Huge Holes in the Earth: Open-Pit Mines Seen From Space

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People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more
, Y1 l0 u4 y- {) ?; N" W5.39.217.77of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
; U" ]- \# @3 v# g9 C4 \5.39.217.77deforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.
' f7 L. S, v5 k' x3 @, itvb now,tvbnow,bttvbWe’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by 5.39.217.77; e  n: o9 G& T( H; y
astronauts and satellites on the following pages.4 @3 E6 O+ r4 ^

0 e9 Z6 c- }# q; f/ G公仔箱論壇Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, MontanaTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。# r- p: X2 B. z1 v8 L: R' h! W5 t1 o. |
This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. 7 J, A: p% n6 T  F. S& y! R# ?
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining. 公仔箱論壇1 b$ J& E. R  j0 U( A) o
Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled
6 ]" X0 d# J( x! lwith metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The
! X7 [3 H  Z  b, D: j! g# v  MTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.
7 b. a2 z7 |/ gCurrently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to
1 ]2 s+ D( P$ C- M  j* s, L0 i( {TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。contaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb' ^+ U& d1 B& U
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.
; v0 X7 r5 H1 ]8 I" U5.39.217.77This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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Escondida Mine, Chiletvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! R5 t; v0 x% D% E9 Y
The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces
+ h  o0 |9 d" V2 ^5 Ftvb now,tvbnow,bttvbmore copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and 5.39.217.775 u, S# ?+ I+ v! T" Y: P$ E$ e! M
representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.
0 ^4 F' O. |7 `; p" KTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
% k: O0 M# {/ D; u5 Qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbaboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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" f, S- [, I0 ^4 ?Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah+ y& d5 C$ g$ y" U" ~9 s) m
Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced
1 ]3 ^4 h/ O7 }* s% TTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75 TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。# H/ }' q. o" e8 F. ~- f# A
miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach
, m9 B. H* X) {1 Y9 E9 g- Kthe top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces 2 _6 ?8 G5 J4 u  N" x7 W
inside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80 TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。" I2 Q: U$ R" N- Y4 R9 b+ n
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.
) f- h7 C: t! W, s0 }$ fThis photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb' G  i8 R9 S3 m2 l7 X5 \0 t
camera and an 800mm lens.
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.5.39.217.77  I* C. z$ `  }7 N( o
The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, 5.39.217.77) [* `3 y' e4 ^( _
dredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 E% @* S: e& T. T
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.
% ]3 F$ u% h6 b' u0 mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbShortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic
4 E- S) D' G4 N0 vtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbmining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel, TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。- Q+ G! s1 q  ?  `( J
which was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with 4 I8 H. {: W5 |# X8 I' d
685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.
; t/ @9 m  ], v7 U/ zTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to / H) e" A3 Y: p: h# L* T
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the
' @/ t4 S. Z) |# wTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。gravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.5.39.217.77- N9 g/ P3 T0 ?  F/ E
This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.
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Toquepala Copper Mine, Peru
# J% n  ^3 q* ]  L9 ^+ R5.39.217.77Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep.
" H5 k8 m3 _' W3 Q2 Y% N0 qThe mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was
7 F+ e8 ?7 g  J4 mTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center, ! ?  q# V8 C! M2 M* ]
heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space 公仔箱論壇: F. P0 {4 n0 q" l9 i2 @; p9 @; f* w7 r
Station on Sept. 22, 2003.
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7 Z* p" {: U; R1 Wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbFreeport Mine, Indonesia
6 M# d+ B3 o8 GThe Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman
5 x- l* u1 H) q! kMountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of 6 \) y" G* h3 t9 K, V8 C( F! ^
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is 3 b" N# {0 m" y+ Q: |. Z! Y8 [
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.
6 [1 V9 S# h1 @This photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.# P9 U- p7 I8 s$ j+ }- O3 t
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# q3 D% ]5 S3 C6 v: g5 Stvb now,tvbnow,bttvbCananea Mine, Mexico
% O+ W! r. F1 k7 c/ V8 {The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
3 c  m' a  z& B6 Y- K- cPit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains
: z7 T4 k( g" f4 o' k# F% Q- p* N公仔箱論壇gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock.
$ ^: a- J. A9 s# x5.39.217.77The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering + m. _" B2 s5 m- g+ @
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.
$ a1 h7 \/ m  F2 E1 S! o+ kTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the 公仔箱論壇) Q1 N* B& K: d$ ~! U9 q! {
Mexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
3 U$ P' i: w$ f5 p1 o: R公仔箱論壇This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.8 A5 ^% U9 ~! q. k" Y
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6 x' K) u. o2 Z" P2 w$ M/ T0 Y. ~6 BPhosphate Mines, Jordantvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 m' P/ E; f2 j8 l
Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60 + q+ @% M4 t+ L, S! y/ x
percent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
+ v' X; n  k; o: Y1 x; B公仔箱論壇fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
7 q" P$ _' g. U- _TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。point at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.
# W- o1 ^+ I+ a" z* o5 etvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
  w0 w$ t, R0 k  q公仔箱論壇satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb/ H& ]- e2 [+ U4 h, ]
blue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。( I' o, |- Y7 |* V% `! \" ~0 a
lower part of the image that appears striped.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。# p  G. w& V5 z7 i

& Q. B6 q. ?, q; W# u" _公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。$ Z; \$ ?! y' s! K" V3 G( c: j0 N

9 `) E1 K: `8 w' B" v& CTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。New Cornelia Mine, Arizonatvb now,tvbnow,bttvb. l- }3 n0 x2 o$ w
Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
5 d4 ~! [3 P$ ~) [; f. V0 Aabove began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped
: R3 @2 o8 d$ B* U) ^% M4 C8 y5 V3 @5.39.217.77land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where
* L9 Y' y1 d# c& u公仔箱論壇the metal was extracted.- v' P# r: m, ]% C; V/ V! Q
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6 ]" v, p) R! Y6 n* Mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbHambach Coal Mines, GermanyTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。4 U" C, `7 ^8 V6 U9 ^! ]
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany.
( f) z9 @; d3 o5 M7 x& k) m5 u. J公仔箱論壇One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator , }/ S7 s: v* p7 B1 T# D
is twice as long as a soccer field and a stall as a 30-story building, and digs up 30 million tons of lignite per year.公仔箱論壇# T6 w5 a$ t$ T4 z# e3 K: ]
This image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite
8 {1 F! J. c) d& \; }5.39.217.77Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are 公仔箱論壇7 B, R3 U" P1 o: |: |
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.