Mining has often been presented to developing countries as a key to advancement by international agencies like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank—it can attract substantial foreign investment and drive economic growth.
North America’s Yellowstone Lake basin in Wyoming, Montana was spared and withdrawn from the list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2003. Unfortunately, this is not a typical scenario: the mining industry has a long and dismal record of damaging officially protected natural areas. Mining activities have negatively affected many endangered World Heritage Sites.
In the United States alone, mining uses 2.3 quadrillion (2,300,000,000,000,000) BTUs* of energy per year—enough power to supply over 25 million single-family American households for a year, roughly 23 percent of the country’s population.
In mining, a subterranean ore deposit is first located and brought to the surface. Once the ore is brought to the surface, it is processed to extract the mineral. The processing varies depending on the metal being mined, but nonetheless, it generates immense quantities of waste—and this waste is dangerous.