Author: tumire90

Overview: Introduction and Background On Mining

Mining refers to the specific process of extracting large amounts of minerals and metals from the Earth. Some of these include iron, gold, silver, and diamond. This has become an essential habit that almost all country exhibits due to its role in improving every nation’s economy. It had been a long-time source of income for miners around the world. As far as history, the process dates back to prehistoric times. From the Sumerians and ancient Egyptian miners, it started with the discovery of tin.

Undoubtedly, surface mining brought great things into our lives at the start of civilization. We were able to discover some of the necessities that are important in our daily lives. This has supplied us with important resources needed for daily life, businesses and trade, and technological advances. These are just a few of what we obtain from mining. Ultimately, it has brought a lot of advantages.

Negative Effects

But despite its economic benefits , example of mining poses a lot of ill effects on the environment. Mining is like tapping all the resources and draining life out of the Earth.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to stop every nation from this excavation processing procedure. It would probably take thousands of years before people could realize the damaging effects of mining. Thus, knowing the root of the problem is essential so everyone can typically take a step forward in finding the best solution.

 

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The Process And Its Consequential Effects

Miners’ Tasks In large-scale operations: detrimental to mother nature

The mining process is straightforward. Mining usually starts with clearing out a large forest area to give easy gain access for the miners to do their job. People might wonder about the significance of that in mining. But unfortunately, regardless of the initial ecological damage, removing the trees is entirely part of the process of miners’ mining because it makes miners easy for large-scale miners’ quarrying operations to use excavators and huge bulldozers to extract the metals and minerals from the soil. But this particular strategy in the miners’ quarrying process leads to deforestation and reduction of other minerals that nourish the soil.

Mining’s Significant Harmful Effects On The Environment

As we all know, extracting minerals and deforestation is a damaging process that disturbs the balance in nature.

It touches the habitat of most animals, destroying biodiversity and the natural nourishment of plants from mineral deposits. The clearing of land for underground mining minerals can cause a huge impact on about 80 percent of global species that resides in the forest. Aside from that, habitat destruction is the primary cause of species extinction worldwide.

Therefore, it greatly decreases the balance and creates a human-wildlife conflict.

Deforestation That Affects And Impacts The Ecosystem: A Significant Issue Today

Deforestation due to minerals is a huge problem as mine causes soil erosion. But aside from that, the destruction of forests puts the local populations of the indigenous reserves at risk of watersheds and land qualities that lead to some health issues. Mines also threaten local communities by disrupting their livelihoods and affecting the quality of the food supply.

The chemicals from drainage can cause severe contamination of soil. Coal dust from coal underground mines also contributes to land degradation and pollute dammed rivers and pond waters. The poor working conditions cause the depletion of valuable metals. Thus, it can’t be denied that it is bad for the ecosystem.

 

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Still, There’s No Stopping From It

Mining minerals are considered dangerous as they bring worse things to the exploration of the environment. However, it is not always detrimental as quarrying provides some economic gain. This is essential in assuring the supply of natural resources.

Through quarrying, there is an improved quality of people’s lives as goods, services, and infrastructure become abundant. For instance, through quarrying, numerous industries can benefit from excavating fossil fuels, minerals, and precious metals beneficial for industrial production processes.

Quarrying provides a huge advantage in the future when it comes to new technology inventions and modern mining progress. It can provide advantage in underground mining of rare earth elements and other ore deposits. Using the best mining equipment and proper mining methods, chances of getting valuable minerals is high.

Miners employment opportunities

Aside from that, mining process of mineral deposit substances offer employment opportunities. It can help those less fortunate to develop their quality of life and progress with their everyday living. It may be bad for the environment, but it gives some people a chance to gain enough income to support their family’s needs. Mining can become a source of financial stability for those people who do not have a degree but are more than able to work on physical workloads. It can be crucial to ensure the livelihood of many individuals who struggle to survive otherwise.

Every country engages in mining as it promises to provide them with reasonable advancement. And with the help of a constant labor force, mining can become efficient and more optimized. Therefore, it guarantees to increase the country’s wealth and resource power. Through mining, countries can become more technologically mature, economically dependent, and financially developed. It helps them become competitive in the fierce global competition.

 

Source: pixabay.com

Conclusion: Take-home Insights That We Should Appreciate About Quarrying

Yes, the majority of mining information leads people to damaging effects. However, as technology progresses, many experts are trying their best to come up with measures that help mitigate the adverse effects of mining to make its processes as eco-friendly as possible. That explains why there is the inclusion of using the most high-standardized planning procedure and efficient pieces of machinery in some practice. There is also a huge consideration for the distribution of the raw materials that are extracted in mines.

Balance in the Quarrying Industry is Absolutely Essential – Mining Is Not Bad After All

Mining exists for quite a long time, and humanity has benefited from the process ever since. Some countries don’t have many other industries, yet they can still make a fortune from extracting valuable natural resources from the ground.

