Using the Remote Sensing in Studying Ecosystems of Deposits of Nonferrous Metal Ores, Both Opencast and Abandoned, in the Northern Regions of Russia

Abstract

The paper presents study results of the disturbed lands ecological state due to the opencast mining of deposits of non-ferrous metal ores in the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Krasnoyarsk regions. According to the OMS data on quarries, rock-disposal dumps, processed ore storages' surface there have been detected some self-restoring vegetation ecosystems. The necessity in rehabilitation of rock-disposal dumps piled during mining operations in areas with a short vegetative cycle has been substantiated.