ENVIRONMENT MINING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In Morocco there are a series of metal sulphide mineralizations which have been or are exploited by small and medium scale of mining companies. This exploitation, like other equivalent in the world, has a deleterious effect on the environment. The causes of these dangers are simple and can be summarized as follows: one of the most serious problems caused by this mining activity is the incorporation of heavy metals in aqueous media. These metals resulting from the dissolution of minerals that are unsteady with environmental conditions. This is the case of dissolution of a metal sulfide in an oxidizing environment. The main aspects of contamination by mining activity are: the geological processes and the anthropogenic processes.