Abstract
Large scale underground mining of coal resources in China using longwall mining has resulted in ecological and environment problems, including surface subsidence that is considered serious due to competing interests of prime agricultural lands, food security, and regional economic development. The subsided lands must be rehabilitated soon after mining to be agriculturally productive to minimize loss of farmland. Similarly, precious water resources must also be managed during and after mining to protect this natural resource. Toward these goals, the concept of “Concurrent mining and subsidence reclamation (CMR)” was proposed by Professor Hu of the China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing (CUMTB). Over the last two decades CMR concepts have evolved and successfully applied in the field in different parts of China. This innovative technology has increased available farmland during the mining process, and provided better land protection and food security in mining areas even with high groundwater table. The technology has been used in 5 of the 14 large coal bases in China. This paper describes the technology concepts, design and guiding principles for planning with two case studies from different regions to enhance its application both in China and in other countries.
Highlights
China is currently the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world
This paper provides an overview of the ‘‘Concurrent Mining and Reclamation or Concurrent mining and subsidence reclamation (CMR)’’ technology
CMR technology studies have demonstrated that farmland utilization and water resources development can be minimized and/or enhanced through CMR planning as compared to traditional reclamation approaches
Summary
According to the BP Statistics (2015), China produced about 3.75 billion mt of coal that is about 47.7% of the global coal production It consumed about 3.94 billion mt of coal, or about 50% of the total consumption in the world. Most rehabilitation is generally done after subsiding lands have achieved the final subsidence basin or final settlement condition after mining With all these approaches over 50% of the agricultural land may be already submerged into water, including some with highly fertile topsoil. These approaches are post-mining land rehabilitation technologies that typically result in a low percentage of farmland reclamation and high reclamation cost. These approaches may not allow efficient protection of water resources
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