To ensure maximum security during mining operations, a comprehensive risk and information assessment should be carried out along with regular site inspections and maintenance checks. Site risk assessments identify any potential environmental issues. Regular feedback from workers and contact with local stakeholders may help to identify areas for improvement in mining performance, allowing companies to stay ahead of mining industry best practices.

Therefore, we can conclude that mining projects is significantly important to secure a high level of prosperity for the country and its citizens.

FAQs

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Mental Health And Addiction Treatment

I once had an amazing life. I was married to the most beautiful woman. Everything about it was so perfect that I never thought it could end with an addiction that continued growing over time. I no longer had that safe environment and my relationships with family members and other loved ones were damaged. The challenges were overwhelming.

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Addiction is a condition of not having control over doing, taking, or using something harmful. There are many types of addictions, abuse of drugs, substance abuse, and alcohol abuse just to name a few. One of the major symptoms of addiction is spending excessive amounts of money on something, but in my case, it was gold bars.

Addiction Counseling Helps

In mid-March last year, a friend introduced me to the gold bar collection. At first, I was hesitant because I found the hobby a little over the top. I do have a nice job as a teller in the bank, and I pretty much understand how each gold bar is valued. So at that time, I was like, “Okay, I’ll try collecting some.”

How The Hobby Affected My Mental Health

Now comes my addiction to gold and how I turned to addiction counseling. Having pieces of gold bars made me realize how much I am into the hobby – and how much I needed addiction treatment.

So my friend and I invested and bought a lot ( and I first realized my addiction here). We were so certain that we wanted to have tons of gold bars in our possession. Then we met Carlo. He was a gold bar enthusiast who also had many connections.

The first couple of transactions were smooth, and everything was doing great. Addiction counseling didn’t come in yet and I never thought It would lead to receiving treatment and going to family therapy sessions. So my friend and I ended up trading all our hard-earned money for dozens of gold bars.

Days before the said transaction, my wife, who was always my support system, told me that it would be a risk since I put everything, including our family savings, we had on the line. My wife was so worried that she said I should stop with my gold bar addiction (she actually mentioned addiction therapy at that time) and said I might be dealing with a mental illness (addiction). But I didn’t listen to her when she suggested online family therapy sessions and shrugged it off. Instead, I assured her that we would live a wealthy life once we get all those gold bars. My other family members were also bothered and had shown their support by reaching out to substance abuse counselor or professionals to inquire about treatments.

So the day of the transaction finally came, and my friend and I were so excited to finish the deal. We enchased all our money, and I even put up my family house for additional collateral for the said transaction. Unfortunately, we got scammed, and all the money we invested was gone just like that. It was a devastating moment for me that I broke down. I couldn’t believe what just happened – I destroyed my family’s lives. I trusted the wrong people, and my gold bar addiction took a very damaging effect on my life and my relationships. The complete stress and anxiety crept on all of us.

 

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Addiction Counseling Services

The Unfortunate Result Of My Addiction

After that incident, I went bankrupt. I couldn’t pay my bills, and I had difficulty finding money to feed my family. I was broke that I couldn’t even put food on the table for my family. Everything was out of my control, and I was slowly losing my sanity. I tried asking for help from friends, but all of them refused to help me. Most of my family members blamed me for being so naïve and obsessed.

I slowly began to feel depressed and the depression grew and became one of the most debilitating mental health disorders. I still want to get my gold bars back, so I was selling some of the stuff. I sold my car and some furniture in the house. I even sold some properties that my wife had even before we got married. When she found out, it was too late. There was nothing left on the properties because I used all of them for collateral for the debt I was into after the tons of money I lost in the gold bar scam. But that struggle could not stop me from my addiction.

Gold Addiction Counseling

There was this one time that I had to lie to my parents and asked money from them and told them that I would use the money for business investment. But then, I put up the cash to buy some pieces of gold bars that I found in the underground market. Unfortunately, what I got were fake gold bars. When my parents found out that the money they saved for their retirement was now gone, they stopped talking to me because they couldn’t control my gold bar addiction anymore.

But I was hesitant and continued looking for another source to get pieces of it.

Source: pixabay.com

Addiction Counseling

Refusing Addiction Counseling and online therapy

One day, after I was out running some errands, I found that my wife and children left me. It was about time that they finally decided to leave me alone because I couldn’t help myself – I lost my support. My wife had been pushing me to do addiction counseling, but I refused to even talk to a  therapist. I believed it was a sham. I entirely ruined my life just because of wanting to have a lot of gold bars in my hand.

Final Thoughts On Addiction Counseling

Surely, not all individuals would understand my situation. But it was too late when I realized my addiction to gold bars. It was not something a person could easily identify. I wish I had listened to my wife when she said I should seek addiction counseling. Addiction counseling cover treatment could have helped me a lot with my addiction. Addiction counseling and additional resources related to it could have saved my marriage.

