Mine waste spoil heaps

Figure 3 summarizes the principal environmental compartments that can in theory be affected by coal mining, as well as the principal potential environmental stresses that can arise from active and abandoned mine voids on the one hand, and from mine waste management facilities (i.e., spoil heaps and washery finings ponds) on the other. Further details on the mechanisms and impacts of these environmental stresses are given in Table 4 (for coal mine voids) and Table 5 (for coal mine wastes). 

Fig. 4. Two contrasting spoil heaps in the Gardanne Coal Basin, Provence, France (a) Unrestored heap near Domaine de la Salle, showing largely bare spoil with characteristic development of scree and rills (cf. Nicolau 2002), with the only vegetation being a few self-seeding Mediterranean pines (b) Restored, thoroughly afforested spoil heap at Meyreuil, barely recognizable as a former mine waste disposal site.

Tuck (1993). in terms of mine wastes, pyritic mudstone roof strata removed from the mine as part of routine ripping operations were deposited in substantial spoil heaps at Shilbottle Grange Pit and (to a lesser extent) at Whittle. The highly visible pyrite content of the Shilbottle spoil earned the heap at that site the local sobriquet of the Brass Heap ( brass being a dialect name for pyrite). 

In itself, the disposal of waste material from coal cleaning operations presents a twofold problem. First, unless return of the coal wastes to the mine is possible, large areas of land are required, and a fixed and mobile materials handling plant must be provided. Second, land sterilization and spoil-heap drainage can present serious problems related to environmental control. 

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