From the moment humans discovered stone tools and salt, they have been extracting and using materials from the Earth. Every American will utilize approximately 2.4 million pounds of mined materials during their lifetime (calculated from Mineral Information Institute statistics). In spite of people's dependence on the products of extractive technologies and their associated sciences, mining is a highly controversial activity surrounded by ethical, political, social, and legal issues. Mining focuses attention on the metaphysical relationship of humans to the Earth, on the impact of their activities on the environment and other species, on issues of equity and sustainability, on human rights and democracy.

Mining is the extraction of metallic or nonmetallic materials from the Earth. The full cycle of mining involves exploration for the material required; mining sensu stricto, which is the physical removal of material from the Earth; processing, which is usually required to concentrate or clean the...