HISTORY, THE PRESENT AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE NORTH BOHEMIAN BROWN COAL BASIN AREA RECLAMATIONS

4th International Scientific Conference - SGEM2004, www.sgem.org, SGEM2004 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN: 954-918181-2, June 14-18, 2004, 359- 368pp

ABSTRACT

Brown coal is the only significant domestic fossil raw material, without which the Czech
Republic would become fully dependent on energy sources import. More than 70 % of mined
brown coal comes from North Bohemian Basin these days. Open cast brown coal mining has
lead to large damage on the landscape. That is why the reclamation work has become
important on principle recently. The technology of reclamation passed through qualitative
development within the past twenty years. The construction of mine dumps has been
controlled in the way that allows simpler and more successful reclamation. The categorization
of soils and their selective deposition were established. The compilation of mining models
was started. Connection to existing ecosystem was made. There is also the large water
surfaces creation included in the terminated open pit mines. The difficulties of the North
Bohemian mine dumps reclamation works are caused by extremely unfavourable properties of
rocks poured down to the majority of mine dumps. These are mainly rocks of the overlaying
strata and the rocks strata of brown coal bed. Main materials poured down to the mine dumps
are sands, clayey sands and kaolin – illitic clays. Admixtures in filled rocks consist of organic
(coal) mass, siderite and pyrite.