What are byproducts of zinc and silver mining? Are they toxic enough to pollute water in large quantities? Thank you for thinking about this. I had a difficult time finding this on the internet.
We have laws now that limit mine toxic materials, so to answer your question, the byproducts are now properly disposed of. Now thirty years ago...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dog_mine
see the section TOXIC WASTE