Land rehabilitation

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Recently constructed wetland regeneration in Australia, on a site previously used for agriculture.
Regenerated habitat for the superb parrot on the abandoned Boorowa railway line

Land rehabilitation as a part of

farming and forestry
.

Mine rehabilitation

Modern mine rehabilitation aims to minimize and mitigate the

open pit
mining involve movement of significant volumes of rock. Rehabilitation management is an ongoing process, often resulting in open pit mines being backfilled.

After mining finishes, the mine area must undergo rehabilitation.

For underground mines, rehabilitation is not always a significant problem or cost. This is because of the higher grade of the

stopes are backfilled with concrete slurry
using waste, so that minimal waste is left at surface.

The removal of

cultural value. Often in gold mines, rehabilitation is performed by scavenger operations which treat the soil within the plant area for spilled gold using modified placer mining gravity
collection plants.

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,

mining companies are regulated by federal and state bodies to rehabilitate the affected land and to restore biodiversity offset areas around the mines.[5][6]

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

References

  1. ^ MijnWater BV recovering heat from abandoned mines
  2. ^ The West Cliff Collier Power Plant has successfully been able to recover methane from ventilation shafts of mines
  3. ^ Ventilation Air Methane
  4. ^ The Blue Economy By Gunter Pauli
  5. ^ "Federal Environmental Laws that Govern U.S. Mining" (PDF). www.nma.org. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  6. ^ "MINE REHABILITATION. Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry" (PDF). www.industry.gov.au. September 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "Rehabilitation | NSW Resources Regulator".
  12. ^ "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]