the coltan and the environmental impact of mineral extraction. by: Marta Serrano, Manuela Galisteo and Merche Peña

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MINERAL EXTRACTION. Mining. It can be argued that mining is necessary to deliver various goods to humans, but which certainly can not be argued is that is sustainable, being as it is an activity based on the extraction of nonrenewable resources. Mining is a short-term activity but with long-term effects. No one should doubt that when performed in forests is a factor of predation thereof. It is estimated that, together with petroleum exploration threatens 38% of the last tracts of primary forests worldwide.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MINERAL EXTRACTION.Mining activity , as most of the activities done by man for their livelihood , make changes in the environment , from the most subtle to represent them clear impacts on the environment in which they develop .

This leads us to define the concept of environmental impact of an activity : the difference in the natural environment between the time that the activity starts, the time when the activity takes place , and above all , the time of completion .

These issues , which some years ago were not perceived as a risk factor for the future of humanity today is viewed with great concern, that is not always justified , because the man is altering the environment since has been able, but certainly abuses in this field have a greater awareness of the need to regulate these impacts.

photos of mine sunderground mines outside mines

the environmental impact: assessment This impact assessment is the quantification of these differences, by performing a multidisciplinary study that will seek to identify, predict and prevent the consequences or effects on the environment from mining

The objectives of the environmental impact study would be:

1. Avoid errors and possible environmental damage caused during the extraction process, the subsequent correction could be costly, both in private view (transferable costs for businesses) and from the social point of view (transferable costs to society ).

2. Provide data to enter into business decisions the effects of development projects in the natural and social environment always difficult to quantify and evaluate .

3. Presenting an integrated about the impacts of our activities on the environment information.

4. To integrate the various public and private agencies that have some degree of responsibility for decisions that affect the environment.

which it is the coltan ? what is it for?-It is that mysterious mineral that is used to make key mobile , smartphones and increasingly powerful and sophisticated portable electronics components.

-Tantalum is a metal that is characterized by a very high melting point , being a good conductor of electricity, very hard and very resistant to acids. All this means that it has become a basic and important for the manufacture of electronic circuit capacitors raw material, voltage rectifiers , surgical supplies , laboratory materials , camera lenses ... The problem with us today this material is the difficulty to replace it very

-Coltan is a mixture of mineral columbite ( an ore of columbium or niobium ) and tantalum (

an ore of tantalum ) . Coltan is dark gray metallic .

coltan

Columbite Tatalum

Coltan

located mines of coltan -The main producer of coltan is the Democratic Republic of Congo with about 80 % of world reserves estimated , although there largest proven reserves or exploitation in Brazil with 5% of the reserves, Thailand with another 5% and Australia , this last with 10% of world reserves estimated.-Rwanda and Uganda are currently exporting stolen from Congo to the West ( mainly the United States) coltan , where they are used almost exclusively in the manufacture of tantalum electrolytic capacitors . It is used in almost all electronic devices : mobile phones , GPS, satellites , guided weapons , plasma TVs , game consoles, laptops , PDAs , MP3 , MP4 …

Brasil Tailandia

África

located mines of coltan in spain -Now a Canadian company Solid Mines Spain , who won his first research permit to probe the subsurface Galician eight years and belonging to the venture capital company Solid Mines says that the probability that the deposit of tin and tantalum Forcarei ( Pontevedra) can be exploited today is high. -The mine would cost about 20 million euros and generate 50 direct jobs and 150 indirect .

The exploitation of children in the mines of coltan - AFter the coltan came the cassiterite with went the child labor , mass rape and the eternal war. In a place rife with injustice, is the cruelest requiring child miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to leave school to dig in artisanal mines that proliferate in the provinces of Katanga and the Kivus. For less than a dollar a day, almost naked and often malnourished , these children feed the world market for coltan , copper , tin and cobalt while making even deeper hole in the human dwelling .

what can we do to help solve these problem?Close access to coltan: Close access to mine coltan, it is nothing more than a disadvantage as close mines imply illegal activity by people looking to exploit coltan. This would cause a legal scandal, and would likely result in more bellicose confrontations.

Create an agency for the exploitation of minerals: UN as a global entity, should find a solution, which could be the creation of a division in order to control the extraction of coltan from mines places with good working conditions, where there is a proper management of resources, do not fall into armed conflicts between African, by seeking control in sales of products extracted.

WEBGRAPHY.http://www.uclm.es/users/higueras/MAM/MMAM1.htm

http://www.ecoportal.net/Temas-Especiales/Mineria/La_Mineria_y_su_grave_impacto_sobre_los_Bosques_y_los_Pueblos

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt%C3%A1n

http://explotacioncoltan10a.blogspot.com.es/

http://www.accesoglobal.info/coltan-el-mineral-maldito-de-la-rdc/

conclusions we learned a lot with this work we now know the negative effects of mining, causing coltan problems how important coltan in the world and appreciate more how lucky we are not being exploited as some children.