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I don't really know, so take my answer with a grain of salt, but my lay understanding of chemistry and physics tells me:

* Typically vaporized solids a fine powder they cools down in air, or otherwise deposit on cool surfaces

* Fine rock powder could be hazard to lungs, but it shouldn't be too hard filter it out of the air that leaves the hole

* Some rock materials contain sulfates or phosphates; letting those escape into the atmosphere in large quantities would be bad; but you could always let it recombine with the rest of the evaporated rock, rendering it inert. Such a process wouldn't be 100%, so this is something worth looking out for.

Most wealthy countries require an environmental impact assessment before any such operation, so there's hope such things would be caught before they become a big problem.



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