Environment In Mining Area Research Articles

A practical framework for scenario-based optimal decision-making on water-deficient river ecological restoration in mining areas

Mining activities may cause serious damages to the river ecological environment in mining areas. It has been realized that challenging is faced for optimal decision-making on the river ecological restoration resulting from system complexity, multi-objectives, long term restoration in which multiple stages may be needed to take, and difficulty in detailed process quantification. By analyzing and fully reflecting the differences between the central zone and surrounding zones of the restored river passing through the mining area, the comprehensive evaluation index systems of the central zone and surrounding zones are separately suggested firstly. Then a scenario-based optimization decision-making model for river ecological restoration in mining areas was established with taking advantages of spatial divisions and following procedure of first going through optimization by sub-region level, then optimizing by integration. Then, a framework for scenario-based optimal decision-making on water-deficient river ecological restoration in mining areas is proposed in which a multi-objective and multi-stage spatial division optimization method is considered to improve decision-making efficiency and enhance its practicability. It is indicated that this optimization framework is reasonable and practical, which is expected to offer reliable decision support in identifying the effective solutions on optimal management of the water-deficient river ecological restoration in mining areas. At the same time, it has implications in general land reclamation and ecological restoration in the mining areas.

Utilizing earthworm and microbial assays to assess the ecotoxicity of chromium mine wastes

Mining plays an important role in the South African economy which results in environmental impacts. This holds a potential hazard for ecosystems surrounding mining areas and also for public health in the surrounding communities. The aim of this study was to use soil enzymatic analyses and earthworm (Eisenia andrei) responses viz. growth, reproduction, lysosomal membrane stability and tissue metal concentrations to determine the effect caused by chromium mine waste on the activity of soil microbial community and soil invertebrates. Results indicated that chromium mining did have an ecotoxic effect on enzymatic activity, as the material which exceeded the Cr benchmark for microorganisms showed the least amount of enzymatic activity. Significant differences in enzymatic activity were observed between the different samples. Earthworm biomass increases were low in the mining material exposed worms and might have been correlated with the low enzymatic activities in the materials. Biomass was however not considered a sensitive endpoint. Lysosomal membrane stability, measured as NRRT, proved to be a sensitive endpoint, showing the same pattern from day 7 up to day 28. Hatching success of cocoons was not considered a sensitive endpoint, due to the low cocoon production in the mining material exposed worms. Since mine waste materials often contain complex mixtures of metals that might be toxic on their own or in combination with other factors, it is difficult to attribute any observed effect to any of the specific metals analyzed. The metal concentrations were however compared to benchmarks in order to determine which of the metals could have had a toxic effect on the soil organisms. The only benchmark exceeded, was the PNEC for microorganisms, for Cr in the unrehabilitated silt (TDF1) material. None of the other benchmarks were exceeded, indicating that perhaps granular composition of the materials might have had a greater influence than the metals.

The System of Soil Management in the Coal Mining Collapse Area

The environment restoring of the coal mining collapse area directly relates the region economy, the social stabilization, the ecological environment, also relates the sustainable development of mining area. And this is a serious problem for the mining area in China. In order to improve the environment of mining area, this paper analyzes the presence of collapse area in China. This paper analyzes the damages of coal mining collapse and the problems existing in the management and regulation of the collapse region. In addition to researching the way of soil management of coal mining subsidence area with Geographic Information System technology, he also exemplified the feasibility and necessity in soil management of the coal mining collapse area with Geographic Information System technology.

Analysis of the Cause of Karst Land Collapse in Siding Lead-Zinc Mining Area<sup></sup>

Siding Lead-Zinc mining area located in Guangxi,was a large mining area belonging to the nation.Because of unreasonable mining in many years,The good ecological environment of mining area was destroyed.Land collapse in mining area is series.Basing on the factors,such as the geological environment of karst development,the characteristics of karst development,the formation stage of the cave,the conceptive model,this paper analyzed the cause of karst collapse in mining area.

