Another is of environmental impacts of acid mine drainage from older mines that did not benefit from modern technology and management practices. The minerals on Federal lands are divided into three categories, each subject to different laws and regulations. Of the sulfur contained in the concentrate feed, 99.9 percent will be captured, compared with the current, very respectable capture efficiency of about 93 percent. The most dramatic environmental improvement will come with the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions from the current level of about 3,700. pounds per hour to 200 pounds per hour. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website. Locatable, which are subject to the Mining Law of 1872, as amended, include gold, silver, copper and other hard rock minerals. The most common mechanism for ensuring that appropriate procedures are followed is reclamation bond or fund. MyNAP members SAVE 10% off online. Both the principal effects of mining on the environment and the important issues for public policy in this area are perhaps best introduced within the context of this production stages. A mine eventually reaches the end of its useful life, either because it physically depletes its ore or because conditions become unfavorable (costs rise or mineral prices fall). One familiar scene is of the old West, where prospectors blast the sides of mountains, tunnel through the earth, or pan at a river's edge for gold. Citation Finally, the environmental management practices of mining companies are important: waste piles that are revegetated or in some other way sealed, for example, are much less likely to be accessible to the water necessary to create sulfuric acid. OTA-BP-O-82. The common view of mining is of environmental degradation. Even as states began to enact more stringent regulatory legislation after World War II, they often lacked the funding to administer and enforce the legislation. The amount of the bond must equal the amount of the proposed reclamation plan. From the outset, mining companies understood that environmental regulations enacted under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the Clean Water Act could pose an existential threat to . of the Interior), Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, Interim Inventory and Assessment of Abandoned Mineral Lands in the National Park System, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mine_reclamation&oldid=1134611139, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Articles with limited geographic scope from October 2021, Pages in non-existent country centric categories, Articles to be expanded from January 2023, Articles needing cleanup from January 2023, Cleanup tagged articles with a reason field from January 2023, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from January 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, Create a suitable rooting medium for good tree growth that is no less than four feet deep and made of. Acid mine drainage can contaminate drinking water and affect aquatic and plant life if it gets into surface or ground waters. The environmental impacts of these activities are more significant than those resulting from exploration but much less than those of mineral production itself. The smelter modernization program also includes plans to segregate storm water from process waters, reducing water management problems and once again allowing the natural storm flows drainages above the smelter to enter the Great Salt Lake. Pp. Tailings from surface mines usually are deposited in a tailings (or settling) pond, while those from underground mines are deposited in the mine itself. Pp. Through 1994, over $140 million will have been. The managers of all operations, projects, or activities are responsible for carrying out this policy in accordance with the direction and guidance of the vice president of environmental affairs. As plans move forward for developing additional tailings storage capacity, environmental considerations are playing a major role in site identification, selection, and design, and the acquisition of permits for the sites. An official website of the U.S. government, The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program uses fees paid by present-day coal mining companies to. This project consisted of the relocation of over 1.7 million cubic yards of potentially acid-generating waste rock and the reclamation of nearly 600 acres of tailings deposits. Mining companies committed to the SDGs will benefit from improved relationships with governments and communities and better access to financial resources; those that fail to engage meaningfully . Meanwhile, surface mining became increasingly common: in 1963 just 33 percent of American coal came from surface mines; by 1973 that figure reached 60 percent. Proper concern and regard for the environment is one of the fundamental elements of any successful business strategy. of improved cutoff walls to intercept surface and subsurface leach-water flow. Costs may rise because of expenditures on permitting and environmental assessment and on implementing changes in project design that the compliance process may require. The environmental damage is largely aesthetic. With a reclamation bond, mining companies put money into escrow account or in some other way set aside money as a guarantee that they will perform the required reclamation work. Kennecott received an Earth Day award for the cleanup of waste-rock containing lead and arsenic from the Butterfield