A spatial decision support system for the optimal environmental reclamation of open-pit coal mines in Greece

Abstract

Mine reclamation is an integral part of the mineral development process. The selection of land use after the mine closure is a difficult decision, which is complicated further because of the variety of parameters that must be taken into account trying to provide the local community with a viable development plan. Conventional methods used for reclamation planning are characterised by the lack of data integration and by time-consuming analysis. In this study, we propose a spatial decision-support system (SDSS) that minimises these problems, as data integration and analysis are offered within one computerised environment. A geographical information system and multi-criteria decision-making methods, based on binary integer linear programming models, have been integrated to select the appropriate land use in different parts of a post-mining area taking into account social, technical, economic, environmental and safety criteria. The proposed SDSS was used for the selection of the optimal landscape reclamation strategy of the Amynteon lignite surface mine located at West Macedonia Lignite Centre, Northern Greece. On the basis of developed mine maps, the model variables are assessed and incorporated into the objective optimisation function. Emphasis is placed on the spatial diversification of the model variables. The application demonstrates that the decision-support system allows the mining company to determine in an efficient way the specific land use (agricultural land, forest, recreational area and industrial zone) that is considered the most suitable for every part of the study area.