Talking To Addiction Counselors On The Treatment Process

Through the help of a mental health counselor with clinical experience who offered emotional health care support and helped me learn to develop strategies in coping and communication skills to treat my underlying different issues. I am grateful to the licensed psychotherapy experts or psychiatrists and support groups that guided me and were with me throughout the treatment programs. I am on my way to being a better, cleaner, and responsible person because of the effectiveness of addiction counseling.

Addiction Counseling

Frequently Asked Questions

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As a mining engineer for more than two decades, I have worked with all kinds of miners on a broader array of mining sites to know what to expect as soon as I saw them. I could tell based on observation alone who’s new or who’s experienced at their jobs. More importantly, who among them would not be strolling around the site and could work even without supervision?

Now, there was a particular mining site that I had the most difficulty with. It was not because of awful facilities or lazy miners, no. It was because there were three employees there who showed signs of agitation.

How Agitated People Behave

Let’s called the first person as Ronnie. He was a 23-year-old guy who got looped into the business by his friends. They lived in the nearby suburban area where most of the men worked in the mining site. From an objective view, I liked Ronnie’s work. He was diligent; he picked up on things quickly. However, he was also terribly scared of caves and explosives – two common things you would deal with when you’re a miner. We used explosives as little as possible, but going to a human-made cave was inevitable, and Ronnie would always look clammy and shaky whenever he would have to go in there.

The second person was Joe. He came from the same suburban area where Ronnie lived. The problem with him was that his nervousness showed too much excitement or stubbornness. For instance, a supervisor showed how to identify a rock from a mineral, and he was already sorting through his pile. I heard complaints from his coworkers about that, considering correcting his errors did the job twice as hard for everyone.

The last one was Benjamin. Unlike Joe and Ronnie, he was a supervisor from another state. Going to a different state meant higher pay, and he needed that extra money because he had baby #2 on the way. However, since Benjamin could not go home often and missed his family terribly, he was often snappy towards the miners. That’s especially true if they could not understand instruction in one go. 

Why People Become Agitated

When I found out about the problematic employees, I asked my direct superior if we could bring a psychologist to the mining site. I did not want to believe that they were a bunch of crazy or mean people. After all, working in a mining site could take a toll on your mental health after a while. Its effect could even worsen if you had to live in the quarters, away from your family, for an extended period. Perhaps only Ronnie, Joe, and Benjamin were the most obvious cases, but there might be more people who needed mental help there.

Thankfully, my boss was open-minded about such things. A week after that, I announced that a psychologist would arrive, and they could talk to him about their worries, fears, problems – everything. I saw some people hesitate to do so, but it was probably because they had never opened up to anyone so much before. 

As per the client-psychologist confidentiality rule, I was not supposed to ask either the miner or the psychologist what they talked about during the session. Despite that, as I compared the expression on the people’s faces when they went in and out of the office where they met the mental health professional, many of them seemed like they got ten years younger afterward. The psychologist informed later that a few of them – including the three mentioned above – decided to continue their consultation and possibly try therapy. When I asked about their behaviors, he said that the miners’ agitation stemmed from occupational stress, leading to depression and anxiety. 

What are the signs and symptoms of agitation? 

When it comes to agitation, these are the signs and symptoms to look out for:

• You feel uneasy and nervous.
• You move uncontrollably.
• You become cranky and a little impatient.
• You can be too excited or too stubborn to do anything.

What does agitation feel like? 

When you experience agitation, it feels like tension builds up in your body. It takes very little to no provocation for that tension to explode into full-on anger, excitement, or impatience, given that this feeling is fueled by stress. Nevertheless, agitation is not an odd emotion, so it’s okay to feel this way sometimes.

Why do I get so agitated? 

Stress is one of the primary causes of agitation. When work, school, or a relationship becomes too much for you, you tend to feel too agitated to realize what needs to be done in life. Things do not let up when you have anxiety, addiction, bipolar disorder, or depression on top of that. In truth, that may worsen your agitation, to the extent that you may snap at people for practically no reason at all. 

Is agitation a sign of anxiety? 

Yes, agitation is a sign of anxiety. Whenever you feel anxious, your inner tension causes you to experience uneasiness or be on edge – as if you are a ticking bomb. A slight nudge, comment, gesture, or even a smile can trigger you to go over the edge.

What is the best medication for agitation? 

The reality is that there is no specific medication that can cure or treat agitation, considering it is technically a behavioral symptom – not a mental disorder. However, some psychiatrists may prescribe antipsychotic drugs like Abilify, Geodon, Haldol, and Zyprexa. In case the patient does not want to take medication, they may try the following:

• Know the trigger factors.
• Stay in a calm space.
• Rest well.
• Try meditation.

