Mining is something that a lot of people still think of in archaic terms. It’s easy to associate the term with a gold rush aesthetic – pickaxes and minecarts that paint it as very much being a thing of the past. However, that’s simply not the case. Dispelling this myth and understanding the true scale of what the modern mining industry looks like can better help contextualize it within the modern world and its problems.
This isn’t always ubiquitous, and as with any industry, it’s changing all the time, meaning that as technology evolves, this picture might look very different again before too long.
The Tools Being Used
Taking your mind away from those old tools is difficult because you don’t know exactly what’s being used now. To start with, automation plays a large role due to the efficiency of such technology and how it can often be used to decrease the risk to human workers. The size of these tools alone can give you an idea of how much more intensive modern mining operations have become due to this. As the demand for the resources grows, there needs to be a way to excavate with greater efficiency, leading to an increase in the scale of the tools as well. It’s not just about these tools becoming bigger, though; it’s also about them becoming more suited to the specific nature of the task. Precision concrete cutting services revolve their entire business model around this, for example, offering a way to scale up the level of mining operations and get exactly what is needed out of it.
The Impact
The impact of modern mining is difficult to talk about straightforwardly due to how caught up it is in various issues that aren’t easily disentangled from one another. The scale of modern mining is due to the demand for those resources being mined – a demand that is present because of how many modern societies are structured. Of course, due to this scale, modern mining can also have adverse ecological impacts, which are often raised in discussions around this topic. However, as much as it might be environmentally beneficial to cease further mining, it wouldn’t be feasible due to the dense network of economic and societal factors surrounding mining.
Without changing these surrounding factors, it isn’t easy to imagine the resources being mined not being sought after with the same single-minded approach. Therefore, the question might turn to how mining can be conducted more ecologically sustainably – preserving its place within the big picture while potentially softening some of the more negative impacts. However, while some professionals are striving towards this goal, it might often mean adopting an approach that could be seen as less efficient than what is more commonly opted for. While disregarding ecological outcomes continues to be profitable, it might be difficult for mass change to occur.
The Very Real Future of Asteroid Mining
Ultimately, though, the Earth only has so many resources, and many competing parties are looking to get them. When many think about asteroid mining, it’s easy to think about it as some far-flung idea that is more a work of fiction than a practical suggestion. Due to the increased interest in space expansion exhibited by many countries in recent years and the sheer wealth of resources that can be obtained through asteroids, meteorites, and other celestial bodies, this might be a more likely future than you’ve come to believe.
If this proves to be a successful venture, it might be the case that more and more of it will occur. This might take the pressure off mining Earth’s resources, but it will likely continue, with asteroids being seen as simply more to choose from rather than a straightforward replacement. Once again, with countries and causes often going where the money is, this might lead to space expansion for humanity that has generally been exclusive to the world of science fiction up to this point. The intensely inhospitable conditions of space do pose challenges, though, challenges that might once again be best overcome with the pioneering and game-changing technology that has come to define the evolution of the mining industry in history up to this point.
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