Study on the Change of Landscape Ecological Quality Based on Land Use: A Case Study in Resource-Exhausted Mining Area

In order to research the effect of land reclamation on landscape ecological quality(LEQ) in mining area, taking Jiawang mining area in Xuzhou as an example, LEQ and its changes before and after reclamation were evaluated with an indices system which was constructed form stability and interference level of landscape ecosystem based on RS, GIS and landscape ecology. The weight was assigned for each index by analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy technology. The results showed that land use of the study area dramatically changed, manifesting by farmland continuous decreases and the built-up areas rapid increases, secondly, woodland decreases after increasing, grassland and water slight increases, which were in an unbalanced state overall. The landscape ecological situation of the study area had a better trend from 2001 to 2010, implying that land reclamation project had played a certain improvement on the regional ecological environment in mining area. It is believed that this work may provide scientific reference for land reclamation and landscape restoration of coal mining area.

Groundwater Numerical Simulation in Cool Water Well Coal Mine

Coal mining had destructed and polluted precious groundwater resources of Cool water Wells coal mine. To more accurately assess the groundwater resources and forecast coal mine groundwater systems status and change trend under state of development and utilization is the foundation work of mining area environment protection and treatment. The paper established the groundwater numerical simulation model in the study area using Visual MODFLOW software, calculated and evaluated the groundwater resources of study area by identification and examination.There are important practical significance to protection preciou water resource of mining area.

Effects of abandoned arsenic mine on water resources pollution in north west of iran.

Pollution due to mining activities could have an important role in health and welfare of people who are living in mining area. When mining operation finishes, environ-ment of mining area can be influenced by related pollution e.g. heavy metals emission to wa-ter resources. The present study was aimed to evaluate Valiloo abandoned arsenic mine ef-fects on drinking water resources quality and possible health effects on the residents of min-ing area in the North West of Iran. Water samples and some limited composite wheat samples in downstream of min-ing area were collected. Water samples were analyzed for chemical parameters according to standard methods. For determination of arsenic in water samples, Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Method (GFAAS) and for wheat samples X - Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Method (ICP) were used. Information about possible health effects due to exposure to arsenic was collected through interviews in studied villages and health center of Herris City. The highest concentrations of arsenic were measured near the mine (as high as 2000 µg/L in Valiloo mine opening water). With increasing distance from the mine, concentration was decreased. Arsenic was not detectable in any of wheat samples. Fortunately, no health effects had been reported between residents of studied area due to exposure to arsenic. Valiloo abandoned arsenic mine has caused release of arsenic to the around en-vironment of the mine, so arsenic concentration has been increased in the groundwater and also downstream river that requires proper measures to mitigate spread of arsenic.

Application of hyperspectral remote sensing for environment monitoring in mining areas

Environmental problems caused by extraction of minerals have long been a focus on environmental earth sciences. Vegetation growing conditions are an indirect indicator of the environmental problem in mining areas. A growing number of studies in recent years made substantial efforts to better utilize remote sensing for dynamic monitoring of vegetation growth conditions and the environment in mining areas. In this article, airborne and satellite hypersectral remote sensing data—HyMap and Hyperion images are used in the Mount Lyell mining area in Australia and Dexing copper mining area in China, respectively. Based on the analyses of biogeochemical effect of dominant minerals, the vegetation spectrum and vegetation indices, two hyperspectral indices: vegetation inferiority index (VII) and water absorption disrelated index (WDI) are employed to monitor the environment in the mining area. Experimental results indicate that VII can effectively distinguish the stressed and unstressed vegetation growth situation in mining areas. The sensitivity of VII to the vegetation growth condition is shown to be superior to the traditional vegetation index—NDVI. The other index, WDI, is capable of informing whether the target vegetation is affected by a certain mineral. It is an important index that can effectively distinguish the hematite areas that are covered with sparse vegetation. The successful applications of VII and WDI show that hyperspectral remote sensing provides a good method to effectively monitor and evaluate the vegetation and its ecological environment in mining areas.

