Current Trends and Environmental Challenges in Generation and Reclamation of Waste Heaps during Open-Pit Coal Mining

Abstract

Within the territory of Siberia’s coal mining regions, commencing with 1950th is massively dumped coal rock heaps during open-pit coal mining. So far there were established quite considerable environmental challenges with generation vegetable ecosystems within the territory waste heaps of overburden rocks. During steps of multiannual field surveying was established that waste heaps are fall under the influence of water erosion that leads to formation of abundant ravines. On the stage of dumping of overburden rock in body of heap there are packed coal rock heaps, which during its subtraction by water flow begin self-ignite upon contact with open air. There were uncovered sectors on the surface of waste heaps of opencast within the territory of Kansk-Achinsk coal basin, in which is revealed the most massively impact of water erosion on generation of relief of reclaimed mining landscape.