Solving environmental problems associated with the mining industry. Range of problems in the mining industry. Environmental problems caused by the mining, oil and gas industries

• MINING INDUSTRY
• MARKET VOLATILITY
• DECREASE IN DEMAND FOR RAW MATERIALS
• DEVELOPMENT FORECAST

The development of the mining industry contributes to the revitalization of the main sectors of the economy. Today the situation in the mining industry is extremely unstable. This article examines a number of factors limiting the further development of this industry.

• Improving the formation of a capital repair fund in apartment buildings
• Regulatory and legal regulation of issues of assessing the quality of provided state (municipal) services in Russia

The situation in the global economy remained extremely unstable throughout the year; the production of almost all metals decreased due to a decrease in global demand, which in turn could not but affect the financial results of mining companies.

The development of the mining industry still shows all signs of instability.

Early 2014 saw a decline in mining market volatility and short-term volatile demand for some minerals.

With such established price levels, the production and sales costs of many mining companies have gone beyond acceptable levels.

The mining industry has to respond to changing situations due to the influence of the following factors:

• continued decline in commodity prices;
• change of company management;
• demands from shareholders to increase their investment income;
• lack of quick results from cost reduction measures, which require time to implement;
• increased focus on capital stewardship;
• difficulties in obtaining mining licenses in countries with developing economies.

Continued economic stagnation in Europe and a slow recovery from the decline in production and slowdown in the United States have contributed to the slowdown in global economic growth.

The ongoing downturn in the global economy and a short-term decline in demand for metals from China led to a fall in resource prices, resulting in a decline in production rates in the mining industry.

Changes in prices for shares of mining companies and resources cannot be called effective.

Negative prospects for the dynamics of prices for raw materials and investor distrust in the mining industry, formed on the basis of price changes in previous periods, influenced the fall of the index.

The deteriorating situation in the industry, as well as low shareholder incomes, blocked possible access to the fixed capital markets of joint-stock companies.

Due to lenders' downward shift in funding for the mining sector, smaller companies have suffered significant losses, unlike large diversified companies that can issue bonds.

Based on the demands of analysts and investors, mining companies made big plans to implement projects. As a result, investments in low-profit projects led to asset depreciation.

Company leaders are faced with the need to address issues related to geopolitics that pose a threat to the preparation and implementation of projects in certain jurisdictions around the world.

Another important problem is the policy of resource nationalism. In order to use the country's resources strictly in the national interest, governments want to receive an increasing share of the revenues from natural resource extraction, which leads to increased risk for mining companies.

There is growing frustration among business executives with operating in some emerging markets and with obstacles in those countries where governments have changed regulations without adequate consultation, resulting in a lack of regulatory certainty needed to inform long-term investment decisions .

Although mining companies are willing to pay taxes on mineral extraction, they do not consider significant tax increases to be justified after major investment decisions have been made.

Tightening requirements for compliance with international standards in the field of corporate governance and anti-corruption rules, environmental protection, which must be adhered to when conducting business in any territory, are issues that still concern the largest companies.

The high rate of fatal accidents during mining operations in the mining industry continues.

The lack of qualified workers, as well as personnel in management positions in the mining industry, is also a limiting factor.

Given the significant decline in natural resource prices and the above-mentioned challenges, as well as production costs remaining at persistently high levels, companies in the mining industry have managed to withstand these difficult conditions.

There is an urgent need for serious changes in the industry, otherwise the long-term forecasts for its development are disappointing.

Bibliography

1. Scientific and technical journal “Mining Industry” No. 5 (117) 2014, N.N. Belyakov “Crisis management of the open-pit mining regime”;
2. http://www.steelland.ru/news/mining/2477.html;
3. http://www.pwc.ru/ru/energy-utilities-mining/publications/mine-2014.jhtml
4. Mining Series: Time to Reset Expectations. Review of global trends in the development of the global mining industry in 2014;
5. IT-News newspaper: No. 01/2014 (03.02) “Ten trends in the development of the mining sector in 2014: there is an urgent need for serious changes in the industry.”
6. Shmatko A.D. Using intellectual capital for innovative development of companies // Bulletin of Economic Integration. 2010. T. 1. No. 12. P. 100-103.;
7. Shmatko A.D. Organization of innovative activity of industrial enterprises: modern conditions and existing approaches // Bulletin of Economic Integration. 2009. T. 1. P. 155-159.;
8. Shmatko A.D. Using quality management methods to ensure the competitiveness of innovative enterprises // Bulletin of Economic Integration. 2009. T. 1. P. 143-148.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Sovereign chief mortgage

Donetsk National Technical University

Department of "Applied ecology and environmental protection"

Course work

from the discipline "Zalal ecology and neoecology"

"Ecological features of the sugar industry"

Vikonavets:

student group OS – 07z

Bogoudinova S.F.

Kerivnyk:

Associate Professor: Blackburn A.A.

Donetsk, 2008

Coursework: 35 sides, 5 drawings, 8 tables, 26 essays, 3 supplements.

The method of work is to deepen knowledge and advance the level of theoretical knowledge about ecology.

The robot takes a closer look at literary works to protect the excess of the middle. Ecological features in the girnica industry are examined.

In the modern era of steady development of scientific and technological progress - a decisive factor in the growth of social production - the human impact on the natural environment is inevitably increasing, contradictions in the interaction of society and nature are becoming acute, which have given rise to the so-called environmental problem.

The intensification of social production, as a rule, leads to the depletion of natural resources and pollution of the environment, disruption of natural relationships, and humanity experiences the undesirable consequences of these phenomena. For example, coal mining, accompanied by pumping out mine and quarry waters, release of waste rocks to the surface, emissions of dust and harmful gases, as well as deformation of coal-bearing rocks and the earth’s surface, leads to pollution of water resources, the atmosphere and soil, significantly changes hydrogeological, engineering-geological , atmospheric and soil conditions in open-pit and underground mining areas. Depression craters with an area of ​​tens to hundreds of square kilometers are formed, rivers and streams become shallow and sometimes completely disappear, undermined areas are flooded or swamped, the soil layer is dehydrated and salinized, which, in turn, causes great harm to water and land resources, the composition deteriorates air, the appearance of the earth's surface changes.

To solve the problem of preserving the natural resources of the mining industry from depletion, it is necessary to rationally use the subsoil for the development of mineral deposits and properly protect them. This includes a large and complex set of scientific, technical, production, economic and social issues that are practically solved in various sectors of the national economy. This problem is cross-sectoral in nature.

The practical implementation of specific measures to protect the natural environment is also carried out with the help of various engineering and technical solutions. The most effective from the point of view of the ultimate goal of environmental protection is the introduction of waste-free (low-waste) technologies.

The search for rational solutions should be carried out at all stages of engineering and technical activities (when developing scientific recommendations, design, etc.).

In relation to the mining industry, the problem of environmental protection and integrated use of natural resources is solved in the following main areas: protection and rational use of water resources; air protection; protection and rational use of land; protection and rational use of subsoil; integrated use of production waste.

1. Protection of the aquatic environment

Enterprises whose wastewater increases environmental destabilization of the hydrosphere include enterprises in the coal industry. They cause significant damage to water resources due to the depletion of groundwater reserves during drainage and exploitation of deposits, as a result of pollution of surface waters with discharges of insufficiently treated mine, quarry, industrial and domestic wastewater, as well as stormwater and melt water runoff from the industrial sites of coal enterprises, dumps, railway and highway beds.

Consequently, the main threat of water shortage is not caused by irreversible industrial consumption, but by the pollution of natural waters by industrial wastewater.

Wastewater from the industry is divided into the following groups:

· mine waters (mine waters and waters from drainage of mine fields);

· quarry waters from open-pit mines (quarry waters and water from drainage of quarry fields);

· industrial wastewater (surface complex of mines, open pits, processing plants, factories, etc.);

· household wastewater from those working in production;

· municipal waters of the population of settlements that are on the balance sheet of coal enterprises.

The greatest harm to the environment is caused by contaminated mine waters, the flow of which begins when aquifers are opened by underground mine workings. Thus, groundwater plays a decisive role in the formation of mine water runoff.

During underground mining, three types of water inflows (three water supply systems) are formed along the mine field: during the excavation of preparatory and main workings; during cleaning work; from extinguished workings.

When excavating workings and carrying out clearing work, so-called depression surfaces (funnels) are formed around the workings and above the mined-out space, the presence of which indicates a gradual decrease in the water level in the aquifer, although its influx can be prolonged and significant in size.

The nature of water flow during excavation and cleaning work is different. Water inflows into the preparatory and main workings are formed from the aquifers in which the workings are carried out, and very rarely (if there is a relationship) from the overlying horizons. The place of water entry is usually confined to the bottomhole zone.

