Mining Footprint

WHAT HAPPEN WHEN 

A MINE IS ABANDONED?

Picture taken by Rafael Ibáñez Fernández on December 11th 2005. Under GNU Free Documentation License.

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Las Médulas.

It is a roman gold mine abandoned in the III century. 

Production: arround 1,500,000 kg of gold thoght 250 years. 20,000 lb per year (as Plinius the Elder).

Removed more than 500,000,000 cubic meters of  land.

Technique: Ruina Montium. The land was removed useing big flows of water.

(Wikipedia, 2010)

Mining Ruin : Coto Wagner
Company: Minero Siderúrgica de Ponferrada S.A.
Location: San Miguel de las Dueñas, León, Spain.
Exploiting period: 1951 - 1991                                                                                    Polution Hot Spot

Safety danger:

          Very Steep Slope

               Unsafety Instalations:

Contaminants:

          Metals & Acid Mine Drainage.

          Asbestos

          Oil Spill

Who is Responsible?

Liks to information about abandoned mines in the U.S.

U.S. Departament of the Interior. Bureau of Land Management:

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/Abandoned_Mine_Lands.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

http://www.epa.gov/aml/index.htm

U.S. Geological Survey:
http://amli.usgs.gov/

Abandoned Mine Lands:
http://www.abandonedmines.gov/

NYS Departament of Environmental Conservation
http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5020.html