Creek drainage at the south end of KUC. Utah issued a groundwater discharge permit for the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir in 1992. Governments may hold mineral rights for one of two reasons. because several key legal terms remained unacceptable to Kennecott. Overburden is soil and rock removed to gain access to a mineral deposit prior to surface mining. Photo: Chuck Meyers, OSM. 1994. The new standards on [2] Like most environmental statutes passed in the 1960s and 1970s, SMCRA uses a cooperative federalism approach under which states are expected to take the lead in regulation while the federal government oversees their efforts. SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 19771 [Public Law 95-87] [As Amended Through P.L. Public policies in the second category, rules governing the preproduction process of complying with environmental rules, take a number of forms. Although the environment is affected by these activities, the impacts are minor. Coal mining represented about half of this land, with mining of nonmetallic minerals accounting for about two-fifths and of metallic minerals about one-tenth. This can cost billions of dollars just to set up a mine. [18], The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. Accompanying the modernization program are routine efforts to improve environmental performance in many areas, such as employee and community education, hazard elimination (e.g., elimination of underground storage tanks and polychlorinated biphenyl compounds), substitution of environmentally sound products (e.g., detergents for chlorinated solvent cleaning solutions), and extensive waste-minimization and recycling efforts. We look at some of main developments in this context with a selection of reporting topics that are of most practical relevance to mining companies' activities. An Act to provide for the cooperation between the Secretary of the Interior and the States with respect to the regulation of surface coal mining operations, and the acquisition and reclamation of abandoned mines, and for other purposes. They estimated that over the fifty-year period 19301980, only 0.25 percent of the total land area of the United States was used for surface mining, disposal of wastes from surface and underground mines, and disposal of wastes from mineral beneficiation and further processing. The Bingham Creek lead tailings removal efforts will cost nearly $40 million. Water conservation and recycling were designed as integral parts of the modernization effort. The most. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Pits and waste piles have slopes stabilized and may revegetated. This tour program has been very successful, and press coverage of the cleanup projects has been very positive. compound. The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program uses fees paid by present-day coal mining companies to reclaim coal mines abandoned before 1977. Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available. After completing project preparation, funds are used for construction to reclaim the site. The environmental disruption caused by exploration tends to be localized and minor. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. When complete, the program will ensure that KUC remains one of the world's cleanest and most efficient copper producers well into the next century. 117-58, Enacted November 15, 2021] If you were a politician writing the law on mining reclamation, what specific requirements would you include for mining companies to restore a site after mining has ended? Only in the subsequent, subsurface examination of still smaller areas is there any appreciable environmental impactsfrom drilling, trenching (bulldozing a trench to examine near-surface rocks), and the associated road building to provide access for drill rigs and bulldozers. Mining and beneficiation techniques are important: underground mining, a noted above, creates much smaller volumes of waste per unit of metal than does surface mining, and the higher the recovery rate during beneficiation, the smaller the amount of tailings created. View our suggested citation for this chapter. spent to remedy problems at historic sites, and several of the cleanup efforts are among the largest such projects ever undertaken. Underground mines typically are sealed or plugged. Holistic management has been championed by Dan Dagget and others for mine reclamation in these types of situations. A mine is born through exploration and mine development. Surface mines, as well as waste sites for both underground and surface mines, are rehabilitated. The new facility will require only 25 percent of the electrical power and natural gas now used to produced copper. Very crude estimates compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (1991) indicate that mining activities, apparently in this case including oil and gas production and coal mining, account for about three-quarters of the solid wastes generated annually in Canada, one-third in the United States, one-tenth in the European Community, and one-twentieth in Japan. What cash-flow management reveals about the industry. Two types of public policy are critical during mineral exploration and mine development. Although there is a risk that Kennecott's responses to these environmental problems will not be acceptable to the regulators, Kennecott is proceeding as rapidly as possible to implement the solutions it believes are appropriate. However, the possible hazard of waste and radioactivity generated