A Model to Evaluate the Flooding Opportunity and Sustainable Use of Former Open-Pits

Izabela-Maria Apostu, Maria Lazar and Florin Faur
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Izabela-Maria Apostu: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petroșani, Romania
Maria Lazar: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petroșani, Romania
Florin Faur: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petroșani, Romania

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: As a result of open-pit mining exploitations, impressive size gaps occur in the landscape. Their flooding leads to the occurrence of so-called open-pit lakes and represents an interesting way to reclaim and use sustainably the degraded land. In the literature, there are numerous plans, strategies, and guidelines for mine closure and open-pit recovery, but these are usually developed at the regional or national level and offer general suggestions, which must be evaluated and approached case-by-case. Because there is still no way to evaluate the opportunity of flooding the open-pits, a methodology for assessing this opportunity was developed to identify the open-pits that are suitable for flooding, this being the main objective of the paper. The paper is novel because of the multicriteria evaluation of open-pits and their remaining gaps, the logical succession of the criteria, and the proposed concept, methods, models, and equations that allow a complex assessment of the flooding opportunity. The methodology also aims to ensure maximum safety conditions in the former mining perimeter, the socio-economic and cultural requirements of local communities, the harmonization of the land in accordance with adjacent ecosystems, and the sustainable development of the region.

Keywords: open-pits; flooding; opportunity assessment; model; methodology; evaluation matrix; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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