B. Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability · Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability

Location, Access and Ways of Extracting Resources

B1.1About 50 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain how a resource's location and accessibility affect whether and how it is extracted.
I can describe different methods of mining, forestry and fishing.
I can analyse how the type and location of a deposit affect the extraction method and how the resource is used.

Words to know

extraction
Taking a non-renewable resource out of the ground, like mining ore or pumping oil.

harvesting
Taking a renewable resource, like cutting trees or catching fish.

accessibility
How easy it is to reach a resource and get it to market.

deposit
A natural concentration of a mineral or fossil fuel in one place.

open-pit mine
A mine dug down from the surface in a huge, stepped pit, used when ore is near the surface.

underground mine
A mine reached by shafts and tunnels, used when ore is deep.

clear-cutting
Cutting down all or almost all of the trees in an area at once.

selective cutting
Cutting only some trees (chosen by size or type) and leaving the rest standing.

aquaculture
Raising fish or shellfish in farms, such as pens in the ocean or tanks.

Hook: gold in a faraway place

Imagine geologists find gold in a remote spot 400 km from the nearest road, deep under a frozen swamp. Is it worth mining? It depends! How much gold is there? How deep is it? How will workers and machines get there? How will the gold get out? What is the price of gold?

Geographers call these interrelationships: the location and accessibility of a resource, how it is extracted or harvested, and how it is used are all connected.

What makes a resource accessible?

Distance from cities, ports and markets.
Transportation: roads, railways, ports, pipelines. In parts of northern Canada, some mines and First Nations communities are reached by winter roads built on frozen ground and lakes, which can only be used for a few weeks or months each winter. Others are reached only by plane.
Terrain and climate: mountains, muskeg (wet, boggy ground), permafrost, ice.
Depth and size of the deposit.
Technology: new technology can make a hard-to-reach resource possible to use.
Demand and price: if a resource sells for a high price, companies will pay more to reach it.

A transport truck drives on a snow-cleared road across a frozen lake toward a spruce forest. — A winter road built on lake ice. Roads like this make faraway mines and communities accessible, but only for a few weeks or months each winter. AI-generated image

Mining methods depend on the deposit

Open-pit mining: used when a large ore body lies near the surface. Huge machines dig a wide, stepped pit. It's often cheaper, but it disturbs a large area of land.
Underground mining: used when ore is in deep veins. Miners reach it through shafts (vertical) and tunnels. It disturbs less land at the surface but is costlier and needs strict safety measures. Many mines in Sudbury and Timmins are underground.
Placer mining: gold or other heavy minerals found as loose bits in river sand and gravel are washed out with water. This is how gold was found in the Klondike in the Yukon.
Solution mining: some minerals, like potash in Saskatchewan, can be dissolved underground with water and pumped up.
Oil sands (Alberta): where the oil sands are close to the surface, they are dug up with surface mining. Most of the oil sands are too deep to dig, so companies pump steam underground to heat the thick oil so it can flow to wells (this is called in situ, meaning "in place").

Not to scale. Left: an open-pit mine digs a wide ore body near the surface. Right: an underground mine reaches a deep, narrow vein through a vertical shaft and tunnels.

Harvesting forests and fish

Forestry methods

Clear-cutting: all or almost all trees in an area are cut. It's efficient, and some trees, like jack pine in the boreal forest, regrow well in open, sunny areas (similar to after a forest fire). But it changes habitat and can increase soil erosion.
Selective cutting: only certain trees are cut, leaving the forest standing. Better for some habitats and for recreation, but costlier.
Shelterwood cutting: trees are removed in stages over years, so young trees grow up under the shelter of older ones.

Fishing methods

Bottom trawling: a big net is dragged along the sea floor. It catches a lot, but it can damage the sea floor and catch unwanted species (bycatch).
Longlines and traps: lines with many hooks, or traps like lobster traps. Lobster traps catch fewer unwanted species.
Aquaculture (fish farming): fish such as salmon are raised in pens or tanks.

Three forestry methods. Clear-cutting removes almost every tree, selective cutting removes only some, and shelterwood cutting removes trees in stages so young ones grow up under older ones.

Situation	Likely method	Why
Copper ore spread through a wide area just under the surface	Open-pit mine	Near the surface and large, so digging a pit is cheapest
Rich gold vein 1 000 m deep	Underground mine	Too deep to dig a pit; tunnels follow the vein
Gold flakes in a creek's gravel	Placer mining	Loose gold can be washed out of gravel with water
Oil sands hundreds of metres down	In situ (steam)	Too deep to dig; heat makes the oil flow to wells

The type and location of a deposit help decide the extraction method.