Epiphytic lichens on air biomonitoring in Belo Horizonte City, Brazil: a preliminary assessment

Belo Horizonte is the fifth most populous city in Brazil and there is no data on the level of its atmospheric pollution concerning chemical elements. This study was conducted as a preliminary survey using lichens as biomonitors collected from two parks: Municipal Am?rico Ren? Giannetti, downtown, and Mangabeiras, far from the city centre, a place regarded as not polluted. Epiphytic lichens were collected and their elemental compositions were determined by neutron activation technique, k0–method. In this assessment, the local atmospheric condition could be assessed pointing out the presence of typical tracers of vehicular emissions, mainly in Municipal park. On the other hand, soil elements seem to be expressive in the air composition, mainly in Mangabeiras area. Being a perceptive differential, the high concentration of soil elements found in the Mangabeiras park samples seems to come from the surrounding mining areas. The mining dust may have been the source of these elements.

Study of the Integrated Environmental Monitoring in Mining Area Based on Image Analysis

The mining area environment is a complex and dynamic system and is effected by mining activities. Therefore, knowing the dynamic change of the mining area environment is very important for mining and management of the mining area. But the traditional ground investigation always needs a lot of work and incomprehensive, it also takes a long period and lacks of real time. In recent years, the remote sensing monitoring method which has been applied widely to the mining area has been improved, but it still contains deficiencies, such as the singleness of the monitoring contents, the difficulties in the synthesized analysis of the new data with existing information. This paper integrates various remote sensing explanation methods and brings forward the concept about integrated environment monitoring in mining area based on image analysis, and discusses the strategy and technique of comprehensive information extracting, such as atmosphere pollution, earth covering and sinking, underground structure, etc.

Investigation and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination around an Abandoned Metal Mine in Korea

Recently, heavy metals contamination of the agricultural soil and crops surrounding mining areas has been identified as one of the most serious environmental problems in South Korea. The Ministry of the Environment in Korea conducted a Preliminary National Environmental Health Survey (PNEHS) in abandoned metal mines in 2007. The priority for a subsequent detailed examination was ranked from the results of PNEHS. The studied mine which was ranked as being of the highest priority is located in the midwestern part of Korea and was operated from 1911 to 1985. In this study, the contamination levels of the heavy metals in the abandoned metal mine were investigated. From the results, the average daily dose (ADD), target hazard quotient (THQ) and target cancer risk of the heavy metals were evaluated. The concentration of arsenic (As) in all of the tailings from the mine was higher than its countermeasure standard of Korea. In particular, the highest concentration of As, 330 mg/kg, was up to 15 times higher than its countermeasure standard. The average concentration of As in agricultural soils was higher than the warning standard of Korea, and higher than its countermeasure standard at six sites. The average concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals in agricultural soil were below the warning standard, but concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) at 4 sites were higher than its warning standard. The average concentration of As in surface water exceeded the warning standard of Korea. The value of the THQ of As for the tailings was higher than the health protection standard 1. The value of THQ of As for the farmlands was lower than the standard, while the hazard index (HI) of As was higher than the standard. The value of target cancer risk (TCR) of As, <TEX>$6.44{\times}10^{-4}$</TEX>, were higher than the health protection standard of a lifetime risk for TCR at <TEX>$1{\times}10^{-6}$</TEX>. This suggests that the residents around the metal mines are exposed to As pollution with a carcinogenic risk.

