Impacts of mining and mineral processing on the environment and human health in Africa. Preface of Editors to the Special Issue Mining vs. environment in Africa

As the demand for mineral resources and fossil fuels continues to growworldwide, the impact ofminingwill be an increasingly important concern in the field of environmental science. In Africa, because of economic pressures and slower evolution of environmental awareness, local communities have been particularly exposed to the detrimental effects of mining contamination on public health, agriculture and the environment. Moreover, the legacy of mining is one where thousands of sites in Africa remain contaminated from the use of inappropriate mining techniques and poor tailings processing and mine waste disposal practices. Nor is there as yetwidespread application ofmodern rehabilitation techniques in mined-out lands across the African region. To address these issues, we present a collection of papers in this Special Issue under the broad theme “Impacts ofMining andMineral Processing on the Environment and Human Health in Africa”.