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Spoil handling and reclamation costs at a contour surface mine in steep slope Appalachian topography
Abstract
Accurate overburden handling cost estimation methods are essential to effective pre-mining planning for post-mining landforms and land uses. With the aim of developing such methods, the authors have been monitoring costs at a contour surface mine in Wise County, Virginia since January 1, 1984. Early in the monitoring period, the land was being returned to its Approximate Original Contour (AOC) in a manner common to the Appalachian region since implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). More recently, mining has been conducted under an experimental variance from the AOC provisions of SMCRA which allowed a near-level bench to be constructed across the upper surface of two mined points and an intervening filled hollow. All mining operations are being recorded by location. The cost of spoil movement is calculated for each block of coal mined between January 1, 1984, and August 1, 1985. Per cubic yard spoil handling and reclamation costs are compared by mining block. The average cost of spoil handling was $1.90 per bank cubic yard; however, these costs varied widely between blocks. The reasons for those variations included the landscape positions of the mining blocks and spoil handling practices. The average reclamation cost was $0.08 per bank cubic yard of spoil placed in the near level bench on the mined point to $0.20 for spoil placed in the hollow fill. 2 references, 4 figures.
... Economic, environmental, and regulatory implications of the AOC variance have been summarized elsewhere Zipper· et al., 1985Zipper· et al., , 1989aZipper· et al., , 1989b. The primary purpose of this manuscript is to review results of monitoring hollow fill construction. ...
... The costs-of the hollow fills include all machine and man hours spent preparing the hollows for material placement, working material after placement as per design and reclamation requirements, and preparing the surface materials for revegetation. The method used to develop hourly cost estimates for machinery operation is detailed by Zipper et al. (1985). ...
... After August of 1985, no measurements of source blocks were performed, and no estimates of source block volumes were developed. Subsequent volume estimates {HF2 and HF3) are based upon per-hour and perhauler-load movement rate estimates which were developed during the source block measurement period over 1984and 1985{Zipper 1988. Table 2 summarizes hollow fill costs and volumes. ...
... The actual cost of mining at Amos Ridge was estimated by analyzing daily operations data using COSTSUM (Zipper et al., 1985b). All costs were determined relative to specific mining "blocks" (individual mining area units). ...
... In addition, reclamation of AOC highwall backfills located directly south of the experimental practice site (areas which were mined and partially backfilled during 1983 ) was completed. The results of the study of mining costs at Amos Ridge were previously reported in detail (Zipper et al., 1985b). In summary, the average cost of spoil handling at Amos Ridge between 1 January 1984 and 1 August 1985 was estimated at $2.46 per bank m3 (Table 2). ...
Coal surface mining has had profound effects on the steeply sloping central Appalachian (U.S.A.) landscape since the early 1950s. The “shoot-and-shove” mining practices of past years resulted in a number of environmental problems. A federal law, The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), was passed to rectify these problems. A major provision of SMCRA is its requirement that mined lands be returned to “approximate original contour” (AOC). SMCRA has brought vast improvements in reclamation practice to central Appalachia. However, the return of surface mined lands to AOC remains highly controversial, as many criticize the environmental, economic, and land-use effects of AOC.An alternative to conventional contour surface mining (AOC) was investigated at an experimental mining site in Wise County, Virginia. The terrain at this site is the steeply sloping “points and hollows” topography commonly found throughout the central Appalachian coalfields, and the equipment utilized was typical of haul-back mining operations throughout the region. This experimental alternative allowed all highwalls to be covered and all SMCRA performance standards (except AOC) to be met. A detailed investigation of the cost of mining and reclamation indicates that the experimental reclamation method was less costly than conventional AOC reclamation at this site. Additional favorable consequences result from implementation of the alternative method, including an improvement of the post-mining land-use potential and less-injurious environmental effects. Although AOC represents a vast improvement over the reclamation methods which preceded SMCRA, additional improvements are possible; opportunities to improve the economic and environmental consequences of coal surface mining in central Appalachia are not being realized under the prevailing AOC reclamation regime.
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