Mining voids as a factor of negative environment impact of solid mineral mining

Extraction of minerals from the subsoil is a specific technological activity which results in drastic transformation of the Earth’s interior. The objects of such activities are mineral deposits. Mineral production meets impelling demands of human society in minerals. Operating mines damage the geological environment and nature of ground surface. Moreover, extraction of minerals and gangue from the subsoil leaves vast mined-out voids. The associated process of mineral mining are withdrawal of land, damage of soil and vegetation cover, violation of ground water flow drive and chemical composition, dust pollution of ecosystems, etc. Thus, the key factor of negative environmental impact of solid mineral mining is mining voids generated in the subsoil as a consequence of extraction, removal and surface placement of huge volumes of rock mass [1–3].

SlavikovskayaYu. O. Mining voids as a factor of negative environment impact of solid mineral mining. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2021;(2):33-44. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236-1493-2021-2-0-33-44.

The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Grant No. 20-45-660014 Migration and Accumulation Patterns of Heavy Metals in Natural Systems under Local Industrial Load from Mining and Metallurgy toward Efficient Ecological Rehabilitation.

Yu.O. Slavikovskaya, Cand. Sci. (Econ.); Senior Researcher, Institute of Mining, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 620219, Ekaterinburg, Russia; Senior Researcher, Nature Management and Geoecology Center, Institute of Economics, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 620014, Ekaterinburg, Russia; e-mail: slavikov1977@mail.ru.

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