If you use adobe acrobat reader to fill in the form, the contents you enter cannot be saved. Life cycle assessment of coalfired power production. Section 1 presents an overview of surface mining methods and practices as commonly employe d in modern surface mining operations. Governments official website for the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement osmre. Unesco eolss sample chapters civil engineering vol. The office of surface mining osm is authorized by the surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977, as amended. Yet there is limited public access to information on the size, location, and life span of these operations, or on how the land can be expected to look afterward.
Any violation of the federal surface mining control and reclamation act, 30 usc 1201 et seq. The actual difference between surface and underground mining. Coal refuse shall include underground development wastes, and coal processing wastes, excess spoil, but does not mean overburden from surface mining. The alabama surface mining commission is the primary regulatory authority for surface and underground coal mining operations for the state of alabama under the federal surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977. This article applies to any person conducting surface coal mining operations.
Box cut, strip cuts and spoil piles humphrey, 1984. Pre sentday emphasis is on improving extraction per centage. Interactive map of coal mines in west virginia american. Surface mining is only economic when the coal seam is near the surface.
Surface mining control and reclamation act smcra p. Currently, almost all nonmetallic minerals more than 95%, most metallic minerals more than 90% and a large fraction of coal. Surface coal mining generally involv es the following sequence of unit operations. The three surface mining techniques most widely used in the west are area strip, open pit, and terrace pit. Notice of intent to explore less than 12 acre and less than 250 tons of coal removed coal exploration permit application more that 12 acre or more than 250 tons of coal removed coal mine permit. Hargreaves are one of the largest remaining developers and operators of surface mines in the uk.
Lavender pit the lavender pit, a former openpit copper mine, bisbee, ariz. Did you know osmrecoal facts office of surface mining. Coal surface mining activities application forms that are created will be listed on the application list where additional actions may be performed on them ex. Such a designation would mean that no new surface coal mining permits could be issued within the designated area. Surface mining motor grader blades for haul road maintenance surface miner drums kencast tungsten carbide wear protection t heavyduty scarifier and dual carbide insert blades. Slips, trips, and falls also lead to fatalities, and accounted for the deaths of 55 miners at surface coal and surface metalnonmetal facilities between 2006 and 2015 weston et al. Surface mining, including strip mining, openpit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit the overburden are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels surface mining began in the midsixteenth.
The description includes a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of surface and. Coal mining coal companies use two methods to mine coal. Underground mining is used for gold, platinum, zinc, lead, and increasingly, coal. The area is then backfilled, regraded, and replanted during the reclamation process. The primary methods of surface coal mining used in pennsylvania are.
Both surface and underground mining were examined, with the coal being surface mined by strip mining or by the underground technique of longwall mining. Instructions for using this fillable license application form general this is a dynamic form which can be filled out on a computer using adobe acrobat professional version 7 or higher or adobe acrobat reader version 6. Surface mining of coal completely eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, degrades air quality, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. As can be seen, surface mining is much more advantageous than its counterpart. A trust fund is contributed to by a fee assessed on every ton of coal. Analysis of safety aspects and mining practices for.
Other forms are adobe pdf static pages which may be filled in using the adobe typewriter tool and saved or. The coal is transported via rail, truck, or a combination of rail and barge by one of four cases tested. Typical examples of this type of mining are the larger tonnage coal mining operations in mpumulanga. To reach coal that lies several hundred feet below the surface, miners build underground mines with deep elevators and tunnels that burrow into earth. Osmres business practices are to reclaim abandoned mine lands title iv, regulate active coal mines title v, and apply sound science through technology transfer. Past coal mining practice left much coal in the ground as pillars that are difficult to recover. We mapped surface mining from 1976 to 2005 for a 19,581 km2 area of southern west virginia and linked these maps with water quality and biological data for 223 streams. Download a pdf of surface mining of noncoal minerals by the national research council for free. Basic information about surface coal mining in appalachia. Surface mining, method of extracting minerals near the surface of the earth. Generic protocol for loading and firing of explosives in surface mines blasting is a complex activity demanding special skills on the part of the blaster and other crew members. Surface coal mining in the steep terrain of the central appalachian coalfields includes. This method recovers a higher proportion of the coal deposit than underground mining as all coal seams are exploited 90% or more of the coal can be recovered. For those coal surface mining and reclamation operations which remove or disturb strata that serve as aquifers which significantly insure the hydrologic balance of water use either on or off the mining site, the director shall specify those i monitoring sites to record the quantity and quality of surface drainage above and below the mine site.
