The area used for mineral extraction is a key indicator for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts caused by the extractive sector. To date, worldwide data products on mineral extraction do not report the area used by mining activities. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by presenting a new data set of mining extents derived by visual interpretation of satellite images. We delineated mining areas within a 10 km buffer from the approximate geographical coordinates of more than six thousand active mining sites across the globe. The result is a global-scale data set consisting of 21,060 polygons that add up to 57,277 km². The polygons cover all mining above-ground features that could be identified from the satellite images, including open cuts, tailings dams, waste rock dumps, water ponds, and processing infrastructure. The data set is available for download from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.910894 and visualization at www.fineprint.global/viewer.

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A global-scale data set of mining areas.

Mining activities induce profound changes to societies and the environment they inhabit. With global extraction of metal ores doubling over the past two decades, pressures related to mining have dramatically increased. In this paper, we explore where growing global metal extraction has particularly taken effect. Using fine-grain data, we investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of mining of nine metal ores (bauxite, copper, gold, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, silver and zinc) across approximately 3,000 sites of extraction worldwide between 2000 and 2019. To approach the related environmental implications, we intersect mining sites with terrestrial biomes, protected areas, and watersheds categorised by water availability. We find that 79% of global metal ore extraction in 2019 originated from five of the six most species-rich biomes, with mining volumes doubling since 2000 in tropical moist forest ecosystems. We also find that half of global metal ore extraction took place at 20 km or less from protected territories. Further, 90% of all considered extraction sites correspond to below-average relative water availability, with particularly copper and gold mining occurring in areas with significant water scarcity. Our study has far-reaching implications for future global and local policy and resource management responses to mitigate the negative effects of the expected expansion of metal mining.

Surge in global metal mining threatens vulnerable ecosystems

Freshwater salinisation is a growing problem, yet cross-regional assessments of freshwater salinity status and the impact of agricultural and other sectoral uses are lacking. Here, we assess inland freshwater salinity patterns and evaluate its interactions with irrigation water use, across seven regional river basins (401 river sub-basins) around the world, using long-term (1980–2010) salinity observations. While a limited number of sub-basins show persistent salinity problems, many sub-basins temporarily exceeded safe irrigation water-use thresholds and 57% experience increasing salinisation trends. We further investigate the role of agricultural activities as drivers of salinisation and find common contributions of irrigation-specific activities (irrigation water withdrawals, return flows and irrigated area) in sub-basins of high salinity levels and increasing salinisation trends, compared to regions without salinity issues. Our results stress the need for considering these irrigation-specific drivers when developing management strategies and as a key human component in water quality modelling and assessment. Freshwater salinisation is a growing water quality problem, but impacts and drivers across regional to global scales have been lacking. A new assessment of inter-regional freshwater salinisation demonstrates the importance of irrigation as a driver of salinisation.

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Common irrigation drivers of freshwater salinisation in river basins worldwide.

Critical metals, identified from supply, demand, imports, and market factors, include rare earth elements (REE), platinum group metals, precious metals, and other valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and uranium. Extraction of metals from U.S. saline aqueous, emphasizing saline, sources is explored as an alternative to hardrock ore mining. Potential aqueous sources include seawater, desalination brines, oil-and-gas produced waters, geothermal aquifers, and acid mine drainage, among others. A feasibility assessment reveals opportunities for recovery of lithium, strontium, magnesium, and several REE from select sources, in quantities significant for U.S. manufacturing and for reduction of U.S. reliance on international supply chains. This is a conservative assessment given that water quality data are lacking for a significant number of critical metals in certain sources. The technology landscape for extraction and recovery of critical metals from aqueous sources is explored, identifying relevant processes along with knowledge gaps. Our analysis indicates that aqueous mining would result in much lower environmental impacts on water, air, and land than ore mining. Preliminary assessments of the economics and energy consumption of recovery show potential for recovery of critical metals.

Recovery of Critical Metals from Aqueous Sources.

