Effect of opencast mining on soil fertility

In the process of opencast mining, several changes occur in physical, chemical, and microbiological properties of soil as a result of mining and storage. Inability to preserve topsoil is one of the basic hindrances to restoration of mined land. The acute problem in preserving mine soil is discussed. Every year large areas are continually becoming unfertile in spite of efforts to grow vegetation on the degraded mined land One large opencast coal project of Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (ECL) is investigated to assess the deterioration of soil properties due to stripping and stockpiling. Different age classes of mine soil dumps are identified for the study. Mine soil characteristics of the dumps are compared with those of unmined soil and analyzed critically to evaluate deterioration of soil properties with respect to time of stockpiling. The changes in soil quality were found to be drastic in the first year and continually deteriorating every year, and ultimately the soil became unfertile.