Evaluating Alternate Post-Mining Land-Uses: A Review

Abstract

The ultimate objective of post-mine land-use and reclamation planning is to identify appropriate alternate land uses to which mined land could be put. This will ensure that land-use and morphology of the location will be capable of supporting either the prior land-use or pre-mining environment. The main challenge is usually, the choice of variables that must be considered in deciding a particular post-mining land-use. Literature reviews were conducted to identify the major factors needed to be considered in the selection of a post-mining land-use. This paper also looks at the most commonly practiced and accepted post-mining land-use techniques. Factors identified as important in the selection process include land resources (e.g. physical, biological and cultural characteristics), ownership, type of mining activity, legal requirements, location, needs of the community, economic, environmental, technical and social factors. In a broad categorization, all post-mining land-uses could be placed under one of the following land-use: agriculture, forestry, lake or pool, intensive recreational land-use, non-intensive recreational land-use, conservation and pit backfilling. However, the objective of any particular post-mining land use should be achieving economic and sustainable outcomes which meet human wants and needs, and protect life and the environment.

Metal Content of Stream Sediments as a Tool to Assess Remediation in an Area Recovering from Historic Mining Contamination

“…Remediation of abandoned mines aims to restore the land to either its use prior to mining or to an alternative sustainable use that would attain esthetic, economic, and ecological values to the land [3]. Cost-effective, passive treatments such as constructed wetlands and phytostabilization are commonly used remediation methods in abandoned mine sites [2,[4][5][6].…”

Impact Assessment From Coal Mining Area in Southern Brazil

“…Thus, although not functioning, these sites continue to promote the degradation of surrounding lands and water bodies (Gutiérrez et al, 2016;Kim et al, 2016;Venkateswarlu et al, 2016). In short, it is necessary to carry out projects aimed at the restoration of these sites, making these areas with stable conditions, mainly with the purpose of guaranteeing public safety (Schmidt & Glaesser, 1998;Heorkin & Sheoran, 2010;Limbrela & Briel, 2014;Mborah et al, 2015;Lima et al, 2016). However, for this to happen, initially the areas degraded by mining must undergo an environmental assessment, which will later allow the creation of projects that can minimize negative impacts and allow the use of land for other purposes.…”

Sustainable Post-Mining Land Use: Are Closed Metal Mines Abandoned or Re-Used Space?

“…Mined land is inevitably altered to some degree from minor disturbances to significant, extensive changes depending on the nature of a specific project [22,116,117]. An important question related to sustainability of mining legacies is what kind of post-mining land use activities are they able to support [31,49]. The decision for the most suitable land use(s) is driven by, for example, the characteristics of the area, expert opinions, the development plans of local communities and authorities, the legal environmental framework and the environmental restrictions [4,28,39,52].…”

“…Today, a majority of mining companies view closure and reclamation planning as an integral part of the operating plan [26][27][28]. Mine reclamation aims at returning land to a stable condition to ensure public safety, to minimize potential negative environmental impacts, and to allow alternative land use opportunities [4,[29][30][31][32][33].…”