Worked example

Let's analyse an interrelationship

A nickel deposit is found in northern Ontario. It is a large, deep ore body, 250 km from the nearest highway, in muskeg. Analyse how location and accessibility might affect how it is mined and used.

Type of deposit: deep, so an underground mine is more likely than an open pit.
Accessibility: no road and soft, wet muskeg make building access expensive. The company might use a winter road at first, fly workers in, or the government might be asked to help build an all-season road.
Cost: building a road, power lines and a camp costs a lot, so the deposit must be large and rich enough, and the price of nickel must be high enough, to pay for it.
Use: nickel is used in stainless steel and in many electric vehicle batteries, so demand affects whether the mine goes ahead.
People: the land is likely part of a treaty territory and near First Nations communities, who must be consulted (you'll learn more in a later lesson).

The deposit's depth points to underground mining; its remote location raises costs, so the project depends on the deposit's richness, nickel prices and new transportation, and it affects nearby communities.

Just for fun

Funny but true: in situ is Latin for "in place". So in situ oil sands extraction basically says to the oil: "Stay right where you are. We'll bring the heat to you!"

Hands-on activity

Cookie mining

You need: a chocolate-chip cookie, a toothpick, a paper plate and a timer. (Ask a grown-up first if anyone has food allergies.)

Look at your cookie. Chips near the surface are a "near-surface deposit." Chips inside are "deep veins."
Set a timer for 2 minutes. Use only the toothpick to remove as many chips as you can without breaking the cookie. That is careful underground mining.
Now, with a second cookie (or the same one), take chips any way you like in 30 seconds. That is like open-pit mining: fast, but the "land" (cookie) is wrecked.
Try to "reclaim" the land by putting the crumbs back into a cookie shape. Can you?

Think about it: Which method got more chips faster? Which did less damage? Why is reclaiming the land hard?

Model answer: open-pit style is faster and gets more of the chips, but destroys the cookie. Careful mining gets fewer chips but protects the land. Reclaiming land after mining is very difficult.

Your turn

What is the difference between extraction and harvesting?

When is an open-pit mine usually used?

Why is much of Alberta's oil sands oil extracted using steam instead of digging?

Name three things that affect a resource's accessibility.

What is a winter road?

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of clear-cutting.

What is bycatch?

More practice: warm-up

What kind of mine uses shafts and tunnels?

In which territory did the Klondike gold rush happen?

What is aquaculture?

Is cutting only some trees called clear-cutting or selective cutting?

Which Saskatchewan resource can be mined by dissolving it in water?

More practice: on your own

A very rich gold deposit is found 300 km from any road. Why might a company still mine it?

Why might a gravel deposit far from any city not be mined, even if it is large?

Compare the surface impact of open-pit and underground mines.

Why might lobster traps be considered more sustainable than bottom trawling?

How could rising demand for electric car batteries affect a remote nickel deposit?

Challenge

Explain the interrelationship among location, extraction method and use for Niagara Falls hydroelectricity.

Climate change is shortening the winter road season in parts of northern Ontario. How could this affect mining and communities there?

Some trees in a forest are 200 years old and grow on steep slopes beside a river. Which forestry method would you suggest and why?

Check your understanding

Quiz

A large copper ore body lies just under the surface. Which method is most likely?

Which word describes how easy it is to reach a resource and get it to market?

Why is much of Alberta's oil sands oil produced with steam (in situ)?

Which forestry method cuts only certain trees and leaves the forest standing?

Which fishing method drags a large net along the sea floor?

Which change would most likely make a remote mineral deposit worth mining?

For parents and teachers

How to help: When you drive or look at a map, point out quarries, gravel pits, forests, farms or mines and ask "Why is it here?" Encourage your child to use "because" statements that link location, method and use.

Safety: The cookie activity uses food; check for allergies. Toothpicks are sharp; supervise younger siblings.

Common difficulties:

Thinking accessibility is only about distance. It includes terrain, depth, technology and price.
Treating one method as always "good" or "bad." Help your child see trade-offs (open pits are cheaper but disturb more land).
Not explaining why a method fits a deposit. Ask "What about the deposit makes that method the best choice?"