Abstract
KGHM Polska Miedź, one of the major world copper mining and processing companies, produces c.30 million m3 of tailings yearly, stored currently in the facility Żelazny Most, the largest European tailings impoundment. Formerly, tailings were disposed in six smaller impoundments that operated in two parts of the Polish Copper Basin: the Old District and LGOM. This chapter presents the main impacts exerted by these facilities on the environment, including a changed landscape, hydrotechnical hazard associated with possible dam failure, adverse effects on natural waters and soils caused by seepage of technological water from the impoundments and pipelines, dust dispersion and associated air, soil and crop contamination, and water erosion on dam slopes. Contrasting effects obtained hitherto in reclamation and revegetation of impoundments are described in the light of legislative, technological and biological factors. The most successful technologies and crucial impediments of revegetation are presented and discussed.
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