Mining Environmental Impact

Code:

MEMG0001

Acronym:

IAM

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Technologies, Applied Sciences, Project

Instance: 2009/2010 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Mining Engineering Department
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Mining and Geo-Environmental Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MEMG	14	Plano de estudos oficial a partir de 2008/09	1	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

The aims of this course unit are:
- Knowledge: To diagnose the main problems caused by the extractive industry before, during and after extraction; techniques and methods to solve the diagnosed problems.
- Understanding: Life cycle phases of manufacturing industry and its environmental implications;
- Application: To distinguish the application field of the different alternatives of adverse environmental impact minimization and select the most appropriate technology to each situation;
- Analysis: Analytical decomposition of impacts generated in the environmental impact analysis, in the creation of an environmental management plan and during the elaboration of a closure and abandonment strategy.
- Synthesis: To create a coherent methodology of integrated resolution of adverse environmental implications.
- Assessment: To compare technological and methodological alternatives.

Program

Introduction: Mining industry and sustainable development. Mineral sector profile. Legislative framework. Mining legislation and environmental legislation. Prescriptive legislation vs. non-prescriptive legislation.
Before exploration: formal structure of the environmental impact of mining industry. Analysis tools. Prediction methods of waste and effluent generation.
During exploration:
Technologies: solid waste disposal: disposal systems: spoil heaps, dams, subaqueous disposal, seafloor disposal and co-disposal. Effluent treatment: passive systems; Aerobic lagoons: Anaerobic lagoons, Alkalinity Producing Systems, Open Canals, Diversion, Anoxic Limestone Drain, Vertical Flow Reactors, Limestone Lagoons, etc. Bio-rehabilitation; Active systems: Aeration, Neutralization Reagents, basins and reactors. Accidents and Risks.
Implementation of Environmental Management Systems
After exploration: Closure: Methods and solutions. Environmental Rehabilitation and Monitoring.

Teaching methods and learning activities

THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL CLASSES – Presentation of the concepts, methods and techniques related to the impact of mining industry on the environment in the various lifecycle phases.
PRACTICAL CLASSES – They are divided into two phases. In the first phase, the first six classes, students will be asked to perform laboratory assignments. They have to be done on the scheduled time and not on any other time. Each laboratory assignment comprises a report and if one of the assignments is not handed in, students will earn a zero.
Second phase – Execution of an individual assignment, which has to be presented in oral and written form in the last six weeks of classes.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	48,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Eligibility for exams

The assessment is base on two components:
Continuous assessment component: 30% of the final grade, being 15% of that mark based on the laboratory component and the remaining 15% on the individual assignment.
Final assessment component: Final exam. This component is worth 70% of the final grade. To complete the course unit, students have to reach a minimum grade of 8 out of 20 in this component.

Calculation formula of final grade

0.3 * Grade of the continuous assessment component + 0.7* Grade of the final assessment grade

Examinations or Special Assignments

Six laboratory assignments and an individual assignment with presentation.

Classification improvement

Students may only improve their grades by attending a final exam. Students may not improve the grade of the continuous assessment component.