Mining Lab Questions
1. Mining Money
2. Our Company had a variety of problems in the beginning. We
first had to decide who was going to work each job. Multiple
people wanted to be in certain positions, yet there weren’t
enough. We had no money in the beginning so we had to get
a loan. And we had no plan or any goals, we went in blind.
3. This activity was realistic in multiple ways. We had to use
money, buy loans, and purchase items. We had workers and
certain people in certain positions. We had a government
overlooking us making sure we followed the rules (for the
most part). It wasn’t realistic in the way that in the real world
it is way more complicated. Prices are way different, there is
also supply and demand. The climate can also affect the
process. Moreso, in the real world people are snakes and try
to take other mining companies down.
4. As high grade ore is used up, companies have the option to
increase prices. Supply and demand play into this. When
there is less of a valuable product, it will increase in price.
5. The walnut represented the highest grade ore. The garbanzo
bean represented the lowest grade ore.
6. Environmental Problems:
a) Exploration: Destruction of the habitat such as
deforestation is a major issue during this process.
Companies are searching for land to ultimately break
apart and create as a mining sight. This takes away from
the habitat and biodiversity.
b) Removal and storage of overburden: This can lead to
groundwater pollution. The rainwater that falls over
overburden piles leach toxic substances into the ground
and groundwater sources.
c) Removal of ore: This leads to air and noise pollution which
ultimately harms and disrupts the wildlife. The mining
operations generate so much dust, noise, and substances
in unnatural areas. This is not normal and will negatively
affect the environment.
d) Processing of ore: The processing of ore takes a lot of
energy, it is very high in energy consumption. This
process needs high amounts of energy that is generated
from fossil fuels that release carbon into the atmosphere,
exacerbating global warming.
e) Using the mineral to make a product: Again the factories
that use the mineral to make a product release
greenhouse gases, toxic chemicals, and wastewater into
the environment.
7. The mining site was about a 5 to run. It was hard in the
sense that I had to think and judge what we needed along
with what we were finding. But it seemed simple in the sense
that we just had to make the most money. It was difficult to
judge what was needed to buy for the least amount of
money. We tended to finesse the rules a bit to get around
these problems. This mine site did work because we gained
money from it. But the damage of the site was the cost.
8. We made $149 in profit.
9. Our company had to make many decisions. Some included
whether to buy the big spoon or the small spoon. Whether it
was worth it to buy a nutcracker. Whether we should fully
follow the rules. Whether we should try and mine for peanuts
or walnuts. What was worth it to actually remove.
10. I would guide them to try and focus on mining under
the already manmade and man-affected areas. That way
they aren’t disturbing any of the untouched natural areas.
11. Anthropogenic changes to change a wilderness site to a
mining site would include land transformation, infrastructure
development, and environmental management measures to
get the site ready.
12. The company needs to determine the animals that will
be affected and how to create the least disturbance possible.
They need to try and minimize the land used. They need to
make sure they run a clean mine, no trash, clean energy,
keeping it sophisticated. They also need to determine the
whether and how it will affect their sight and how that will
affect their surrounding habitats.