Evaluating Alternate Post-Mining Land-Uses: A Review

The ultimate objective of post-mine land-use and reclamation planning is to identify appropriate alternate land uses to which mined land could be put. This will ensure that land-use and morphology of the location will be capable of supporting either the prior land-use or pre-mining environment. The main challenge is usually, the choice of variables that must be considered in deciding a particular post-mining land-use. Literature reviews were conducted to identify the major factors needed to be considered in the selection of a post-mining land-use. This paper also looks at the most commonly practiced and accepted post-mining land-use techniques. Factors identified as important in the selection process include land resources (e.g. physical, biological and cultural characteristics), ownership, type of mining activity, legal requirements, location, needs of the community, economic, environmental, technical and social factors. In a broad categorization, all post-mining land-uses could be placed under one of the following land-use: agriculture, forestry, lake or pool, intensive recreational land-use, non-intensive recreational land-use, conservation and pit backfilling. However, the objective of any particular post-mining land use should be achieving economic and sustainable outcomes which meet human wants and needs, and protect life and the environment.