Geological, geotechnical and geoecological problems of reclamation of land disturbed by dumping in open pit coal mining in Kuzbass

The article discusses reclamation of external dumps in coal fields in Kuzbass. Open pit coal mining in this region necessitates efficient overburden dumping and subsequent reclamation of dumping-disturbed land. Based on the scientific and technical literature review, auditing of geological conditions, as well as in-situ and lab-scale studies of manmade deposits, the main factors which govern formation of natural-and-technical systems and their influence on the natural environment are revealed. The test dumping areas feature the change in the natural landscape and the origination of another manmade (adoptive) landscape which drastically differs from the initial terrain. The geotechnical conditions of dumping in the region are analyzed as function of composition of overburden and progression of technogenesis processes which govern stability of geotechnical slopes. It is highlighted that fertility of land disturbed by dumping recovers owing to generation of manmade eluvium on the land surface. It is justified that reclamation of hydraulic fills is possible through dry rock dumping on their surface, at different thickness depending on needs of a mine. The research findings prove usability of overburden in coal mining as safe and potentially fertile soil for biological reclamation. The recommendations on the selection of reclamation methods and technologies subject to properties of overburden, as well as type and parameters of dumps as a natural-and-technical system are given.

Kutepov Yu. I., Kutepova N. A., Mukhina A. S., Moseykin V. V. Geological, geotechnical and geoecological problems of reclamation of land disturbed by dumping in open pit coal mining in Kuzbass. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2022;(5):5-24. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2022_5_0_5.

Yu.I. Kutepov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Head of Laboratory, e-mail: koutepovy@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3698-3072,
N.A. Kutepova¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Chief Researcher, e-mail: koutepovy@mail.ru, 
A.S. Mukhina¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: aleksandra_sergeevna94@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0707-8914,
V.V. Moseykin, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Mining Institute, National University of Science and Technology «MISiS», 119049, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: moseykin@inbox.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2286-1480,
¹ Saint-Petersburg Mining University, 199106, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

Yu.I. Kutepov, e-mail: koutepovy@mail.ru.

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