关于煤和矿物的事实FACTS ABOUT COAL AND MINERALS

想想你的日常生活……你开车或骑自行车上班或上学吗?用于制造汽车和自行车的铁矿石、铝土矿、铜、铂和其他矿物都是矿业产品。你用电脑吗?你知道制造屏幕、外壳、芯片、电路和电池需要66种矿物质吗?而且很可能你今天使用的一半以上的电力是由煤或铀产生的，这两种都是矿业产品。 我们被这些原材料——矿物和煤——包围着，它们使我们的日常生活几乎成为可能。但我们常常认为它们是理所当然的，因为它们在我们的生活中无处不在，即使我们没有看到它们。它们使我们的灯一直亮着，为制造业提供基本的构件，并为我们所依赖的先进技术提供至关重要的材料。为美国在美国，采矿业每年对经济的直接影响约为6000亿美元，约占美国经济的3%国内生产总值(GDP)，是衡量一个国家在一定时期内生产的商品、服务和结构的市场价值的指标。采矿活动在美国50个州都有发生拥有78种重要的矿藏和大宗商品，是世界上最多的国家。今天，生产这些美国繁荣基石的采矿业，不仅利用先进的设备和受过高度训练的熟练工人来开采，而且在资源开采后恢复土地。我们经济的所有方面，包括电力、通信、运输系统、计算机网络、国家安全、空间和医疗技术，都需要矿产和煤炭。幸运的是，美国拥有许多重要矿产资源的丰富国内储备和世界上最大的可采煤炭供应。尽管美国拥有丰富的高质量、多样化的矿产资源，但由于联邦政府的审批程序很长，一座矿山获得运营许可可能需要7到10年的时间。

Think of your everyday life…. Do you drive or bike to work or school? The  iron ore, bauxite, copper, platinum and other minerals used in the manufacture of  cars and bicycles are products of mining. Do you use a computer? Did you know  it takes as many as 66 minerals to make the screen, case, chips, circuitry and the  battery? And it is likely that more than half the electricity you used today was  generated either by coal or uranium, both products of mining.  

We are surrounded by these raw materials — minerals  and coal — that make nearly everything possible in our  daily lives. But we often take them for granted because  they are everywhere in our lives, even when we don’t see  them. They keep our lights on, provide essential building  blocks for manufacturing and provide materials vital to  advanced technologies we all depend on.

For the U.S., mining has a direct economic impact of about $600 billion annually, or about three percent of the  U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), which is a measure  of the market value of goods, services and structures  produced in a country during a given time period.  Mining activity takes place in all 50 states, in fact the  U.S. has significant deposits of 78 minerals and major  commodities - the most of any nation.

Today’s mining industry that produces these building blocks of American prosperity utilizes sophisticated equipment and a highly skilled and trained workforce to not only mine, but also to  restore land after resource extraction has occurred.

All aspects of our economy including electricity, communications, transportation systems, computer  networks, national security, space and medical technology — require minerals and coal.  Fortunately, the U.S. is home to extensive domestic reserves of many important mineral resources  and the world’s largest supply of recoverable coal.

Although the U.S. has an abundance of high quality, diverse mineral resources, due to the lengthy  federal permitting process, it can take seven to 10 years for a mine to receive approval to operate.