Land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former self, after some process (business, industry, natural disaster etc.) has damaged it. Many projects and developments will result in the land becoming degraded, for example mining, farming and forestry. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. ... Development has meaning in several contexts: Science and Engineering Biological development of embryos in the context of developmental biology Child development or post-natal human development (pediatrics, etc) Software engineering, the methodology and process of development of computer software Technology development in industry, as in Software development New product development... Man-made negative alteration of the ecosystem that has widespread or long lasting consequences. ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine This article is about mineral extraction. ... Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ...

While it is rarely possible to restore the land to its original condition, the rehabilitation process usually attempts to bring some degree of restoration. Modern methods have in many cases not only restored degraded land but actually improved it, depending on what criteria you use to measure 'improvement'.

Mine Rehabilitation

Modern mine rehabilitation aims to minimise and mitigate the environmental effects of modern mining, which may in the case of open pit mining involve movement of significant volumes of rock. Rehabilitation management is an ongoing process, often resulting in open pit mines being backfilled. Open Pit is the name of a brand of sauces marketed by Pinnacle Foods. ...

After mining finishes, the mine area must undergo rehabilitation.

• Waste dumps are contoured to flatten them out, to further stabilise them against erosion.
• If the ore contains sulfides it is usually covered with a layer of clay to prevent access of rain and oxygen from the air, which can oxidise the sulfides to produce sulfuric acid.
• Waste dumps are covered with topsoil, and vegetation is planted to help consolidate the material.
• Dumps are usually fenced off to prevent livestock denuding them of vegetation.
• The open pit is then surrounded with a fence, to prevent access, and it generally eventually fills up with ground water.
• Tailings dams are left to evaporate, then covered with waste rock, clay if need be, and soil, which is planted to stabilise it.

For underground mines, rehabilitation is not always a significant problem or cost. This is because of the higher grade of the ore and lower volumes of waste rock and tailings. In some situations, stopes are backfilled with concrete slurry using waste, so that minimal waste is left at surface. Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and other particles) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ... In chemistry, a sulfide (sulphide in British and Canadian English) is a combination of sulfur with an oxidation number of -2, with another chemical element or a radical thereof. ... Sulfuric acid (British English: sulphuric acid), H2SO4, is a strong mineral acid. ... Tailings, also called quillan, are the rejected material from mining and screening operations. ... Tailings, also called quillan, are the rejected material from mining and screening operations. ...

The removal of plant and infrastructure is not always part of a rehabilitation programme, as many old mine plants have heritage and cultural value. Often in gold mines, rehabilitation is performed by scavanger operations which treat the soil within the plant area for spilled gold using modified placer mining gravity collection plants. Heritage can refer to: Heritage tourism Inheritance Kinship and descent Cultural traditions UNESCO World Heritage Site A novel in the BBC Books series. ... The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... It has been suggested that Gold bar be merged into this article or section. ... A sluice box used in placer mining Placer mining (pronounced plass-er) is a open-pit or open-cast form of mining by which certain valuable minerals are extracted from the earth without tunneling. ...

See also

• Reforestation
• Land reclamation

Biodiversity on a 15-year-old reforested block Reforestation is the process of restoring tree cover to areas where woodlands or forest once existed but was removed by logging for wood products; if this area never returns to its original state of a forest this destructive process is called deforestation. ... Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices. ...

External links

• Bio Recycle
• Sydney Bio Solids