a source of cheap sand for most of Sydney since sand mining operations began. The site has now been reduced to some of the remaining sand dunes and deep water-filled holes that are now filled with waste demolition from building sites in Sydney. Sand removal has significantly weakened the capacity of the peninsula to withstand storms. Sea waves thumped against the Kurnell dune system that had been threatened to break into Botany Bay, especially during the May and June storms back in 1974 and August 1998. Sand mining also occurred in the Stockton sand dunes north of Newcastle and in the Broken Hill Region on the western end States.
A large and long sand mine running in Queensland, Australia (on North Stradbroke Island) provides case studies in the environmental consequences of fragile soil-sandy ecosystems justified by providing low-wage casual labor on an island with some work options others. The Labor state government promised to end sand salting by 2025, but this decision was canceled by the LNP government that replaced it. This decision has been subject to allegations of corrupt behavior.
Sand mining contributes to building construction and development. However, the negative effects of sand mining include permanent sand loss in the area, as well as major habitat destruction.
India
Sand mining is an environmental practice in India. Environmentalists have raised public awareness about illegal sand mining in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Goa India. Conservation and environmental NGOs, the Awaaz Foundation filed public interest litigation at the Bombay High Court to seek a ban on mining activities along the coast of Konkan. The Awaaz Foundation, in partnership with the Bombay Natural History Society also presented the sand mining issue as a major international threat to coastal biodiversity at the Conference of the Parties 11, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Hyderabad in October 2012. DK Ravi, the Indian Administration Service Officer of the State of Karnataka famous for his crackdown on illegal sand mining in Kolar district, was found dead at his residence in Bengaluru on March 16, 2015. It is widely believed that death was not due to suicide but the work of the mafia involved in land grabbing and sand mining.
New Zealand
Sand mining takes place in Kaipara Harbor, offshore in Pakiri and offshore from Little Barrier Island. A sand mine has been operating at Whiritoa on the east coast of the North Island for 50 years by extracting 180,000 m 3 sand. The coastal sand quarry currently operates in Maioro and Taharoa to restore iron sand. When an application was submitted in 2005 to mine iron sands on the seabed coastal Raglan residents were organized against the scheme. Applications for mining were rejected by Crown Minerals due to lack of technical details.
Sierra Leone
Recently, activists and local villagers have been protesting sand mining in the Western Region of the Sierra Leone Peninsula. This activity contributes to the coastal erosion of Sierra Leone, which lasts up to 6 meters a year.
United States
The size of today's sand mining market in the United States is slightly more than a billion dollars per year. The industry has grown almost 10% annually since 2005 due to its use in hydrocarbon extraction. The majority of the market size for mining is held by Texas and Illinois.
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa
The silica sand mining business has doubled since 2009 because of the need for this particular type of sand, which is used in a process known as hydraulic fracturing. Wisconsin is one of five countries that produce almost 2/3 of the nation's silica. In 2009, Wisconsin, along with other northern countries, is facing an industrial mining boom, dubbed the "sand rush" due to new demand from major oil companies for silica sand. According to Minnesota Public Radio, "One of the major industry players, US Silica, said its sand sales linked to hydraulic fractures nearly doubled to $ 70 million from 2009 to 2010 and brought nearly $ 70 million in just the first nine months in 2011. "According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), there are currently 34 active mines and 25 mines under construction in Wisconsin. In 2012, WDNR released a final report on silica sand mining in Wisconsin entitled Silica Sand Embroidery in Wisconsin. The recent explosion in silica sand mining has raised concerns from residents in Wisconsin that include quality of life issues and the threat of silicosis. However, this is a problem that the state does not have to manage. According to WDNR (2012) this problem includes noise, lights, hours of operation, damage and excessive wear to the road from truck traffic, public security issues from truck traffic volume, possible damage and disruption due to blasting, and worries about aesthetics and changes in use land.
In 2013, frac industrial sand mining has been the cause of activism, especially in the Driftless Area in southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and southwest Wisconsin.
China
Much sand is extracted by dredgers from the river bed like the Red River in Yunnan, or dug in the dry river bed. Due to the high demand for sand for construction, illegal sand mining is not uncommon.
Maps Sand mining
See also
- Mineral mineral heavy mineral deposits
- Beach theft
- Resources reduction
- Sand mining in Tamil Nadu
- Sand mining in Kerala
- Environmental issues with mining
References
External links
- Kiwis Against Bottled Mining
- Facing Nepes-sand mafia nexus in India
- Jakob Villioth (2014-08-05). "Building the economy in quicksand". ejolt.
Sand nowadays has become the most consumed resource on the planet after freshwater
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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