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Northeastern British Columbia - preplanning and reclamation of exploration activities

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

The prime areas for coal exploration are usually alpine or subalpine environments, although some potential mine areas and access are in boreal, coniferous forests. To minimize environmental damage, preplanning of access and exploration investigations is a requirement. Road locations are initially located using air photographs, topographic maps and geologic maps. Potential problem areas are delineated and sources for road fill determined. In the field the planned road location is traversed and on site changes made. During road construction a concurrent reclamation program is maintained. Once a preferred adit location is determined, access and exact seam location must be defined. Rotary drilling and geologic mapping along access trails aid in the seam definition. Use of existing access minimizes new environmental damage. Using a small backhoe can aid in seam exposure while lessening surface disturbance. Following completion of the exploration program, all disturbed areas are reclaimed and access closed.

Text

2009-12-22

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17037

Unreviewed

British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation

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