Processes of hydrosphere self-rehabilitation and mine water treatment in post mining period

The hydrosphere of catchments, which are disturbed by mining, is formed under the influence of not only natural, but also, to a large extent, man-made factors over a long period, sometimes tens or even hundreds of years. After the cessation of production, the return of the mining territory to a state as close to natural as possible is possible, as world experience shows, in exceptional cases, provided that the process of reclamation and revitalization is planned at the design stage of mining. In old industrial areas, the selfhealing processes of the hydrosphere are of great importance, which determine the time during which the territory should be considered as an object of accumulated environmental damage. At present, the total removal of metal compounds by mine waters in the discharge zones at flooded copper-ore mines of the Sverdlovsk region amounts to hundreds (manganese, zinc) and even thousands of tons per year (iron). The duration of self-rehabilitation of the hydrosphere of mining areas at the post-operational stage, i.e. the duration of the period during which the content of the main polluting components (copper, zinc, iron, sulfate ion) is reduced to the maximum permissible or background values, is tens or even hundreds of years. During this time, in order to prevent pollution of the underground and surface hydrosphere, expensive measures are required to implement a system of purification of underground and surface waters of the old industrial territory. The research was carried out on the basis of observations of the chemical composition of water bodies in the territory of the abandoned Levikhinsky mine since the beginning of the 2000s.

Ribnikova L.S., Ribnikov P.A. Processes of hydrosphere self-rehabilitation and mine water treatment in post mining period. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2020;(3-1):488-500. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236—1493—2020—31-0-488-500.

the Research was carried out within the framework of the basic research Program of the Russian Academy of Sciences, theme 0328-2019-005 in accordance with the plan 2019-2021, and with the financial support of the RFBR in the framework of scientific project no.20-45-660014.

Ribnikova L.S.¹, Dr. Sci. (Geol. Mineral.), chief researcher, the laboratory of mining ecology, luserib@mail.ru,
Ribnikov P.A.^1,2, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), head of the laboratory of geoinformation and digital technologies in subsoil use, ribnikoff@yandex.ru,
¹ Institute of Mining UB RAS, 620075, Russia, Ekaterinburg, Mamin-Sibiryakst., 58,
² Ural State Mining University, 620144, Ekaterinburg , Kuybyshev st., 30.

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