Land rehabilitation
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2012) |
Land rehabilitation as a part of
Mine rehabilitation
Modern mine rehabilitation aims to minimize and mitigate the
After mining finishes, the mine area must undergo rehabilitation.
- Waste dumps are contoured to flatten them out, to further stabilize them against erosion.
- If the ore contains oxidize the sulfides to produce sulfuric acid.
- Landfills are covered with topsoil, and vegetation is planted to help consolidate the material.
- Dumps are usually fenced off to prevent livestock denuding them of vegetation.
- The open pit is then surrounded with a fence, to prevent access, and it generally eventually fills up with groundwater.
- evaporate, then covered with waste rock, clay if need be, and soil, which is planted to stabilize it.
For underground mines, rehabilitation is not always a significant problem or cost. This is because of the higher grade of the
using waste, so that minimal waste is left at surface.The removal of
Also possible is that the section of the mine that is below ground, is kept and used to provide heating, water and/or methane. Heat extraction can be done using heat exchangers, that convey the heat to a nearby city (hence making it be used for district heating purposes.[1] Water can be harvested from the mine as well (mines are often filled with water once the mine has been shut down and the pumps no longer operate). Methane is also often present in the mine shafts, in small quantities (often around 0,1%). This can still be recovered though with specialised systems.[2][3][4] An added advantage of recovering the methane finally is that the methane does not come into the atmosphere, and so does not contribute to global warming.
Mine rehabilitation market
Depending on the country,
Mine rehabilitation, a legal obligation for mining companies in Australia for which they are required to pay bonds, could be a source of considerable employment generation and economic investment in regional areas, if governments were willing to enforce the laws covering the process.[7][8][9][10]
Before mining activities begin, a rehabilitation security bond must be provided.[11] The Australian mine rehabilitation bonds totals $9.49bn, with the state of NSW bond totalling $2.68 billion in 2019. The size of mining security bonds has been questioned by NSW's Auditor General [12] as being insufficient to cover the complete costs associated with mine rehabilitation activities.
In addition to operational mine rehabilitation activities, often referred to as 'progressive rehabilitation', abandoned mines are also restored. The financing for restoration of abandoned mines is drawn from operating mines as well as public sources. The cost of reclaiming the abandoned mines in the US is estimated at $9.6bn.
See also
- Land restoration
- Forest restoration, Reforestation
- Prairie restoration
- Restoration ecology
- Environmental remediation
- Holistic management
- Mine reclamation
- Land recycling
- Soil salinity control - rehabilitation of salinized soils
- Watertable control - rehabilitation of waterlogged soils
- Land reclamation
References
- ^ MijnWater BV recovering heat from abandoned mines
- ^ The West Cliff Collier Power Plant has successfully been able to recover methane from ventilation shafts of mines
- ^ Ventilation Air Methane
- ^ The Blue Economy By Gunter Pauli
- ^ "Federal Environmental Laws that Govern U.S. Mining" (PDF). www.nma.org. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ^ "MINE REHABILITATION. Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry" (PDF). www.industry.gov.au. September 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ "Mind the Gap: how fixing mine rehabilitation shortfalls could fuel jobs growth in the Hunter Valley". Lock the Gate Alliance. 2018. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
- ^ "Creating up to 5,000 job is Central Queensland by eliminating the coal mine rehabilitation deficit". Lock the Gate Alliance. 2018. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
- ^ "Mine rehabilitation and closure cost : a hidden business risk". Lock the Gate Alliance. 2016. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
- ^ "Abandoned mines In Queensland : toxic time-bomb or employment opportunity?". Lock the Gate Alliance. 2016. Archived from the original on 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ "Rehabilitation | NSW Resources Regulator".
- ^ "New South Wales Auditor-General's Report: Performance Audit" (PDF). audit.nsw.gov.au. Department of Planning and Environment.
External links
- Rehabilitation of waterlogged and saline soils: [1], free downloads of software and articles on land drainage.
- Bio Recycle
- Sydney Water BioSolids
- EEMP - a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to communicate the lessons of rehabilitation and restoration through media around the world.
- Federal Environmental Laws that Govern U.S. Mining: [2]
- NSW Australia Mine Rehabilitation: [3]