The duration of water inflows into passable workings depends on the properties of the rocks being crossed, water reserves, and the nature of their replenishment. Usually, over time, inflows into existing workings stop or decrease noticeably.

The formation of water inflow into the operating mine workings occurs both due to the static reserves of groundwater in the aquifer in which the working face is located, and due to the aquifers located in the zone of formation of secondary (from unloading) fracturing of the host rocks. Coal mining in longwall faces is characterized by a sharp abrupt increase in water inflow at the moments of roof collapse and gradual declines between them. It should be noted that in some cases, water can also enter the goaf from the soil if there are cracks in it, through which pressure water rises from the underlying rocks

Water inflows into active mines from mined-out and extinguished areas and old mines are formed, as a rule, due to dynamic reserves of groundwater. The development of inflows into the system of abandoned mine workings is limited by the increasing hydraulic resistance to the movement of water over time, caused by silting of the mined-out space, colmatation and compaction of rocks, installation of bridges, etc. The specific influx of water per 1000 m 2 of closed workings is two orders of magnitude less than in active areas. However, the total values ​​of water inflows into the extinguished workings are much greater

Mine waters are formed by underground and surface waters penetrating into underground mine workings. Flowing down the mined-out space and mine workings, they become polluted with suspended and enriched with soluble chemical and bacteriological substances, and in some cases acquire an acidic reaction. The qualitative composition of mine waters is diverse and varies significantly across coal basins, deposits and regions. In most cases, these waters are not suitable for drinking and have properties that preclude their use for technical purposes without pre-treatment.

Basically, mine waters are contaminated with suspended and dissolved minerals, bacterial impurities of mineral, organic and bacterial origin.

The presence of contaminants in water causes its turbidity, determines oxidation and color, gives odor and taste, determines mineralization, acidity and hardness.

In connection with the increasing level of mechanization of mining operations, special attention must be paid to the contamination of mine waters with suspended organic components such as petroleum products. Currently, their most typical concentrations in mine waters are relatively low - 0.2-0.8 mg/l. However, in some highly mechanized mines this figure increases to 5 mg/l.

According to the degree of mineralization, mine waters are divided into fresh (dry residue up to 1 g/l) and brackish (dry residue more than 1 g/l). In the total volume of mine waters, brackish waters make up more than half. However, the degree of mineralization varies significantly even within the same mine.

The acidity of water (pH) is determined by the content of hydrogen ions in it. Mine waters can be acidic (pH<6,5), нейтральные (рН = 6,5-8,5) и щелочные (рН>8.5). The main volume of mine water has a neutral reaction.

Water hardness (mg-eq/l) is an important chemical property that determines the area of ​​its use, and is determined by the content of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts in it.

In addition to various mineral salts and other chemical compounds, 26 trace elements were found in mine waters. As a rule, mine waters contain iron, aluminum, manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, strontium. They are not characterized by such rare elements as silver, bismuth, tin, helium, etc. In general, the content of trace elements in mine waters is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than in the groundwater from which they are formed.

The degree of bacterial contamination of mine waters is assessed mainly by two microbiological indicators: colititre and coli index. Colititre is the amount of water (ml/l or cm3) in which one E. coli is detected. Colin index - the number of E. coli per 1 liter of test water.

The mineralization of mine waters is primarily due to the mineralization of groundwater, the chemical composition of which is formed under the combined influence of various factors: lithological and mineralogical composition of rocks, recharge conditions of aquifers and the intensity of water exchange, climate, anthropogenic factors, etc. Before groundwater enters the mine, the chemical their composition is formed by salts washed out during infiltration of surface waters containing free carbon dioxide and oxygen, which increase the solubility of calcium and magnesium carbonates. The process of leaching of feldspars and aluminosilicates occurs more slowly. As a result, the water is enriched with alkali metal carbonates. Water is mineralized by sulfates and chlorides after their contact with easily soluble rocks such as gypsum, halite, and mirabilite. When sodium bicarbonate waters are mixed with calcium sulfate waters, sodium sulfate waters are formed.

Mine waters become polluted with suspended substances, oil products and bacterial impurities when moving through mine workings, goafs, and shafts. Suspended substances are formed and enter the water as a result of the destruction of the rock mass and during loading of the broken mass onto vehicles; when draining water through the mined-out space onto the drift; when re-anchoring workings. Such sources of pollution are called main or primary. In the conditions of mining production, secondary sources of suspended matter entering mine waters also arise: during transportation of rock mass (especially at loading points, on embankments, along shafts), during the movement of vehicles and the movement of people in flooded areas of workings, when blowing away technological and inert dust with ventilation jets .

The concentration and degree of fineness of suspended particles in mine waters depend on mining, geological and technological factors. The main mining and geological factors include the water abundance of the mine, the strength and moisture content of the coal and rocks, the mineralogical composition of the coal seam and surrounding rocks, their wettability, thickness, structure, the angle of incidence of the coal seam, and the salt composition of water.

The influence of technological factors is determined by the method of opening the deposit, the development system, the method of extracting coal and destroying rocks, in particular the degree of equipment of the face with mechanisms, the design of the set of teeth and the dimensions of the cutting tool, the mode of destruction of the coal mass by the executive bodies, the volume of blasting and drilling operations with the washing of holes and wells . This also includes the method of transporting the rock mass, the intensity of operation of irrigation devices, the length of workings, the condition of the catchment basins, the operating mode of the drainage system, which determine the residence time of suspended particles in the water.

If groundwater penetrates directly into an active face (longwall face or tunneling face), then intensive contamination with suspended substances begins when coal or rock is destroyed. The concentration of suspended matter in water flowing from wet lavas reaches 10-15 thousand mg/l. Consequently, wet working faces are powerful sources of pollution of mine waters with suspended substances.

In dry working faces, when the watering of the excavated workings develops with a lag and continues in a certain area, the drained groundwater is contaminated with coal and rock fines that have not been cleaned out after mining.

An active source of water pollution in transport excavations is the conveyor. When the scraper conveyor frames are overfilled with rock mass above the sides, it slides onto the soil and is carried away by water. Coal and rock fines are shaken off the chain and conveyor scrapers into the space surrounding the drive head, including into the water stream. The contamination of the bottom increases primarily near the spillways, especially if the excavation in their vicinity is flooded.

As a result of water settling in local catchment basins, the concentration of suspended substances decreases from 3000 to 2000 mg/l.

The conditions for the discharge of mine and any other wastewater into water bodies are regulated by the Rules for the protection of surface waters from pollution by wastewater. There are general requirements for the composition and properties of water in water bodies, which must be met when discharging wastewater into them, and special ones.

General requirements for the protection of each type of water body depend on the category of water use and are determined by established indicators of the composition and properties of water in a reservoir or stream.

Special requirements include compliance with maximum permissible quantities (MPC) of harmful substances.

The maximum permissible amount of a harmful substance in the water of a reservoir is the amount (mg/l) that, when exposed to the human body daily for a long time, does not cause any pathological changes and diseases detected by modern research methods, and also does not violate the biological optimum in the reservoir .

Requirements for the quality of mine water allowed for discharge into reservoirs are determined separately for each specific enterprise, taking into account the prospects for its development, depending on the consumption of wastewater, its purpose and the state of the reservoir (pollution), the degree of possible mixing and dilution of wastewater in it at the site from the release point to the nearest control point.

Mine waters should not lead to changes in the composition and properties of water in a water body by values ​​exceeding those established by the current rules.

Control of the state of mine water discharged into water bodies must be ensured by the water user (mine). It includes analysis of wastewater before and after implementation of measures aimed at reducing pollution of discharged water; water analysis of a reservoir or watercourse above the mine water discharge and at the first point of water use; measurements of the amount of water discharged. The control procedure carried out by water users (frequency, volume of analysis, etc.) is agreed upon with the authorities for regulating water consumption and protection, bodies and institutions of the sanitary and epidemiological service, taking into account local conditions at the water body, its use, the degree of harmfulness of wastewater, types of structures and features of wastewater treatment.

Mine water should be used as much as possible for industrial water supply (mine or related enterprises) and agriculture.

The main directions in protecting water resources from pollution by wastewater from the coal industry are:

1. Reducing water inflows into mine workings.

2. Wastewater treatment.

3. Reducing water pollution in underground mine workings.

4. Maximum use of mine wastewater for technical water supply to enterprises and agricultural needs.

5. Introduction of circulating systems for industrial water supply of enterprises.

Organizational and technical measures also play a major role in solving the problem of effective protection of water resources: prohibition of the commissioning of new coal enterprises without treatment facilities; strict compliance with the conditions for the discharge of mine water into water bodies, including the prohibition of the discharge of water containing substances for which MPCs have not been established, and ensuring the possibility of the most complete mixing of mine water with reservoir water in places where mine water is discharged; strict adherence to technological discipline; rationing of water consumption; improving the industrial environmental culture of industry workers.

