ABSTRACT
Mining significantly disturbs the environment, through deep mining, open-pit mining, or strip mining—removing topsoil and digging out ores or aggregates. Mines produce a variety of minerals, metals, and aggregates that are used in everyday products and in the construction of buildings, roads, and bridges. Aggregate mining operations vary from small, family-operated gravel and sand pits to large, corporate-owned rock quarries. Prices of minerals and aggregates change over time because of new mining technologies, discoveries of new deposits, and the substitutions of one material for another. Mineral and aggregate resources can be an important part of a community's economy. The comprehensive planning process can help a community identify these resources and direct development away from them. Mining is regulated by the federal government through the General Mining Law of 1872, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and the Clean Water Act.