Ecological restoration in mining areas in the context of the Belt and Road initiative: Capability and challenges

Global-scale mining polygons (Version 1)

A agua e um recurso natural renovavel, de extrema importância para a vida animal e vegetal. No entanto, sua disponibilidade e comprometida a medida que os impactos ambientais se tornam mais intensos e frequentes. Conforme as discussoes referentes a utilizacao e preservacao ganharam forca, surgiram diversos eventos e reunioes abordando esta tematica, destacando-se entre eles o Dia mundial da agua. Da mesma forma, tambem se destacam as atividades de conscientizacao, como a educacao ambiental em escolas, bem como, com a comunidade. Para que as atividades de conscientizacao acerca da importância e preservacao da agua se mantenham atualizadas e cada vez mais eficazes, e importante que o conhecimento acerca desta tematica seja constantemente renovado atraves do ensino, da pesquisa e da extensao. Considerando a relevância da agua para as atividades antropicas e o papel da universidade como agente de producao e divulgacao do conhecimento, este trabalho objetivou a realizacao de acao de extensao abordando a preservacao da agua e seu fluxo no municipio, com a participacao de criancas de escolas publicas de Itaqui, RS. Para o desenvolvimento da atividade, foi elaborada uma maquete, um modelo de perfil do solo e cartazes com ideias-chave para a interacao com os participantes. A maquete foi feita de isopor, no tamanho de 50 x 100cm, com sobreposicao de isopor para compor o relevo, utilizando-se tintas com cores diferentes para a localizacao dos diferentes elementos a serem representados. O perfil do solo foi organizado em uma garrafa plastica transparente vazia, com capacidade de 5L de agua, colocando-se no fundo pedras, com camadas de solo e o plantio de alguns vegetais na superficie. A atividade de interacao com a comunidade aconteceu no Parque Comendador Firmino, em Itaqui-RS, no dia 22 de marco de 2016, no evento alusivo a Semana da Agua. Participaram 9 turmas de alunos das escolas convidadas, dos quartos, quintos e sextos anos do ensino fundamental. Foi realizada uma fala utilizando a maquete produzida, de forma que a acao das enchentes, bem como, o escoamento de residuos para os leitos dagua ocorre em funcao da topografia existente no municipio. Com o intuito de demonstrar a dinâmica da agua tambem sob a perspectiva de sua infiltracao nos solos, em um segundo momento de cada interacao foi exibido o modelo de perfil de solo construido. Para o encerramento das atividades foram demonstrados os efeitos da poluicao na agua, atraves de ilustracoes e cartazes. Os participantes se mostraram receptivos e questionadores sobre o fluxo da agua na cidade e compreenderam que se soltarem papeis ou plasticos pela cidade, o seu destino certamente sera o Rio Uruguai, que banha a cidade, ou ficarao presos no esgoto contribuindo para as enchentes. A realizacao da atividade de extensao obteve exito ao alcancar diversos alunos das escolas que visitaram o evento, e estimular a participacao espontânea dos mesmos, alcancando-se assim o objetivo norteador deste trabalho, que e a discussao interativa acerca de um recurso natural essencial, a agua.

A unipampa na semana da água: atividades interativas com alunos das escolas de itaqui, rs

An hydrographic basin involves the set of lands drained by a body of water. it becomes possible to effectively subsidize its planning. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the correlation between the morphometric data and the sandization processes in the Sanga da Areia hydrographic basin. Were used SRTM data and RapidEye satellite images, both treated in QGIS environment to obtain information about the study area. It was verified that there is a strong correlation between the sandization processes and the morphometric characteristics, in special to the rectilinear-convergent and rectilinear-divergent forms of terrain. This correlation allows planning activities to be conducted from the point of view of the intervention of land use and occupation processes so that the sandization processes do not advance over the drainage area, considering, inclusively, the Permanent Preservation Areas integrity, as maintenance elements of the relief structures and of the drainage network.

Morfometria e arenização: subsídios ao planejamento da bacia hidrográfica da sanga da areia, sudoeste do rio grande do sul, brasil

No verao de 2019-20, ocorreu um periodo de estiagem no Rio Grande do Sul, fazendo com que 365 municipios (tres quartos do total do Estado) decretassem situacao de emergencia. O objetivo do presente estudo e apresentar a analise de um conjunto de imagens, evidenciando as formacoes hidro-morfologicas de sedimentacao na area da foz do rio Ibicui, visiveis em funcao da estiagem. Foram utilizadas imagens de satelite de diferentes periodos, para demonstrar a dinâmica hidrologica que ocorre na area. A analise das imagens permite considerar que a dinâmica da paisagem da area selecionada, influenciada pela sua topografia plana, sofre interferencias significativas em funcao dos eventos meteorologicos, associados as variacoes tipicas do clima subtropical no sul do Brasil.

Dieison Morozoli da Silva

Papers

A global-scale data set of mining areas.

Global-scale mining polygons (Version 1)

A unipampa na semana da água: atividades interativas com alunos das escolas de itaqui, rs

Morfometria e arenização: subsídios ao planejamento da bacia hidrográfica da sanga da areia, sudoeste do rio grande do sul, brasil

Rio Ibicuí: “rio de areia” durante a estiagem 2019-2020, na confluência com o rio Uruguai, Brasil