Spoils Mining Definition
In the United States, mining companies have not been allowed to leave abandoned landfills since the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed in 1977. The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center uses coal as a fuel source for power generation. The dictionary definition of overburden in Wiktionary Some are used for the cultivation of vines, as in the case of landfill No. 7 of the Mariemont-Bascoup coal region near Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont (province of Hainaut). It produces about 3,000 liters of wine per year from a vineyard on its hillsides. Overburden Overburden consists of debris and mining waste. Iron sulphide-rich tailings associated with coal mining and overburden from metal sulphide mines such as copper and gold mining (1) are a major source of metal sulphide mine dewatering. The term “overburden” is also used to refer to materials removed during the digging of a foundation, tunnel or other large excavation. These materials can be ordinary soils and rocks (after separation of coal and waste) or they can be heavily contaminated with chemical waste, which determines how they can be disposed of. Clean overburden can be used for land reclamation. In some tailings piles, waste from industries such as coal or oil shale production may contain a relatively high proportion of hydrocarbons or coal dust. There may be spontaneous underground combustion, which may be followed by surface fires. In some coalfields, such fires were considered normal and no attempt was made to extinguish them.
[8] Tailings Tailings are low-grade mineral ores that are stored on the ground surface and often in tailings ponds(1). Because they are not lined, these ponds can be a source of acids or metals transported in sewers or leachate. In the United States, current state and federal mining regulations require that earthen materials be removed from excavations so that they can be replaced after mining operations cease in a process called mine reclamation under the supervision of mining companies. This requires sufficient reserves of monetary obligations to ensure the completion of the reclamation process if mining becomes unprofitable or is stopped. (See, for example, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.) The oldest coal-based slag heaps may still contain enough coal to start spontaneous slow combustion. This results in a form of slate vitrification, which then acquires sufficient mechanical strength for use in road construction. [15] Some can therefore have a new life by being exploited in this way; for example, the flattened tailings pile of site 11/19 in Loos-en-Gohelle. Conversely, others are carefully preserved because of their ecological wealth. Over time, they are populated by a varied flora and fauna sometimes foreign to the region. This diversity follows mining use. In South Wales, some tailings slag heaps are protected as Areas of Special Scientific Interest as they provide unique habitat for 57 lichen species, some of which are threatened due to their limited environment and vegetation development.
[16] One of the highest, at least in Western Europe, is located at Loos-en-Gohelle in the former mining district of Pas-de-Calais, France. It consists of a series of five cones, two of which reach 180 meters (590 feet) and surpass Flanders` highest peak, Mount Kassel. One of the regions of Europe most dotted with (mountainous) slag heaps is the Donbass in Ukraine, especially around the city of Donetsk, which alone is home to about 130 of them. [18] In Ukrainian, they are called terikony (earth cone, singular: terikon) because of their shape. From: Tailings in Dictionary of Environment and Conservation » The overlying material that is removed during mining to access the ore in the underlying mineral material. The broader problem of stability was known before the Aberfan disaster; For example, it was discussed in a 1927 paper by Professor George Knox,[10] but little serious attention was paid by professional engineers and geologists, even those directly involved in mining. [11] A tailings pile (also called bone slag heap,[1] Halmbank, Gob pile, garbage dump[2] or Bing)[3] is a pile consisting of accumulated overburden – waste that is removed during mining. [4] This waste typically consists of shale as well as smaller amounts of carbonaceous sandstone and other tailings. Slag heaps are not formed from slag, but in some areas, such as England and Wales, they are called slag heaps. In Scotland, the word bing is used. Slag heaps may be conical in shape and appear as striking features of the landscape, or they may be much flatter and eroded, especially once vegetation has become established.
At Loos-en-Gohelle, in the former mining area of Pas-de-Calais, France, there is a series of five very perfect cones, two of which protrude 100 meters (330 feet) from the plain. In mining, overburden (also known as waste or overburden) is material that is found in an area suitable for economic use, such as rock, soil and ecosystem that is above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is different from tailings, the material that remains after the extraction of economically valuable components from the ore, which is usually finely ground. In open-pit mines, overburden is mined, but is usually not contaminated with toxic components. Overburden can also be used to restore a depleted mining facility during reclamation. [1] In Heringen in Hesse is the potash popularly known as “Monte Kali”, which is produced from overburden from potash extraction and rises about 200 meters above the surrounding terrain. [19] “La Muntanya de Sal” (The Salt Mountain), another potash mining dump, is located in Cardona, Catalonia, at an altitude of about 120 meters. [20] [21] A larger and higher group is that of “El runam del Cogulló” (The slag heap of El Cogulló), also known as “El runam de la democràcia” (The pile of ashes of democracy) or “Montsalat” (Mountain of the Salty Boys), in Sallent, which has already grown higher than the small mountain that gave it its name (El Cogulló, 474 meters above sea level). [22] [23] Richard Llewellyn`s novel How Green Was My Valley (1939) describes the social and environmental impact of coal mining in Wales at the turn of the 20th century. The slag heap of the local mine, which he calls the slag heap, is the central figure in the devastation. Eventually, the pile protrudes over the entire valley, crushing Huw Morgan`s house: Halden.
Groundwater contamination from tailings halls is due to the unprotected storage of substances that can enter the soil or flow into waterways during rainfall or irrigation. These include de-icing salts at motorway maintenance sites, scrap metal dumps, coal, metal ores, phosphates and gypsum (1). Road salts are made from sodium chloride or calcium, sand and separation additives such as iron ferrocyanide and sodium ferrocyanide. Coal and metal ores can cause acid drainage. Acid leachate can dissolve metals and ores and release more contaminants into the waste stream. The spoil heaps sometimes reached millions of tons and, after being abandoned, are still huge piles today. They trap solar heat, making it difficult (but not impossible) to root vegetation. This promotes erosion and creates dangerous and unstable slopes. Existing techniques for greening tailings piles include the use of geotextiles to control erosion when the site is polluted again and simple vegetation such as grass is planted on the slope. tailings piles, called overburden banks, with a deep trench on the side where operations were stopped.