by mining, dumping and tailing, has called on the society to find ways of seeking remedy that will adequately treat mining waste from mine dump, tailing and abandoned mine. Federal regulations aimed directly at the mining industry have not yet been put into a place, but broad-based statutes such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and numerous others apply to mining activities. heavy metals, thiosalts, and chemical reagents used in beneficiation. Tailings are the fine waste particles that are produced during the beneficiation of ore and typically suspended in water. There is no evidence that this attention from the general public or the regulators will diminish, and mining companies in the United States can expect an ever-increasing level of scrutiny and control over their operations. For example, for several of the cleanup projects described above, work was well under way before legally enforceable administrative agreements were signed with EPA to oversee the work. Major cleanup projects are also under way in the Bingham Creek drainage downstream from the mouth of Bingham Canyon. faced with mining in their community. Kennecott is beginning to experiment with wetland systems to create passive treatment mechanisms to handle excess acid-contaminated waters. The project incorporated some of the largest state-of-the-art crushing, conveying, grinding, flotation, and filtration equipment available in the industry. [10][11][12] When the best available material is not topsoil, topsoil can be made on site by using early successional species of native hardy perennial grasses and other plants, combined with livestock substituting for the species of wildlife needed to complete the biosystem. Most states have comprehensive environmental regulations for the mining industry. [1] Modern mine reclamation reduces the environmental effects of mining. Mine reclamation bonds are used in countries with mineral mining to ensure that reclamation of the mined area is completed. states and tribes can use AML funds for related efforts, contacts for states, Indian tribes, and OSMRE offices, they may be eligible for "certification. KUC produces over 300,000 tons of copper, 500,000 ounces. At the end of that decade, states began to enact the first laws regulating the coal mining industry: West Virginia in 1939, Indiana in 1941, Illinois in 1943, and Pennsylvania in 1945. In all cases, Kennecott informs the regulators before work begins and provides for regular inspections of the work by the regulators and stakeholders from the local communities. As part of the life cycle of a surface coal mine, completed mine areas must undergo rehabilitation. During this stage, ore is processed (or upgraded) into concentrates, which will be processed still further, usually in a smelter or refinery. 2824) to Amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to Stop the Ongoing Waste by the Department of the Interior of Taxpayer Resources and Implement the Final Rule on Excess Spoil, Mining Waste, and Buffers for Perennial and Intermittent Streams, and for Other Purposes; Providing for Consideration of the Bill (H.R. removing waste and hazardous material. In March 1992, Kennecott announced plans to complete the modernization of its operating facilities with the construction of state-of-the-art smelting and refining facilities. Operations include the Bingham Canyon Mine, the Copperton and North Concentrators, the Magna Tailings Impoundment, the Garfield Smelter and Refinery, the Utah Power Plant, and miscellaneous support facilities (Figure 1 ). The 3809 Regulations require that mining companies guarantee the existence of financial resources to fund site reclamation following mining operations, including most exploration, extraction, and development activities on public lands where the mineral interest is owned by the United States or was patented after October 21, 1976. The firm's environmental policy attempts to strike a balance between society's need for metals and an environmentally sound approach to operations. To put the problem of potentially unsightly land into perspective, consider the study by Johnson and Paone (1982). SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. Paris: United Nations Environment Programme. The technology is to be supported by design, construction, operating, maintenance, and management methods of the best available quality and by active assessment and training programs. It ensures that coal mining operations are conducted in an environmentally responsible manner and that the land is adequately reclaimed during and following the mining process. Infrastructure development also takes place at this stage as mines are often located in remote areas that require construction of roads and electricity. Existing land-use policies have placed large tracts of land off-limits to mineral exploration and development in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States. As another example of the success of the community relations program, public meetings held to discuss possible solutions to a groundwater contamination problem generated essentially no adverse publicity, and comments from the public about Kennecott's environmental approach were favorable. Many states do not require large mining companies to post a surety bond for the costs of mine reclamation. Within the Research Institute of Post-Mining, the THGA also currently offers the world's only Master's degree course in Geotechnical Engineering and Post-Mining, which combines science and engineering, and