Recycling Canada has a well-established, effective metal recycling industry. What mining removes from the earth, we often use to protect it. We rely on lime to treat industrial waste water and control air pollution. Our water is purified because of manganese and activated carbon. The emissions from cars and trucks are controlled by platinum.
Mining is at work in our gardens as well.
We are the world's largest exporter of peat, used to condition soil. In fact, mining has developed a bit of a green thumb of its own. If the future of mining is looking up, it is in part because of its ability to look down. The mining industry today employs specially equipped planes, helicopters and satellites that can pinpoint potential mining sites to within a few metres. Prospectors use hand-held locational devices that identify exact positions using satellites.