Solution of the problem of ecological balance in open pit mineral mining

摘要

The development of the mining industry in Russia takes place against the backdrop of a continuous change in economic conditions and market demand of raw materials, the depletion of the mineral resource base of mining enterprises, a steady trend of growth in the depth of mining. This affects the ecological situation and also the economy of mining enterprises engaged in the development of deposits of hard minerals by the open method. Under the circumstances, the article proposes solutions aimed at improvement of ecological and economic efficiency of domestic open pit mines through integrated use of mineral resources, including mining waste management; development of intelligent technologies with introduction of robotic techniques; ore production quality control; refinement of mining projects. Analysis and assessment of risk of open pit mining transition to intelligent geotechnical systems is reflective of the requirement of detailed studies targeted at correlation of geotechnology parameters with the specific deposit mining conditions. The calculations prove that adjustment of mine-technical design of an open pit mine can result in considerable economic effect. Hard mineral mining and processing waste management is the most efficient when the idea of implementing total integrated subsoil use management cycle. The advantages of this approach are more complete extraction of valuable minerals from the bowels of the earth, removal of ecological pressure in mining regions, expansion of raw materials base of the country, preservation of mineral wealth, and extension of operational life of mines. Design and construction of mines for integrated mineral resources development with full extraction and processing of natural, natural–man-made and man-made resources at optimized terms and sequence of stage-wise mineral mining will provide maximal ecological, economic and social effect in the minerals and raw materials sector of Russia.This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 14-37-00050.