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Grade 6- Mining in Eastern Africa

Mining- is the removal of mineral from where they are found

Minerals are precious stones or metal or gas dug from the ground or taken from the surface of the earth


Minerals found in Easter Africa

  1. Kenya- Soda ash

  2. Uganda- Copper

  3. Tanzania- Diamond

  4. Sudan- Zinc

  5. South Sudan- Gold

  6. Somalia- Uranium

  7. Djibouti- Limestone

  8. Burundi - Tin

  9. Eritrea- Gold


Extractions of selected minerals in Eastern Africa

Soda Ash mining in Kenya

The trona is mined from the surface with a machine known as dredger

the dredger floats on the lake where it troops the trona

Soda ash occurs naturally in rocks called Trona.

Trona is found in Magadi in Kajiado County in Kenya.

A floating machine called a dredger is used to mine Trona from the lake. This method of mining is called dredging.

Trona is crushed and mixed with water forming a solution called slurry.

It is then pumped to the nearby factory where the impurities are separated.

Soda ash is obtained and packed in various sizes.

The materials now known as soda Ash is crushed into various sizes and packed.

 

GOLD MINING IN TANZANIA

Gold is found underneath the earth crust

In Tanzania some gold is found in both open surface which is easy to extract and underground mines; to mine the gold underground, miners dig shaft into the ground along the veins.

Using picks and small explosives

They remove the gold ore from the surrounding

Gold is mined in Bulyanhulu in Shinyanga region of North Western Tanzania.

The rocks containing gold are called reefs.

Gold in Tanzania is mined through a method called shaft.

The miners use excavators to remove the upper part of the mines.

They dig shafts into the ground along the veins, sometimes they use small explosives to remove the gold bearing rocks (reefs)


 

Limestone Mining in Uganda

Limestone is mined in Itima and Tororo in Uganda.

Limestone is mined through quarrying and opencast.

The miners use Bulldozers.

The limestone is packed in lorries and taken to the cement factories nearby.


Effect of mining on the Environment in Eastern Africa

  1. Causes air pollution

  2. Causing water pollution

  3. Open mines log water that harbors pests that causes diseases like malaria and water borne diseases

  4. Wastage of agricultural land

  5. Destroy the landscape and beauty of the land

 

 

Conservation of areas affected by mining Activities in Eastern Africa

Solution to problem associated with mining

  1. Planting trees and grass to restore wasted land

  2. Closing up the mines using environmental friendly measures

  3. Controlling soil, water and air pollution that comes from mine

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