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

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3 M8 ~6 ~8 Q# p0 b% lPeople have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& C: U9 t9 n: L" ]/ l* e
of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and $ Z) v  l! K: E& ~
deforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.
; j* x! q  \; {% r3 E- a( r+ y5.39.217.77:8898We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by 公仔箱論壇( o# [; c% Q8 z7 i
astronauts and satellites on the following pages.
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Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana% \1 Y9 C- R! ]4 n; L. J
This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. ; d5 P5 |" o, K, M' ]5 q
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining.
9 O( m. N) ]2 O! r$ M3 K- iToday, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled公仔箱論壇0 v: W, g' n2 d* L
with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The & }) c1 k, v5 v! c6 K( c" s! E
water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.公仔箱論壇! Z% U4 f* `6 ?8 Q$ ?/ w2 ]
Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to
6 Q9 B) w+ X7 {5 @' t) f8 ?+ ]$ Itvb now,tvbnow,bttvbcontaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete
$ s" o# @$ r% Pwith gift shop and$2 admission fee.
! w6 y* r8 d: o! E公仔箱論壇This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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Escondida Mine, Chile
8 R- p  z7 z5 u& ^/ X5.39.217.77:8898The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces ' H$ T2 w3 |; K* a5 E" y
more copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and
" @) k0 y+ t  G" F7 K$ VTVBNOW 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。representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.
$ R* Z5 t; F: }+ ]" ^! _; T公仔箱論壇This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer 3 u6 N; y6 ~/ a0 ^% B
aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.公仔箱論壇+ C. {  i5 a  W* s
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( u* f8 J% H1 B. i+ x1 J公仔箱論壇Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah
) \8 |  f! I' V- L5.39.217.77:8898Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced   [+ }1 k% o2 y- A/ E. G3 W
more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75 5.39.217.77:88984 J) R9 a# i% M3 t( Y* F! \
miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach 公仔箱論壇$ [1 E/ x1 |# |! v9 n. L% K, f
the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces 5.39.217.77:88985 n( F* ?. L& E7 ~; m
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。! p  A' N; |& B) c
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& h& ~$ A) ]9 }& q
This photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital
2 y* _2 H, u! ?" ^* V$ Z8 o! }! \+ x公仔箱論壇camera and an 800mm lens.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。) u3 r5 _+ V$ y8 g+ v/ ~& e. j1 G
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.
( B( m: C# T8 A( e( N0 {; w5.39.217.77:8898The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, 公仔箱論壇- _1 J7 D( D. K( J* v
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,bttvb, S) P. l+ P. y6 e; B
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.5.39.217.77:8898% N) b/ y- [2 N3 H$ A: `, i
Shortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic
6 Q0 Z$ j/ O6 J7 H( R公仔箱論壇mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel,
! D1 K) q" `8 k+ M# o/ t" Q; qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbwhich was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with 公仔箱論壇+ u9 w8 o1 B5 {) G  w, R4 i' \
685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 h, g3 \6 x7 q5 m3 i' J
Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to 5.39.217.77:88980 b; t$ \7 g& ]+ J  _! {/ U
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the
1 V+ x& g$ R2 y9 Ktvb now,tvbnow,bttvbgravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.5.39.217.77:8898' i5 ~4 m# }( K) A' M4 f, g! `9 o
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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% g4 }$ D/ x* _; B6 m公仔箱論壇Toquepala Copper Mine, Peru
0 ^# M' \7 U6 F8 LLocated in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep.
$ f  @# x$ _0 V  w: ^! Otvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was
: `( J4 M* M! S/ z" i* P6 etvb now,tvbnow,bttvbconstructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center,
' V2 U6 [" n* l1 K: H: i# @. ]5.39.217.77:8898heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
( t9 Y# p: v6 E- z( l) OStation on Sept. 22, 2003.
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) n9 k9 Y+ s( h+ J6 U/ V/ j8 lFreeport Mine, Indonesia4 i) ^2 ~/ O% W4 E1 V9 B4 [$ Y
The Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb$ n# O4 P6 o& A& u! @% F, l
Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of 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。4 X* J5 ?: Z1 Q
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb, T' }$ X* U9 T$ G, s* o& s. v) u8 ]9 L
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.
1 o, F5 X- o' N& P  }2 ^This photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.
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Cananea Mine, Mexico! G0 [7 I" `, D/ N
The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
! F% @8 a# y$ [% _% _4 R; ^Pit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains 3 Z% c' x2 G9 w
gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock. 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。: y% ?" ^) u, ~! Z% E) Y
The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering 0 g  l% m9 x: y
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.
$ P4 {7 I& h/ t0 k6 eA 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the
3 _- I) K& w! E3 N5 Y) vMexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.+ m- B1 R; C+ b3 n7 ~& y
This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.: C4 i4 ]$ Z4 q8 |' \

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% g. M+ }) M- d! \6 H& \9 y公仔箱論壇Phosphate Mines, Jordan
8 L1 Z% z# q/ R4 u3 hPhosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60 公仔箱論壇( a! }% K. R9 J8 I6 b; M5 ?
percent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
6 o. v: l; n6 t/ N5.39.217.77:8898fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 w/ I+ {' x$ F  k' U3 Y
point at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative." s& d* P) v( C( U: V  K4 G
This image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra 公仔箱論壇; Y% [. y: U" {9 D1 e; g: g% ~
satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
8 t, b, m! m( X  g# e4 Qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbblue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the
6 k: i1 D- j* ?2 o8 y: h6 Z2 Qlower part of the image that appears striped.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 j; b& ]* N7 b( \

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New Cornelia Mine, Arizona
% k) G1 i, k' }/ ~( `1 n) |Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
# |- A2 v2 S( Q  r5 b: Iabove began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped $ w9 d" w6 B7 ^3 e
land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where 5.39.217.77:8898/ Y* _3 Z  F: X& {' k3 L& n6 ^: @
the metal was extracted.. s% _- q7 z% C, n$ P/ M5 i" Q

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Hambach Coal Mines, Germany5.39.217.77:88980 {$ V/ `( ]3 L8 n
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany. tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 L: m4 v+ F: n4 d7 X2 f
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator
4 n8 E1 S# r# d0 x2 l9 t- [( h公仔箱論壇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.
6 b" P7 B8 v) P9 U4 s# AThis image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite 5.39.217.77:8898+ g) ^7 s* ~" v: X
Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are 6 f) Y! X7 C4 H
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.