Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5140 Good stewardship of
our Nation's natural resources demands that the extraction of
exploitable, minable ore deposits be conducted in harmony with
the protection of the environment, a dilemma faced by many land
and water management agencies in the Nation’s mining areas. As
ore is mined, milled, and sent to the smelter, it leaves
footprints where it has been in the form of residual trace
metals. Often these footprints become remnants that can be
detrimental to other natural resources. This emphasizes the
importance of understanding the earth's complex physical and
biological processes and their interactions at increasingly
smaller scales because subtle changes in one component can
substantially affect others. Understanding these changes and
resulting effects requires an integrated, multidisciplinary
scientific approach. As ore reserves are depleted in one area,
additional exploitable deposits are required to replace them,
and at times these new deposits are discovered i