Mining and the environment: a case study from Bijolia quarrying site in Rajasthan, India

Mining is essentially a destructive developmental activity, where ecology suffers at the altar of economy. Unfortunately, in most regions of the Earth, the underground geological resources are superimposed by biological resources (forests). This is particularly evident in India. Hence mining operations necessarily involve deforestation, habitat destruction, biodiversity erosion and destruction of geological records which contain information about past biodiversity. Extraction and the processing of ores and minerals also lead to widespread environmental pollution.However, mankind cannot afford to give up the underground geological resources which are the basic raw materials for development. An unspoiled nature can provide ecological security to people but cannot bring economic prosperity. Scientific mining operations accompanied by ecological restoration and regeneration of mined wastelands and judicious use of geological resources, with search for eco-friendly substitutes and alternatives must provide the answer.A case study from the Bijolia quarrying area in Rajasthan, India, provides some sensational revelations of the impact of mining on the human ecosystem.     

地下铁矿扩界开采地表影响范围预测

矿山开采活动形成的地下空区往往会对地表造成一定的影响,为确保矿山的安全生产并提供地表影响范围计算的科学依据,现根据某铁矿采用下向胶结充填法采矿需进行扩界开采的工程实际,将该矿的地表影响范围运用概率积分法进行预测。在已知该矿9条勘探线矿体形状的基础上,根据图件可得矿体的埋深、倾角、产状等基础资料,对于较薄矿体以及尖灭部位需做适当的处理,提供更为客观正确的计算数据。以地表沉陷数值的大小为参考标准运用概率积分法计算出地表移动边界和需监测范围,并计算倾斜、曲率和水平应变判断地表建筑物是否位于安全区。可得矿区周边房屋均处于安全区内和地表移动边界之外,扩界开采对地表影响较小,为同类工程提供参考和建议。     

采煤沉陷区输电铁塔复合防护板基础抗变形性能及其板厚取值研究

以某采煤沉陷区内的典型输电铁塔及其复合防护板基础工程为背景,考虑地基-基础-上部铁塔结构的共同作用,对不同板厚复合防护板基础的抗采动变形性能进行了研究,并引入"保护作用"的概念,对独立基础和复合防护板基础的抗变形性能进行了分析。研究表明,设置复合防护板后,与独立基础相比,可明显减少铁塔支座的水平位移及上部结构的应力,支座位移与结构应力随着复合大板厚度的增大而减小,其减小的幅度随着板厚的增大而趋缓,当板厚达到一定数值以后几乎不再减小。提出的复合防护板的厚度可取铁塔基础长向根开的1/45～1/35的建议,以供采煤沉陷区内复合防护板基础的设计参考。     

The influence of heterogeneous environmental regulation on the green development of the mining industry: empirical analysis based on the system GMM and dynamic panel data model

The intensity of environmental regulation (ERI) affects the short-term effect of the level of green mining (GML), and which structure determines the long-term mechanism. Based on the panel data from 2001 to 2015, with the dynamic panel model and system GMM estimation method were employed to test the influence of heterogeneous environmental regulation on green mining and its transmission mechanism. The results show that, there is a “U” type nonlinear relationship between the ERI and GML. The direct effect of command-control-based (CAC) and the market incentive-based (MBI) environmental regulation on green development of mining shows the characteristics of inhibition and promotion. There is a “U” type of indirectly moderating effect between technological innovation and the energy consumption structure on the GML. The technological innovation promotes the green development of the mining industry only after pass the inflection point of MBI, while the CAC plays a significant guiding role in upgrading of the energy consumption structure. There is an inhibition and promotion effect of MBI on the GML in the southeast coastal area, and the CAC is not significantly. Meanwhile, both of the ERI shows no positive effects in the central and western inland region.     

The legacy of surface mining: Remediation,restoration, reclamation and rehabilitation

Surface mining is a global phenomenon. When dealing with the land disturbances caused by surface mining operations, the terms remediation, reclamation, restoration and rehabilitation (R4) are commonly used interchangeably or otherwise vaguely defined. Expectations associated with these terms may differ significantly from one stakeholder to another, however. Regulators, industry, environmental practitioners, local communities and the general public therefore stand to benefit from a precise terminology based on agreed-upon end-goals. The latter range from the avoidance of exposure to pollutants (remediation) to the full recovery of the original ecosystem (restoration). Although frequently claimed as the end-goal, restoration may often not be unachievable, because of altered hydrology, habitat fragmentation, contamination, climate change, prohibitive costs and other environmental and socio-economic boundary conditions. Mostly, the definitions of reclamation and rehabilitation may overlap in their definitions and approaches. Here we attempt the creation of a road-map that can clearly translate end-goals for each of the R4 terms. According to the definitions encountered and exposed here, reclamation, which aims to recover key ecosystem services and biogeochemical functions within a replacement ecosystem or rehabilitation, which implies a repurposing of the landscape, may be the best approaches to deal with surface mining legacies.     

