Modern society relies on metals like copper, gold and nickel for uses ranging from medicine to electronics. Most of these elements are rare in Earth’s crust, so mining them requires displacing vast volumes of dirt and rock. Hard rock mining—so called because it refers to excavating hard minerals, not softer materials like coal or tar sands—generated US$600 billion in revenues worldwide in 2017.
Click here for original story, Mining powers modern life, but can leave scarred lands and polluted waters behind
Source: Phys.org