Environmental and Economic Aspects of Selecting Reclamation Directions for Industrial Mining and Metallurgical Waste Disposal Sites
Anthropogenic geoecology was developed at the end of the 20th century, but continues to face challenges in an integrated methodological approach to assessing the pollution of territories with long-term consequences of natural resource extraction. The consequences of extraction and primary processing of natural raw materials are the lack of effective control over the territories once the ore mining is completed. In order to develop effective methods to control the development of hazardous natural and man-made processes in the areas of inactive waste disposal facilities, it is necessary to analyze a sufficiently large set of data, including the condition of ground and surface waters, soils, flora, the efficiency of waste disposal facilities protection from direct or indirect impact on the natural environment. Research on modeling the processes of transfer and accumulation of pollutants includes a general assessment of the direction of man-made flows and selection of vegetation for phytoremediation of territories along the boundaries of the facilities as well as the direction of pollutant migration. The impact of mining facilities (dumps, tailings reservoirs) is directly correlated with the time of their existence, the toxicity and the rate of transformation of the components contained, the economic efficiency of their further utilization or conservation. Thus, the methodological approach to the rehabilitation of environmentally disadvantageous areas in places where mining and primary processing of resources is completed requires integration of several techniques and methods to assess the existing environmental situation. It also includes the speed and direction of its evolvement, and the economic assessment of damage to the natural environment. The introduction of tested recovery techniques will prevent the expansion of territories with irreversible destruction of geosystems, which led to a complete loss of productivity of the reproducing resources.