Like most people, we were riveted to the unfolding story of the rescue of the Chilean miners last month. It was a story of the power of the human spirit. The courage of the miners, the faith of their families and the selfless determination and ingenuity of the rescuers and all of the supporting groups around the world will be remembered as key parts of one of the most heroic events of our time.
But the mining industry has a long history of disasters on this scale and the majority of them do not provide us with the joyful ending of the Chilean mine cave-in. Thousands of people lose their lives every year in mining disasters. Major media events like the Chilean mine disaster brings into focus the question of sustainable alternatives and what price are we willing to pay.
Copper Is A Shining Example Of The Beauty of Recycling
Copper is one of the most plentiful non-ferrous metals on the planet. Throughout known history approximately 700 billion pounds of copper has been mined and nearly all of this copper is still in circulation because copper’s recycling rate is higher than that of any other engineering metal.
Source: Peel Scrap Metal Recycling Ltd