Mining subsidence and its effect on the environment: some differing examples |
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| Authors: | F G Bell T R Stacey D D Genske |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geology and Applied Geology, University of Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa e-mail: brackley@geology.und.ac.za Tel: +27-031-2602516 Fax: +27-031-2602280, ZA;(2) Steffan, Robertson and Kirsten, P.O. Box 55291, Northlands, 2116, South Africa, ZA;(3) Public Health Engineering Laboratory, Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, CH |
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| Abstract: | The impact of mining subsidence on the environment can occasionally be very catastrophic, destroying property and even leading
to the loss of life. Usually, however, such subsidence gives rise to varying degrees of structural damage that can range from
slight to very severe. Different types of mineral deposits have been mined in different ways and this determines the nature
of the associated subsidence. Some mining methods result in contemporaneous subsidence whereas, with others, subsidence may
occur long after the mine workings have been abandoned. In the latter instance, it is more or less impossible to predict the
effects or timing of subsidence. A number of different mineral deposits have been chosen to illustrate the different types
of associated subsidence that result and the problems that arise. The examples provided are gold mining in the Johannesburg
area; bord and pillar mining of coal in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa; longwall mining of coal in the Ruhr district;
mining of chalk and limestone in Suffolk and the West Midlands, respectively; and solution mining of salt in Cheshire. These
mineral deposits have often been worked for more than 100 years and, therefore, a major problem results from abandoned mines,
especially those at shallow depth, the presence of which is unrecorded. Abandoned mines at shallow depth can represent a serious
problem in areas that are being developed or redeveloped. Abstraction of natural brine has given rise to subsidence with its
own particular problems and cannot be predicted. Although such abstraction is now inconsequential in Cheshire, dereliction
associated with past subsidence still remains.
Received: 21 October 1999 · Accepted: 14 February 2000 |
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| Keywords: | Abandoned mines Brine pumping Longwall mining Pillar failure Void migration |
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