The Recent Progress China Has Made in Green Mine Construction, Part I: Mining Groundwater Pollution and Sustainable Mining

Abstract

With the development of technology, the concepts of “green” and “sustainable” have gradually been popularized in all walks of life. With the continuous development of the world mining industry, the efficiency of resource development in various countries has been improved, but mining activities and production will undoubtedly bring many environmental pollution problems. As a mining power, China is one of the first countries to put forward the concept of “green mining”. Over the years, as people emphasize safety and environmental protection, green mining technology has become the hot topic. At the same time, groundwater pollution caused by mining has become the focus of China’s “green mine construction”: with the continuous development of mining, mining activities and production will also undoubtedly bring significant environmental pollution. The environmental pollution of the mined area has a vital influence on the surrounding environment. The pollutants mainly come from mining operations and production of the mineral processing industry, including process wastewater, gas waste, smelting slag, etc., which are all acidic. Acid mine drainage (AMD) occurs in the process of mining production, due to the structure of minerals and the complex reactions between oxygen and minerals, and results in heavy metal ions leaching into groundwater. Once the groundwater is polluted, it will slowly flow to the surrounding area, resulting in the migration and diffusion of pollutants in the groundwater, affecting the surrounding rivers, farmland, and drinking water for residents. In recent years, environmental damage caused by groundwater pollution from underground mines in Shijiazhuang, China, and Selangor, Malaysia, has had a negative impact on rivers, farmland, and human health. At the same time, the paper introduces many key technologies of green mine construction, such as the backfill mining method. In cooperation with China Road & Bridge Corporation, this paper also introduces the progress in the reuse of mining waste, especially the use of mining waste as aggregate to prepare concrete materials for road and bridge construction. This information article introduces the development status of green mine construction in China and briefly reviews the key technologies of green mine construction in China.

The Recent Progress China Has Made in Green Mine Construction, Part II: Typical Examples of Green Mines

“…At present, China's water resources exploitation consumption, low recycling efficiency, heavy metal pollution and other problems are very prominent, resulting in a certain degree of water shortage, but also to the local drinking water sources and crops, and the ecological environment has a negative impact. Therefore, it is of great significance to use appropriate wastewater treatment technology to treat and comprehensively utilize mine wastewater for promoting the economic development of the mine area and its region [4]. Tailings dry heap is a kind of tailings discharge method which dehydrates tailings for dry stockpiling.…”

“…For example, the China Huaibei Mining Group proposed to comprehensively promote the new era of intelligent mining, introduce automatic mining technologies and equipment, and adhere to the development of "green mining" and "intelligent mining". At present, the Huaibei Mining Group has made great achievements in intelligent coal mining, and has built an intelligent fully-mechanized coal mining working area [4].…”

“…Since 1949, China's economy has developed rapidly, but the process of economic development has been accompanied by tremendous damage to the environment, especially in the fields of resources, agriculture and industry [1][2][3]. In order to cope with this issue, China has greatly improved its environmental situation through reform and opening up, raising people's environmental awareness and formulating a series of environmental protection regulations [4][5][6].…”

“…In recent years, China has taken more efficient measures in mining environmental management and put forward the resource strategy of "green mine construction", which has not only effectively improved China's environmental status quo but also standardized the mining processes of China's mines [4].…”

“…Part I [4], the last paper introduced the development process of "green mine construction" in China and the necessity of its development, narrated the current difficulties in mining in China. Therefore, also as an information article, this paper (Part II) [4] follows the introduction of the groundwater pollution of mines and key technologies in China's "green mine construction" resource strategy mentioned in Part I, and more focuses on introducing four types of green mines in China:…”