Exercise 2. Define whether the following statements are true or false

1. Heavy machinery is needed in mining for exploration and development, to remove and stockpile overburden, to break and remove rocks of various hardness and toughness, to process the ore and for reclamation efforts after the mine is closed.

2. Bulldozers, drills, explosives and trucks are not necessary for excavating the land.

3. In the case of placer mining, unconsolidated gravel, or alluvium, is fed into machinery consisting of a hopper and a shaking screen or trommel which prevents to free the desired minerals from the waste gravel.

4. The minerals cannot be concentrated using sluices or jigs.

5. Large drills are used to sink shafts, excavate stopes and obtain samples for analysis.

6. Lifts are used to transport miners, minerals and waste.

7. Trams carry miners into and out of mines, as well as moving rock and ore out, and machinery in and out of underground mines.

8. Huge trucks, shovels and cranes are employed in surface mining to move large quantities of overburden and ore.

9. Processing plants cannot utilize large crushers, mills, reactors, roasters and other equipment to consolidate the mineral-rich material and extract the desired compounds and metals from the ore.

 

Exercise 3. Find the right answer.

1… is needed in mining for exploration and development, to remove and stockpile overburden, to break and remove rocks of various hardness and toughness, to process the ore and for reclamation efforts after the mine is closed.

a) scooters;

b) heavy machinery

c) helicopters

2. Bulldozers, drills, explosives and trucks are all necessary for …

a) excavating the land

b) transporting miners, minerals and waste;

c) carrying miners to and out of mines

3. In the case of…, unconsolidated gravel, or alluvium, is fed into machinery consisting of a hopper and a shaking screen or trommel which frees the desired minerals from the waste gravel.

a) quarring;

b) surface mining;

c) placer mining

4. Huge trucks, shovels and cranes are employed in … to move large quantities of overburden and ore.

a) surface mining;

b) room and pillar mining;

c) subsurface mining

Exercise 4. Answer the following questions:

1. What is heavy machinery needed in mining for?

2. What machines are necessary for excavating the land?

3. What is fed into machinery consisting of a hopper and a shaking screen or trommel which frees the desired minerals from the waste gravel in the case of placer mining?

4. What is the usage of large drills in mining?

5. Where are trams and lifts used?

6. What carries miners into and out of mines?

7. Where are huge trucks, shovels and cranes employed in surface mining?

8. Where can large crushers, mills, reactors, roasters and other equipment to consolidate the mineral-rich material and extract the desired compounds and metals from the ore be utilized?

 

Exercise 5. Complete the following sentences.

1. Heavy machinery is needed in mining for …

2. Bulldozers, drills, explosives and trucks are all necessary for excavating the ...

3. In the case of placer mining, unconsolidated gravel, or alluvium, is fed into machinery consisting of a hopper and a shaking screen or trommel which frees …

4. The minerals are then concentrated using …

5. Large drills are used to sink shafts, excavate stopes and obtain samples for …

6. Trams are used to transport miners, minerals and …

7. Lifts carry miners into and out of mines, as well as moving ...

8. Huge trucks, shovels and cranes are employed in surface mining to move …

9. Processing plants can utilize large crushers, mills, reactors, roasters and other equipment to consolidate the mineral-rich material and extract the desired…

 

TEXT 6 (B). ORE MILLS.

 

Exercise 1. Listen to the text twice and do the following tasks:

Ore mills generate large amounts of waste, called tailings, which are perhaps their largest environmental burden. For example, 99 tonnes of waste are generated per tonne of copper, with even higher ratios in gold mining. These tailings can be toxic. Tailings, which are usually produced as a slurry, are most commonly dumped into ponds made from naturally-existing valleys. These ponds are secured by impoundments (dams or embankment dams). In 2000 it was estimated that 3,500 tailings impoundments existed, and that every year, 2 to 5 major failures and 35 minor failures occurred; for example, in the Marcopper mining disaster at least 2 million tons of tailings were released into a local river. Subaqueous tailings disposal is another option. The mining industry has argued that submarine tailings disposal (STD), which disposes of tailings in the sea, is ideal because it avoids the risks of tailings ponds; although the practice is illegal in the United States and Canada, it is used in the developing world.