By reducing water inflows into mine workings, depletion of groundwater resources is prevented and surface water bodies are protected from excessive pollution. In addition, as a result of reducing the water content of underground workings, the working conditions of miners and the operating conditions of equipment and mechanisms are improved.

Mine water purification consists of clarification (removal of suspended solids), disinfection, demineralization, acidity reduction, treatment and disposal of sediments.

Purified and disinfected mine waters should be used as much as possible for the production needs of the mine itself, neighboring enterprises, as well as in agriculture. Most often, such waters are used in washing plants and installations with wet coal preparation; for preventive siltation, extinguishing rock dumps, hydraulic filling of mined-out space and hydraulic transport; in installations and devices for dust control at the technological complex of the surface of mines and processing plants; in boiler houses (including ash removal); in stationary compressor, degassing units and air conditioners.

In agreement with the State Sanitary Inspection authorities, mine water (if it does not contain harmful and poorly soluble impurities) can be used to combat dust in underground conditions with appropriate preliminary purification and disinfection to drinking quality.

Mine water is purified using mechanical, chemical, physical and biological methods.

Mechanical methods (settling, filtration, separation of the solid phase under the influence of centrifugal forces, thickening of sediments in centrifuges and vacuum filters) are used mainly as preliminary ones. They free water only from mechanical impurities of various sizes, i.e., they clarify it.

In chemical methods of water purification, reagents are used to change the chemical composition of impurities or their structure (coagulation and flocculation, neutralization, conversion of toxic impurities into harmless ones, disinfection by chlorination, etc.).

Physical methods are the extraction of harmful impurities by changing the state of aggregation of water, exposing them to ultrasound, ultraviolet rays, solvents, etc.

Biological methods are designed to purify water containing organic contaminants

2. Air protection

Harmful emissions into the atmosphere at coal industry enterprises occur as a result of: underground mining of coal and shale, including production processes of the mine surface technological complex, dumping; open-pit mining of coal and shale; solid fuel enrichment and coal briquetting; heat supply to coal enterprises using industrial and municipal boiler houses.

Sources of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere are divided into organized and unorganized, stationary and mobile.

The main organized sources that pollute the atmosphere with harmful substances are the furnaces of industrial and municipal boiler houses; drying installations for processing and briquette factories; aspiration systems of processing and briquette factories, buildings of the surface complex of mines; aspiration systems of workshops of machine-building and repair plants; aspiration systems of workshops of construction industry enterprises; vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.

The main unorganized sources that pollute the atmosphere with industrial emissions are burning rock dumps from mines and processing plants. Burning dumps should be considered those on the surface of which there are visible sources (signs) of combustion or areas with the temperature of the rocks on the surface exceeding by 30°C the air temperature at a height of 1 m from the surface of the dump (the temperature of the rocks on the surface of the dump is taken to be the temperature measured at depth 0.1 m).

Stationary sources of environmental air pollution in the coal industry include industrial and municipal boiler houses, drying installations and aspiration systems of dressing and briquette factories, burning rock dumps, fans for the main ventilation of mines, cupola furnaces and electric furnaces of machine-building plants of the Ministry of Coal Industry.

Mobile sources of pollution in the industry include vehicles, excavators, bulldozers, etc., running on gasoline or diesel fuel.

The main harmful substances emitted into the atmosphere by stationary and mobile sources are dust, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, as well as hydrogen sulfide emitted by burning rock dumps.

The amount of harmful substances released is determined using calculations performed according to current industry methods. In addition, to obtain reliable data on the quantitative and qualitative composition of industrial emissions for each source of pollution, a periodic inventory of harmful emissions is carried out. Currently, the most significant source of air pollution in the industry is burning waste dumps. They account for about 51% of all emissions into the atmosphere.

Air pollution in underground mine workings. The composition of the air entering underground mine workings changes due to various reasons: the action of oxidative processes occurring in the mine; gases (methane, carbon dioxide, etc.) released in workings, as well as from destroyed coal; conducting blasting operations; processes of crushing rocks and minerals (dust release); mine fires, methane and dust explosions. Oxidative processes primarily include the oxidation of minerals (coal, coal and sulfur-containing rocks).

As a result of these processes, harmful toxic impurities are released into the air: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide gases, nitrogen oxides, methane, hydrogen, heavy hydrocarbons, acrolein vapors, gases generated during blasting operations, mine dust, etc.

The bulk of carbon dioxide (90-95%) in mines is formed during the oxidation of wood and coal, the decomposition of rocks by acidic mine waters, and the release of CO 2 from coal and rocks.

The main sources of air pollution in mines with carbon monoxide are, in extreme cases, mine fires, explosions of coal dust and methane, and in normal cases, blasting operations and the operation of internal combustion engines.

Fires caused by spontaneous combustion of coals pose a particular danger, as they are not immediately detected. A large amount of CO is formed in interconnected fire areas.

Hydrogen sulfide in mines is released during the rotting of organic matter, the decomposition of sulfur pyrites and gypsum by water, as well as during fires and blasting operations.

Sulfur dioxide is released in small quantities from rocks and coal along with other gases.

The main component of firedamp gas is methane. In underground mine workings it is released from exposed surfaces of coal seams, from broken coal, from mined-out spaces and in small quantities from exposed rock surfaces. There are ordinary, souffle and sudden release of methane.

At coal enterprises during their construction and operation, during almost all technological processes associated with the passage of mine workings, the extraction of minerals and its transportation, intensive dust formation occurs, polluting the atmosphere. The main processes are: drilling holes and wells, both for rock and minerals; blasting and removal of blasted rock mass; transportation, loading and transhipment of minerals and rocks; operation of tunneling and mining machines, units, plows, cutting machines and other mechanisms.

However, when passing through mine workings, dusty air almost completely cleans itself (98.6-99.9%). Consequently, in terms of the dust factor, underground mining does not pose a threat to the environment. A significant source of dust in the atmospheric air are trunks. Increased concentrations of coal dust are observed, as a rule, in ventilation flows through skip shafts during loading and unloading of skips (tipping cages), when the bunkers are allowed to be completely emptied. An intense source of dust is the removal and spillage of fine coal from the hopper and lifting vessel in the unloading device.

Thus, of the listed harmful substances released into the atmosphere from underground mine workings, the bulk consists of dust, methane and carbon monoxide.

The air is self-cleaned of dust in underground mines. Other harmful substances are not captured and neutralized, but are only “diluted” with air. This eliminates the significant negative impact of methane and carbon monoxide on nature.

Dust-generating operations include almost all operations performed at the coal complex: receiving coal from lifting vessels, crushing, screening, loading conveyors, transporting rock mass, loading and unloading bunkers, storage, cutting samples in the quality control department.

The existing technology for underground coal mining involves bringing rock to the surface and storing it in specially designed dumps.

The rock complex on the surface of mines includes the following main operations: reception and transportation of rock from the place of its delivery to the loading point, loading of rock into vehicles, transportation to the dump site and its formation.

Together with rock aggregates, carbonaceous and sulfurous rocks, coal forms a mass prone to oxidation, as a result of which it self-heats and spontaneously ignites in dumps. The atmosphere is polluted with harmful gases. However, not only the composition, but also the structure of the dumps affects the spontaneous combustion of the mass. The most favorable conditions for this are created on waste heaps and ridge dumps, in which, during segregation, flammable substances accumulate in the upper part of the dump, where there is sufficient air flow. Spontaneous combustion can also occur from external causes.

Rock combustion on existing dumps is local and stable. In this case, the temperature in the combustion zone can reach 800-1200 °C.

As a result of the influence of temperature, precipitation, wind, and internal heat on the surface of dumps, large pieces of rock crumble to the size of dust, which in dry weather is blown away by the wind and carried over considerable distances, polluting the atmosphere. At 150 m from the dump, the dust concentration at a wind speed of 3.5 m/s and air humidity of 90% can reach 10-15 mg/m3.

The amount of gas emissions from burning active and inactive dumps is different. Intensely burning dumps reduce gas emissions a year after cessation of operation by 96-99%; for dumps with lower burning intensity, the volume of these emissions during the same time decreases by approximately 50%, after 2 years - by 70%, 3 years - 99 %.

A significant source of air pollution in the industry are industrial and municipal boiler houses.

