A regional criterion for classifying mining regions as territories with the greatest exposure to geoecological changes

Introduction. Territories adjacent to mining regions always experience a negative impact from the mining enterprise. The scale of such an impact on the environment is estimated by taking into account factors such as geographical location, climatic conditions, the amount of minerals extracted, as well as the ratio of mineral reserves to the area of the mining region. For geo-ecological assessment of the scale of impacts of the territory near the mining region on the environment, it is necessary to introduce a regional coefficient that takes into account the quantitative distribution of mining enterprises on the area of the mining region, as well as the ratio of reserves to area. In this regard, the question arises about the creation of a geo-ecological assessment methodology based on this indicator. Objective. Development of a criterion for a comprehensive geo-ecological assessment of mining regions impact, based on the regional indicator on the example of coal mining enterprises. Methodology. When carrying out the research, the analysis of literary domestic and foreign sources was used; generally accepted methods, including methods of geo-ecological assessment, assessment of natural potential, analysis of anthropogenic load, protection of the territory of the location of the coal mining enterprise. Results and discussion. A functional scheme of the stages of the geoecological assessment of the territory of a coal mining enterprise has been developed to calculate the geoecological assessment indicator with regard to the natural potential of the territory, the total anthropogenic load and the protection of the territory. It is proposed to use a regional indicator to classify the mining region as the territories most susceptible to geoecological environmental changes due to the ratio of the amount of coal production and reserves to the area of the mining region and taking this coefficient into account when allocating state subsidies to improve the environmental situation of the mining region. Conclusions. The main criterion of the geoecological assessment of the mining region– the regional indicator of the attribution of the mining region to the territories with the greatest susceptibility to geoecological changes has been established. The criterion is estimated by the ratio of the volume of production and coal reserves to the area of the mining region. This coefficient is crucial when allocating state subsidies to improve the environmental situation of the mining region. The introduction of a regional indicator creates optimal conditions for forecasting geoecological hazards and the appointment of environmental and nature restoration measures.