encompasses rock mechanics, economic geology as well as hydrology, surveying and legal issues. The liner system incorporates never-before-used electrically conductive layers for liner integrity inspection and leak detection. In the United States, mine reclamation is a regular part of modern mining practices. First, in most countries, mineral rights are held the government regardless of who owns the surface rights. Mining law and governance is complex. issues faced by mining companies with the heavy demand for capital and risks faced by the industry driving more cooperative working relationships. Good working relationships that have been established between Kennecott and EPA's technical representatives are expected to continue, even if an adversarial position develops over legal terms. Air monitoring Because mining sites are usually remote, they often utilize coal-fired power plants to supply power to a mining site. The most common mechanism for ensuring that appropriate procedures are followed is reclamation bond or fund. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book. In the two states without approved programs (Tennessee and Washington) and on Indian Reservations, the Office of Surface Mining performs those functions. Waste generated from the existing smelting and refining process consists of weak acid from smelter off-gas scrubbing, flue dust, and electrolyte bleed from the refinery. Clean Water Act (CWA) The CWA, passed in 1977, authorizes regulations that cover discharges of toxic and nontoxic pollutants into the surface waters of the nation. EPA recently elected to discontinue negotiations on this agreement. Here, the focus is placed on the scientific accompaniment of the so-called eternity tasks of coal-mining in the areas of the Ruhr, the Saar as well as in Ibbenbren, where mining, geology, geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology, electrical and information technology experts as well as mining surveyors work together across the different disciplines. Sow the native species of early successional species of plants and grasses. Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitute established in step one to create a non-compacted growth medium. Once the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir was placed in service, Kennecott began the cleanup of the Large Bingham Creek Reservoir. [3][4] In some situation even spontaneous ecosystem development may result in reasonable forest cover[5][6] but in most cases specific restoration approaches are used. 1997. 1201 & following). Such energy-efficient operations achieve the highly desirable goal of both direct and indirect pollution prevention. United Nations Environment Programme. The federal government is required to regulate surface coal mining on federal lands (which include 60 percent of the coal reserves in the West), but can enter into cooperative agreements with states with approved programs. That companies should be liable for damages caused by nonprudent, negligent, and illegal activities is not controversial. [4] The bankruptcy of large coal mining companies may imperil the $3.7 billion state regulators have allowed in self-bonding. 1994. They can contaminate ground water, emit toxic waste, and cause injury when unsteady infrastructures collapse. Land-use rules are important because, before mining companies can undertake mineral exploration and development, they need access to prospective mineralized lands. Although many states with mining activity had passed laws to regulate operations, the laws varied from state to state and enforcement was inconsistent. The Industrial Green Game. The nature and extent of actual environmental damage caused by solid mine wastes and, in turn, acid mine drainage vary enormously from case to case, depending on several factors. Process of restoring land that has been mined to a natural or usable state, The examples and perspective in this article, A surface coal mine in Britain before and during the reclamation process, Please expand the section to include this information. Published: 20/09/2022 Hot off the press 21/06/2023 Corporate Immigration When a state or tribe has reclaimed high priority coal AML areas. These broader aspects of liability are designed to encourage companies to go beyond simple compliance with existing regulations. The expression "best contemporary practice" means the best available and proven technology appropriate to the situation, taking into account economic and environmental factors. A mining entity may also have a policy or practice of reclamation regardless of whether or not a law exists, in which case a constructive obligation as to the future recla mation activities may exist. The Lark project also included removal of asbestos from buildings in the area as well as the demolition of derelict structures. of environmental degradation over which miners have some control. Once those first three steps are accomplished and well-established, the livestock grazing can be reduced or eliminated to allow medium and higher successional species to take root and continue the forestry approach. Publication Series No. The objectives of this process include: minimizing environmental effects. In all areas, Kennecott is attempting to stay ahead of the regulatory agencies in determining the pace and priorities of the cleanup program. Kennecott Corporationa wholly owned subsidiary of RTZ, PLC, the largest mining company in the worldmanages mining operations and exploration activities across North America, including several low-sulfur coal mines in the Powder River Basin, precious metals mines in the Southeastern and Western United States, and copper mines in Wisconsin and Utah. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. In this respect, the institute works closely with mining and old companies, as well as authorities, water boards and regional authorities, industrial firms and universities. One problem was that the law varied from state to state, enabling mining operations to relocate to states where regulations were less strict. In the United States, a Mine Owners' Association ( MOA ), also sometimes referred to as a Mine Operators' Association or a Mine Owners' Protective Association, is the combination of individual mining companies, or groups of mining companies, into an association, established for the purpose of promoting the collective interests of the group. The CWA's goal is to make all surface waters safe and eventually to stop all harmful discharges. Some 47 percent of the land affected by mining and waste disposal had been reclaimed. Zone 1 has been lined with compacted clay, a lower 60-mil high density polyethylene (HOPE) liner, a leak detection and collection layer, and an upper 80-mil HDPE liner. Mining and beneficiation can have a variety of environmental effects.2 The most visible effect probably is the sight of land disturbed by mining and waste disposal. All rights reserved. KUC is in the midst of a major modernization program representing an investment of nearly $2 billion. Generally, states and tribes must reclaim all Priority 1 and 2 coal sites before using AML funds on Priority 3 coal sites, but several exceptions exist. Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name. More detailed data for the United States suggest that non-coal mining accounts for about one-seventh of the solid waste generated annually that is considered nonhazardous, while coal mining accounts for less than a hundredth of such wastes. Intarapravich, D., and A. L. Clark. Congress sent him a bill that was even more stringent than those vetoed by Ford, and President Carter signed it into law on August 3, 1977. Kennecott has undertaken several voluntary efforts to assist with the cleanup of these lead tailings, including the construction of a waste repository on its property to hold the tailings. 165181. Mining activities use much less land than agricultural production, urban development, logging and forestry, and national parks and wilderness areas. A percentage of the fund is distributed to states with approved reclamation programs for their projects, and the remaining monies are used by the federal government through the OSMRE to reclaim abandoned mines in states without active programs. Exceptions are provided when a community or surface owner is in need of flat or gently rolling terrain. The federal AML Reclamation Program distributes funds for reclamation to the state and tribal AML programs with remaining Priority 1 and 2 sites. [21], In view of the end of coal mining in Germany in 2018, the Research Institute of Post-Mining (FZN) was set up at the Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola (THGA) in Bochum in 2015. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Barnes, P., and A. Cox. The remaining 20% are used by OSM to respond to emergencies such as landslides, land subsidence, and fires, and to carry out high priority cleanups in states without approved programs. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9962. Butterfield Creek is used for irrigation, and Butterfield Canyon is a popular recreational area for the public, so there was some cause for concern. flux. In 1974 and 1975 Congress sent mining regulation bills to President Gerald Ford, but he vetoed them out of concern that they would harm the coal industry, increase inflation, and restrict the energy supply. Nearly 900,000 cubic yards of waste rock were placed along Butterfield Creek in unprotected areas and were actively eroding into the stream. Abandoned mines pose risks to people and the environment. What policy toolsfor example, direct regulation or economic incentivesare best suited for meeting these standards? The cost of the Lark-area work was nearly $15 million. Further, the federal government has been addressing the cleanup of historic mine wastes through its Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation. What are the recent developments in the exploration and extraction of mineral resources in your jurisdiction? Fees paid by coal mine operators fund the AML Reclamation Program. Provisions of the act set standards for . For example, Colorado began a voluntary reclamation program in 1965, in which the mine operators were expected to act on their own to restore mined lands. A floating barge on which buckets fixed onto a conveyor excavate sediments is called. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 ( SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States . Reservoirs and holding basins were constructed in the early 1900s to begin to recover metals, and flow down Bingham Creek was terminated in the 1930s. Cutoff walls keyed into competent, low-permeability bedrock are constructed to capture leach waters. Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features? The only way for a company to get the money back is to perform the required work. Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free? Often just called the Mine Act, this law sets safety and health standards for miners and requires annual inspections of all U.S. mines by MSHA.