The amount of harmful substances released when burning fuel in boiler houses primarily depends on the type, brand, volume of fuel and combustion technology. Boiler houses (90%) operate on solid fuel, which is 98.3% coal, the rest is shale, wood waste, and industrial products. In addition to solid fuel, liquid (6%) and gaseous (4)% are also used. Fuel oil (73%) or shale oil (27%) is used as liquid fuel.

When coal is burned in industrial boiler houses, fine ash and fine fractions of unburned coal dust, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere. The amount of these ingredients depends on the characteristics of the fuel being burned.

When burning fuel oil and gaseous fuels, there is practically no dust in emissions.

The bulk of harmful substances released into the atmosphere from underground mine workings are methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust.

To prevent oxidation processes in underground conditions, fireproof formation development systems are used, they isolate mined-out spaces, create an inert atmosphere in them, reduce the loss of minerals, and quickly and effectively extinguish fires.

The most common and active way to reduce methane abundance in coal mines is degassing of mined and adjacent coal seams and mined-out spaces. With proper degassing, the flow of methane into the mine air can be reduced by 30-40% throughout the mine as a whole and by 70-80% within the workings of the mining fields.

Degassing can be carried out in various ways: by carrying out preparatory workings; drilling wells through the formation and rock from the surface or from workings with subsequent suction of methane; hydraulic fracturing or hydraulic fragmentation of the formation; injection into the formation of a solution that reduces the gas permeability of coal or contains methane-absorbing microorganisms; hydrotreatment of the bottomhole zone; by capturing souffle methane emissions.

In the mine sector, extracted methane is not yet used enough (10-15%), although it can be successfully used as fuel for heating steam boilers in mine boiler houses. This will provide significant economic benefits.

To reduce the formation of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, it is impossible to allow incomplete explosion of explosives, to plug holes with fine coal, to use explosives with a zero oxygen balance and with special additives both in the explosive itself and in the shells of cartridges and in the stopping.

To prevent the formation of dust and dust clouds, mechanisms are introduced during which dust generation is minimal; pre-moisten the layers, which reduces dust in the air by 50-80%; irrigate areas of dust formation and settled dust; haulage and ventilation workings are periodically cleaned of dust (3-4 times a year); normalize the consumption of explosives; wet drilling and drilling with dust suction are used; use foam-air and air-water curtains; Irrigation suppresses dust at loading and reloading points; cover reloading points with dust-proof covers; limit the height of the difference between coal and rock; seal joints, etc.

Reducing harmful emissions from the mine surface technological complex is achieved by improving it. The general directions are:

simplification of technological schemes, use of perfect flow technology based on reliable, high-performance equipment with comprehensive mechanization and automation of all processes on the surface of mines;

transition to automated systems for operational dispatch control of production processes;

organization of regional enterprises to service groups of mines (equipment repair, logistics, processing of mine rock, etc.);

implementation of a set of organizational and technical measures for environmental protection.

When developing a set of organizational and technical measures to protect the air from pollution in the industry, attention is first of all paid to improving the technology of primary processing, transportation and storage of proud mass through the use of new machines and mechanisms with lower dust emission rates, as well as the use of various types of dust collectors for cleaning ventilation ( aspiration) emissions; improving the technology of waste disposal and purification of smoke, boiler houses using devices for collecting harmful gases, dust and ash collectors.

In the coal industry, the main measures aimed at reducing the amount of harmful emissions from boiler house flue gases are: closing low-power boiler houses; improvement of fuel combustion technology; complete equipping of boiler rooms with effective dust collection equipment.

The use of liquid or gaseous fuel for boiler units, including methane from mine degassing, reduces harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

Dust is collected from boiler house flue gases using various treatment plants. Their type depends on the physical and chemical properties of the collected ash and dust (primarily the fractional composition).

The most effective method for cleaning flue gases from industrial and municipal boiler houses from solid substances is currently the method of dry mechanical cleaning using single cyclones for boiler houses with boilers with a steam output of 2.5-6.5 t/h and battery cyclones for boiler houses with boilers with a steam output of 2.5-6.5 t/h. 6.5-20 t/h.

3. Protection of the earth's surface

The development of the mining industry leads to the withdrawal from the natural cycle and disruption of a significant part of the Earth's surface. Disturbed lands are considered to be lands that have lost their economic value or are a source of negative impact on the environment.

Large areas of fertile land are alienated using the open-pit method of mining, which ensures the extraction of the most voluminous masses of minerals: fuel, iron ore, construction.

Underground mining also negatively affects the condition of natural landscapes. As a result of displacements and deformations of rocks, dips, deflections, and displacement troughs are formed on the surface of mine fields, which are filled with groundwater from the upper aquifers, as well as flood waters and precipitation.

Deformation of the earth's surface during part-time work, flooding of its individual sections or dehydration cause significant damage to natural objects (arable land, forests, etc.), populated areas, industrial structures, and change the microclimate.

The size of the zone of influence of underground mining on structures and natural objects depends on the following factors: thickness, angle of incidence and depth of the developed layers; the size of the workings, the location and size of the pillars left in the workings; rock pressure control method; face advance speed; the presence of previously mined areas near the mine workings; physical and mechanical properties of rocks; structural features of the rock mass (thickness of layers, geological disturbances, etc.).

With increasing development depth, all types of deformations of the earth's surface decrease.

The negative impact of underground mining is also the clogging and alienation of land by waste dumps. As a result of underground coal mining, rock is exposed to the surface from preparatory and cleaning work, from the cleaning and restoration of mine workings. Its quantity depends on the mining system, mining and geological conditions, method of coal extraction, etc. The rock brought to the surface is stored in dumps of various sizes and shapes. They occupy valuable agricultural lands, reduce the productivity of neighboring lands, pollute the atmosphere with gases and dust, and disrupt the hydrogeological regime of the area. In addition, the water (mostly toxic) that flows from the dumps destroys vegetation in the surrounding area.

Dumps located near populated areas worsen the sanitary and hygienic living conditions of people.

Geological exploration work also affects the state of the natural environment. Geological services (especially prospecting) in many cases are the first to come into contact with untouched nature and begin to inhabit it. As a result of contact, landscapes are often littered, forests are cut down, forest fires occur, birds and animals die in oil pits left after drilling, air pollution is caused by exhaust gases from engines of power and transport installations, etc.

Consequently, open-pit and underground mining of mineral resources, as well as geological exploration work, lead to negative changes in the earth’s surface, which represents the most important natural wealth of society, the basis of agricultural production, the place of human settlements and the location of industry, i.e. the land is the source of the nation’s welfare.

Protection of the earth's surface from the harmful effects of underground mining is carried out in two main directions: reducing disturbances of the earth's surface with the help of mining and special security measures and eliminating the negative consequences of mining through restoration (reclamation) of disturbed lands. At the same time, the general direction of rational use of land in the coal industry is the reclamation of disturbed areas and their return to the national economy as productive land in the form of arable land, meadows, forest plantations, and artificial reservoirs.

Thus, the primary tasks are to restore fertility to the lands disturbed by mining operations, to reintroduce them into agricultural circulation, and to comprehensively improve the management of natural resources in socialist production.

4. Land reclamation, its types, characteristics

If, with the underground method of coal mining, it is impossible to avoid trough-like subsidence of the earth's surface, then they are eliminated through reclamation. Reclamation is a complex of mining, reclamation, agricultural and hydraulic engineering work to restore the productivity and economic value of disturbed lands with a specific target focus. Being an essential component of a set of protective measures to protect the natural environment, reclamation reduces the time period for borrowing land for the needs of mining enterprises.

The objects of reclamation during underground coal mining are depressions, failures and other disturbances of the earth's surface; rock dumps of coal (shale) mines and processing factories, industrial sites, transport communications, embankments, dams, upland ditches, which after the mine is extinguished cannot be used for its intended purpose.

The complex of reclamation works includes mining, engineering, construction, hydraulic and other activities and is usually carried out in two stages: technical and biological, which are interconnected and carried out sequentially.

The technical stage (technical reclamation) is aimed at preparing disturbed lands for biological development and subsequent intended use in the national economy.

Technical reclamation is carried out by coal mines or specialized departments (sites) included in the production association system. It includes: filling deformed surfaces of mine fields (subsidence troughs, deflections, failures, etc.) with inert materials and their leveling; extinguishing, dismantling and reforming mine waste dumps (heap waste heaps); selective removal, storage and storage of rocks suitable for biological reclamation, including fertile soil layer and potentially fertile rocks; planning and covering the planned surface with a fertile layer of soil or potentially fertile rocks; construction of access roads and drainage networks; reclamation and anti-erosion measures; elimination of post-shrinkage phenomena; arrangement of beds and banks of reservoirs.