Reclaiming mined areas that endanger public health and. As part of mining forum 2014, caterpillar hosted several demonstrations of the cat mining product line for customers from around the world at the tinaja hills demonstration and learning center in. Conduct basicetiologic studies to determine environmental factors associated with slips, trips, and falls in the mining industry. Analysis of energy consumption in surface coal mining. Coal mining is only a temporary use of land, so it is vital that rehabilitation of land takes place once mining operations have stopped. Mining methods, surface mining large alluvial deposits are mined by floating washing plants capable of excavating the gravel, processing it in the washing pl ant. At present, ambient particulate matter pm, impacts from surface coal mining operations are assessed in the following ways. Dec 09, 2009 surface coal mining in the mountainous areas of appalachiaoften called mountaintop mining generates controversy, in part because of its scale and the post mining appearance of the land. Surface mining is predominantly used in obtaining sand, gravel, crushed stone, phosphates, coal, copper, iron, and aluminum. Underground mining currently accounts for about 60% of world coal production, although in several important coal producing countries surface mining is more common. Surface coal mining is the dominant form of land cover change in central appalachia, yet the extent to which surface coal mine runoff is polluting regional rivers is currently unknown. Surface mining progresses underground, in swaziland, africa. In best practice a detailed rehabilitation or reclamation plan is designed and approved for each coal mine, covering the period from the start of operations until well after mining has finished. Protecting society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations.
Surface mining is commonly used to extract coal and copper, and increasingly, precious metals like gold. The adeq surface mining and reclamation division handles the reclamation of abandoned coal mines that existed prior to regulations. Surface mining methods dominate the world production of minerals. Instructions for using this fillable license application form. These regulations, consisting of parts 700 through 882, establishes the procedures and requirements through which the department of mines, minerals, and energy and its division of mined land reclamation will implement the virginia coal surface. Virginia coal surface mining control and reclamation act.
Surface mining can be used when the coal is buried less than 200 feet underground. Coal surface mining activities general permit application form. Surface mining is used to extract about onethird of the coal in the united states. Ppt coal mining powerpoint presentation free to download.
Coals war on wildlife coal mining has serious, lasting negative impacts on wildlife. Change in production and productivity of us coal mines the higher productivity for open pit mining equipment also lowers costs. The west virginia geological and economic survey provides an interactive map of underground and surface coal mining activity in west virginia. The map shows areas of active and historical coal mining in both underground and surface mines, with separate colors for auger and highwall mining. Opencast mining is the most common method used throughout the world for extracting minerals ha et al.
Surface coal mining hargreaves are one of the largest remaining developers and operators of surface mines in the uk after the acquisition of srg and ath in 2012, hargreaves became one of the largest remaining coal operators in the uk, working at sites primarily across scotland. Surface mining, including strip mining, openpit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit the overburden are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels. People use this method when coal is close to the grounds surface. Download a pdf of surface mining of non coal minerals by the national research council for free. Blasting injuries in surface mining with emphasis on flyrock. Surface mining tt coal produced underground mining tt coal produced mining techniques contour area conventional longwall liquid effluents 0. Land exempt from designation as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations 26 9. Assessment, restoration and reclamation of mining influenced soils, 2017.
Virginia coal surface mining reclamation regulations virginia administrative code title 4 agency 25 chapter. Why do we surface mine a coal seam or group of seams instead of deep. Okubo encyclopedia of life support systems eolss figure 2. It included coal and nonmetal mines, and consisted of four parts. Surface mining uses large machines to dig up the dirt and rock that covers coal.
Coal mining can result in a number of adverse effects on the environment. Surface coal mining methods in australia intechopen. Shallow, flat coal deposits are mined by surface processes, which are generally less costly per ton of coal than underground mines of similar capacity. Surface mining of coal is regulated by the surface mining control and reclamation act of 1977 smcra, which created the department of the interiors office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement osm to implement and enforce the act. Highwall mining is a coal mining method for recovery of outcropped coal by mechanical excavation without removal of overburden.
Principles and practices of modern coal mining by r d singh. In surface mining, the topsoil and layers of rock are removed to expose large. Users can zoom in on mining areas and retrieve information for individual mines. Exploration or development on land designated as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations 26 chapter 15. After the acquisition of srg and ath in 2012, hargreaves became one of the largest remaining coal operators in the uk, working at sites primarily across scotland.
A comprehensive overview of coal 7 the choice of mining method is largely determined by the geology of the coal deposit. Under smcra, a member of the public may petition a state regulatory authority to declare areas not otherwise precluded from coal mining operations as lands unsuitable for mining lum. The three most common types of surface mining are openpit mining, strip mining, and quarrying. Surface mining machinery glossary bibliography biographical sketches summary this chapter deals with surface mining. Layers of soil and rock overburden are removed the coal exposed coal seam is excavated. In the short term, species can be killed or displaced from their habitat. Surface mining also commonly called strip mining, though this is actually only one possible form of surface mining, is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit the overburden are. Local conditions will form the basis for choosing the appropriate mining method. Large opencast mines can cover an area of many square kilometres and use very large pieces of equipment, such as. Strip mining is ideally applied where the surface of the ground and the ore body itself are relatively horizontal and not too deep under the surface, and a wide area is available to be mined in a series of strips. Overburden and interburden are disposed of in adjacent valleys because the broken rock will not all fit back into the mining pit, and disposal alternatives are limited.
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