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The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Mining powers modern life, but can leave scarred lands and polluted waters behind

  • Written by Matthew Ross, Assistant Professor of Water Quality, Colorado State University
The Bingham Canyon open-pit copper mine in Utah has operated since 1903.David Guthrie/Flickr, CC BY

Modern society relies on metals like copper, gold and nickel for uses ranging from medicine to electronics. Most of these elements are rare in Earth’s crust, so mining them requires displacing vast volumes of dirt and rock. Hard rock mining...

Read more: Mining powers modern life, but can leave scarred lands and polluted waters behind

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