The biological stage (biological reclamation) includes a set of agrotechnical and reclamation measures aimed at restoring and improving the structure of soils, increasing their fertility (plowing, harrowing, treating with chemicals, applying fertilizers, etc.), creating forests and green spaces, developing reservoirs, breeding game and animals (renewal of flora and fauna). Biological reclamation is carried out by land users (collective farms, forestry enterprises and other organizations), to whom lands are transferred after their technical reclamation carried out by enterprises and organizations that disturbed these lands.

Elimination of negative consequences of dumps. The shapes and parameters of dumps depend on the methods of their formation, which determines an individual approach to the design of reclamation of individual specific objects.

Reclamation of a dump is preceded by a comprehensive examination (determining the location and role of the dump in the landscape system of the area, parameters and degree of harmful impact on the environment, agrophysical and chemical properties of the mixture of rocks composing the dumps inside and on the surface, etc.) to determine the need for reclamation, selection its directions, as well as the possibility of using waste rocks in the national economy.

Taking into account the chosen direction of reclamation and the requirements for it, the final geometric parameters of the dump are established in terms of area, height, shape and size of the slopes, ways to achieve the necessary final parameters (without lowering or lowering the height to the required limits, with or without terracing of the dumps, etc.) , technology of the technical stage of reclamation, select a technological scheme.

If, as a result of the inspection, a rock dump is classified as burning, then it first goes through the extinguishing stage according to special projects drawn up in accordance with the Instructions for the prevention of spontaneous combustion, extinguishing and dismantling of rock dumps. The project for extinguishing work includes: characteristics of the rock dump and information about the composition of the rocks composing the dump; results of temperature survey of the dump; description of the work technology, instructions for its safe conduct.

Features of the technology for extinguishing burning rock dumps are determined by their shape, height, and the nature of combustion.

Extinguishing burning waste heaps and ridge-shaped dumps is carried out by transforming them into flat-shaped dumps or pouring the surface layer of rocks with a pulp (suspension) from antipyrogenic materials of burning flat dumps (depending on the nature of the combustion).

Individual surface combustion sources in dumps of any shape are suppressed by backfilling with non-combustible materials (inert dust, clayey and sandy-clayey shales, burnt-out dump rock, etc.) or by pouring a slurry of non-pyrogenic materials. The dump is considered extinguished if the temperature of the rocks at a depth of 2.5 m from the surface does not exceed 80 0 C.

5. Rational use and protection of subsoil

Mineral resources are of paramount importance for the economic development of the country. In the context of scientific and technological progress, the extraction and consumption of mineral raw materials is growing rapidly. At the same time, the main consumers of mineral resources are the mining industry itself, as well as energy, metallurgy, transport, rocketry, etc. Many rich deposits located at shallow depths and in easily accessible areas have already been mined. This necessitates the extraction of minerals that lie at great depths, in difficult mining and geological conditions, are characterized by a low content of useful components, require long-distance transportation, etc.

The accelerated development of mineral reserves is also facilitated by the loss of minerals in the processes of their extraction and processing. Currently, the greatest losses of mineral raw materials, including solid ones, are due to the inability to rationally and completely extract them from the subsoil, as well as to carry out effective primary processing at processing plants (factories). During coal mining, its minimal losses reach 25% of industrial reserves. In some mines, about half of the mineable deposits are left in the ground.

The classification of losses of solid minerals is uniform for all sectors of the mining industry and is carried out in accordance with the Standard Guidelines for determining and accounting for losses of solid minerals during mining.

Losses of solid minerals during underground mining are divided into general mine and operational.

General mine losses are losses in various kinds of security and barrier pillars that are left in the subsoil (near capital mine workings, wells, under buildings, technical and economic structures, reservoirs, aquifers, communications, protected areas; between mine fields) after the horizon is extinguished, site or liquidation of a mining enterprise and are irretrievably lost. They are calculated in weight units and as a percentage of the total balance reserves of the mine.

Operational losses include losses during mineral extraction. They are calculated in weight units and as a percentage in relation to the redeemed balance reserves of coal or ore.

In connection with the prospect of depletion of mineral resources, humanity faces the task of replenishing them. This problem is being solved in the following main areas:

replenishment of mineral reserves through search and exploration of new deposits;

building up reliable reserves, the development of which can be economically profitable;

use of poor deposits;

the use of mineral resources from the great depths of the earth's crust and mantle, as well as the bottom of the oceans and seas (primarily coal, oil and gas);

development of methods for efficient extraction of coal seams and ore deposits and processing of mineral raw materials, which will ensure complete extraction of reserves of basic and associated minerals and reduce their losses.

Another source of increasing the stock of mineral reserves, which can remove the threat of depletion of mineral raw materials for a long time, is enrichment. What is currently not used as a mineral resource, in the future (with new equipment and technology) can become a very valuable raw material.

Rational use and protection of subsoil include goals not related to the extraction of mineral raw materials. This means:

protection of subsoil areas during the construction of underground engineering structures for the storage of any reserves, disposal of hazardous production waste;

protection of subsoil areas of special scientific and cultural value (geological monuments);

protection of mineral deposits from all kinds of damage, development, flooding by reservoirs during the construction of hydroelectric power stations and other structures even before the design of mining enterprises.

Consequently, the rational use of mineral resources and the protection of subsoil do not set the goal of limiting the extraction of mineral raw materials, as is often done in relation to the wealth of living nature. On the contrary, the rational use of mineral resources and the protection of subsoil is, first of all, the need for complete extraction of reserves. The complete geological study of the deposit determines the completeness of reserve extraction and, in general, the form, scale and intensity of subsoil use. Therefore, important links in the rational use and protection of subsoil are the technological stages of exploration and production of mineral resources. In addition, independent and equivalent parts of the problem of the integrated use of mineral resources are the integrated development of deposits and the integrated use of raw materials.

The protection of the natural environment at the present stage of social development is a national task and is carried out in the context of the state environmental policy pursued in the country. A major role in successfully solving this problem should be played by highly qualified engineering personnel capable of organizing production that would eliminate or significantly reduce negative impacts on the environment.

All developed technological processes and devices, along with high technical and economic indicators, must meet modern environmental protection requirements. The basic principle of the engineering-ecological approach to environmental protection is that in the event of an unacceptable negative impact of production on it, the economic efficiency of such technology is out of the question.

The environmental safety of mining production currently depends on the commissioning of various devices and structures designed to protect the atmosphere and hydrosphere, as well as on measures aimed at reducing disturbances to the earth's surface and protecting the subsoil. It should be emphasized that these measures do not completely prevent, but only reduce the adverse impact of production on the environment. This problem can be radically solved only on the basis of waste-free production.

A characteristic feature of the currently used technology for the extraction and processing of coal and oil shale is its high waste. Restructuring the underground coal mining technology that has evolved over decades in order to ensure waste-free production is a complex process that requires special scientific research, the attraction of enormous material resources, and the development and implementation of special equipment. Taking into account these requirements, as well as the multiple excess of the output of by-products compared to the economically feasible volumes of waste use, it can be stated that, in relation to the mining industry, waste-free technology is currently literally impossible. The modern coal industry is characterized by low-waste production, when part of the raw materials goes to waste and is sent for long-term storage. In conditions of redundancy of by-products of production, the problem of optimizing their use as secondary material resources must first be solved. The concepts of “by-product” and “secondary resource” are not identical. A by-product is obtained during the main production process, and a secondary resource is an additional product involved in this production from the outside.

The particular difficulty of waste-free production is that for some time to come, enterprises built without taking into account the environmental situation will continue to operate, and in some cases even increase their production capacity. Here it is still necessary to introduce low-waste technology, i.e. bring waste from these enterprises into marketable products or raw materials for their own production needs or other industries.

Due to the effective implementation of environmental protection activities and the improvement of the ecological status of the regions and the territory of the expansion of coal mining enterprises, it seems necessary to continue the development of such food on the level of state enterprises and ministries:

the possibility of funding from the budget will work with the development of effective technology and equipment for the demineralization of pumped mine water;

donation to the Fund of the Ministry of Coal Industry of Ukraine of part of the payments, which is necessary to pay for environmental protection, placement of waste, waste and removal of polluting speeches, etc., with the aim of their contribution to environmental protection work;

complex selection of adjacent bark copalins, which are found simultaneously with vugillas and species, and development of methods for grading prices for them;

support for coal enterprises that actively promote demineralization technologies of mine waters and rock-filled mine spaces, by compensating for additional waste and increasing production sti vidobutogo vugill.

