We've been mining for quite some time now. Have we ever been able to do it without major negative impact on the environment, at least in the easiest, most pract

We've been mining for quite some time now. Have we ever been able to do it without major negative impact on the environment, at least in the easiest, most practiced of conditions? Mining "in a responsible way" is like "clean coal". It's a euphemism for something that still does a lot of damage but fills some pockets enough to call it whatever they want. The scientists are there just to minimize that damage.