Plan for the closure and environmental recovery of an area degraded by limestone extraction in Caçapava do Sul/RS

The activity of extracting minerals for the production of consumer goods, whether for agriculture, construction or other areas, is seen by most of society as something that acts against the environment and that will not bring benefits. From the moment mining activity begins in certain locations, the region will be abandoned at the end of the exploration. However, before a mining process even begins, preliminary studies are carried out during the operation and after the closure of the project at the site used for mineral extraction. These studies are essential for obtaining environmental licenses, permits for the project and other ongoing studies so that the operation of such a large activity continues to operate legally and in accordance with the requirements of the competent agencies, which must continue even after the closure of operations. Based on this, the work aims to develop a plan for the recovery of the degraded area and the closure of the mine from the extraction of limestone, whose activities have been suspended. The methodology applied to carry out the work was based on data collection from a project, mainly field information, and then consultations were made with the literature and current legislation with the aim of implementing steps so that the plan for closing and recovering the degraded area could be successful. The results demonstrated the path to be followed in order to carry out the type of mine closure that was classified as premature due to the suspension of activities after the observation of economic unfeasibility and the quality of the available ore. Thus, the work demonstrates the importance of planning the closure of a mine and the recovery of degraded areas given the number of people involved in the process, not only during the useful life of the mine, but in the future use of the region and the monitoring that will guarantee the safety of the society that will remain there and, thus, guarantee a successful environmental recovery procedure.