Final answer:
Landfill mining involves excavating waste from landfills primarily for recycling and reducing landfill size, not just for precious metals. It also aims to address environmental issues, unlike damaging practices like mountaintop mining. The unsustainable pace of mining valuable minerals indicates a need for future sustainability practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement is partially true; landfill mining is the practice of excavating waste from active or closed landfills. However, it is not only for the purpose of acquiring and selling precious metals such as platinum and silver, but also for other materials that can be recycled or have energy recovery potential. Moreover, landfill mining aims to reduce the size of landfills, make land available for other uses, and mitigate environmental issues associated with old landfills. This process contrasts with mountaintop mining (MTM), which involves the removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, is extremely damaging to the environment, destroying habitat and burying streams with mining debris.
Regarding the availability of minerals, experts project that mining materials at the current pace is unsustainable because the best deposits of minerals like copper, gold, and aluminum have been heavily exploited. This suggests that the future of mining will involve careful consideration of environmental impacts and resource scarcity.
The historical context of gold mining, such as that which occurred in what is now Ghana, shows that gold has always been valued highly. Gold mining was traditionally conducted by family groups who used methods like panning in streams or diving underwater to collect sediments. This practice is far less destructive than MTM and has a long-standing cultural significance.