Remote Sensing-Based Revegetation Assessment at Post-Closure Mine Sites in Canada

Sam Gordon, Xiaoyong Xu () and Yanyu Wang
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Sam Gordon: Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
Xiaoyong Xu: Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
Yanyu Wang: College of Environmental and Resources Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: The environmental legacy of post-closure mine sites poses a significant risk to the sustainability of mining operations and natural resource development. This study aims to advance the understanding of sustainable mine site reclamation behavior in Canada by using multi-temporal Landsat satellite images to examine the long-term land cover changes at post-closure mine sites. Six representative post-closure mine sites were selected for the evaluation and comparison. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis, Landsat image classification, post-classification change detection, and Regrowth Index (RI) analysis were conducted to assess the speed and extent of landscape and vegetation recovery at the target mine sites. A significant vegetation recovery was quantified for the mine sites that have experienced active reclamation activities. In contrast, the post-closure mine area undergoing only passive revegetation typically demonstrated a slow and minor increase in vegetation over time. The actively revegetated mine sites can typically be restored to a vegetation cover level that equals or is better than the pre-mining situation. This work confirms that active reclamation and revegetation at post-closure mine sites is critically important in sustainable mining. The quantified mine site reclamation behavior and the relevant sustainable practices would be useful for evidence-based sustainable resource management in Canada.

Keywords: mine site; revegetation; reclamation; rehabilitation; land cover; sustainable mining; remote sensing; Landsat image (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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