Bibliography

1. Nikolin V.I., Matlak E.S. Environmental protection in the mining industry, Kyiv - Donetsk, 1987.

2. Mongait I.L., Tekinidi K.D., Nikoladze G.I. Mine water treatment, Moscow, 1978.

Head of the Department of Ecology and Natural Sciences, NFI KemSU, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor

Mayer V.F.,

Assistant at the Department of Ecology and Natural Sciences, NFI KemSU.

According to data, Kuzbass coal mines and open-pit mines produce more than 40% of coal in Russia, of which 60% is coking grades. 360 million m3 of air per year is supplied to the mines and more than 200 million tons of water are pumped out; 300-350 million tons of rocks are moved to dumps in open-pit mines. The total area of ​​depression craters in the region reaches 2 thousand km, about 1.5 thousand hectares are taken away annually for coal mining, and the area of ​​disturbed lands increases by 65.5 thousand hectares. Industrial dumps, ash and sludge dumps, sludge dumps, tailings dumps and household waste dumps occupy 40 thousand hectares in the region. The land area of ​​the liquidated mines is 11,066.9 hectares, including built-up - 1,385.9 hectares, disturbed - 4,971 hectares. The area subject to reclamation is 4938.5 hectares, 157.4 hectares were reclaimed after the restructuring of the Kuzbass coal industry.

Coal mines and open-pit mines emit from 1.5 to 2 billion m3 of methane into the atmosphere, 34.4% of all suspended substances and 10% of petroleum products, the content of which reaches 40 mg/l, including nitrites - up to 0, are discharged into external water bodies .6 mg/l, nitrates - up to 4 mg/l.

The reduction in coal production in Kuzbass from 159 million tons (1988) to 102.7 million tons (2000) does not solve the environmental problems of the coal industry; they have become more urgent due to the liquidation of unprofitable and unprofitable mines, open-pit mines and processing plants .

When mining operations are carried out, the hydrogeological environment is destroyed, and the release of a huge mass of rocks to the surface (more than 8 billion m 3 in Kuzbass) leads to subsidence of the earth's surface, the formation of depression craters and the destruction of existing biocenoses.

Due to the weathering of rocks, a wide range of pollutants enters the atmosphere; transport over a significant distance transforms local environmental pollution into regional ones. The coal mining complex has a great impact on the hydrosphere, which is manifested in changes in the water regime of the territory (flooding or, most often, drying out), contamination of groundwater and wastewater.

Soil drainage as a result of pumping out water inflows in the mining zone with the subsequent discharge of groundwater outside the mine's mining allotment leads to the destruction of the ecological balance of flora and fauna.

The environmental consequences of the production activities of mining enterprises directly in the coal regions depend on technological, mining-geological, natural-climatic factors and manifest themselves in various combinations of negative changes in natural complexes (biogeocenoses) and landscapes. They identify the main environmental problems for each region specifically.

Currently, the following main problems in the field of environmental protection are identified:

• protection of water resources: wastewater treatment from oil products, mineral salts, including sulfates, bacterial contaminants;
• protection of atmospheric air: purification of gaseous emissions, mainly from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and methane, development of technologies for burning high-ash and high-sulfur coals and sludge;
• restoration of disturbed lands: reducing the land intensity of mining operations, reclamation of deep quarries and large-volume dumps, development of bacterial preparations for accelerated reclamation of rock dumps;
• use of solid waste: expanding the use of solid waste as mineral binders and construction materials, organomineral fertilizers and other products.

Taking into account the specific requirements of the time, environmental protection activities in the coal industry are focused on:

• preventive activities (preventing the occurrence of negative impacts of industrial production on the environment by protecting its facilities);
• restoration of natural environmental objects disturbed by anthropogenic (technogenic) impact;
• conservation, preservation of unique natural objects (landscapes, geological formations, rivers, lakes, forests and other natural complexes) of economic, aesthetic and educational significance for humans.

The current situation can be changed for the better through a detailed analysis of the state of affairs, search and implementation of effective solutions in the field of environmental protection.

A detailed analysis should be based on the results of comprehensive monitoring of negative technogenic impacts and their consequences, including predicted ones, which should provide reliable information for analysis, contain time series of measured parameters with a large number of measurements at short intervals.

The search for effective solutions should be based on an extensive database in the field of environmental and environmental protection measures, safe technologies for the extraction, transportation and enrichment of coal.

The organization of a detailed analysis should combine monitoring of workplaces, emission sources, industrial sites, residential areas, water resources, territories and objects hazardous in terms of soil deformation. An integrated approach has significant advantages over the traditional one, in which the security and environmental monitoring systems are separated.

Harmful man-made impacts occur in workplaces and subsequently spread into the natural environment. Examples of this are methane, dust, carbon monoxide as part of ventilation emissions from a mine, dust and other harmful emissions into the atmosphere during blasting operations at the mine face, dust during loading, transport and storage, burning of rock dumps, etc.

Many components must be monitored to the same extent in workplaces, in emissions or in the atmosphere of residential areas, which makes it possible to unify design and design solutions when creating a set of technical monitoring tools.

The accumulation of information about negative technogenic impacts in a unified database makes it possible to improve its analysis, increase the reliability of the results, and improve the prediction of adverse consequences.

The creation of a unified base of environmental protection measures increases the effectiveness of environmental protection measures by suppressing negative technogenic impacts in the places of their occurrence and eliminating their manifestation in the environment.

Improving the environmental situation can be achieved by stabilizing the country's economic development and a systematic approach to environmental issues, expressed in the sustainable development of industry without going beyond the carrying capacity of the environment, while the development of enterprises should be based on economic, environmental and legal foundations.

A decisive role in improving the environmental situation in coal-mining regions belongs to existing enterprises, especially those located in areas with a high concentration of production, where a number of negative trends have developed:

• obsolescence and physical wear and tear of main technological equipment and environmental facilities, their slow renewal, which leads to increased negative impact on the environment;
• low level of investment in the construction of environmental facilities in the total volume of capital investments in the industry (less than 0.3%) and, as a consequence, small volumes of construction of water treatment facilities, dust and gas collection plants and other environmental facilities;
• weakening of attention to environmental protection on the part of managers of enterprises and joint-stock companies, reduction in the volume and efficiency of environmental work;
• low efficiency of the current system of payments for environmental pollution, which does not stimulate environmental activities, lack of economic methods for managing environmental activities;
• an increase in payments for environmental pollution and general environmental costs of production with a decrease in coal production volumes;
• lack of demand for existing scientific and technical developments, lack of incentives and mechanisms for introducing them into production;
• the absence in the industry of a clearly operating system of continuous environmental education and retraining of personnel.

Lack of funding for environmental protection work, low assessment of damage to nature, and the use of natural resources lead to their irrational use, and compensation for damage does not cover the costs of land reclamation and environmental protection. Therefore, along with system monitoring, there is a need to develop a methodology for quantitative assessment of the efficiency of environmental management and compensation for environmental damage.

The transition from an administrative-command system to a market economy leads to changes in environmental policy, principles, techniques and methods of environmental management, and the system of relations regarding the use of waste is changing.

The main principles of state and regional environmental policy in the region are:

• protecting human health, maintaining or restoring a favorable state of the natural environment and preserving biological diversity;
• scientifically based combination of environmental and economic interests of society in order to ensure sustainable development;
• use of the latest scientific and technical achievements in order to implement low-waste and non-waste technologies;
• comprehensive processing of material and raw materials in order to reduce the amount of waste;
• using methods of economic regulation of activities in the field of waste management in order to reduce their quantity and involve them in economic circulation;
• access to information in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
• participation in international cooperation of the Russian Federation in the field of waste management.

An analysis of the priorities of problems from the point of view of rational use, restoration and protection of natural resources showed their rank, which for the Kemerovo region is as follows:

1. Use of secondary resources
2. Rational use of the main regional natural resource - coal and associated resources (methane, associated water, etc.)
3. Rational use of water
4. Rational use of land
5. Restoration and protection of water resources
6. Reducing natural resource consumption
7. Restoration of contaminated and disturbed lands
8. Rational use, restoration and protection of biological resources
9. Improving the quality of water resources
10. Reducing the impact of production and consumption waste on natural resources
11. Reducing the consequences of technogenic impacts on natural resources of existing industries, closed coal mines and open-pit mines
12. Obtaining energy from alternative sources

It should be noted that in the coal industry there is a large number of unclaimed resource-saving technologies and methods of coal mining with minimal impact on the environment, as well as methods and means of protecting the atmosphere, water environment, mining and land allotments, which need to be the basis for revising the environmental activities of mining and processing enterprises of the coal industry.

