Rehabilitation in Mine Closure – Environmental, Economic & Social Tradeoff in Opencast Coal Mine – A Case Study

Abstract

Mine closure plans are specific to each mine, and include details on how the mining company will close the mine site, how environmental protection will be achieved, and how the site will be returned to an acceptable state for a pre-arranged land use. The terms reclamation, remediation, rehabilitation, and restoration the 4 R, are all used to describe mine closure activities that attempt to alter the biological and physical state of a site. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and are closely linked, but refer to distinct steps in the preparation of the site for another use: