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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
May 19, 2013
Description:
I caught up with him later and we flew together up the James River from Richmond, where we saw some guys making a mountain out of a hole in the ground.
Date Taken:
May 19, 2013
Place Taken:
Central Virginia
Owner:
Don Maxwell
File Name:
MountainMaking_2146.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIMU0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIMU0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIMU0000s">
Category:
23, Max Pix
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Read what others had to say:
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Frank A. Carr - May 20,2013
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Here's another one Don. Saw this in Florida flying back from <br />Tavares.<br />
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Mound
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Don Maxwell - May 20,2013
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Wow, that's a whopper! Is it a landfill? There are lots of those around here (central Virginia). Virginia Beach has its Mount Trashmore, now a public park.<br /><br />The one in my photo is made of waste from that grey quarry in the background. The Luck family have been quarrying responsibly hereabouts for almost a century--as you can tell from the way they've landscaped the new hill. <a href="http://www.charlesluck.com/about-us">http://www.charlesluck.com/about-us</a> <br /><br />
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Frank A. Carr - May 20,2013
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I must confess Don I know nothing about the mound, I'm not the tour guide or geologists of you and Dan and others. Maybe next time I'll fly around it and get some more info. All I can report is that it's located south of Lake Parker, but probably not too far south. (How's that for having 2 GPS aboard?)<!-- >'"><br><font color=red size=6>' or > missing in user HTML. Please fix the HTML.</font> -->
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Dan Nickens - May 20,2013
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Looks like phosphate slime to me.
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Don Maxwell - May 20,2013
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Is that anything like a lime phosphate? No, I guess not.
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Dan Nickens - May 21,2013
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Slime ponds (as they are known colloquially) are settlement ponds associated with phosphate mining, Don. They consist mainly of waste gypsum separated from the phosphate ore.<br /><br />The ore is reacted with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid. Along with acidic waste water, gypsum residues are pumped to giant clay lined impoundments to settle out of suspension. Settlement is a slow process, taking decades (or centuries). <br /><br />Gypsum stacks cover more than 100,000 acres in Florida, rising up to 200’ high. The larger stacks contain up to 80 million tons of gelatinous goop. There are 25 stacks in the state 'storing' more than a billion tons.<br /><br />While gypsum is innocuous, the other constituents are not. In addition to the acidic water, heavy metals get concentrated in the slime. Two of the metals are uranium and radium. The waste piles are radioactive mesas.<br /><br />Back in the early days of phosphate mining (and into the 1980’s) slime pond embankments routinely “failed”. The resultant flood spread across the countryside, into streams and backyards without much fanfare. Finally the state decided to impose huge fines for these industry-styled “acts of God.” Apparently God lost interest in spreading the slime because they just don’t happen anymore. Instead, they stack them up high in the air like an ivory Tower of Babel.<br /><br /><br />
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Bruce McGregor - May 21,2013
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Florida is the Saudi Arabia of phosphate, producing 25% of the world's output and more than the next three countries combined. Phosphate is a principal component of fertilizers. <P> The mining companies scrape topsoil aside, dragline the ore and transport it to a plant. Mixed into a slurry the phosphate is extracted and shipped by rail. The remaining "slime" is pumped into settling ponds. Over time these build to 200' mountains (by Florida standards) as shown in the picture. <P> Decades ago different mining techniques left large ugly areas of open pits and spoil banks that are all too apparent from the air.<!-- >'"><br><font color=red size=6>' or > missing in user HTML. Please fix the HTML.</font> -->
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Frank A. Carr - May 21,2013
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Thanks for the lesson. There is a lot of these mining thingies around FL. I thought the <br />ones with the near emerald green ponds were phosphate mines?
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