Environmental Management of Mineral Wastes

G. T. Goodman and M. J. Chadwick With the increasing pressure worldwide on mineral and fossil fuel resources, there is a growing awareness of the need to utilize all available workable deposits as thoroughly and effic­ iently as possible. This inevitably means disturbance, often of high quality environments. Adverse environmental impacts on land, water and air, and frequently to human health and biological resources, have been taking place for many years in different parts of the world. In total cycle of mineral extraction, trans­ portation use and disposal involves all compartments of the biosphere. The need to minimise these impacts by wise environ­ mental management has never been more important than it is today. There is great interest, therefore, in pooling our understanding of the scientific processes involved and our technical capability of dealing with these problems. Scientists and engineers who are expert in handling differ­ ent types of mineral process have much to learn from one another particularly when codes of practice from different countries in the field of land reclamation are compared. In order to illust­ rate the scientific and technical expertise required in the necessary detail it was deemed essential in this Advanced Study Institute to concentrate on specific case studies utilizing a range of actual sites. The examples of Coal, China Clay and Non­ ferrous Metals were chosen as displayed in the United Kingdom and Germany.