IMPACTS OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT - SOME LOCAL, REGIONAL AND GLOBAL ISSUES

The mining, processing and utilisation of metals dates back to Roman t imes and earlier with extensive developments in many parts of the worl d by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many mineralised areas a re no longer worked leaving a legacy of dereliction and contaminated l and and drainage. This paper discusses the sources and dispersion of m etals from mining and smelting activities, factors influencing their p athways into the foodchain and potential impacts on plant, animal and human health. The importance of mineral and chemical forms of metals i n soils is discussed in relation to their bioavailability. Reference i s made to research in the U.K., Greece and Brazil. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd