As a proponent of green energy: mining is absolutely required to transition out of oil. The alternative is hunter gatherer civilization. People protesting this are doing it wrong. At best, it’s NIMBYism.

I’m a geophysicist. AMA if you have concerns and I’ll try to allay your fears.

  • TroyOPM
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    1 year ago

    Nothing off hand. I’ve been in industry for a while and am speaking from a gathered knowledge perspective. However, using google (or Google scholar), you should probably be able to find the information you’re looking for with keywords like “sand slurry mining pumps” or similar. The technology is used in a lot of contexts, including some less savory targets (oil sands), but also to pump material into voids (mixed with small amounts of concrete) to stabilize the voids. The pump technology required to pump such a slurry is kind of gonzo, in my opinion. Think about how abrasive sand is! Compared to the pumps, the drilling is a trivial task.