Rehabilitation of Land

( Article Type: Explanation )

Land rehabilitation has become a vital part of new mining legislation, which stipulates that mines must develop Environmental Management Plans, which must include reference to closure and rehabilitation of the site. Furthermore, the mines are required to put down guarantees to cover the costs of rehabilitation, which cannot be used for anything else. A number of open-cast mining companies have become highly skilful in rehabilitating worked out open cast mines, to such a degree that the previous owner can put his animals straight on the land to start grazing. Amongst one of the important tasks on commencement of mining is the stripping off of the topsoil from the surface of the mine and storing it for later use on the rehabilitated mine. Rehabilitation of land for underground mines is somewhat more difficult but still possible. In recent years, the mining company, ERGO, has managed to completely reclaim old slimes dams and extract additional gold and silver, as well as free the sand for use in building purposes. The land is now ear-marked for office and light factory development.