<p>In opencast mining it is dumped on a huge spoil heap, and if the company is environmentally conscientious or wants to avoid penalties, it is used to fill in the hole left when the mining is finished. With underground mining it is also dumped on spoil heaps, and as it is not practical to infill the mine workings, in best practice the spoil heaps are later landscaped, or at least restored to nature so they are no longer unsightly and could become a nature reserve. Some mining companies are reckless with their waste and dump it into lakes and rivers, potentially causing pollution incidents, though not all mining waste is hazardous.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-10T12:22:44.940Z
`Not all mining waste is hazardous` - tell that to the people that died in the mudslide from the broken dams in Brazil. Or to the river eocosystem destroyed because the mud blocked the light and oxygenation of the riverwater - and destroyed the riverbed. Everything is a hazard in the wrong amount.
Mindwin Remember Monica
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-12T04:49:08.990Z
Downvoted for lack of references. Even when your answers are correct they are lazily made, Michael, because you eschew providing references.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-12T08:15:10.627Z
I can see I'll have to do a bit of downvoting myself. So far I haven't done any because the system is so obviously open to abuse.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-09T21:39:45.933Z
2019-10-09T21:39:45.933Z
Michael Walsby
<p>Surface mining digs up a lot of earth and rock. After the desired ore is separated, where do the earth and rock mined go?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-10T02:21:36.453Z
[Tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings)
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-12T04:47:06.990Z
@KeithMcClary - You should make that an answer. You already have a reference, something Michael Walsby almost never has.
David Hammen
<environmental-protection><mining><erosion>
Where does all the earth from surface mining go?
Mindwin Remember Monica
# Where does all the earth from surface mining go?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-09)

Surface mining digs up a lot of earth and rock. After the desired ore is separated, where do the earth and rock mined go?

**Tags:** environmental-protection, mining, erosion

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [Tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings)  
> **username_2**: @username_1 - You should make that an answer. You already have a reference, something username_3 almost never has.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-10-09. Score: 1

In opencast mining it is dumped on a huge spoil heap, and if the company is environmentally conscientious or wants to avoid penalties, it is used to fill in the hole left when the mining is finished. With underground mining it is also dumped on spoil heaps, and as it is not practical to infill the mine workings, in best practice the spoil heaps are later landscaped, or at least restored to nature so they are no longer unsightly and could become a nature reserve. Some mining companies are reckless with their waste and dump it into lakes and rivers, potentially causing pollution incidents, though not all mining waste is hazardous.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: `Not all mining waste is hazardous` - tell that to the people that died in the mudslide from the broken dams in Brazil. Or to the river eocosystem destroyed because the mud blocked the light and oxygenation of the riverwater - and destroyed the riverbed. Everything is a hazard in the wrong amount.  
> **username_2**: Downvoted for lack of references. Even when your answers are correct they are lazily made, username_3, because you eschew providing references.  
> **username_3**: I can see I'll have to do a bit of downvoting myself. So far I haven't done any because the system is so obviously open to abuse.  

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