确保地表建筑物安全矸石充填开采原料配比及充填量的确定

为确定某矿的矸石充填开采过程中最优充填材料配比和最佳的矸石充填量。设计了一种新型的矸石压缩模具,应用该模具和YE-200A液压试验机对十种不同粒径配比的矸石进行压缩试验,得出均匀配比的矸石为最优充填配比。采用最小二乘法拟合的数学模型,确定了均匀配比矸石充填材料与压力的变化规律。最后推出了均匀配比的矸石充填高度与采厚、顶板允许下沉量及顶板压力的函数关系。     

Impact of Gold mining on the Environment and Human Health: A Case Study in the Migori Gold Belt, Kenya

The study of gold sites in the Migori Gold Belt, Kenya, revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals, mainly Hg, Pb and As are above acceptable levels. Tailings at the panning sites recorded values of 6.5–510 mg kg^–1 Pb, 0.06–76.0 mg kg^–1 As and 0.46–1920 mg kg^–1 Hg. Stream sediments had values of 3.0–11075 mg kg^–1 Pb, 0.014–1.87 mg kg^–1 As and 0.28–348 mg kg^–1 Hg. The highest metal contamination was recorded in sediments from the Macalder stream (11075 mg kg^–1 Pb), Nairobi mine tailings (76.0 mg kg^–1 As) and Mickey tailings (1920 mg kg^–1 Hg). Mercury has a long residence time in the environment and this makes its emissions from artisan mining a threat to health. Inhaling large amounts of siliceous dust, careless handling of mercury during gold panning and Au/Hg amalgam processing, existence of water logged pits and trenches; and large number of miners sharing poor quality air in the mines are the major causes of health hazards among miners. The amount of mercury used by miners for gold amalgamation during peak mining periods varies from 150 to 200 kg per month. Out of this, about 40% are lost during panning and 60% lost during heating Au/Hg amalgam. The use of pressure burners to weaken the reef is a deadly mining procedure as hot particles of Pb, As and other sulphide minerals burn the body. Burns become septic. This, apparently, leads to death within 2–3 years. On-site training of miners on safe mining practices met with enthusiasm and acceptance. The use of dust masks, air filters and heavy chemical gloves during mining and mineral processing were readily accepted. Miners were thus advised to purchase such protective gear, and to continue using them for the sake of their health. The miners' workshop, which was held at the end of the project is likely to bear fruit. The Migori District Commissioner and other Government officials, including medical officers attended this workshop. As a result of this, the Government is seriously considering setting up a clinic at Masara, which is one of the mining centres in the district. This would improve the health of the mining community.     

Landfill aeration in the framework of a reclamation project in Northern Italy

In situ aeration by means of the Airflow technology was proposed for landfill conditioning before landfill mining in the framework of a reclamation project in Northern Italy. A 1-year aeration project was carried out on part of the landfill with the objective of evaluating the effectiveness of the Airflow technology for landfill aerobization, the evolution of waste biological stability during aeration and the effects on leachate and biogas quality and emissions.The main outcomes of the 1-year aeration project are presented in the paper.The beneficial effect of the aeration on waste biological stability was clear (63% reduction of the respiration index); however, the effectiveness of aeration on the lower part of the landfill is questionable, due to the limited potential for air migration into the leachate saturated layers.During the 1-year in situ aeration project approx. 275 MgC were discharged from the landfill body with the extracted gas, corresponding to 4.6 gC/kgDM. However, due to the presence of anaerobic niches in the aerated landfill, approx. 46% of this amount was extracted as CH₄, which is higher than reported in other aeration projects. The O₂ conversion quota was lower than reported in other similar projects, mainly due to the higher air flow rates applied.The results obtained enabled valuable recommendations to be made for the subsequent application of the Airflow technology to the whole landfill.     

Severity of emergency natural gas distribution pipeline incidents: Application of an integrated spatio-temporal approach fused with text mining

The transportation of natural gas often relies on pipelines which require constant monitoring and regular maintenance to prevent spills or leaks. Pipeline incidents could pose a huge adverse impact on people, the environment, and society. Numerous efforts have been invested to identify contributing factors to pipeline incidents so that countermeasures could be developed to proactively prevent some incidents and reduce incident severities or impacts. However, the countermeasures may need to vary for different incidents due to the potential heterogeneity between incidents, and such heterogeneity is likely related to the geology, weather, and built environment which vary across space and time domain. The objective of this study is to revisit the correlates of pipeline incidents, focusing on the spatial and temporal patterns of the correlations between natural gas pipeline incident severity and contributing factors. This study leveraged an integrated spatio-temporal modeling approach, namely the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Ordered Logistic Regression (GTWOLR) to model the natural gas pipeline incident report data (2010–2019) from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration. Text mining was performed to extract additional information from the narratives in reports. Results show several factors have significant spatiotemporally varying correlations with the pipeline incident severity, and these factors include excavation damage, gas explosion, iron pipes, longer incident response time, and longer pipe lifetime. Findings from this study are valuable for pipeline operators, end-users, responders to jointly develop localized strategies to maintain the natural gas distribution system. More implications are discussed in the paper.     

基于钻孔数据煤矿开采地表沉陷预计

开采沉陷引起的环境损害评价是环评工作中的重要内容,现有预计软件基本不适应在大面积环评工作中开展沉陷预计工作。针对现有问题,以矿区钻孔数据为基础,基于Delaunay三角形剖分算法建立了煤层开采地表沉陷预计模型。通过设计对比试验,验证了新建模型预计结果较传统的预计方法更加符合实际地表沉陷情况,预计结果的可靠性较高。将该模型运用到工程实例中,可以节省人力资源,使煤矿生态环评从原来以定性分析、半定量预计为主的状况,提高到以定量预测为主的高度,更好地为矿区生态环境保服务。