Trends of Global Scientific Research on Reclaimed Coal Mine Sites between 2015 and 2020

Abstract

Open-cast coal mining is one of the most often-debated industries in the world. Due to the significant environmental and health issues it causes, many of these sites have been reclaimed over the years, and many scientific publications and research has followed. In this paper, we have tried to assess the trends in recent research performed on reclaimed coal mining sites (RMS) by analyzing the publications visible on Web of Science (WoS) between 2015 and 2020 and dividing the research into six categories. The results show that there is a trend of rapid increase in research that deals with carbon and its pooling, nutrients, vegetation, and microbiology, and a significant decline in research on RMS soil physical properties, whereas other categories have shown an increasing but relatively steady trend. The application of modern technologies is also discussed. China, the USA, and India are the countries that quantitatively take the lead in coal RMS research, with India slowly overtaking the US in more recent years.

A Novel Hybrid Fuzzy Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Model for the Selection of the Most Suitable Land Reclamation Variant at Open-Pit Coal Mines

“…For the analysis of ecological risk, options for risk isolation and minimization were selected, utilizing a reclamation scheme, while special additional measures were applied in areas of high-sulfide waste. The application of mining technologies, which includes the removal of tailings and the methods of their disposal on waste heaps, as well as the formation of open excavations, has an impact on habitat conditions in areas that have undergone land reclamation [7][8][9]. China, the USA, and India are taking a leading role in researching the restoration of coal mining sites using modern technologies.…”

“…Many coal mines are included in programs of sustainable development, economic support to regions and local communities, environmental restoration, etc. Mining is not related only to exploration and exploitation, but also considers environmental responsibility to protect environmental sustainability [9,12,15,16]. Legal, social, and environmental requirements for complex mining operations are fully integrated into the mining and reclamation plan, while addressing sustainable development and engineering analyses will result in the optimization of mining operations.…”

“…In the final fuzzy normalized matrix, it may arise that the core concept of TFN is not satisfied, and it may be necessary to use Equation (9).…”

Profile Development and Soil Properties of Three Forest Reclamations of Different Ages in Sokolov Mining Basin, Czech Republic

“…Many countries have developed legislations about the ways these sites need to be treated after the excavation process is completed [3,[6][7][8][9], and our knowledge expands every year with various research results conducted in these localities. Some of the trends and progress in post-mining sites research were summarized by Shao et al [10] and Spasić et al [11].…”