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1. Fill two jars with water.
2. Place one handful of hard coffee beans in one of the jars.
3. Place another handful in a coffee grinder and grind for about 10 seconds following instructions for safety.
4. Place the newly ground coffee into the other jar of clear water.
5. Place leak proof covers on both jars and shake each for about a minute.
6. Observe the liquid in the jar with the whole beans.
7. Observe the liquid in the jar with the ground beans.
You have just discovered the consequences of creating a huge amount of reactive surface area from a small
amount of surface area and exposing it to air and water. In this case you released caffeine that has an
innocuous smell, taste and effect. If this were finely ground hard sulfide rock containing embedded copper,
nickel, sulfur and platinum group metals, the acid mine drainage process would have been unleashed. The
water, air and sulfur would begin producing sulfuric acid and sulfates that eventually enable the release of
toxic metals and methylated mercury from waste piles. Waste from copper-nickel mining and production
containing these elements is piled on the ground and stored in ponds. These elements and compounds
react with air and water and leach out into our ground and surface water. They are then consumed and have
the potential to seriously damage developing nervous systems and brains of fetuses and infants both human
and animal. Public and private drinking water is seldom tested for these elements and standards are being
weakened by our lawmakers. This is THE AMD PROBLEM.
2. Place one handful of hard coffee beans in one of the jars.
3. Place another handful in a coffee grinder and grind for about 10 seconds following instructions for safety.
4. Place the newly ground coffee into the other jar of clear water.
5. Place leak proof covers on both jars and shake each for about a minute.
6. Observe the liquid in the jar with the whole beans.
7. Observe the liquid in the jar with the ground beans.
You have just discovered the consequences of creating a huge amount of reactive surface area from a small
amount of surface area and exposing it to air and water. In this case you released caffeine that has an
innocuous smell, taste and effect. If this were finely ground hard sulfide rock containing embedded copper,
nickel, sulfur and platinum group metals, the acid mine drainage process would have been unleashed. The
water, air and sulfur would begin producing sulfuric acid and sulfates that eventually enable the release of
toxic metals and methylated mercury from waste piles. Waste from copper-nickel mining and production
containing these elements is piled on the ground and stored in ponds. These elements and compounds
react with air and water and leach out into our ground and surface water. They are then consumed and have
the potential to seriously damage developing nervous systems and brains of fetuses and infants both human
and animal. Public and private drinking water is seldom tested for these elements and standards are being
weakened by our lawmakers. This is THE AMD PROBLEM.
| Save Lake Superior Association |
| The Acid Mine Drainage Experiment |