Natural Resources Extraction: Stressors and Impact Management - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 163

sustainability objective, may not be absolutely possible, one can return the land to its natu-
ral state and natural site functionality. For example, one could seal shafts and openings,
relevel and contour the landscape to conform to local topography, add organic fertilizers,
and reseed with tolerant plant species (Davies, 1999). This procedure recognizes the fact
that whereas the natural resource that has been harvested no longer exists, proper mine
closure allows for recovery of the functionality of the affected ecosystem.
It is not uncommon for small urban communities to be developed within regions close
to mining and resource extraction operations to service the mining operations. Land use
and land restoration will depend on the requirements of the urban community and will
undoubtedly be markedly different from ab initio land-use conditions. The general proce-
dure is to perform an assessment of impacts on land use from the mining-extraction oper-
ations and to determine what reclamation and land restoration requirements are needed
to meet the needs of the community. The basic steps shown in Figure 5.12 include

a. Determination of impacts to geoenvironment and to land use. This requires infor-
mation from ab initio geoenvironmental inventory.

b. Compilation of community and/or regulatory land-use schemes or plans, e.g.,
return to ab initio conditions, housing estates, parklands, schools, recreation facili-
ties, natural landscape, waste dumpsite, industrial estate, agriculture, etc.

c. Determination of land quality requirements for land-use schemes and plans.

Ab initio
geoenvironmental
inventory and land use

Mining and resource
extraction operations

Schemes for land use

Impacts on
geoenvironment and
land use

Sustainability
indicators

Land quality
requirements for land
use schemes

4 Rs techniques
Reclamation
Restoration
Remediation
Rehabilitation

Land suitability and
land use

Resultant 4 Rs
land quality

FIGURE 5.12
Basic steps for rehabilitation of lands affected by mining-extraction operations. Implementation of schemes for
land use is dependent on the restored land quality. In the inal analysis, land suitability is dependent on the
quality of the rehabilitated land.