Mining Engineering Commons^™

Tree-Compatible Ground Covers For Reforestation And Erosion Control, James Burger, Victor Davis, Jennifer Franklin, Carl Zipper, Jeff Skousen, Chris Barton, Patrick Angel

Jennifer Franklin

Productive native forests create economic value for landowners, produce raw materials for wood-based products, and provide benefits such as watershed control, water quality protection, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and native plant diversity. Owners of lands mined for coal in Appalachia are increasingly interested in assuring that productive forests are restored after mining.

Sediment control is essential to coal mine reclamation under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Here, we describe how mining firms can achieve good tree survival and restore forest productivity by using tree-compatible ground covers, when necessary, to control erosion and meet ground cover standards.

Creating Lakes From Open Pit Mines: Processes And Considerations, Emphasis On Northern Environments, Christopher H. Gammons, Les N. Harris, James M. Castro, Peter A. Cott, Bruce W. Hanna

Geological Engineering

Creating Lakes from Open Pit Mines: Processes and Considerations, Emphasis on Northern Environments. This document summarizes the literature of mining pit lakes (through 2007), with a particular focus on issues that are likely to be of special relevance to the creation and management of pit lakes in northern climates. Pit lakes are simply waterbodies formed by filling the open pit left upon the completion of mining operations with water. Like natural lakes, mining pit lakes display a huge diversity in each of these subject areas. However, pit lakes are young and therefore are typically in a non-equilibrium state with respect …