How do I overcome agitation? 

Considering your agitation is a symptom of psychosis, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other mental illnesses, you most likely need to see a psychiatrist determine if you can take medication or get therapy. In case it is due to hormonal imbalance, it may be ideal to try hormonal replacement therapy to get rid of your agitation. Now, suppose none of the given options is on the table. In that case, you may take non-medical approaches, such as doing deep-breathing exercises, yoga, and various calming techniques to reduce stress primarily. 

How do I know I’m bipolar? 

Bipolar disorder is not the most straightforward mental illness to diagnose, given that the varying signs of mania and depression can confuse even the best mental health professionals out there. However, if you genuinely want to know if you are bipolar, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I sometimes feel too high or too low?
• Can I sometimes forgo sleeping for days? Are there days when I feel too exhausted to leave the bed?
• Do I make decisions that feel both exciting but reckless? 
• When I am working, do I sometimes show overconfidence or lack of concentration?
• Do I feel like the king (or queen) of the world one day and then wish to end it another day?

If the answer to all these questions is ‘yes,’ then it is possible that you have bipolar disorder. 

Why do I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin? 

The sensation of crawling out of your skin is a physical symptom of anxiety. It is often accompanied by a tingling feeling – as if something is moving all over your body. Unfortunately, scientists cannot provide a medical explanation for this symptom at the time of writing. 

What is the difference between irritability and agitation? 

Irritability is a common form of anger that a person experiences when they witness or feel something untoward. Some may express it by scrunching up their nose, leaving, or maintaining a poker face, given that an irritated individual is not angry enough to lash out.

As for agitation, the opposite happens. When an agitated person sees or experiences something that their brain perceives as untoward, they may start wringing their hands, pacing the room, or shaking. Worse, they may be unable to keep themselves from acting irritable or yelling at someone as tension continues to build up in their system. Such uncontrollable behaviors may persist until the individual stops feeling agitated. 

What drugs calm you down? 

Psychiatrists typically prescribe antidepressants to patients who cannot calm down on their own. There are new forms of antidepressants (e.g., SSRIs) that are supposed to have fewer side effects than others. In case you are looking for anti-anxiety medication, you may seek FDA-approved benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin.

How do you get rid of an unsettled feeling? 

Feeling unsettled is not good. You should do the following to get rid of it:

• Figure out why you feel this way. The answer is in your head more often than not, but you may be afraid to confront the truth.
• Release all your pent-up emotions through physical activities. If you cannot go to the gym, run around the neighborhood. If you cannot ride a bike, then go on a hike. Even if you do not use your words, the exercises can boost your mental health.
• Create a new routine for yourself. Sometimes, you feel unsettled because you feel stuck. That may change when you have a different schedule to follow.
• Pray to God, Allah, or any of the gods or goddesses that you consider as heavenly beings. You need not follow any religion to do that, but sometimes it feels good to believe that higher beings are looking over you.
• Seek mental help if the tips above fail to get rid of your unsettled feelings. In that case, you may have an undiagnosed disorder and require medication or therapy to get better.

What is bad anxiety? 

Bad anxiety is another term for general anxiety disorder (GAD). Although it is technically the mildest form of anxiety, it remains characterized by recurring feelings of intense fear. The reason behind the sensation may or may not always be valid, but it can cripple an individual to the extent that they refuse to leave their house or bedroom.

What can I take for irritability? 

Irritability is a behavioral symptom that you may experience when you are agitated or before it turns into anger. It is also a familiar feeling for people who deal with hormonal imbalances, stress, depression, bipolar disorder, and other issues. Thus, you need to pinpoint which of them causes your irritability before taking any drug.

For instance, if you feel irritated due to depression, you may take antidepressants. In case it is because of hormonal imbalance, you can try hormonal replacement therapy.

What are the three most commonly prescribed drugs for dementia? 

Given that dementia have similar symptoms as Alzheimer’s disease, the patients who suffer from either tend to get practically the same drugs to slow down – not cure – memory loss. These drugs include:

• Donepezil
• Memantine
• Rivastigmine

Does anxiety medication help anger?

Technically speaking, anti-depression – not anti-anxiety – medication is used to treat anger issues. Some psychiatrists may prescribe Zoloft, Prozac, or Celexa to their patients since they are meant to provide a sense of calmness to the users. However, since patients suffering from anxiety also take antidepressants, anxiety medication helps anger via transitive relation.

Final Thoughts

The mining company owner learned about the psychological consultations that I requested for the miners I worked with. I thought he would tell me to shut down that program or, worse, fire me when he asked me to visit his office, but I was pleasantly surprised when he said that it was an excellent idea. After that conversation, more psychologists got dispatched to other mining sites, and the workers’ morale and mood improved overall in no time.