Environmental Destruction Caused by Illegal Mining Activities

Currently, illegal mining activities are increasingly prevalent. Based on the facts (Down
To Earth, 2016), the UN has also begun to raise concerns over illegal mining. This means that
illegal mining has a negative impact on the environment and the country in general. Without a
valid license and appropriate standard of operation, illegal mining activities are very risky to
have a negative impact on the environment and the country in general. These negative impacts
for example are the formation of sinkholes, the contamination of soil and ground water, loss of
biodiversity, chemical leakages, and losses to the country in general. One example of the
negative impact of illegal mining (sand

The main impact of illegal mining is the altered morphology of earth

surface that occur by mining operation.
Illegal mining doesn’t have environmental impact assessment of the land
clearing, mining operating procedures, rehabilitation of devastation areal and do
not have well mine infrastructures to support the operation.
These altered morphology of mining surfaces make soil is more unstable, the
disturbed soil happens when erosion in the mining surfaces by wind and water.
The sedimentation pools of toxic metals make the quality of the soil more
worsen. These causes can trigger sinkholes and landslides.
Landslide is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs by unplanned mining
operation. Almost all landslides collapsed during downpours due to the unstable
soil in around the mining pit.
It happens due to the deforestation, large number of mining holes, and bad
quality of wooden supporting structures in mining pit.
Many of illegal mining do not have standard operating procedures to ensure
the health and safety operations and for the sustainable mining’s development.
In China, around the mining pit collapses and accidents killed 4,700 of
workers in 2006. Another mine collapse accident killed thousands of miners
around the world every year.
 Without good mining procedures of open-pit or underground mining, soil
around the pit can collapse where the rock’s underground can be eroded by
groundwater and rainwater.

Sinkholes ruin houses of peoples living near the sinkhole and dangerous for
walkers around the sinkhole.

According to The Minerals and Mining Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2182) in

Ghana, “the manager of mining is required to comply the provisions that contain
obligations relating to the construction and location of tailings, waste product
storage facilities, and also compensate the owner or lawful occupier for the
disturbance of the surface”.

By good opening and completion, the mining operation does not have
negative impact significantly for morphology of soil.

To prevent and to overcome the mining surface problem, mining operation needs to provision the
environmental impact assessment, and have a plan for reclamation or rehabilitation to the
damaged environment areal. By good opening and completion, the mining operation does not
have negative impact significantly for morphology of soil.

