Mine reclamation

Mine reclamation is the process of restoring land that has been mined to a natural or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activities occurs prior to a mine being permitted or started. Mine reclamation creates useful landscapes that meet a variety of goals ranging from the restoration of productive ecosystems to the creation of industrial and municipal resources. In the United States, mine reclamation is a regular part of modern mining practices. Modern mine reclamation minimizes and mitigates the environmental effects of mining.

As part of the life cycle of a surface coal mine, completed mine areas must undergo rehabilitation. When mining ends, operators must restore the land to its approximate original contour (AOC) or leave the land graded and suitable for a “higher and better” post-mining land use (PMLU) that has been approved as part of the original mining permit application. Exceptions are provided when a community or surface owner is in need of flat or gently rolling terrain. Acceptable post-mining land uses include commercial, residential, recreational, agricultural or public facility improvements.

Within the past decade, a new approach to reforestation —the Forestry Reclamation Approach, or FRA— has been promoted by state mining agencies and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) as an appropriate and desirable method for reclaiming coal-mined land to support forested land uses under SMCRA. This approach was developed through and is supported by research conducted through the Powell River Project, a cooperative research and education program focused on topics relevant to coal mining and reclamation in Appalachia.

The FRA establishes guidelines for achieving successful reforestation on mined lands, and can be summarized in the following five steps:

When the top successional species for the local environment is not forest due to local microclimate conditions, reclamation may be better accomplished by establishing rangeland instead. Holistic management has been championed by Dan Dagget and others for mine reclamation in these types of situations. 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 substituting for the species of wildlife needed to complete the biosystem.

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