Scholarly record

MINING OF BROWN COAL AND DUMP RECLAMATION IN NORTH - WESTERN BOHEMIA

M. Rehor, T. Lang, V. Ondracek

Abstract

Nowadays the importance of brown coal as a raw material is caused by growing needs of power in the Czech Republic. It namely concerns the only major domestic fossil raw material without which our country would become fully depended on the import of energy resources. Over 70\% brown coal reserves have been exploited in the North- Bohemian Basin today. Opencast mining of brown coal naturally led to vast landscape damages. Therefore reclamation work has acquired great significance. Brown coal is mined in four general mining localities which in principle differ in geological terms and partially in the parameters of acquired coal. That requires a little different methodology of exploitation and reclamation. The mines of Vrsany and CSA are currently the principal mining localities owned by mining company Mostecka uhelna a.s. and the mines of Bilina and Libous are owned by mining company Severoceske doly a.s.. The difficulty in reclamation of the North Bohemian Basin dumps consists in extremely severe properties of rocks in most of the dumps. The report briefly summarizes the history, present and perspective of mining and reclamation in the North – Western Bohemia region. The main attention is devoted to coal mining and new reclamation methodology. This methodology is one of the main activities of Brown Coal Research Institute, j.s.c. in Most. The reached results prove that knowing the properties of the moved rocks and all natural relations in the area the solution is found to restrain negative impacts on the environment. Thanks to the extended research work and differentiated approach to the localities the dumps of the North-Bohemian Basin will gradually integrate to the landscape under the Krusne hory mountain range.

Publication details

Back to publication list