LITERATURE

1. Lermontov Yu. S., Murzish V. S. Ways to solve economic problems associated with the liquidation of coal mining enterprises in Kuzbass // Fuel and Energy Complex and Resources of Kuzbass. - 2000 (No. 3). - pp. 114-118.
2. Bubnova K. D. Ecological and economic problems of liquidation of coal enterprises // Coal. - 2001 (No. 7). - P. 58-60.
3. Smirnov A. M. Organization of monitoring of negative technogenic impacts of coal industry enterprises // Coal. - 2001 (No. 7). - pp. 52-54.
4. Conceptual foundations of ecology in the coal industry for 2000-2002 / Yu. V. Kaplunov, S. L. Klimov, A. P. Krasavin, A. A. Kharionovsky // Coal. - 2000 (No. 1). - P. 68-72.
5. Yastrebova O. A. On the principles of state policy in the field of industrial waste management. // Coal. - 2000 (No. 3). - pp. 59-60.

The mining industry includes 3 main methods of extracting minerals: open-pit, open-pit, and borehole. Each of them has specific environmental problems. The mine method in one form or another has been used since ancient times. It involves the creation of transport mine workings (mine shafts, adits) "to the mineral deposit and a system of workings (longwalls, drifts) intended for mining within the deposit. Environmental problems with this method of mining are associated with the formation of dumps from overburden rocks (heap waste heaps), lowering the level of groundwater as a result of their pumping out of mine workings3 - the danger of polluting water bodies with mine waters. The open method is used for the extraction of solid minerals (coal, oil shale and peat, various ores, building materials) and involves the creation of significantly smaller mine workings instead of relatively narrow ones. larger quarries and cuts, which became possible with the advent of powerful earth-moving equipment. Open way is considered more progressive, since it can significantly improve conditions and increase labor productivity, and allows the extraction of minerals. 38% of coal, 88% of iron ore, 96% of chromite and almost 100% of building materials are mined using open pit mining. The load on the environment with this mining method increases many times, in proportion to the increase in the volume of workings. Violation of land cover during open-pit mining leads to the formation of a “lunar landscape” of quarries and dumps, composed of completely barren rocks and subject to blowing, erosion, leaching of soluble components, with pollution of the atmospheric air, water bodies and soils of adjacent territories. In coal deposits, the problem of air pollution is often aggravated due to the ability of certain types of coal to end up in the dump from non-industrial seams

spontaneously ignite when air enters in the vicinity of large quarries, depression funnels are formed, within which there is a significant decrease in the level of groundwater, leading to the drying of springs and wells. Environmental problems of mine and open-pit mining of solid minerals are solved through reclamation - a set of works aimed at restoring the productivity and economic value of disturbed lands, as well as improving environmental conditions. Reclamation is carried out upon completion of development of a section of the deposit or the deposit as a whole and includes two stages: technical and biological. During technical reclamation, underground mines are filled with overburden rocks: the surfaces of quarries and dumps are leveled. During biological reclamation, artificial soils are created (based on peat, etc. materials), landscaping, and stocking of reservoirs with fish. If it is impossible to perform vertical terrain planning, simplified methods of reclamation are used: creating reservoirs in exhausted quarries, landscaping waste heaps.

Downhole method It is used mainly for the extraction of liquid and gaseous minerals: natural gases, oil, groundwater. Some types of solid minerals can also be extracted using wells: underground gasification of coal, underground leaching of ores. The borehole method, the use of which became possible from the end of the 19th century with the development of drilling technology, creates a significantly smaller load on land resources compared to mine and quarry mining. The environmental problems of borehole mining are associated with the fact that this method affects great depths, where mining and geological conditions differ sharply from near-surface ones. The geochemical situation is reducing, practically oxygen-free, pressures reach hundreds of atmospheres, highly mineralized, aggressive formation waters are common. Wells irreversibly violate the integrity of the aquitards that separate fresh aquifers from zones of slow and very slow water exchange. With a significant scale of extraction of liquid and gaseous minerals, as well as during the injection of water and solutions to maintain reservoir pressure, and other impacts on the formations, a redistribution of pressure, temperature, geochemical parameters, directions and speed of groundwater circulation occurs. External manifestations of technogenically caused changes in the subsoil are the activation of geodynamic processes, incl. With the intensification of seismicity, changes in water abundance, regime and hydrochemical characteristics of aquifers, incl. leading to groundwater pollution. In case of emergency leaks of oil, formation water, process fluids, atmospheric air, soil and surface water are polluted, and damage is caused to vegetation and wildlife. Massive pollution of the atmosphere, surface waters and soils occurs during accidents leading to outbursts of oil and gas. The likelihood of accidental leaks increases as corrosion and wear of equipment in contact with aggressive liquids develops. Thus, at the end of the 1980s, in the Tyumen region, about 11 thousand accidents occurred annually on 100 thousand km of oil pipelines. To reduce the accident rate, the pipeline network is reduced by concentrating a number of wells on one site (cluster), and pipes with an internal anti-corrosion coating are used. Constant sources of air pollution associated with the production and transportation of oil and gas are gas flares, oil treatment plants, gas compressor stations, and technological transport. Utilization of associated gas as fuel or chemical raw materials is not always possible, because it may contain a significant admixture of non-flammable components (nitrogen, carbon dioxide). Subsoil protection during borehole mining includes a set of measures developed on the basis of geoecological research. They include: regulating the load on elements of the tectonic structure in order to prevent the activation of faults, isolating aquifers by cementing the annulus of wells and abandoning (plugging) unused wells, preventing leaks of oil, salt water and process fluids. Highly mineralized formation waters, incidentally extracted during oil production, are pumped back into the subsoil to maintain reservoir pressure. It is not allowed to pump wastewater containing organic pollutants into the subsoil, because When they decompose under anaerobic conditions, hydrogen sulfide is formed. The protection of the atmosphere from pollution associated with the operation of oil treatment plants, gas compressor stations, and technological transport is carried out through environmental protection measures common to various industries and transport.

1

The main environmental problems and wastes affecting the environment and humans from the activities of the uranium mining industry have been identified. The main substances that pollute the air, underground waters of ore-bearing horizons, as well as those included in waste heaps of rock raised to the surface during traditional methods of mining and processing uranium ores and their impact on humans are considered. Tasks have been identified to ensure the development of uranium mining production. Due to the length of the development cycle of mining enterprises from exploration to production, which is about 20 years, in the near future uranium mining companies should concentrate their attention on ensuring the future development of uranium mining production, for which it is first necessary to formulate and solve the main problems associated with introduction of modern technologies

mining industry

pollutants

uranium mine dumps

The groundwater

atmosphere

1. Bubnov V.K. Extraction of metals from stored ore in underground and heap leaching blocks / V.K. Bubnov, A.M. Kapkanshchikov, E.K. Spirin – Tselinograd: Zhana-Arka, 1992 – 307 p.

2. Bubnov V.K. Theory and practice of mining for combined leaching methods. / VC. Bubnov, A.M. Kapkanshchikov, E.K. Spirin - M.: Akmola, 1992 - 522 p.

3. Zabolotsky K.A. An optimal complex of hydrogeological and geoecological studies of metal deposits in weathering crusts in relation to their mining by underground leaching: abstract of thesis. dis. ...cand. – Ekanterinburg: USGU, 2008 – 91 p.

4. Mamilov V.A. Uranium mining using underground leaching method. – M.: Atomizdat, 1980 – 248 p.

5. Tashlykov O.L. Organization and technology of nuclear energy. – M.: Energoatomizd, 1995 – 327 p.

6. Titaeva N.A. Geochemistry of isotopes of radioactive elements (U, Th, Ra): abstract. dis. ... dr. – M.: MSU, 2002. – 23 p.

7. Chesnokov N.I., Petrosov A.A. Systems for the development of uranium ore deposits. – M.: Atomizdat, 1972 – 22 p.

Traditional methods of mineral extraction and beneficiation are characterized by a large volume of waste. Waste disposed over large areas, as well as wastewater from processing factories and mine drainage, causes disturbances and negative consequences in all components of the biosphere - air and water basins are polluted, as a result of which land resources are degraded, many species of flora and fauna disappear. The analysis of a number of sources revealed the main environmental problems and aspects affecting the natural environment and humans as its component.

The activities of the uranium mining industry primarily affect enterprise employees (miners, equipment operators, etc.), and secondly, residents of surrounding settlements and nature.

It includes:

● contamination of mine waters with uranium and other radionuclides;

● draining wastewater into groundwater;

● washing away radionuclides from contaminated areas by rain and spreading them throughout the environment;

● release of radon from mines, waste rock dumps and tailings;

● leaching of radionuclides from tailings with their subsequent discharge into natural waters;

● erosion of tailings systems with dispersion of toxins by wind and water;

● contamination of ground and surface waters with toxic non-radioactive substances, such as heavy metals and reagents used in ore processing.