Illegal mining threatens the fresh water through high use of water in processing ore. The
waters associated with mines are often affected by acidification flow to an abandoned pit which
can be a pool of sedimentation toxic chemical metals. As some coal seams contain pyrite, which
has high concentrations of sulfide. The acidic waters are produces when sulfide materials are
exposed to water and oxygen. This acidic water contains high toxic chemical decrease the water
pH. This pH level can contaminate water, soil, and environment.
The Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis (2011) (as cited in Emmanuel,
Jerry,&Dzigbodi,2018) published a report on the “Human Health Risk Assessment and
Epidemiological Studies from Exposure to Toxic Chemicals” in Ghana, the study found that
many diseases infected the workers as the negative effect of contaminated water. The miners
found with dermal disease that chemicals absorbing to the skin and estimates show that 1,200
people die in the US because they have black lung disease annually. It was not only happen to
the workers, but it is affected the people near the mining pit. Water is the essential component in
life on our planet. For the sustainable development, rivers, lakes, and oceans must be ensure
uncontaminated. The regulations require for the mine operators to construct mine infrastructures
such as diversion walls constructed to direct acidic drainage water, sedimentation pools, and
filtration ponds.
The Director General of the Ministry of Living Environment and Forestry, Karliansyah,
mentioned, there are about 8,683 areas in Indonesia were indicated by illegal mining, with the
estimation of the areas is five thousand hectares (Putra, Dwi Aditya, 2018). And more than
20.000 points around the world were indicated by illegal mining(World mining association,
2013). The large number of illegal mining areas will certainly have an impact on the biodiversity
in a region. The activity will cause loss of biodiversity. This can happen because illegal mining
doesn’t implement a good mine management system and notice the environmental aspects.
The data is collected byWahanaLingkunganHidup Indonesia (2002) has shown us if
condition of the forests in Indonesia has become worse and more worrying. During 1985-1997,
around 30% of the forest in Sumatra was lost. In Kalimantan 21% of the forest is also lost in the
same period. In 1997, only about 35% of Sumatra and 60% of Kalimantan were still forests of
16.6 and 35.1 million ha respectively. Many legal or illegal companies are unable or unwilling to
reclamated ex-mining sites. As a result, deforestation made a number of populations of rare
plants in Sumatra and Kalimantan decreasing. Another example, Brazil, this country also has
problems with illegal mining. The study, led by the University of Vermont, United States, found
that 90 percent of deforestation related to illegal mining occurred in Brazil. Deforestation by
mining activity is 12 times greater than the mine lease area, which stretches for 43.5 miles (70
km), to the forest boundary (Mahbub, Amri, 2011).
Not only deforestation but also water resources contamination will contribute to negative
impact for the biodiversity that lives in the area. For example, in 1995, there was a huge spill of a
one billion gallons wastewater in Guyana. The water was laced by cyanide, mercury and then
was released in the Essequibo river. The effects were widespread and included contamination of
land used for agriculture, toxic drinking water contaminated by chemicals, economic losses from
the decline of the river’s ecotourism, and severe decreasing number of endemic floras, fauna,
both aquatic and terrestrial in that river.
The loss of biodiversity from illegal mining activities actually can be solved by
synergizing every person involved in it, including the government, the people, and environmental
activists. For example, in Indonesia, the regulation stated in UU no. 4 tahun 2009 pasal 96 about
the obligation to reclamate, in general, requires that every mining business conduct reclamation
of mining land that has been unproductive with various endemic plants that existed before. So,
the loss biodiversity can be reduced as well.
On the other hand, in mineral-rich areas, illegal mining can increase people's income by
the mining results. Land available in nature can easily be exploited with a very cheap capital
compared to the results will get it. The lack of decent job vacancies in the area is also as a
support factor for the surrounding community to choose this illegal method. But, if they do this
continuously, the progress in infrastructure of the area in that place will not increase because the
vast natural potential of the area is exploited and the results are not managed by the local
government, but those are used by individual illegal mining communities themselves. Indirectly
they also harm the state for not paying taxes that can make the infrastructure in their area will not
thrive.
This essay already explained the impact of illegal mining. It can be ascertained that all
illegal mining activities can harm many aspects, including: the state, society, and the
environment. The changed mining surface morphology make the soil become more unstable, also
it can lead to a forming sedimentation pond that contain of high levels of toxic and highly acidic
metals. The worst thing is when the contaminated water of toxic chemicals affects the streams
and soil. Soil and water are the important aspect of environmental living, if it is contaminated,
can affect to biodiversity loss. Even though illegal mining is their job which have low production
costs rather than the production costs of legal mining. But looking to the negative impacts that
have been described above, do we still agree with illegal mining? Of course not, because the
negative impacts of illegal mining are big enough for the people and environment than the
positive impact that the community receives.

 mining operation needs to provision the environmental impact assessment, and

have a plan for reclamation or rehabilitation to the damaged environment areal.
By good opening and completion, the mining operation does not have negative
impact significantly for morphology of soil.

References:
Down To Earth. (2016). Illegal sand mining around the world: islands disappear; livelihoods at
stake. Retrieved from: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/mining/illegal-sand-mining-
around-the-world-islands-disappear-livelihoods-threatened-54580
Emmanuel, A., Jerry, C., &Dzigbodi, D. (2018). Review of Environmental and Health Impacts of
Mining in Ghana. Journal of Health & Pollution, 8(17): 43–52. doi: 10.5696/2156-9614-
8.17.43
Greentumble. (2017). Ecosystem Changes Caused by Mining. Retrieved from:
https://greentumble.com/ecosystem-changes-caused-by-mining/
Mahbub, Amri. (2011, Oktober 19). PertambanganJadiPenyebab Utama PenggundulanHutan
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