Title: GIS-based pre-mining land damage assessment for underground coal mines in high groundwater area

Authors: Wu Xiao; Zhenqi Hu

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Institute of Land Reclamation and Ecological Reconstruction, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), D11 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China ' State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Institute of Land Reclamation and Ecological Reconstruction, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), D11 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract: Coal mining cause different degrees of damage to both land and ecosystems. Evaluation of disturbed land is a fundamental and prerequisite work for land reclamation and rehabilitation. However, most of those evaluations were carried out when mining was under process or after it cease. This paper proposes an innovative assessment model for pre-evaluation which could be implemented before mining activity begins. A geographic information system (GIS) was constructed to evaluate land damage. Three natural condition factors and three geological condition factors were chosen for evaluation. The results show that: land damage was categorised as five degrees, which are negligible, slight, moderate, severe, and very severe. Furthermore, very severely damaged areas are mainly concentrated in the northwest part of the coal mine, whereas slight damaged areas are mainly concentrated in the southwest. The developed coupling technique was used to forecast land damage, and provide reference for reclamation work.

Keywords: GIS; geographic information systems; high groundwater areas; coal mining; land damage assessment; pre-mining simulation; underground mines; land reclamation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2014.064484

International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2014 Vol.5 No.3, pp.245 - 255

Received: 31 Aug 2013
Accepted: 08 Jan 2014
Published online: 27 Aug 2014 *

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