The tracer of uranium contamination can be the isotope ratio 234 U/238 U, which in ores and ore residues is close to the equilibrium value, and in surface groundwater significantly exceeds its value.

In Europe, uranium ore was mined either in open pits or underground mines. At the same time, only 0.1% of the ore was usefully used, the rest is waste. Immediately after World War II, uranium was extracted from shallow deposits, then from deep mines. With the decline in uranium prices on the world market, underground mining became unprofitable and most mines were closed. During the active period of mining, large quantities of air contaminated with radon and dust were transported into the air basin. For example, in 1993, 7.43∙109 m3 (that is, the pollution rate was 235 m3/s) of air with an average radon concentration of 96,000 Bq/m3 was released into the air basin from the Schlem-Alberoda mine (Saxony, Germany).

The main substances that pollute the air during traditional methods of mining and processing of uranium ores are:

● dust generated during the mining, transportation, crushing of ores, storage in dumps and long-term storage of tailings from hydrometallurgical production, including dust containing radioactive substances. Radioactive substances in mine dust include long-lived emitters (U, Ra, Po, Io, RaD, Th), which can have harmful effects on living organisms when inhaling contaminated mine air near ventilation units and air discharge points from the production area;

● gases released during blasting operations and as a result of chemical interaction of reagents with ores and intermediate products during hydrometallurgical processing (CO2, CO, H2S, nitrogen oxides, NH3, H2SO4 vapor, etc.).

Despite well-organized dust suppression in underground mining operations (dust content in the mine atmosphere does not exceed 1 mg/m³), during overloading, transportation and crushing of ores, as well as during storage of off-balance ores, waste rocks and tailings, only one medium-sized mine enters the air basin productivity, together with the hydrometallurgical plant, is tens of tons of dust per year. A particularly noticeable amount of dust enters the atmosphere during open-pit mining due to large volumes of overburden and the difficulty of dust suppression in winter.

By lowering the dose for miners, ventilation increased the radiation load on residents of surrounding villages. It is important that this load continued after the closure of the mines, since ventilation was carried out during a fairly long period of mothballing of the mine and its flooding. In 1992, radon levels for residents of the town of Schlem in Saxony were significantly reduced by changing mine ventilation: polluted air began to be emitted far from residential areas. In Bulgaria, a closed uranium mine is located right on the outskirts of the village of Eleshnitza, so there is a lot of radon in residential buildings. It is believed that 30% of lung cancer cases per year among the village's 2,600 residents are associated with the proximity of the mine. But radon and uranium dust emitted by mine ventilation not only directly increase the radiation load on the population. Analysis of various foods grown in Ronneburg (uranium mining area in Thuringia) showed that the consumption of local food contributes a fairly high dose contribution of 0.33 m3 annually, mainly due to wheat grown at the mine ventilation outlet.

In addition to air pollution, mining enterprises contribute to water pollution. Large quantities of groundwater are continuously pumped from uranium mines to keep them dry during mining. This water flows into rivers, streams and lakes. Thus, in river sediments in the Ronneburg area, the concentrations of radium and uranium are equal to 3000 Bq/kg, i.e. 100 times higher than natural background. In the Czech Republic, long-term contamination of sediments in the Ploucnic River is caused by poor treatment of mine water from the Hamr I uranium mine, which was operated until 1989. The river valley is polluted along a 30 km stretch. The doses received from γ-radiation reach a maximum of 3.1 Gy/h, i.e. 30 times higher than background. In the Lergue River in France, wastewater from the Herault uranium mining complex resulted in concentrations of 226 Ra in sediments of 13,000 Bq/kg, which is almost equal to the radium concentration in the uranium ore itself.

Regarding the protection of surface and especially groundwater in the case of uranium mining using underground leaching methods, expert opinions are ambiguous. The discrepancies in estimates are a consequence of the fact that during underground leaching over a number of years of deposit development, tens and hundreds of thousands of sulfuric acid or other solvent are exhausted into the groundwater of ore-bearing horizons to create the necessary concentrations of the dissolving reagent. When dissolving pollution in general terms, the introduction of such an amount of solvent quite naturally gives grounds to talk about contamination of groundwater. As a result of physical and chemical processes of underground leaching in technological solutions (productive and working), some components accumulate in quantities significantly exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations for water used for drinking and household purposes. Under conditions of sulfuric acid leaching, such components are:

1) components of the solvent and acidity of the medium;

2) leaching products - both radioactive U, Ra, Po, RaD, and stable Fe2+, Fe3+, Al3+, and other cations;

3) technological products of solution processing - , , , Cl- (depending on the resin desorption method used).

In the ore-bearing horizon of the mined section of the deposit, groundwater undergoes a significant change in salt composition. This applies in particular to components such as Fe2+, Fe3+, Al3+, , uranium and acidity (pH). The increase in salt content within the mined ore bodies falls into the category provided for by the technological regulations, without which it is impossible to mine uranium. The process of transferring uranium into solution occurs directly in the ore body, in the watered ore-bearing horizon, in a certain limited space of this horizon. Contamination of groundwater by process solutions outside the mined part of the deposit in the ore-bearing and adjacent aquifers.

As a rule, in hydrogenous deposits, the ore-bearing horizon is separated from adjacent aquifers by impermeable strata, which prevent the flow of leaching and productive solutions into adjacent aquifers. An important measure that prevents the flow of salt-containing waters into adjacent horizons is their high-quality isolation from the ore-bearing horizon during the construction of wells. The essence of insulation is the correct cementation of the annulus.

Dumps from uranium mines also pose an environmental hazard (Fig. 1). Waste rock is removed from open pits during the opening of an ore body, during the construction of underground mines, and when laying drifts through non-metallic zones. The heaps of rock raised to the surface usually contain more radionuclides than the surrounding rocks.

Some of them are the same uranium ores, but with a uranium content below the profitability of mining, which in turn depends on modern technology and economics.

Rice. 1. Danger of dumps of uranium mining industry enterprises

Rice. 2. Change over time in the activity of some radionuclides in uranium ore dumps

All these accumulations of waste pose a danger to local residents, since even after the closure of the mines, the generation of radon continues in them, which is released and moves into the habitat (Fig. 2).

In addition, a number of toxins (not necessarily radioactive) are washed out of waste heaps and pollute groundwater. For example, the waste rock dumps at the Schlem mine have a volume of 47 million m3 and occupy 343 hectares. Moreover, the dumps are located in the upper reaches of an inclined valley, densely populated below. Result: the average concentration of radon in the air of populated areas is 100 Bq/m3, and in some - above 300 Bq/m3. This gives additional cases of lung cancer (20 and 60, respectively) per 1000 inhabitants. For the southern part of Ronneburg, the lifetime additional risk of lung cancer is 15 cases per 1000 inhabitants. Given the rapid spread of radon by winds, there is a risk for residents of a wider area: an additional risk of lung cancer is 6 cases annually within a 400 km radius.

Due to the low uranium content in ores, hydrometallurgical processing plants, taking into account sanitary zones, occupy significant areas, and the volumes of tailings dumps are equal in quantity to the amount of commercial ores mined and processed. Tailings ponds not only completely exclude large areas of land from economic use, but are also centers of constant danger due to dust formation: from one square meter of tailings surface per year, from 90 to 250 kg of dust are carried away.

Another problem is the leakage of toxins from rock dumps. For example, water leakage from dumps in Schlem/Aue is equal to 2∙106 m3 annually, half of which flows into groundwater. So-called waste rock is often processed into gravel or cement for use in railroad or highway construction. As a result, radioactivity is dispersed over a large region. In the Czech Republic, material with uranium concentrations of up to 200 g per ton and radium concentrations of up to 2.22 Bq/g was used for road construction until 1991.

Due to the length of the development cycle of mining enterprises from exploration to production, which is about 20 years, in the near future uranium mining companies should concentrate their attention on ensuring the future development of uranium mining production, for which it is first necessary to solve the following main tasks associated with the implementation modern technologies. Namely: ensuring the complexity and completeness of subsoil development, which implies the complete elimination of losses of raw materials and minimizing the amount of waste by processing them into secondary resources, as well as the extraction of related valuable components. This will increase the profitability of production and attract additional funds for organizing environmental protection measures in order to reduce the impact of anthropogenic pressure on the environment.

Bibliographic link

Filonov A.V., Romanenko V.O. ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF MINING INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES // Advances in modern science. – 2016. – No. 3. – P. 210-213;
URL: http://natural-sciences.ru/ru/article/view?id=35850 (access date: 02/01/2020). We bring to your attention magazines published by the publishing house "Academy of Natural Sciences"