Abstract
Sustainable land use in post-mining areas has received more attention only recently. This study examined landscape characteristics and post-mining land use in 51 metal mining sites in Finland. Studied mines were closed during the period of 1924–2016, and over half of them had been active more than 10 years. Mines were typically located in sparsely populated forest landscapes. Cultural and recreational functions were found in one third of the sites, especially in significant historical mining areas close to the population centers. Further, nearly one third of the post-mining sites included new activities related to industry and infrastructure. The diversity of post-mining functions was generally limited in small and isolated sites. Re-opening of five closed mines was planned or under development, and exploration permits (or claims) were applied or admitted for half of the post-mining areas. The results showed that every closed mine is unique and thus, sustainable post-mining land use requires careful evaluation of potentials and limitations (e.g., contamination and other hazards) of the sites. Increasing sizes of new mining projects calls for paying more attention on future post-mining landscapes in order to avoid degraded and underused areas from environmental, social and economic perspectives.
Highlights
Mining is temporary land use with a highly variable duration in different locations
This paper focuses on characteristics of post-mining landscapes and land use in metal mining sites closed during the past ca. 100 years
Commercial and public cultural and recreational activities were found in a total of 35% of the post-mining sites (Table 1)
Summary
Mining is temporary land use with a highly variable duration in different locations. A mine is closed when the resource is depleted or exhausted, or mining is no longer economically profitable due to a high cost of mining or low market prices [1,2,3]. Perception of post-mining landscapes is often negative, they can harbor unique natural, cultural and economic potential [36] Examples of these are pastures, aquaculture, wildlife habitats, educational, sport and leisure facilities and industrial uses [44,45,46,47,48,49]. The suitability of former mining sites for different activities depends, for example, on current land use surrounding the site, infrastructure and facilities, and the extent of any environmental impacts, such as soil and water contamination [22,44,50,51,52]. The aims were (1) to study general properties of closed metal mines and the surrounding landscape, (2) to analyze post-mining land use and the re-utilization of different mining site elements for new activities, and (3) to examine potential new mining activities in post-mining sites
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