Minerals and Mining in South Africa

Question 1

what is a non-renewable resource

Answer 1

Something that we can only use once

Question 2

how old are most rocks

Answer 2

Millions of years old

Question 3

what is ore

Answer 3

Rock that contains large amounts of minerals

Question 4

What are some of South Africa’s most important minerals (7)

Answer 4

Gold, Copper, Platinum, Manganese, Chrome, Diamonds, Iron

Question 5

What is gold used for

Answer 5

jewelry and dentistry

Question 6

What is platinum used for

Answer 6

jewelry, car industry, electrical industries

Question 7

What is chrome used for

Answer 7

Making other metals, making shiny parts of machines

Question 8

What is iron used for

Answer 8

Construction, car industry, making machines, making other metals

Question 9

What are diamonds used for

Answer 9

jewelry, cutting machines

Question 10

What is manganese used for

Answer 10

batteries, cans, making other metals

Question 11

What is copper used for

Answer 11

pipes, electrical wires, jewelry

Question 12

What is coal

Answer 12

Rock made from the remains of plants that died millions of years ago

Question 13

How much coal is there in the world

Answer 13

Enough to last 100 years

Question 14

Explain in 3 points how coal is formed

Answer 14

1. Millions of years ago thick forests grew in wet areas called swamps. Each year some trees died and fell into the swamps.
2. The swamps filled up with dead trees, rivers washed sand and soil into the swamps, and so the trees were buried under the sand and soil.
3. more rocks and sand piled up on the old swamps. All the water was squeezed out. And slowly all the buried sand, soil, and dead trees were squashed into different rocks. The trees became coal.

Question 15

What is the main use of coal in SA

Answer 15

Used as fuel to make electricity

Question 16

what else is coal used for

Answer 16

Used to make petrol and other oils we can burn. Also used to make steel, tar for roads, concrete, plastic and paper, soap, shampoo, foods, medicine.

Question 17

What is mining

Answer 17

The process of digging rocks out of the ground

Question 18

What are the 2 main ways of mining

Answer 18

1. Open-pit (surface)
2. Shaft (deep level)

Question 19

Why is open-pit mining done

Answer 19

When minerals are found near the surface

Question 20

Where is the biggest open-pit mine in SA

Answer 20

Kimberly, Northern Cape

Question 21

How deep is the Big Hole

Answer 21

12 km

Question 22

how many miners dug the Big Hole, and how long did it take them

Answer 22

50 000 miners, took them over 100 years

Question 23

By which year were all the diamonds found

Answer 23

1914

Question 24

What is a shaft

Answer 24

A hole that goes deep into the ground

Question 25

What is needed in order for people to work in shaft mines

Answer 25

Ventilation

Question 26

Define ventilation

Answer 26

A way to push cooled, fresh are into small spaces such as mines

Question 27

Define a lift

Answer 27

a lifting machine that transports miners and rocks into a mine shaft

Question 28

What is the environment

Answer 28

Everything around us, including water, air, soil, people, plants, and animals

Question 29

List 5 ways that mining damages the environment

Answer 29

1. The animals that live in the soil and plants lose their homes or die because their source of food is destroyed.
2. Miners use machines that remove large areas of soil and vegetation
3. valuable farmland and forests may be turned into open-pit mines
4. mining creates lots of dust which gets into the air - people breathe this dust in and it is unhealthy (silicosis)
5. Water mixes chemicals that come out of the broken rocks. These chemicals turn the water into an acid. Acid mine water can get into rivers and underground water supplies.

Question 30

What do Laws require of open-pit mines

Answer 30

They require that open-pit mine owners rebuild the land once they have mined. They are supposed to save the soil and replant the same vegetation

Question 31

What do laws require about mines waste

Answer 31

That they need to be more careful with waste disposal, an example of this is in the Free State and Gauteng where they are burying the waste material in old shafts and tunnels

Question 32

How deep are some of SA’s mine shafts

Answer 32

Almost 4km deep

Question 33

List 6 bad working conditions of the shaft mines

Answer 33

1. Temperatures at the bottom of the mines can reach 50 degrees Celsius (air is cooled and pumped down the mine)
2. the weight of the rocks cause rock falls
3. the rocks may contain poisonous gases
4. Gases can catch on fire and explode
5. Miners use explosives to breaks up rocks.
6. mines are full of dust

Question 34

What is Silicosis

Answer 34

A disease which attacks peoples lungs and makes it difficult to breathe

Question 35

What causes Silicosis

Answer 35

caused by breathing air that contains a lot of dust

Question 36

What rules do miners have to follow to protect themselves

Answer 36

1. Wear a helmet, boots, gloves, overalls
2. Work in at least groups of two
3. Wear masks when working in thick dust
4. Report machines that are not working properly
5. follow the team leaders instructions

Question 37

What must miners not do

Answer 37

1. Take matches into the mines
2. Do not do jobs that they are not trained to do
3. Work alone or in restricted areas