Vocabulary

Waste is brought about by overconsumption of resources. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia. 


E-waste: electronic waste

Energy: the ability to do work or produce change

Floatation: adding a compound to ores in order to extract valuable minerals 

Heat: energy gained from burning fuels for energy

Hazardous waste: materials that are dangerous to human health or the environment. They are toxic, chemically active, corrosive or flammable materials

Leaching: treating ores with chemicals to separate out the valuable minerals

Leaf litter: dead leaves, bark and branches on the forest floor

Ore: rock that contains minerals with useful elements

Ore deposit: concentration of minerals that is profitable and therefore mined

Placers: valuable minerals found in stream gravels

Reclamation: restoring a previously mined area to its original state

Smelting: roasting rock in order to separate the ore into layers

Surface mining: mining method used for extracting ores that are close to the Earth's surface

Superfund Act: law passed in 1980 that requires companies to be responsible for hazardous chemicals they put into the environment

Underground mining: mining method used for extracting deeper ore deposits

Last modified: Tuesday, 17 January 2017, 7:09 PM