Recultivation and sustainable development of coal mining in Kolubara basin

Abstract

Coal plays a fundamental role in global development, but the coal mining industry exerts impact on the environment, society and economy. Kolubara Coal Company produces about 30 million tonnes of coal, and digs about 70 million m3 of overburden per year. The main result of surface coal is certainly taking agricultural land, so that surface mines, which affect large areas in Kolubara, about 100 hectars a year, causing a number of problems related to the recultivation of degraded area after coal extraction. The lignite extraction through the method of opencast mining in Kolubara is about 60 years old. The previous exploitation usage is characterised by the fact that the disposal of overburden is made non-selectively, whereas the surface solum is not being preserved. The recultivation is carried out in parallel with overburden excavation. It is necessary to preserve the fertile solum through selective excavation in order to bring the soil back to its previous purpose - agricultural production. The objective of this paper is mainly to point out the need for the further expansion of the utilization of fossil fuels, which in turn reduces the emission of CO2, and thus reduces or prevents global climate changes on Earth. In addition to that, bringing back deteriorated terrains to their previous purpose - agricultural production, or the afforestation - contributes to the maintenance of ecological balance in nature, which then makes coal mining sustainable.

Use of overburden waste for London plane (Platanus × acerifolia) growth: the role of plant growth promoting microbial consortia

“…During coal exploitation geological layers above and around the ore body are disturbed, and piled up in mixtures forming overburden deposits. The disposal of overburden is made non-selectively, resulting in new relief forms (Ristović et al 2010). The image of open-pits destructive character is visible only 50 km southwest of Belgrade (Serbia) at Kolubara Mine Basin (Lazarevac district, Serbia).…”

“…Revegetation of overburden waste dumps is a worldwide problem, and establishment of vegetation cover on such foundations is complicated due to a numerous problems such as nutrient deficiency, elevated metal concentration, low pH value, lack of moisture, soil forming materials and of organic matter, high heterogeneity of substrate, disturbed soil hydrology and topography (Ristović et al 2010, Karličić et al 2016. At impoverished mine sites, enrichment with organic matter (cover crops, mulch, compost, hay) and encouragement of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil microbes makes a difference between life and death (Tredici 2007).…”

Rock burst dependency on the type of steel arch support in the Velenje mine

“…Rock burst reduction can be achieved through some specific measures, one of these being slowdown of the coal production speed, but such a measure is a very undesirable one as the production speed is one of the key parameters of the colliery's economics. 14,15 Following the reports made in department for safety at work we can find that support damages in the mine rarely exceed 50 m. In the case of shorter damage segments the displacement at joints is larger, but in case of longer damage segments the displacement at joints is smaller. Observations show the possibility of combinations at damage sections up to 50 m where certain joints get larger and others get smaller deformations or somewhere deformations are not noticeable at all.…”

Application of a Method for Intelligent Multi-Criteria Analysis of the Environmental Impact of Tailing Ponds in Northern Kosovo and Metohija

“…It is also known that the biggest environmental pollutant is the mining sector [1]. Mining is followed by a mass production of waste in the form of tailing on tailing ponds.…”

“…Deep cuts have been created as a result of erosion on both sides of the dam, through which comes discharge of atmospheric waters from the landfill directly into the Ibar. Deposed flotation tailing is in general oxidized and solid [1].…”