Environment cumulative effects of coal exploitation and its assessment

Environment cumulative effects characteristics, sources, approaches and types aroused by coal exploitation are discussed. Based on studies in Lu’an, Pingdingshan , Yanzhou mining areas and so on, such quantitative assessment methods for coal exploitation environment cumulative effects are summarized as Geographic Information System, Earth Observation and Remote Sensing and Telemetry Information Acquisition, chart, mathematics models, computer simulation and laboratory testing and the integrated methods. Spatio-temporal evolution of land subsidence in Yanzhou coal mining area, time series mining landscape classification in Pingdingshan mining area, and some causal relationships analysis between resources, environment and economic system in Lu’an mining area were put forward. Based on field theory, this paper proposed the technology route, ideas and some quantitative assessment results for analyzing the ecology and environment cumulative effects impacts. Theories and practices both demonstrate that the coal exploitation activities have strong characteristics of time persistency, space scalability, long development cycle, more forms of mining area environment system perturbation, wide impacts source and complex mechanism. For the requirements of sustainable development, the traditional environment impact assessment of coal exploitation shows many defects, it is essential, urgent and feasible to carry out analysis on the cumulative effects.

Valores de referência local e avaliação da contaminação por zinco em solos adjacentes a áreas mineradas no município de Vazante-MG

A contaminação dos solos por metais pesados é um problema atual que requer abordagem adequada, tendo em vista as necessidades da sociedade moderna. Em áreas de mineração, a avaliação da contaminação de solos constitui ferramenta importante para o gerenciamento de áreas degradadas. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de estabelecer valores de referência local (VRL) para Zn em solos adjacentes a áreas mineradas no município de Vazante-MG, tendo em vista avaliar a contaminação ambiental. Foram coletadas amostras de perfis de solos remanescentes em área mineralizada, a jusante e montante dessa, nas profundidades de 0-2, 2-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50-100 e 100-150 cm. Foram determinados os teores totais de Zn, bem como as formas disponíveis (Mehlich-3 e DTPA). Optou-se por determinar o VRL a partir da média ponderada dos teores de Zn nas camadas de 0 - 20 cm dos perfis a montante. De posse desse valor, calcularam-se o fator de contaminação (FC) e o índice de geoacumulação (IGeo) para cada perfil. O VRL obtido para Zn foi de 1.262 mg kg-1, que é muito alto em relação aos padrões de qualidade, sugerindo monitoramento e restrição ao uso agrícola e residencial dos solos na área. Não obstante, esse valor é inferior aos valores de intervenção (VI´s) para as áreas industriais adotados no Estado de São Paulo, EUA e Canadá. Os solos das áreas mineralizadas apresentaram maiores valores para o fator de contaminação, com destaque para o perfil 5 localizado na área mineralizada em exploração (área minerada). De acordo com o IGeo, os perfis de solo a jusante foram classificados como não poluídos a moderadamente poluídos.

Sinkholes in karst mining areas in China and some methods of prevention

Mining of coal, lead and zinc, gold, and iron ore deposits in karst areas has been closely associated with sinkholes in China. Surface collapse causes an increase in mine water drainage and the possibility of major water inflow from karst aquifers, which threatens the environment in mining areas and endangers the mine safety. A combination of factors including soil weight, buoyancy, suffusion process and vacuum suction can contribute to the sinkhole formation. The key measures to prevent sinkholes in mining areas are to control the amount of mine drainage, reduce water level fluctuation, seal-off karst conduits and subsurface cavities in the overlying soil, prevent water inflow, and/or to increase gas pressure in the karst conduits.

The formation of sinkholes in karst mining areas in China and some methods of prevention

Mining of coal, lead and zinc, gold, and iron ore deposits in karst areas has been closely associated with sinkholes in China. Surface collapse causes an increase in mine water drainage and the possibility of major water inflow from karst aquifers, which threatens the environment in mining areas and endangers mine safety. The origin of such sinkholes is analyzed quantitatively in this paper and a combination of factors including soil weight, buoyancy, suffosion process and vacuum suction can contribute to surface subsidence. The key measures to prevent sinkholes in mining areas are to control the amount of mine drainage, reduce water-level fluctuation, seal off karst conduits and subsurface cavities in the overlying soil, prevent water inflow, and to increase gas pressure in the karst conduits.