Reclamation of the Enugu Coal Mine Site at Abandonment 
Amosu Cyril Olumuyiwa
Amosu Cyril Olumuyiwa, Department of Mineral and Petroleum Engineering, Yaba College of Technology, Yaba.
Manuscript received on 8 October 2021 | Revised Manuscript received on 28 October 2021 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 November 2021 | Manuscript published on 30 November 2021 | PP: 18-24 | Volume-1 Issue-2, November 2021 | Retrieval Number: 100.1/ijee.A1812051121 | DOI: 10.54105/ijee.A1812.111221
Open Access | Ethics and Policies | Cite | Mendeley | Indexing and Abstracting
© The Authors. Published by Lattice Science Publication (LSP). This is an open-access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Mining of coal (fossil fuel) resources in Enugu resulted in groundwater pollution/depletion and left the mine site with the potentials of air pollution, loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation and soil contamination. Other Environmental impacts were extensive soil damage, alteration in microbial communities and affecting vegetation leading to destruction of vast amounts of land and displacement of dwellers. Reclamation is the process to restore the ecological integrity of these disturbed mine land areas. It includes the management of all types of physical, chemical and biological disturbances of soils such as soil pH, fertility, microbial community and various soil nutrient cycles that makes the degraded land soil productive. Mining does not mean permanent loss of land for other use. On the other hand it holds potential for altered and improved use apart from restoring for agriculture, forestry and irrigation. This paper attempts to view the best practices for reclaiming the abandoned Enugu coal mine site which ceased production since 2002.
Keywords: Reclamation, Mining, Coal, Enugu, Soil, Production, Abandoned
Scope: Oil and Gas, Mining and Metallurgy