On another episode, we talk about how mines have a large environmental footprint. Think of a giant pit, with huge machines digging out ore.

By contrast, think of your old smart phone. In one ton of discarded phones there’s 80 times more gold than in one ton of ore.

Electronic waste, like phones and computers, contains gold, silver, palladium and rare earth elements.

Old batteries contain lithium, cadmium and other heavy metals.

Construction and demolition debris contains copper from piping and air conditioning, and steel from rebar and beams.

Old cars and trucks contain steel, aluminum and other metals.

This can make cities a repository of metals more concentrated than any mine. And makes this waste the resource for a new industry called ‘urban mining.’

The challenge is gathering that varied waste from across the urban environment, then sorting and disassembling it to be processed. That takes energy, time, labor and money.

But new recycling programs, often powered by AI, sort materials with magnets and robots, then use mechanical shredders and chemical solvents to break them down into simpler components.

Producing metals this way uses less energy and water than mining and processing new ore, with potentially less environmental impact – while also reducing the need for new metals, sometimes imported from unfriendly countries.

In the future, more metal will come from these sources much closer to home.

In another EarthDate, we talk about how mining provides the materials to build the modern world.

But new technology is changing that world. We’re building huge new data centers for AI; batteries to power EVs, and stabilize the power grid; and enormous volumes of solar panels and wind turbines.

All these will require a lot more mining. And all mining impacts the environment.

So engineers are working to make the process cleaner and safer.

Mine tailings – the waste rock – are today kept in huge ponds, which can spill catastrophically. New techniques dry them out for safer storage, or to use as construction materials, and recycle the water.

And more mines are capturing, treating and reusing water throughout their processes.

Many mines are working to reduce emissions at the site, switching diesel equipment and trucks for electric motors, requiring more electricity.

More advanced automation makes mines more efficient. More advanced exploration uses less energy and disturbs less land to find new resources.

New technologies extract lithium directly from hot, deep brines. And use electricity, instead of high heat or strong acids, to separate metals from mining waste.

Meanwhile, improved recycling programs recover more copper, lithium and other metals from old electronics, batteries and scrap, to help reduce the need for new mines.

And we talk about that, on another EarthDate.

Today we make stuff in three ways. Plants and animals make our food, wood and fiber. Oil and gas make plastic, fuels, chemicals and clothing.

And rocks, dug out of a mine, become metal, concrete and stone – which make our buildings and roads, planes, trains and automobiles, energy infrastructure and much more.

By weight and value, our most important mined product is coal – which makes about 1/3 of global electricity.

Coal was also the first thing humans mined at scale, 20,000 years ago in South Africa.

Around 6,000 years ago, we figured out how to smelt metal out of ore. Copper, gold, silver, tin and iron shaped civilizations in the Bronze and Iron ages, making weapons and tools, art and currency.

Today, we mine in several ways. Surface mines dig out shallow ore deposits or stone.

Underground mines dig tunnels to reach deeper reserves.

Placer mining separates minerals from erosion runoff.

Solution mining dissolves minerals in place with a solvent, which is then pumped to the surface and purified.

All forms of mining have environmental impacts. Surface mines can deforest large areas and disrupt ecosystems. Waste rock, and polluted water and air can impact local communities.

In another EarthDate, we talk about ways to address these impacts, as we ramp up mining to meet the demands of new technology.